Ohio students and educators across the state are furious due to the board of education’s decision to increase the limitation of state test scores. President of the board, Mark Bushell, notes the situation as followed, “Recent graduates of our fine state of Ohio’s IQs, ACTs, and SATs, test scores have dropped significantly in the past three years. Now is the time to choose a plan of action for it. Ohio is an impeccable state with marvelous minds and this data has not been reflecting that. Starting with this years state tests, as opposed to Advanced, Accelerated, Proficient, etc., students’ test scores will be graded on a scale of 1-10, and only students with a 10 will be able to proceed to the next set of curriculum in that said subject area. We expect that in this first year most students will have to retake their current class or class from last year due to low test scores, and that’s what we intend. This new system will be implemented and used for the upcoming state tests in a few weeks depending on district, and this is now a state law and requirement.” Students and educators are in rage over this, claiming that this new system is completely messing up the students’ paths to graduation. Gifted educator in Franklin County, Nancy Mercing shares her feelings on this, “This is absolute outrage. My geometry students that struggle a bit in my class are now completely clueless and hopeless on their gifted education path now. These kids have been on a fast track just to fall behind at the last minute because of this new system. It’s honestly inhumane to hold them back this way.” To explain this further is a curriculum developer from Columbia University, Bradley Sanchez, Sanchez stated that, “This new test system in Ohio is looked down upon for everyone because it makes it difficult to graduate high school, but it’s especially difficult for children in the gifted path. These students have skipped certain curriculum in order to keep up with pacing, and these students will now have to revisit material from as far back as 4th grade in order to have a shot at getting a 10 on these tests. It’s quite horrible how short the notice is.” It seems that many Ohioan students are now in chaos over this new development.
More information on this subject will be out soon, make sure to subscribe to channel 46 news for more details!