This year, the Next Generation Assessments begin in Ohio. The new assessments are designed to be more rigorous than the Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAA) and the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). The assessments will measure student achievement on the new learning standards adopted by the State. The new standards are made up of the Common Core Standards in areas of English/Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics and the newly developed standards developed by the State in science and social studies.
The new state assessments in ELA and mathematics have two distinct parts. The first part is a Performance-based (PB) component. The PB assessments are administered after about 75% of the school year has been completed and teams of assessors score them. The PB assessments are designed to measure whether students can use the knowledge they have acquired in a practical way. The PB assessments will ask students to demonstrate skills in the tested areas. The second part of the new assessments consists of a series of End of Course (EOC) exams. The EOC exams are administered after about 90% of the course has been completed and will be machine scored. The EOC exams are designed to measure what the students know about the content in the assessed areas.
As this is a transition year for the assessment system the following testing schedule has been developed by the Ohio Department of Education:
• The OAA will still be administered to third graders in reading.
• New Assessments will be administered in ELA, math, and social studies in grades 4 and 6
• New Assessments will be administered in ELA, math, and science in grades 5 and 8
• New Assessments will be administered in ELA and math in grade 7
• The Ohio Graduation Test will still be administered to the high school Classes of 2015 (Seniors), 2016 (Juniors), and 2017 (Sophomores). For students of the Classes of 2015 and 2016 the OGT is only administered if parts of the test have not previously been passed. All students in the Class of 2017 must take and pass the OGT to graduate from high school.
• New Assessments will be administered to the high school Class of 2018. Students of the Class of 2018 will be expected to take assessments in English I, English II, algebra I, geometry, physical science, american history, american government. The assessments are administered after students have completed the course curriculum related to the assessment. In addition, students may take substitute exams for physical science, american history, and american government if they are enrolled in those classes through an Advanced Placement Program or a Dual Enrollment Program.
The new format requires school districts to carefully organize the assessments and assessment schedules. We are confident that we will have a plan that will make the assessment process seamless for students. This year, the district has opted to administer all of the assessments in a paper/pencil format. However, in the future, the assessments will be administered in an online format. Again, we will be well prepared for the online testing once it begins.
Recently, I read that the people building the new assessments expect that student scores will be very low initially. They expect that it will take some time for students, teachers, and school districts to adjust to the new level of rigor and expectations of the assessments. The article went on to state that we (education community, parents, and students) should not be alarmed if scores are initially low; instead we should continue to adjust curriculum, instruction, and expectations to ensure that students meet the challenge of the new assessments. As a district committed to continuous improvement, I can assure you that regardless of our initial scores on the new assessments, we will continue to work to improve our practice.
Finally, a word about the new graduation requirements: The State of Ohio requires that students earn 4 credits in English, 4 credits in mathematics, 3 credits in science, 3 credits in social studies, .5 credit in health, .5 credit in physical education, and 5 credits in electives. The Wickliffe City School District also requires an additional social studies credit and requires that .5-credit elective credit be speech. The Wickliffe total credit requirement is 21 whereas the State requirement is 20. Further, in order to graduate students must take the aforementioned assessments and score a total of 18 points out of a possible 35 on those assessments. Of the 18 points, students must earn at least 4 points in English, 4 points in math, and 6 points total in science and/or social studies. Each assessment will be valued at 5 points. Ohio has also adopted two other graduation pathways. One pathway is for students to earn a remediation-free score on a national college admission test (ACT/SAT) or earn an approved industry-recognized credential and earns a workforce readiness score on job skills assessment.
The new assessments,graduation requirements, and pathways represent a new way of doing business in education in Ohio. In the Wickliffe Schools we are preparing our students to meet the new challenges successfully and we will continue to develop programming and strategies to assist our students in becoming successful.