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Cleveland Plain Dealer
Ohio graduates won’t have to be “proficient” in math or English, under state superintendent’s plan
By Patrick O'Donnell
CLEVELAND, Ohio – High school students won’t have to be “proficient” in
either math or English to graduate, under minimum required test scores
proposed by State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria.
They will just need to know enough to do the most basic of jobs.
New high school graduation requirements passed this summer require most
students to show “competency” in math and English through scores on
Ohio’s Algebra I and English II tests to qualify for a diploma. The new
requirements start with the class 2023, this year’s high school
freshmen.
The legislature left it to DeMaria and the Ohio Department of Education
to set minimum scores on those tests by March 1, in consultation with
the state Department of Higher Education and Office of Workforce
Development.
With that deadline approaching, DeMaria told the state school board
this month he plans to require scores of 684 on both exams, scores that
are above the state’s “Basic” level of minimal skills, but short of its
higher “Proficient” bar.
DeMaria plans to officially set those scores after another round of
discussions with the Department of Higher Education and Workforce
Transformation.
DeMaria said the “competency” scores are not meant to show readiness
for college, or even a career, only that a graduate knows enough to do
the basics of an entry-level job.
“The competencies that we’re describing are meant to be about that high
school-only job position,” he said. Graduates can then learn more on
their own.
How those scores might affect graduation rates is unclear. About 82% of
the high school class of 2019 earned 684 or above in Algebra when they
took the test, and 85% met that score in English.
There are other paths to a diploma for students who can’t earn those
scores, including earning college credit in English and math while in
high school, taking steps toward career credentials or enlisting in the
military.
Lisa Gray of Ohio Excels, a partnership between chambers of commerce
and suburban districts, isn’t sure DeMaria is setting the bar high
enough. Her group proposed the new graduation requirements the
legislature adopted. She said students need to know enough to adapt in
a constantly-changing workforce.
Others, like State Rep. Don Jones, chairman of the House Education
Committee, said college-level scores are not needed since not every
student goes to college.
“It needs to be realistic,” said Jones, a Freeport Republican.
In addition to proving “competency” on the Algebra I and English II
end-of-course exams, students from the class of 2023 onward must show
advanced skills in other areas of their own choice.
DeMaria said the legislature did not define competency, so he created a
list of jobs that require just a high school diploma and looked at help
wanted ads to see what skills employers want.
He said he also found supervisors of a few jobs that require just a
high school diploma and asked which specific math skills employees need
at work. Those included ratios, proportions and percentages; scale
drawing and conversions; reasoning and problem-solving.
He also asked for examples of what those employees would have to read
and understand for work and was told they would need to read
informational text – instructions or forms – more than literature. They
also needed good grammar and should clearly communicate, but
understanding descriptions matters more than analysis.
He then used that feedback to establish the required minimum scores. He
cautioned, however, that test scores don’t really tell which particular
skills students have mastered, only their overall knowledge in a
subject.
Board member Sarah Fowler, of Rock Creek, said she was bothered that
scores can’t tell employers that students have specific skills and that
the state is just approximating competency.
“If we don’t have a definition beyond this particular word, what does it actually mean to employers?” she asked.
Chad Aldis of the Fordham Institute, which developed the graduation
plan with Ohio Excels said there is no “magic number.” He agreed with
DeMaria’s process of asking employers to help set the scores.
“There needs to be some respect given to that,” Aldis said. “Over time, we’ll see if our students end up not being prepared.”
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