State proficiency tests in Ohio House

The Ohio House was ready to vote yesterday on a bill that overhauls the state's proficiency tests. Under proposals in the bill, some of which could take as many as 10 years to put into effect, the state would:

• Eliminate the requirement that, beginning in the 2001-2002 school year, students who don't pass the fourth-grade reading test would be prohibited from advancing to the fifth grade.
• Phase out existing proficiency tests in the fourth, sixth, eighth and 12th grades and replace them with tests that closely follow new standards.
• Test children for reading in the third grade, math and writing in the fourth and science and citizenship in the fifth.
• Test children on these subjects again in the seventh and eighth grades.
• Beginning in the 10th grade, require that students graduating in 2007 pass a statewide test before they graduate from high school. Alternatively, require that students pass a series of statewide end-of-year exams in a variety of subjects.
• Allow students who fail one of the five 10th-grade proficiency tests to graduate from high school as long as they meet several other requirements, including a 2.5 GPA.
• Add a new standard of "excellent" to the four current performance standards for school districts. The other standards: academic emergency, academic watch, continuous improvement and effective.
• Require that all districts use a state-approved test to measure the academic abilities of students in grades kindergarten through eight. The results of these tests wouldn't be reported (except for kindergarten), but would be used in helping prepare students for the new proficiency tests.
• Prohibit questions to identify gifted students on these tests.
• Require that schools provide intensive remedial programs, including summer school, extra time in class, tutoring and smaller classes, for students who aren't showing signs of passing the third-grade reading test.
• Require the state to provide extensive new data on test results, including results by race, gender, ethnicity and economic status.