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One-third of high school sophomores fail Ohio test
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ Sophomores at publicly funded high schools scored slightly lower on the state's graduation test for the second straight year, with more than a third failing at least one of the test's five sections, preliminary state figures showed.
The results include students attending publicly financed charter schools. Just 30 percent of those students passed the entire test, compared to 86 percent of private school sophomores who passed the exam.
The Ohio Graduation Test, which has sections for reading, math, writing, science and social studies, has existed since 2005. Students first take the test during the spring of their sophomore year and then repeat the failed sections in subsequent years until they pass.
This was the second year that students had to pass the entire exam to graduate. About 8,940 seniors failed one or more portions of the exam, and most will get a last opportunity to retake the sections this month.
Having a high number of sophomores pass the test is good for both schools and students, since time and resources devoted to preparing or retaking the test is instead used for advanced-study courses.
"It allows you to shift your attention to other things," said Stephen Thompson, superintendent of the Chagrin Falls schools in suburban Cleveland, where nearly 97 percent of this year's sophomores passed the exam. "We have 24 Advanced Placement courses, for example, which is an incredible number for a district our size."
Across the state, 65 percent of the 135,000 public school sophomores who took the test in March passed all five sections. That's down a bit from 2007, when 65.3 percent passed.
"I'm not alarmed, but I am concerned if scores are going down slightly," said State Board of Education member John Bender of Avon.
Consultants last year recommended that the state phase out the graduation test in favor of one that better gauges whether a student is prepared for college-level work. Also, Gov. Ted Strickland is looking into adding a written portfolio exam, a proposal that Bender said would help students who may know the material but don't perform well on tests.
