Post by Moses on Mar 14, 2005 12:25:02 GMT -5
Pass or fail
Sophomores at Catholic Central High School spent several weeks hanging new vocabulary words from their classroom ceiling each day.
Two hundred new words fluttered on strings like a storm of snowflakes by the end of their preparation for the reading and writing portions of the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), which starts today.
“They made learning games out of a lot of it,” said Julie Valentine, Catholic Central’s director of advancement.
Graduation for public school students as well as most private and charter school students hinges on a passing grade on the five-part test. The assessment measures what students are supposed to know by the end of 10th grade.
The OGT is more than just another test. It’s a graduation requirement starting with this year’s sophomores, the class of 2007.
It replaces the ninth grade proficiency test, which current juniors and seniors still have to pass to graduate.
The reading assessment kicks off the OGT today. Tuesday will be math, Wednesday is writing, Thursday is science and Friday is social studies.
Months of review have led up to the test this week.
At Catholic Central, January traditionally is a time for students to explore interests outside the traditional curriculum.
But the focus changed for the school’s sophomores this year. Rather than choosing from electives such as forensics, archeology or medical careers, all the 10th graders set their sights on the OGT.
Catholic Central 10th-graders spent three hours a day in January reviewing the test material. One hour was spent on science and math. Another hour was dedicated to reading and writing. The rest of the time focused on social studies.
Sophomore Demetrius Jones, 15, admitted he’s nervous. He questions the fairness of a test for which students are expected to know material they weren’t slated to learn until later in the school year. Most of the stuff in their review lessons was new material.
“I think they’re trying to make it harder to be successful,” Jones said.
The difficulty of the reading and writing review caught his study group off guard. It got kind of dry at times, but it was still helpful, he said.
“We thought this (preparation) class would be a breeze, but it’s not,” he said.
The material isn’t the only new thing for these students. The format of the questions is new, too.
Some problems that students will see on the OGT will be different from the usual multiple choice questions to which they’re accustomed.
They’ll will be expected to write short explanations to answer some questions.
“I don’t think you’re going to be able to just guess on this test and pass it,” North High School counselor Pam Baldridge said. “It’s a rigorous test.”<br>
Teachers have told students how difficult they expect the OGT to be, North geometry teacher Cindy Abraham said.
Many teachers revised their exams this year to familiarize students with the kind of questions they’ll see on the OGT. Abraham has also rearranged the order of her lesson plans to make sure she covered certain material before the OGT.
She hopes the preparation will keep students from being intimidated when they see the test.
Students started taking practice tests two years ago to get ready.
South science teacher LeeAnn Ballard said she and fellow teachers have spent “all day, every day” prepping students for the assessment.
All their lessons are geared around material on the test, South English teacher Kristi Barker said.
Usually by this point in the school year, she’s done a scrap book activity with her students. The teens interview someone older than their parents about the way life was when that person was growing up. They create a scrap book about that person’s life. Instead, they went through several weeks of “drill and kill,” Barker said.
Ballard would have preferred to spend more time on a unit on genetics instead of reviewing for a test. She postponed lessons in anatomy and dissections.
“Typically we’d be doing that by now and having fun,” she said.
Ballard doesn’t mind the idea of accountability, but she disagrees with using the test as a requirement to graduate.
“I’m not a big proponent of the test. I think it’s a lot to ask of the kids to put their entire high school career on the line with one test,” she said.
Baker isn’t a fan of “high stakes” testing, either. Some students take the test seriously. Others do not.
Before the OGT was implemented this year, students were required to pass the ninth grade proficiency test to graduate. About a dozen North High School students and up to 10 South High students were unable to graduate each year because they hadn’t passed all parts of the test.
South Interim Principal Paulene Swan said former students up to 30 years old still return to attempt to pass the ninth grade proficiency each year so they can get a diploma.
North Principal Larry Nickels said he hasn’t heard much from parents concerned about the OGT. He expects to hear a little more noise if students haven’t passed the new test by the time graduation rolls around.
There will be multiple opportunities to pass the OGT before finishing high school, although not as many chances as with the ninth grade proficiency test.
Students will have eight chances to pass. With the ninth grade proficiency, they had a dozen opportunities. If they don’t pass the OGT the first time, they can take it again over the summers, two other times during their junior year and three times their senior year.
It’s not clear right now what a passing score is, though.
The state will examine the results after all students take the test and determine in June what the proficient score should be.
That makes Barker feel like she’s shooting at a moving target, she said.
She has been coaching students that more than one choice might look like the right answer. They must remember that some choices are more right than others.
Tenth grade teachers at South High School encourage students to think positively about how they will perform on the test and not to rush through the questions.
Beyond teaching test taking skills, teachers are doing every little thing they can think of to boost student performance.
“Our test supervisor will have her supply of peppermint candy before the test,” Baldridge said.
Research shows that peppermint calms the nerves and stimulates thinking, she said.
Students are taking the tests in the afternoon because research also shows that children score better on tests in the afternoon than they do in the morning.
Parents ask her what they can do to help their kids do better. Her answers are simple: make sure students get a good night’s sleep, eat breakfast, and maintain a positive attitude.
“If the kids come to school and they take it seriously, they will do OK on the test,” she said.
Reach Gail Cetnar gcetnar@coxohio.com
Sophomores at Catholic Central High School spent several weeks hanging new vocabulary words from their classroom ceiling each day.
Two hundred new words fluttered on strings like a storm of snowflakes by the end of their preparation for the reading and writing portions of the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), which starts today.
“They made learning games out of a lot of it,” said Julie Valentine, Catholic Central’s director of advancement.
Graduation for public school students as well as most private and charter school students hinges on a passing grade on the five-part test. The assessment measures what students are supposed to know by the end of 10th grade.
The OGT is more than just another test. It’s a graduation requirement starting with this year’s sophomores, the class of 2007.
It replaces the ninth grade proficiency test, which current juniors and seniors still have to pass to graduate.
The reading assessment kicks off the OGT today. Tuesday will be math, Wednesday is writing, Thursday is science and Friday is social studies.
Months of review have led up to the test this week.
At Catholic Central, January traditionally is a time for students to explore interests outside the traditional curriculum.
But the focus changed for the school’s sophomores this year. Rather than choosing from electives such as forensics, archeology or medical careers, all the 10th graders set their sights on the OGT.
Catholic Central 10th-graders spent three hours a day in January reviewing the test material. One hour was spent on science and math. Another hour was dedicated to reading and writing. The rest of the time focused on social studies.
Sophomore Demetrius Jones, 15, admitted he’s nervous. He questions the fairness of a test for which students are expected to know material they weren’t slated to learn until later in the school year. Most of the stuff in their review lessons was new material.
“I think they’re trying to make it harder to be successful,” Jones said.
The difficulty of the reading and writing review caught his study group off guard. It got kind of dry at times, but it was still helpful, he said.
“We thought this (preparation) class would be a breeze, but it’s not,” he said.
The material isn’t the only new thing for these students. The format of the questions is new, too.
Some problems that students will see on the OGT will be different from the usual multiple choice questions to which they’re accustomed.
They’ll will be expected to write short explanations to answer some questions.
“I don’t think you’re going to be able to just guess on this test and pass it,” North High School counselor Pam Baldridge said. “It’s a rigorous test.”<br>
Teachers have told students how difficult they expect the OGT to be, North geometry teacher Cindy Abraham said.
Many teachers revised their exams this year to familiarize students with the kind of questions they’ll see on the OGT. Abraham has also rearranged the order of her lesson plans to make sure she covered certain material before the OGT.
She hopes the preparation will keep students from being intimidated when they see the test.
Students started taking practice tests two years ago to get ready.
South science teacher LeeAnn Ballard said she and fellow teachers have spent “all day, every day” prepping students for the assessment.
All their lessons are geared around material on the test, South English teacher Kristi Barker said.
Usually by this point in the school year, she’s done a scrap book activity with her students. The teens interview someone older than their parents about the way life was when that person was growing up. They create a scrap book about that person’s life. Instead, they went through several weeks of “drill and kill,” Barker said.
Ballard would have preferred to spend more time on a unit on genetics instead of reviewing for a test. She postponed lessons in anatomy and dissections.
“Typically we’d be doing that by now and having fun,” she said.
Ballard doesn’t mind the idea of accountability, but she disagrees with using the test as a requirement to graduate.
“I’m not a big proponent of the test. I think it’s a lot to ask of the kids to put their entire high school career on the line with one test,” she said.
Baker isn’t a fan of “high stakes” testing, either. Some students take the test seriously. Others do not.
Before the OGT was implemented this year, students were required to pass the ninth grade proficiency test to graduate. About a dozen North High School students and up to 10 South High students were unable to graduate each year because they hadn’t passed all parts of the test.
South Interim Principal Paulene Swan said former students up to 30 years old still return to attempt to pass the ninth grade proficiency each year so they can get a diploma.
North Principal Larry Nickels said he hasn’t heard much from parents concerned about the OGT. He expects to hear a little more noise if students haven’t passed the new test by the time graduation rolls around.
There will be multiple opportunities to pass the OGT before finishing high school, although not as many chances as with the ninth grade proficiency test.
Students will have eight chances to pass. With the ninth grade proficiency, they had a dozen opportunities. If they don’t pass the OGT the first time, they can take it again over the summers, two other times during their junior year and three times their senior year.
It’s not clear right now what a passing score is, though.
The state will examine the results after all students take the test and determine in June what the proficient score should be.
That makes Barker feel like she’s shooting at a moving target, she said.
She has been coaching students that more than one choice might look like the right answer. They must remember that some choices are more right than others.
Tenth grade teachers at South High School encourage students to think positively about how they will perform on the test and not to rush through the questions.
Beyond teaching test taking skills, teachers are doing every little thing they can think of to boost student performance.
“Our test supervisor will have her supply of peppermint candy before the test,” Baldridge said.
Research shows that peppermint calms the nerves and stimulates thinking, she said.
Students are taking the tests in the afternoon because research also shows that children score better on tests in the afternoon than they do in the morning.
Parents ask her what they can do to help their kids do better. Her answers are simple: make sure students get a good night’s sleep, eat breakfast, and maintain a positive attitude.
“If the kids come to school and they take it seriously, they will do OK on the test,” she said.
Reach Gail Cetnar gcetnar@coxohio.com