Oregon: Test scores--less than half of students proficient in English, math, science
Oregon students on average saw proficiency gains in core subjects during the 2025-26 school year, but it’s a mixed bag across school districts in Columbia County.
Students all over Oregon took state assessments in English language arts, mathematics and science during the 2025-26 school year. Statewide, less than half of students who took the tests attained proficient scores across all three subjects.
“These results give us reason to be encouraged, but also reinforce how much more there is to accomplish,” Oregon Department of Education Director Charlene Williams said. “Our responsibility is to understand what is working, support educators and districts in implementing those practices well and stay focused on sustained progress for every student.”
In Columbia County, some districts remain behind the statewide average but saw significant boosts in subject proficiency compared to the prior school year. Other school districts reported a regression in student scores.
English language arts
Of the five school districts within Columbia County, the St. Helens School District reported the lowest percentage of students who attained proficient scores on the English language arts assessment.
According to ODE data, 30.8% of St. Helens students tested at a proficient level during the 2025-26 school year — falling behind the statewide average of 43.8%. However, this is a slight improvement from the year prior, when the district reported that 30.1% of students attained proficient English language arts scores.
The only district that saw a drop in proficiency rates was the Clatskanie School District, which fell from a 37.2% proficiency rate during the 2024-25 school year to 36.3% in 2025-26.
English language arts test scores improved significantly in Vernonia, rising from a 32% proficiency rate during the 2024-25 school year to 45.1% in 2025-26 — making the Vernonia School District one of two districts in Columbia County that achieved proficiency scores above the state average.
The other district to do so is the Scappoose School District, where more than half of students tested attained proficient scores.
Rainier students also saw improvements, with the district reporting that more than one-third of students tested at proficient levels compared to 32% the year before.
Math
The Scappoose School District was the only district in Columbia County to report math proficiency rates that were higher than the state average.
The statewide average rate was 32.9%, and 39.6% of Scappoose students attained proficient scores on the math assessment during the 2025-26 school year — though it’s a decrease from the 39.9% proficiency rate reported by the district during the prior school year.
Rainier students saw improvement, with the district reporting a proficiency rate of 20.9% compared to 18.8% the year prior.
The St. Helens School District saw no change — 19.9% of students attained proficient scores on the math assessment in both the 2025-26 and 2024-25 school years.
The Vernonia and Clatskanie school districts performed slightly worse than the year prior.
In Vernonia, 19.4% of students attained proficient scores, marking a nearly 4% decrease from the year prior.
The math proficiency rate was 19.2% in Clatskanie — nearly a 22% decrease since the 2024-25 school year test scores.
Science
Scappoose students also scored above the statewide average on the science assessment.
During the 2025-26 school year, 41.3% of Scappoose students attained proficient scores on the science assessment, compared to 30.6% statewide.
The Rainier and St. Helens school districts saw improvements in students proficiency, reporting rates of 29.4% and 26.8%, respectively, during the 2025-26 school year.
Clatskanie and Vernonia school districts both saw proficiency rates fall.
In Clatskanie, 23.2% of students attained proficient scores on the science assessment during the 2025-26 school year compared to 24.8% the year prior.
In Vernonia, 28% of students tested at proficiency — a drop from 29.7% during the 2024-25 school year.
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