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E-mail Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > May > 25 > Entry
What makes a real high school graduate?
(Students await their moment on stage at Troy High School’s graduation Saturday)
Graduation — a student wearing a gown and a funny square hat marching across a stage — is not mentioned in Ohio law.
Strange as it seems, since most of us have been through one, graduation is really nothing more than an informal ritual. It’s a cultural celebration that has grown up around the conferring of diplomas.
It is the diploma itself that is a matter of officialdom. Ohio law lays out the requirements to receive a high school diploma in this state. Meet the requirements and you MUST get a diploma from your school. A school that refused to award a diploma to a qualified student would be asking for a lawsuit.
And it works both ways. If you fail to meet the state’s requirements, it would violate the law for your school to give you a diploma anyway.
For this reason, I think just about everyone expects an injunction filed in court last week by Thurgood Marshall High School parent Donald Domineck probably will be denied early this week by Judge Frances McGee. In a court hearing Friday, Domineck had several arguments for why his daughter and other Thurgood Marshall students who have the required credits should be allowed in the graduation ceremony even though they cannot receive a diploma because they have not passed the Ohio Graduation Test.
The problem is none of Domineck’s arguments, as best I could tell, had a legal rationale.
But even if Domineck’s legal case fails, I still find this an interesting debate. And so do you, apparently, judging by more than 40 comments on my prior post on this.
Here’s what’s intriguing about the issue. First, I think both sides make compelling arguments about when a student could or should be allowed to participate in graduation. Second, Ohio lawmakers — as a GOTB reader quickly pointed out to me when this issue arose — just last year to steps took address fairness issues related to kids that simply cannot seem to pass one section of the graduation test.
And third, I have reason to believe a small segment of the students who have flunked the OGT have a very valid argument that their scores should qualify as passing scores. Hang with me until I get to that point.
But let’s start with the question, should a student who has not passed the OGT be allowed at graduation?
Dayton schools say no, and this is their rationale. School officials say the graduation ceremony is just that — a GRADUATION ceremony. Therefore, those who participate should only be those who are actually graduating. The district’s logic, essentially, says that having a student walk the stage in a cap and gown when neither the student nor the district knows for sure that the student will receive a diploma is to create a sort of fraud. That student, in the district’s view, is merely pretending to graduate.
If he or she eventually earns a diploma at the end of the summer then to some degree the fraud is mitigated. But at least some of those students will never earn the diploma. To some, the participation of students who are only pretending to graduate degrades the meaningfulness of the ceremony for those who actually have earned a diploma. As the district’s lawyer, John Concannon, told Judge McGee, the graduation ceremony is a great moment but it should mean something. Whether everyone in the district likes the OGT or not, Ohio law requires it for graduation.
OK, but now the other side.
Domineck argues that because the graduation ceremony is entirely a district-run ritual, each community can decide on its own what the event means. Domineck believes the graduation test is a meaningless exercise. There is no evidence, he argues, that a kid who earns 21 high school credits and passes is any better prepared for life than a kid who earns 21 high school credits and fails.
Domineck believes the test is arbitrary, flawed and discriminates against urban kids, who are by far the most likely group to fail it. Since Dayton is an urban distirct and has the power to permit OGT-blocked kids to participate in graduation, it should do so. In fact, Domineck thinks if every district refused to recognize the OGT when it came to graduation ceremonies it would send a message to lawmakers about the test’s unfairness.
And this is not only an urban issue. As I wrote last week, it’s suburban Kettering that is one of the few local examples of a district that actually does allow kids to participate in graduation who have not passed the OGT.
Kettering Superintendent Bob Mengerink said the district has that policy because its experience has shown that nearly all Kettering kids in that situation eventually do pass the OGT and receive a diploma and the district felt it was unfair to deny them their rite of passage if they met all other requirements.
And it seems that sentiment has even infected the legislature, Last year, a new rule created an exception to the OGT requirement for a very specific subset of kids — those who are good students, who have demonstrated a commitment to school and who have worked hard to prepare for the test but just can’t quite pass.
The new rules say a student who has not passed the OGT can graduate if he or she:
—Passed four of the five tests and missed passing the fifth test by no more than 10 scale score points
—Has had a 97 percent attendance rate each of the last four years and was not expelled
—Has a grade point average of 2.5 out of 4.0 in the subject area missed and completed the curriculum requirement in the subject area missed
—Has participated in any intervention programs offered by the school and has had a 97 percent attendance rate in the program
—Obtains letters of recommendation from each teacher in the subject area not yet passed and the high school principal
Now, this alternative route to a diploma rewards good students giving an earnest effort who, for whatever reason, can’t seem to quite pass one test. But there is another reason why this route is important for the state to have.
That reason is this — students who come very close to passing but fall short may have a statistical argument that their scores should qualify as passing.
Let me recap for you what Mark Fisher and I wrote in a series on standardized testing in 2004:
Meadowdale High School student Tynisha Edmondson was among the 2 to 3 percent of Ohio seniors who headed into May needing a passing mark on one or more proficiency tests before they can receive a diploma. Edmondson, who has earned A’s in science classes, hadn’t passed her science proficiency exam.
She is also part of another group of students: those whose chance to march with their classmates at commencement hinges on their answers to one or two proficiency test questions.
Edmondson was so close, some testing specialists said she may have a valid argument that she already has passed the exam.
She scored 198 on the proficiency test she took in March - just short of the 200 needed to pass. That’s very likely within the standard error of measurement that applies to such tests. The standard error, similar to the margin of error in a political poll, means the results could be off by an equal percentage in either direction.
(Testing expert James) Popham said Edmondson’s 198 is statistically indistinguishable from the passing score of 200.
Standard error of measurement remains an issue for standardized tests used in Ohio today. So students scoring a 398 or 396 on any portion of the OGT (400 is the passing cut off) — essentially missing the passing score by one or two questions — have an argument that their scores should qualify as passing.
Now, that’s an argument that might have gotten the state’s attention.
(Image credit: Peter Wine, DDN)
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
Comments
By J
May 27, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this
Graduating means passing everything the state has mandated for you to pass. (Oh and remember, a 2.5 grade point average is a “C” average!!) As one blogger commented, a 400 score is JUST passing - not excelling - in the test. Would you let a paramedic dispense drugs to your child, if he/she didn’t quite pass his final exam in how to calculate drug amounts based on body weight? Would you let a surgeon operate on you if he/she had scored a 398 out of 400… “Oh but he went to all his classes!” I know these examples are a bit dramatic, but come on… when are we going to start holding people accountable?!
By Mary
May 27, 2008 7:57 AM | Link to this
Laura, my logic/rationale is if someone takes communion in church, we do not really know their true status regarding religion either. These are public rituals or rituals in public. As Scott noted in his writeup, the graduation ceremony has no legal basis or requirement. It is a traditional ritual. If somebody wants to rent a cap and gown, pay for invitations, balloons, flowers, meat and cheese platters, class rings, yearbooks, and graduation cakes - have at it. I wonder how much schools spend to rent the facilities and put on a show that I find quite full of pomp and expense. It is a public party. I do not see good reasons why it should exclude students who have been part of the system for 13 years. The actual diploma they receive is what is official. As I pointed out, some colleges allow students who have not met all credits to march. A neighbor kid just marched at the Miami University graduation but he is completing two more courses this summer for his double major in engineering.
By Oldprof
May 27, 2008 7:24 AM | Link to this
Scott, please don’t play “margin of error” games with standards. By your calculations, it’s OK for us to mail in our tax returns on April 25; it’s a home run if the ball falls 9 feet inside the wall; I can give the cashier $.97 for a one-dollar item. Some things in life have hard standards—you, as a good reporter, are WELL aware of that truth every time you meet a deadline! Students need to understand that real life doesn’t give you the margin of error every time, and if they don’t get that before commencement, then the ceremony is our last chance to impress them.
By Colleen
May 26, 2008 10:33 PM | Link to this
Scott, the State Board of Education does ratify the cut scores on the OGT and OAT tests, but the cut scores are recommended by a committee of educators. These committees use the “bookmark” method to set the test cut scores. The educators serving on the committee teach the subject and/or grade level of the specific test being reviewed. Questions are ranked according to difficulty, and the cut score is determined based on agreement that a student who is “just barely proficient” would likely be able to correctly answer the questions below the cut score. The cut score does not constitute mastery of a majority of material at a specific grade level nor does it indicate a level of preparation necessary to be successful at the next grade level. In general, the proficient cut scores represent only minimum standards. In the case of the OGT, no subject matter above grade 10 is included on the test.The current cut scores were established several years ago with the understanding that they were perhaps too low and could be increased as the full testing suite (alll subjects and grade levels)came online. The OGT alternative pathway does require that the student’s GPA is only compared to other students (a specific cohort)who took the same coursework and passed the section of the OGT in question in addition to the other requirements. It’s not necessarily an “easier” standard for students to meet. The alternative pathway was part of the original law. The State Board established the specific requirements (GPA, participation in remediation, etc.) almost two years ago.
By Davidss2
May 26, 2008 10:23 PM | Link to this
Poverty, smoverty. That has nothing to do with showing proficiency. I think I’ll barf if I hear one more liberal use poverty or any of the other codewords for excuses. The law said the students need to pass 4 of 5 tests or 5 of 5. Whether the student scored one over or one under doesn’t make a smattering of difference. If a student can’t pass having had 2 tries per year from 10th grade on up, then they aren’t showing proficiency. BTW if a student passes by only 402 are we going to require that student to retake the test to show that the 402 wasn’t just a statistical snafu? Why use the excuse that being at 398 should merit a redo because it was a statistical oversight? It’s my understanding BTW that the test scores are adjusted to compensate for the difficulty of particular question set the student had in the set in the test form they took. That explains how a person can have a 399 where it would appear missing a point would cause an error of a few points rather than a singular point. This would be similar to the SAT scores being adjusted to retain comparison of scores from year-to-year while the test difficulty changes. At risk of too much statistics info here, if a student can’t pass the test one time in their high school career I don’t want my state tax money saying that student showed a minimal proficiency in that subject and having them prance across the stage to screaming from their family members complete with boat horns and overweight mothers jumping up and down when they didn’t really pass. It would be nice to see civility and formality to match the occasion return to graduations. Maybe Mary is right, and maybe we should just toss the graduation ceremony as meaning something.
By Laura
May 26, 2008 7:28 PM | Link to this
While I believe the tests are flawed, the scoring has been proven to be completely inept at times, I still think that if you are going to make a requirement you need to stick with it or change it. Mary, I don’t understand your logic saying “no one needs to know”. Just the participation in “graduation” or “commencement” ceremonies implies a person has earned a diploma. If we are going to allow students to march in the ceremony, then it needs to be called something else. Maybe, ” Four-Year Attendance” ceremony. Then again, we have to decide if we are going to require them to actually meet minimum attendance requirements or allow anyone whose parent doesn’t go to jail for non-compliance.
By Dave
May 26, 2008 7:21 PM | Link to this
I am glad that the school systems focus so much attention on graduation ceremonies. We tell kids how important it is to graduate, so it is only appropriate to give them a ceremony, as a visible acknowledgment that they did something very important.
By Mary
May 26, 2008 10:28 AM | Link to this
Well, I am just amazed how much the education system focuses on ritual, rules, and hoops. As some admitted, the ceremony itself is a ritual. Why turn anyone away who wants to be part of the public ritual? Give them a conditional diploma when they go across the stage. No one else needs to know the difference. Students are not required to attend to get their diplomas either. Some colleges allow students to go through a ceremony without having all credits. Many of us collect college diplomas without attending the rituals. I have never even been on the campus of the University of Southern California, but I have my masters degree from them. They flew instructors into the military bases where I attended classes. I think schools should focus more on content than rituals.
By 2 different issues
May 26, 2008 12:26 AM | Link to this
Your argument is off base. Sure, 398 could be the passing score. Or 402 or 420. They’re just numbers. The point is, 400 is the number that must be met. Let’s also be clear about something: “passing” with a 400 means that you are barely proficient at the material in question. But, this brings up a better point: do the tests really show what kids know? Research shows they definately DO NOT. Especially for kids living in poverty. Several states have already enacted laws allowing for students to bypass the tests by doing comprehensive portfolios of their work. This was one of Gov. Strickland’s reform ideas floated earlier this year and really should be added to the law.
By Scott Elliott
May 25, 2008 9:49 PM | Link to this
David makes a fair point that if a 398 is equal to a 400 in scoring, then a 402 is also an statistically equivalent score. The brings up another tough question — why is a 400 a passing score and not a 390 or a 410? The truth is that the standardized test-making process generally does not set a passing score. They give a range, which is really more of a guesstimate of what constitutes adequate knoweldge of content. The final pass/fail line is usually drawn by a political body, such as the state board of education. My point is you can make a fair argument that the passing score on any standardized test is an arbitrary number, subject to measurement error. Critics of using a single test in high stakes decisions like who graduates or who goes to the next grade make this exact argument — that decisions of who graduates or gets promoted are essentially arbitrary.
By Davidss2
May 25, 2008 8:24 PM | Link to this
The argument that 398 is indistinuishable from 400 or a passing cuoff is moot. Are we going to start NOT letting students with 402 graduate? They have the same deviation from the cutoff and are within the statistical error of 400 (399 actually) and should have failed. Are we going to have the gradepoint average in the questioned subject evaluated and if it’s lower than 2.5 and if the teachers in that topic who taught the student say the student really shouldn’t graduate, are we going to NOT let the student graduate? I believe those escape items for not passing a 5th test while passing the other 4 of the OGT have been in place since the beginning of the OGT.