By Jim Siegel and Catherine Candisky, The Columbus Dispatch, and wire reports
COLUMBUS – Public school superintendents from around Ohio are raising concerns that a large number of high schoolers are in jeopardy of not graduating as expected next school year because of new requirements tied to more demanding tests.
Some of those administrators and other supporters rallied Tuesday outside the Statehouse as the state school board discussed potential changes. Several superintendents addressing the crowd urged supporters to keep the conversation going with lawmakers and board members to bring about change.
The board appeared to reach consensus during its monthly meeting on a plan to temporarily ease the scores needed to graduate.
“I have no doubt that if the board doesn’t do something about this, the legislature will,” Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, the Senate Education committee chairwoman, told the state board.
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Superintendents from some districts estimate one-third or more of their current juniors are at risk of not graduating next year. The class of 2018 is the first one subject to the new rules, which are tied to end-of-course exams that are more demanding than the old Ohio Graduation Tests.
Shadyside Schools Superintendent John Haswell said he was shocked when he learned that of the 66 students who took the end-of-course geometry exam, only 44 percent passed — after 100 percent passed a different test the previous year.
Haswell said he then examined scores across the state on new exams that will determine if students can graduate, and he found the results “incredibly dismaying.” Nearly half of sophomores, he said, are behind on graduation points, and more than 25,000 students scored a 1 out of 5 on the geometry exam.
“This data alone should speak volumes about this current test,” Haswell said, speaking to more than 200 superintendents, school board members and other educators gathered at the Statehouse to urge changes to a graduation system they say threatens to prevent too many students from receiving a diploma. “There is no way a single test should have the capability to erase an entire year’s worth of work.”
Currently, starting with the class of 2018, students must average 2.6 points of a possible 5 for each of the seven end-of-course tests to earn enough points to receive a diploma. They also have the option of getting a “remediation-free” score on a college entrance exam, or obtaining an industry credential indicating they are ready for a job.
When approved by lawmakers in 2014, supporters said the new requirements would better prepare students to enter the workforce or college, where 40 percent now take remedial classes.