Changes in state law affect school evaluations, student testing
Ohio House Bill 555 will change the manner in which the state's public school districts are evaluated.
Signed last month by Gov. John Kasich, the legislation replaces the old school rankings – which ranged from academic watch to excellent with distinction – to letter grades from A through F.
“We believe moving from the current labeling system to a more understandable grading system will better communicate to the public how their schools are performing,” said John Charlton, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education. “People might not know what effective is, but they know what a “C” means.”
For more on House Bill 555, go to http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=129_HB_555.
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• In other news from the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Graduation Test is set to be phased out and replaced with a new test for the 2014-15 academic year.
The OGT replaced the Ninth-grade Proficiency Test in 2005.
Students have to pass all five parts of the OGT – reading, writing, math, science and social studies – to receive a high school diploma.
Among the new programs is the third grade-reading guarantee. Ohio third graders must be proficient readers, or they could be held back.
Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee mandates that starting with students entering third grade in 2013-14, schools cannot promote to fourth grade students who score below a certain level on the state reading test. That level is slightly below the actual passing score on the state reading test, the Ohio Achievement Assessment.
Exceptions apply to students who are learning English and in special education programs and to students who have been behind in reading in past years, have been held back before and have received extra help.
The third grade reading guarantee was part of a package of education policy backed by Gov. John Kasich and approved by state lawmakers in 2012 as part of Senate Bill 316.
For more on Senate Bill 316, go to: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText129/129_SB_316_EN_N.html.