Ohio Graduation Test designed for several purposes

Many of our Wayne High School students and teachers recently completed the spring administration of the Ohio Graduation Test. This year’s OGT was administered March 14-27. Students take the OGT for the first time in the spring of their sophomore year. The OGT covers five areas: reading, writing, science, social studies, and mathematics. Students that do not score proficient or better in each area of the OGT during their sophomore year must continue to retake those area(s) during their junior and senior years. Students are provided the opportunity to participate in classes to review the OGT material before retaking the test(s). In addition to the spring test dates, juniors and seniors are given the option of taking the OGT in the fall and during the summer. In order to earn a diploma and graduate, students must score a minimum of “proficient” in all five areas of the OGT. If a student has reached the status of senior, and has passed four of the five sections of the OGT, there are specific criteria established by the Ohio Department of Education that, if met by the student, may qualify the student for the alternate pathway for earning a high school diploma.

The OGT was designed for several purposes: 1) To ensure that students who receive a high school diploma in Ohio demonstrate at least high school levels of achievement in the five tested areas; 2) To measure the level of reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies skills expected of students at the end of their sophomore grade; and 3) To meet the federal requirements for high school testing under No Child Left Behind. In addition, the tests are aligned to, and assess students’ knowledge of Ohio’s Academic Content Standards in each of the five areas.