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Greenville City School District
What does it
take to graduate from Greenville High School now and beyond?
Jeff Cassell, Principal
Greenville Senior High School
For many years, students have had to complete 22 credits, including
specific credit requirements, plus they must pass an achievement test
in order to graduate. The Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) is alive for
only a few more years -the tests that Ohio freshmen have needed to take
and pass to earn a high school diploma is almost gone. The
freshmen and sophomores will have to accumulate points on seven
end-of-course exams to graduate in 2018 and beyond. The OGT,
which was a collection of five exams in reading, writing, math,
science, and social studies, will continue to be offered for all
current juniors and seniors; all must still pass the tests to
graduate. In this article, I will concentrate on the graduation
requirements for the class of 2018 and beyond.
The new end-of-course exams, America Institute for Research (AIR), will
be offered in algebra, geometry, biology, American history, American
Government (civics), English I, and English II this year and it was
offered in physical science last year for the class of 2018. The
class of 2018 can take either the biology or the physical science
score. Students will need to have combined scores in all areas
and certain scores in subject areas as well. The new test is
given in two parts and a single score will combine the two parts.
Students will earn 1 to 5 points for each of the seven tests: a score
of a 5 is for advanced performance, a score of 4 is for accelerated
performance, a score of 3 is for proficient, a score of a 2 for basic
performance and a score of a 1 for limited performance.
Students are not required to score a minimum level on any one
test. However, to ensure the student is well rounded, they must
earn a minimum of four points in math, four points in English and six
points across science and social studies. The student must score
a minimum of 18 points on all the tests to graduate. Students do
have some other options to graduate.
The first option is that students studying Advanced Placement (AP)
courses in biology, American history, or American government may take
and substitute test scores for end-of-course exams. Students may
substitute grades from College Credit Plus course in science and social
studies subjects for end-of-course exams.
Another option for students is the industry credential and workforce
readiness assessment. In this area, the industry credential and
workforce readiness option means that students must earn 12 points
through a State Board of Education-approved, industry-recognized
credential or group of credentials in a single career field and achieve
a workforce readiness score on the WorkKeys assessment. WorkKeys
assessments have been used for more than two decades to measure
essential workplace skills and help people build career pathways.
These skills help employers select, hire, train, develop, and retain a
quality workforce. The assessments measure foundational and soft
skills with each WorkKeys assessment offering varying levels of
difficulty. Presently, the State of Ohio will pay one time for
those who take the WorkKeys assessment.
The WorkKeys assessment has three sections: reading, applied
mathematics and locating information. Students in the graduating class
of 2018 and 2019 must earn a total of 13 points across the three
WorkKeys sections; students in the Class of 2020 and beyond must earn a
total of 14 points. Students must also earn at least three points on
each section of the test. The industry-recognized credentials are
in the following explore career fields: agriculture, arts and
communications, business and finance, construction, education and
training, engineering, health, hospitality and tourism, human services,
information technology, law and public safety, manufacturing, and
transportation.
The last option for students is the college admission test. If
students can earn “remediation-free” scores in English Language Arts
and mathematics on a nationally recognized college admission exam (ACT
or SAT), then they can use these scores as substitutes for their
English and math scores. Presently, the State of Ohio will pay
one time for all 11th grade students in the classes of 2018 and beyond
to take the exam free of charge.
As you can see, graduating from high school has changed drastically
over the years.
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