JUNE STORY: Senate diploma plan includes test score requirement
The three-prong plan would, first, still require students to pass 20 credits. The second prong would require them to earn two “diploma seals” from a long list including job readiness, various test scores, performing arts, community service and more. Many of those “seal” standards would be new.
The third prong would require students to score “competent” on the Algebra I and English II state exams unless they enlist in the military, show career-tech/apprenticeship documentation, or earn college math and English credits. It is not clear yet where those “competency scores” will be set.
That’s a departure from the Ohio Department of Education plan, which would have allowed students to earn a diploma by showing skills in a variety of ways (tests, GPA, projects, portfolios) in five areas — English, math, technology, other academic subjects and leadership/social development. For years, Ohio has debated whether standardized tests are a good measure of student readiness.
MARCH STORY: ODE proposes graduation rules tied to strategic plan
Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, suggested Tuesday night that the graduation requirements in the budget “have broad support across the state.” Testimony before the Education Committee in May was mixed though, with prominent groups including the Ohio School Boards Association expressing multiple concerns about the plan.
“Most importantly, high school students will know from the first day of school what they will need to do to earn a high school diploma,” Lehner said, referencing the fact that previous plans have moved the graduation goalposts while students were more than halfway through their high school years.
For more than a decade, most students had to pass the Ohio Graduation Test to earn a diploma. The state moved to new, harder tests for the Class of 2018, but then scrapped the accompanying test-based graduation requirements when it appeared more students would fall short. Students have had a variety of graduation pathways the past two years.
DECEMBER: Class of ‘19 diploma rules set, 6 months before graduation
Rising seniors in the Class of 2020 already have non-test graduation pathways, which were set in December. Those students still have to pass the required 20 classroom credits and take all state “end-of-course” tests.
But if their state test scores are not sufficient, they can graduate by hitting any two of nine markers, including a 2.5 GPA in certain classes, a “capstone” project, 120 work/community service hours and other options. There are also career tech and ACT-SAT score pathways.
About the Author
