New School Year Brings Changes to Testing and Graduation

As the school year gets under way for thousands of Northeast Ohio students, some can look forward to one less state test.  The Ohio General Assembly this summer eliminated the state social studies test for fourth and sixth graders.  And there’s interest in cutting more tests, according to state schools superintendent Paolo DeMaria.  Speaking on 90.3’s The Sound of Ideas, DeMaria says they’re working to eliminate standardized tests that are used to measure teacher performance.

“We have a proposal out there to modify the teacher evaluation process and in the course of doing that, eliminate some of the need for some of those evaluation-related testing.” 

DeMaria points out that state exams are not the majority of time kids spent on testing.

The new school year also brings changes for the graduating class of 2018.   One path toward earning a diploma is an industry credential -- such as welding or automotive.  This year, Ohio added 49 new credential options to the list.

“Some of them are in IT fields, some of them are in advanced manufacturing and robotics, some of them are in agriculture,” says DeMaria.   “And as the business community comes to understand that credentials are really valuable in helping them to identify talented people to come and work in their industries, we’re seeing more and more credentials being developed.”

DeMaria says the students still have to reach a certain level of mastery in math and English.

“They’re reading shop manuals. They’re having to do all the kinds of things they’re going to find in the workplace.  They’re going to have to do the mathematics that’s related to that particular credential and so forth and so on. So I don’t want to minimize that there isn’t an academic component because there is.”

He adds that the credentials help kids recognize the importance of English and math because they’re using it in the workplace.