Ohio Graduation Test

The Ohio Graduation Test is an exam that replaced the 9th grade proficiency tests. The Ohio Graduation Test is a much harder test, that Ohio high school seniors must now pass in order to receive their diplomas and it is thinning the ranks of graduates in Ohio. Almost 6 percent of the Cincinnati district's 1,800 seniors will not graduate on time. Statewide in Ohio, 7 percent of Ohio's seniors failed at least one part of the five-part Ohio Graduation Test. In Toledo, nearly 10 percent failed at least one section.

The new Ohio Graduation Test is aligned with a state curriculum. It is aimed at a higher level of knowledge and has fewer multiple choice questions and instead requires short essay responses. The OGT has five sections: math, reading, science, social studies and writing. It is designed to measure a student’s knowledge at the 10th-grade level compared with the old ninth-grade exam.
Some Ohio school districts, including Cincinnati, will administer the test again in July after student’s had more preparation and allow those who pass to graduate in a summer ceremony.

As reported by the Associated Press, the last round of testing in March had a particularly low success rate, there were 12,387 seniors taking the exams in March, and only 28 percent passed. It was the sixth round of testing, said J.C. Benton, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education. "By the third or fourth time, educators should have a pretty good idea about what students need additional help with," Benton said.

In some circumstances, students still can qualify for a diploma despite failing one test, if other requirements are met.

Eileen Cooper Reed, president of the Cincinnati Board of Education, said there's something wrong if otherwise-successful 12th-graders are getting stopped by a test meant to measure 10th-grade knowledge. We have children who have decent grades, who are student leaders, some even in the National Honor Society, who can not pass a 10th-grade test," Reed said. "That's what bothers me."