Since spring 2005, all high school students must pass the Ohio Graduation Test in order to receive a diploma. Students take the exam as sophomores and have multiple opportunities to pass the test, which covers reading, math, writing, science and social studies.
Delphos City School Superintendent Bruce Sommers says the test is designed to guide curriculum and help educators gauge their performance, as well as how to make adjustments. He also says the exam is not easy for students.
“The test is very, very difficult. I sometimes share this with the public when I am out speaking and the comment I get is that people have no idea the test is so difficult,” he said.
Sommers is pleased with the district’s improvement from the second to third years of the exam.
“Overall, we improved from last year. Our percentages are up, so we’re pleased with that. We try to do our very best; I know students and staff work very hard on it every year,” he said.
The 80 sophomores who tested scored in the 80s on all subjects except for science, where the average was a mere 66.3 percent.
“I don’t think there’s anything magical that can be done other than that our staff know the content by memory. We know what kind of questions the students will be asked, so we do our best starting in elementary school, working our way into junior high and into high school, to help our students perform as best as possible,” he said.
Ottoville Superintendent Larry Moore expects the test to become increasingly difficult.
“It would not surprise me if the state raises the bar and makes the test more difficult. Nonetheless, our goal here is to exceed our performance,” he said.
Ottoville’s 56 sophomores scored in the 90s on all subjects and Moore looks to his teachers for the school’s success.
“Our teachers did a good job putting things together and the students did a very good job taking the exam. One of our goals is to continually increase the score by two points each year so we exceed our own performance,” he said.
Fort Jennings students performed in such a way as to leave little room for improvement, scoring 100 percent on reading, writing and math. The 28 students who tested scored 89.3 percent on science and 96.4 percent on social studies. Due to technical difficulties, school representatives could not be reached for comment.
While small districts’ scores are influenced by small class sizes, Elida has 205 sophomores who tested. Superintendent Don Diglia sees scores rising in the coming years.
“We are really pleased with our writing. Not only do we have 96.5 percent proficient but, I believe, 60 percent of them were a step above proficient,” he said.
Diglia says reading and writing have been emphasized at the elementary level with great results that will expand throughout the district as the younger students climb the ranks into middle and high school grades.
“We have developed “data academies” — teams of teachers who meet periodically to go over the test data, break it down and get that information back to classroom teachers so they can make adjustments to their instruction. We’re starting our third year and are making improvements, especially with economically-challenged students at the elementary level,” he said.
Spencerville’s 90 sophomores scored in the 90s on reading and writing; 86.7 percent on math; 79.1 percent on science and social studies. Superintendent Joel Hatfield sees the scores as a great tool with which to gauge his district’s performance.
“By looking at the scores, we can get an indication on where we need to put more emphasis and focus. We’ll do that as we continue to evaluate what we’re doing and to look at our curriculum,” he said.
The state posts the scores online but the numbers for Lincolnview include the scores of students at the district’s two “alternative schools,” though those scores have no connection to the district’s report card.
“We as a district get a chance to go in and make corrections. What happens is that the state just dumps the OGT scores on their web site but we can go in through the Educational Management Information System and pull out the scores of the kids affiliated with our alternative schools,” said Superintendent Doug Fries.
Approximately 86 students tested and did well on reading and writing.
“Our reading score for the 10th grade, first round, was 95.9 percent; math was 88.9 percent; writing was 95.9 percent; science was 79.2 percent; and social studies was 80.6 percent. We’re really pleased with the reading and writing,” Fries said. “ Any time you get 95.9 percent on your first round, you feel good about that. We’re also pleased that we got five indicators on the first attempt because you have to be over 75 percent and we’re pleased to have 26 students reach the advanced level in math. The science and social studies were our two lowest and we are providing intervention in those areas this summer and will allow students to take that test again in July.