State proficiency test results released this month showed many students in Oregon were not making great progress. They were not reaching achievement levels in English, math and science to be on track for careers or college when they graduate high school.

Online classes during the pandemic stung education progress. And recovery has been slow.

So what should be done with the data? Should Oregonians be depressed by dismal scores? Yes and no.

There’s been a harsh rift over standardized test scores among educators. Some see them as an antiquated and ineffective means of capturing what goes on in the schools. The state’s announcement of the state proficiency tests was packed with that line of reasoning.

Oregon’s state proficiency tests do not tell the whole story, the state’s announcement says. It is limited to three academic subjects, English, math and science.

And it goes on: Oregon’s state proficiency tests do not name all “the strengths, talents, gifts or needs of any individual.” They “do not describe the full context” of what a school provides.

“Our schools also provide hot meals to nourish our children; warm hugs and high expectations from caring educators; counseling and support; access to support for students who find themselves houseless; hands-on career training and experiences; college credits at little or no cost; and clubs, sports, and activities that offer connection and relevance for students,” the state announcement says. “There is so much we are not able to measure on a state scale and all of it impacts our children’s success.”

You can read all those qualifiers and pigeonhole it as an abandonment of accountability, a headlong retreat into low expectations.

It’s more nuanced, though. Yes, all those arguments are made. But Charlene Williams, the state’s interim director of the Department of Education, and Gov. Tina Kotek do not conclude with qualifiers or excuses. They conclude with a need to act.

“The results from a single test do not tell the whole story of education in Oregon, however they are important indicators that require our attention and more work ahead,” Williams said.

“These latest scores affirm the need to target state investments in our education system, including community-based summer and after-school programs to accelerate learning and strengthen student well-being,” Kotek said. “These scores show we’re stabilizing, but we can accelerate learning with more out-of-school time investments.”

There have been actions taken toward improvement. Gov. Kotek and state Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, championed a bill this year that will reshape and improve how literacy is taught in the schools. That won’t change proficiency scores in English overnight. It is a building block to change them over time.