This year is the curtain call for the ninth-grade proficiency tests.
Next year's 10th-graders will be the first to take the new, more challenging Ohio Graduation Tests, which will replace the ninth-grade proficiency tests.
The new graduation tests quiz the students on material from grade 10, not grade eight, which was the level tested in the ninth-grade proficiency. Students also will not have as many opportunities to take the test. Instead of having four years to pass it, their first attempt will occur in March of their sophomore year - leaving only six more chances.
The tests will cover mathematics, reading, writing, science and social studies. Passing all five sections of the test will be a requirement for graduation, and this calls for intensive preparation.
At Nelsonville-York High School, teachers are analyzing practice tests, working with new state standards and working across the curriculum to be ready for the new tests, said Pamela Beam, Nelsonville-York curriculum director.
Nelsonville is not the only local school district planning for the new tests.
We have met as a district by departments and have done curriculum mapping. Each grade maps out what they're going to teach at that grade level
so we can correlate to the state standards said Greg Holbert, principal of Alexander High School.
The new graduation tests will feature not only multiple choice, but also questions that require a written response. Alexander has created a program called Write-Track to help students prepare for the short-answer areas of the tests through after-school writing practice.
Originally, the state planned to implement the new graduation tests for the class of 2005 but delayed for two years to ensure that students would be adequately prepared. Students took experimental versions of the mathematics and reading portions of the test last March, but passing was not required for graduation.
There wouldn't have been many kids graduating that year said Jack Loudin, superintendent of Trimble High School. We knew at that point that we had a lot of work to do.
Low scores on the prototype tests were not unique to Athens. Students throughout the state have had trouble with the new test's rigorous requirements.
We did well in reading and we did poorly in math
characteristic of the state as a whole
Holbert said.
But will these new tests allow Ohio's children to get the most out of their education? Beam said she thinks there is a chance, but the tests should not be seen as the only means of evaluating student progress.
That's the million dollar question
isn't it? I think that if the tests truly align with the state standards
and we truly got a sense of what those standards look like in classroom instructions
these tests could give us an insight into our students' achievement and classroom instruction.
