Ohio Graduation Test: OGT and 9th Grade Proficiency Exams

Students and parents are wondering what the difference between the Ohio Graduation Test and the 9th Grade Proficiency Exams is. The 9th grade proficiency exam started with the class of 1994. Now the school years of 2006-2007 are seeing the start of the OGT. The OGT is mandatory to pass in order to receive a high school diploma. The difference between the OGT and 9th grade Proficiency Exams are considerable.

The OGT has five subject areas which are reading, math, science, writing and social studies. The OGT is a lot more rigorous then the 9th grade proficiency test was. This is just the beginning of the differences between the OGT and 9th Grade Proficiency Exams.

One of the differences between the OGT and 9th grade Proficiency Exams is that the 9th grade proficiency tests were based on 8th grade curriculum. The OGT is based on tenth grade curriculum.

Another key difference between the OGT and 9th Grade Proficiency Exam is the 9th grade test was in multiple choice formats except for the writing section which required students to write two essays. With the OGT all five areas contain multiple choices, short and extended response questions in which students must write written responses. The OGT is more rigorous than the previous proficiency tests. Students need to study even more than before because passing the OGT is a mandatory requirement to receiving a high school diploma.