The Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) is the
high school graduation examination
An exit examination is a test that students must pass to receive a diploma and graduate from school. Such examinations have been used in a variety of countries; this article focuses on their use within the United States. These are usually criteri ...
given to
sophomores in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. Students must pass all five sections (
reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
,
writing
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...
,
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
and
social studies) in order to graduate. Students have multiple chances to pass these sections and can still graduate without passing each using the alternative pathway. In 2009, the
Ohio legislature
The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...
passed an education reform bill eliminating the OGT in favor of a new assessment system. The development and transition of replacement began in 2014 and will end in 2022.
Test History and Development
History
Prior to the OGT, passing the
ninth grade proficiency test was required for graduation beginning with the class of 1994.
It had the same five subjects, apart from the social studies test was referred to as the
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
test.
In 2001, the Ohio legislature directed the
Ohio Department of Education
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) is the administrative department of the Ohio state government responsible for primary and secondary public education in the state. The Ohio State Board of Education is the governing body of the department an ...
(ODE) to develop the OGT based on the soon-to-be-adopted
academic content standards.
The first official OGT was given in March 2005. It replaced the ninth grade proficiency test as a graduation requirement for the class of 2007. The last administration of the ninth grade proficiency test was in 2005.
Development
Questions are developed by ODE staff, sent through committees, and placed on exams before official inclusion on the OGT. First, the Content Advisory Committee runs the ODE developed question past parents and educators to see if it addresses the content. Second, the Fairness Sensitivity Review Committee helps ensure that questions are fair and do not put any student at a disadvantage because of a student’s moral values, social status, or religious beliefs. Third, the question is
field tested. It is placed on an exam, but does not count towards the score of the student. Finally, the committees evaluate the performance data and decide if the question is to be used.
Test Characteristics
Questions
The OGT is made up of five tests: reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. These sections match the core school subjects and fulfill the high school testing requirement in reading, mathematics, and science under the federal
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...
.
Each of the five sections is formatted differently, but they each contain
multiple choice
Multiple choice (MC), objective response or MCQ (for multiple choice question) is a form of an objective assessment in which respondents are asked to select only correct answers from the choices offered as a list. The multiple choice format is m ...
,
short answer, and
extended response questions:
total 38 questions
Each exam has approximately six extra questions that are being field tested for future OGT tests. Students are not penalized for incorrect answers on field tested questions. Students have up to two and a half hours to complete each section of the test.
Typically, the tests are split up so that there is only one per day (for five days).
Testing Dates
The OGT is first given to students in the spring of their sophomore year. If they do not pass all five sections, they can continue to retake the exam. The OGT is administered in the fall (October), spring (March), and summer (June) each year.
Not all schools offer the summer OGT, but students can be directed to one that does. Summer testing also requires a student to take at least 10 hours of preparatory programs beforehand.
A typical student will have seven opportunities to pass the OGT before he or she is scheduled to graduate.
Accommodations
There are special accommodations of the OGT for students with special needs. These accommodations include tests with readers, in large print, and different languages like
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, and
Somali.
Students with an
Individualized Education Program
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s) and district person ...
(IEP) may be exempted from the requirement to pass all sections of the OGT or may take another assessment if the plan allows.
For students with significant disabilities, there is an
alternate assessment that requires a collection of evidence that demonstrates knowledge appropriate for the student’s disabilities.
Alternative Pathway
Passing all five of the OGT tests is required to earn an Ohio diploma for both public and private school students (excluding IEP issues).
However, there is an exception for students who come very close. The alternative pathway lets student who meet seven specific requirements to graduate without passing all five tests. High school guidance counselors determine if students qualify for this option. A student qualifies for the alternative pathway if they:
# Pass all the tests but one, and earn at least a 390 on the failed test;
# Have a 97% attendance rate, not including excused absences, for each of the last four years;
# Have not been expelled in the past four years;
# Have a GPA of 2.5 out of 4.0 in the subject area of the failed test;
# Complete the high school curriculum requirements;
# Have taken “
intervention programs” to help their performance on the tests and have a 97% attendance rate, not including excused absence, in those programs; and
# Receive a letter recommending graduation from each of the student’s high school teachers in the subject area of the failed OGT and the student's high school principal.
Assessment Reforms
Ohio Reforms
In 2009, the Ohio legislature passed an education reform bill that, among other things, called for the OGT to be replaced.
To receive a diploma, students will have to earn a certain composite score drawn from a new three part assessment system:
*A national standardized assessment (such as the
ACT) that assesses science, mathematics, and English language arts
* A series of
end-of-course exams in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies
*A
senior project
A culminating project (also known as a senior project, grad project or exit project), is a project that challenges high school seniors to demonstrate their academic knowledge in an experiential way (in most cases). According to the United States ...
by a student or a group of students
The academic content standards and the model curriculum must be finished before the new assessment system can be developed to assure alignment. Work will begin on developing this new system in 2011.
There is no set date for the beginning of the new assessment system, but the 2013-2014 school year has been targeted.
The OGT will be phased out until 2022.
National Assessments
Also in 2009, the federal
Race to the Top
Race to the Top (R2T, RTTT or RTT) was a $4.35 billion United States Department of Education competitive grant created to spur and reward innovation and reforms in state and local district K–12 education. Funded as part of the American Recovery ...
$4.35 billion incentive program was announced.
It included up to $350 million for common assessment development.
Various consortia of states formed to compete for this grant. Ohio signed
memorandums of understanding with two groups: Smarter Balance
and Achieve.
Whatever assessment systems these groups design may supersede the modified
Ohio Achievement Assessment
Karyah's Ohio Achievement Assessment (Karyah commonly stylized as the OAA) is a standardized test meeting NCLB requirements. Grades 3-8 are tested in reading, mathematics, science, social studies, and writing. Before 2010, the Ohio Achievement Ass ...
(grades 3-8), the three part assessment system, and the composite score passed by the Ohio legislature.
Criticisms
The OGT receives many of the same
criticisms as
other states’ standardized tests. Chief among them is that the assessments drive instruction, give students increased testing anxiety, and test preparations distract from classroom learning. The
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
,
perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...
, and former
98 Degrees
98 Degrees (stylized as 98°) is an American pop and R&B vocal group consisting of four vocalists: the group's founding member Jeff Timmons, brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, and Justin Jeffre. The group was formed by Timmons in Los Angeles, Cali ...
singer
Justin Jeffre
Justin Paul Jeffre (born February 25, 1973) is an American pop singer and politician. A long-time resident and vocal supporter of Cincinnati, Jeffre is probably best known as a member and bass singer of the multi-platinum-selling boy band 98 Deg ...
filed a formal letter of complaint asserting the OGT is "unfair" according to guidelines set forth in the Ohio Administrative Code.
See also
*
List of state achievement tests in the United States
State achievement tests in the United States are standardized tests required in American public schools in order for the schools to receive federal funding, according to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, in US Public Law 107-1 ...
*
Standards-based education
Outcome-based education or outcomes-based education (OBE) is an educational theory that bases each part of an educational system around goals (outcomes). By the end of the educational experience, each student should have achieved the goal. There ...
References
{{Reflist, 2
External links
Department of EducationOGT section of the Ohio Department of Education Website
Ohio’s Statewide Testing PortholeReleased OGT questions and practice questions
ResultsResults from each administration of the OGT
Education in Ohio
Standardized tests in the United States
Standards-based education