Ohio Graduation Test: Leaving Children Behind

This week I have been administering the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) to special education students at our local vocational center. The students in my group had learning disabilities that gave them the option to have most of the tests read to them. The state provided recordings of the questions on CDs for the students to use. For the students I tested, this was their third or fourth attempt to pass the tests.

While I am not opposed to testing students for educational purposes, I am opposed to this particular test for the following reasons:

1) The purpose of the test is political, not educational. The tests were initiated by politicians to shift the blame for our failing schools to educators and students and away from government policies that under fund education, and contribute to social conditions that negatively impact our students’ ability to take advantage of educational opportunities.

2) All students are required to pass the same test regardless of their interests and abilities.

“It was a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.” Felix Frankfurter

This test assumes that all students will need the same basic skills and that all of them should be prepared to attend college. While the stated purpose of the test is to:

a) “Ensure that students who receive a high school diploma demonstrate at least high school levels of achievement;

b) Measure the level of reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies skills expected of students at the end of the 10th grade;

c) Meet federal requirement for high school testing. “

It is item "c" that is the guiding force in this testing, not improving the education of all students.

3) Students who have limited academic abilities in the traditional school subjects are spending most of their effort and time studying material that they will not be using in their daily life while failing to learn basic skills that they need to know. Passing the test has become more important than being able to apply academic skills to real life situations.

4) Repeated unsuccessful attempts to pass the tests leads to an increased drop out rate, poor school attendance, and students viewing themselves as failures. Students are required to spend a tremendous amount of time studying subjects for which they may have little aptitude. This results in less time productively studying in areas where they can have success.

5) Tests results have been shown to be highly correlated with socioeconomic status, race and IQ. Those students who will be most impacted by the test are those most vulnerable to discrimination and economic marginalization. Depriving them of a diploma because of their failure to pass the test will only add to their employment problems even when those skills tested are not used on the job.

6) Schools in poverty areas are required to spend more resources trying to help students pass the test and are in danger of losing funding if students fail. These are the very schools that are already under funded and struggling with social problems that their students bring into the school from home and community. The failure of students to achieve on the tests has been viewed as the problem instead of a symptom of the underlying problems such as poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, single parent families, parents in jail, gangs and violence, unemployment and underemployment. The rating of schools based on the test results has only added to the negative view of at-risk populations and allowed politicians to blame the victims and those trying to help them instead of taking responsibility for improving the conditions that breed the feeling of hopelessness and despair. Poorly rated schools have more difficulty recruiting qualified and creative teachers, probably the most important ingredient, besides parental support, in educating children. Voucher and charter schools take funding from public education, and while offering an alternative for students who want a better educational situation, leave behind those who have social, academic and behavioral problems and the least parental and community support.

7) The content of the test is questionable with regard to its relevance to the problems most students will face as adults. Most of us spend little time balancing equations, figuring probability, writing five paragraph essays, or balancing chemical formulas unless those skills are part of our chosen field of employment. We may have known how to do these things at one time, but most adults manage quite well in life without knowing much of the content that is tested by the OGT. The passing score for the test is only 50%. That in itself tells me that most of the information on the test isn’t important enough to real life that every student who graduates should know it.

I would like to challenge the members of our legislature and the voters who elected them to take previous copies of the OGT online at http://ohio.measinc.com/Content.htm

After you take them, ask yourself how often you find yourself using the information over which you have just been tested. Ask yourself if students who fail to get 50% on the test should be spending time in school taking OGT specific remedial classes to get enough answers right the next time to pass it. If the purpose of the test is to identify students needing academic help and in danger of being left behind, taking the test once is enough. Actually, you wouldn't even need to give them a test, just ask their teachers. If the purpose of the testing is to get help to vulnerable students, schools where there are many students failing should get additional funding and support, not blame. If a student in 10th grade cannot pass the test, threatening the student with the loss of a diploma is not a big motivator. Most students already realize that a high school diploma does not mean much in the labor market. Most students who have trouble passing the test already know that they are behind everyone else in the traditional academic subjects and that their chances of succeeding in a field that relies on these skills is pretty slim. If we really want to leave no child behind, we will prepare students for employment consistent with their skills, abilities and interests, and we will ensure that the jobs they are prepared to do pay a living wage. The view that every person should go to college and have an academically oriented career is a mistake that we cannot afford to make. We need people who are trained in the trades and skilled in many areas. When we place the emphasis in education on passing an academic test, we are leaving many of our most valuable and productive workers behind.