Current high school juniors would be able to earn a diploma by achieving 93 percent attendance their senior year and doing a capstone project, or by earning a 2.5 GPA senior year and completing 120 hours of work or community service.
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They would still have to pass all required courses and retake any state English or math test on which they scored a 1 out of 5, but it wouldn’t matter what they scored on the retake.
“The biggest change I think will help the majority of the students in Springfield is where as long as you retake any math or English test, you then fulfill one of the additions,” Springfield City Superintendent Bob Hill said.
Right now Ohio’s Class of 2018 is the first group governed by a three-path testing requirement for graduation — they must earn at least 18 out of 35 points on the new, harder end-of-course exams; or they can earn a “remediation-free score” on the ACT or SAT; or they can earn an approved industry credential and a passing score on a workforce-readiness test.
Springfield City School District leaders have voiced concerns about many students in their school not graduating because of the new requirements. During board meetings and forums, district leaders have estimated that up to 70 percent of their high school students might not graduate over the next couple years.
READ MORE: Springfield looks to teachers for help on high school changes
Hill noted the state has repeatedly changed the type of test students take over the past few years and he said it has hindered results.
But the potential new options for meeting the requirements could help more Springfield students graduate, Hill said.
“This gives some more leeway to the kids and hopefully will increase the percentage of students that will graduate,” he said.
State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria said a change in graduation requirements is likely needed.
“We’re trying to be sensitive to the fact that we’re experiencing a transition right now in education — trying to get to a higher level, but because of the implementation of new assessments and other things like that, the system hasn’t really gotten to the point where it can help every student get to that level,” DeMaria said.
It’s not uncommon for good students to do poorly on state tests, he said.
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“We see it all the time. We see students getting (good) letter grades, and then for whatever reason not being able to demonstrate their knowledge and skills (on a state test),” DeMaria said. “Part of that’s the assessment structure, and we recognize that. Part of it sometimes is a mismatch of (a school’s) course content and the state standards.”
The Springfield News-Sun interviewed numerous local superintendents in both Clark and Champaign counties late last year and found that many believed the current test-score graduation requirements were bad for students.
“It is very unfair to assign that kind of weight to that test,” Superintendent Chris Piper at Triad Local Schools has said. “I think it is going to cause a crisis in the state.”
State Sen. Peggy Lehner R-Kettering, chair of the Senate Education Committee, said the proposed changes won’t water down a diploma and will still make a student earn a diploma.
“For the kids that are really struggling to pass, I think you’re going to find it’s not easy at all,” said Lehner of the proposed changes. “I’m a little bit concerned that it’s not going to capture as many kids as we maybe think it will. 2.5 is a pretty high GPA. And for an amazing number of these kids, that (93 percent) attendance rate is pretty high.”
Continuing Coverage
The Springfield News-Sun has covered the new graduation requirements including an in-depth look at how the graduation requirements affect both Clark and Champaign County Schools
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