Ohio Graduation Tests: Science OGT gets a boost in Cincinnati

This week, Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) received a $20 million, five-year grant from GE Aviation to improve student achievement in math and science - areas where district performance on the Ohio Graduation Test has been poor.

Last spring, less than 60 percent of Cincinnati public school sophomores passed the science portion of the OGT. And junior high students lagged behind the rest of the state by 20 to 25 percent in their proficiency test results.

The GE Aviation grant - called the College Bound Grant - will focus on these areas of greatest need in CPS and, hopefully, put more Cincinnati kids into colleges across the country.

CPS is a "continuous improvement" district on the state report card. And despite poor science scores, the district has managed to improve over the last few years in other academic areas. Between 60 and 70 percent of CPS graduates go on to some form of post-secondary education.

Next year, for the first time ever, CPS seniors will be required to pass all five sections of the Ohio Graduation Test in order to obtain a diploma.