Ohio students poised to enter ninth grade this coming fall face a change in graduation requirements based on the passage of Ohio House Bill 487 – a change that largely affects their testing.
According to information presented at a recent Shelby board of education meeting by Assistant Superintendent of Shelby City Schools Paul Walker, the class of 2018 must complete Ohio’s course requirements and take seven end-of-course exams. These exams are designed to replace the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) previously taken by all students in tenth grade.
“The problem with the OGT was it was more cumulative from kindergarten through ninth grade; this is going to be more cumulative on the course you’ve taken,” explained Walker. “So it’s going to really evaluate the student, the teacher, and the learning that’s taking place. It will be able to pinpoint our instruction and how students are achieving at the various high school courses. Right now (with the OGT) you could say it’s a little bit gray because it wasn’t over just one content area.”
Students entering ninth grade in the fall will take seven end-of-course exams in the following courses: algebra and geometry or integrated math one and two; physical science; American history and American government; and English one and two. Students must also complete the state minimum course requirements in English, health, mathematics, physical education, science, social studies and electives.
“With this legislation, really the big thing was how could they get rid of the OGT being the graduation requirement for the state,” said Walker. “That’s what the goal was, and this is what they’ve come up with. I’m sure it will be modified again.”
In addition, every student in the class of 2018 will have the opportunity to take a nationally recognized college admission exam free of charge in the eleventh grade. Students in grades 10 and higher will not be required to take end-of-course exams and will instead take the OGT as needed for their graduation requirements.
Administrators at Shelby City Schools acknowledged during the June 25 meeting that the change could be confusing at first, noting an informational meeting for incoming freshmen and their parents would be held before the start of school.
“It’s one of those things where the General Assembly passes a law then hands it to the Ohio Department of Education and says, implement it,” said Shelby High School Principal John Gies. “I’ve fired away a couple emails with a list of questions and I’m waiting on some answers.”
One of those questions involved the taking of final exams at the conclusion of a course. Gies explained originally the end-of-course exams were supposed to be a percentage of a student’s final grade in a course, taking the place of a final exam. However, this presents a problem of timeliness due to the fact the end-of-course exam results were originally not expected to come out until July.
“Now that they’ve made this change we haven’t heard anything about percentage of the grade, what happens if you don’t pass the exam, do you repeat the whole course, do you get attempts to retake the test – we just don’t know yet,” said Gies. “There’s a good chance they could replace the final exam, but the difficult part of that is the timing of getting results. If we’re giving them as the final exam, we have to have the results back for the end of the grading period so we can put the grade on the grade card for transcripts.”
Though there are still details to be worked out regarding end-of-course exams, Walker explained the district is trying to learn as much information as possible to prepare incoming ninth graders. He advised students to plan on taking an end-of-course exam for every major core area.
“A lot of this is just laying the groundwork to inform families and students that the OGTs are no longer happening, and you better be prepared as a ninth grader you’re going to have an end of course exam that’s going to count for your graduation,” said Walker. “That end-of-course exam means a lot more now, this could have more weight to it.”
“A lot of this is just laying the groundwork to inform families and students that the OGTs are no longer happening, and you better be prepared as a ninth grader you’re going to have an end of course exam that’s going to count for your graduation,” said Paul Walker.
