With the introduction this year of the first academic achievement test, Ohio begins phasing out the fourth, sixth and ninth-grade proficiency tests.
The academic achievement tests will be given annually for grades 3 through 8, said Sharon Parsons, curriculum director for Athens City Schools. The state requires all tests to be in place by the 2007-08 school year.
The No Child Left Behind Act, implemented in January 2002, requires both annual testing in grades 3 through 8 and a graduation test in 10th grade.
The tests cover reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies. Not every grade is tested in each subject every year. For the subjects that are not tested in a particular year, schools must give a diagnostic test - which are not counted in the school report card - covering that subject, she said.
The academic achievement tests are based on new academic content standards developed by the state over a number of years, said Debbie Tully, professional issues coordinator for the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
Teachers were concerned with the effectiveness of proficiency tests because the material taught in the classroom did not match the content of the tests, she said.
The tests should be a useful tool once the academic content standards are in place, Tully said. The standards must be ready by January 2004.
The Kindergarten Readiness Test is one diagnostic test being field-tested this year, said Pat Hoessli, Instructional Resource Center Coordinator for Southeastern Ohio
Special Education Regional Resource Center.
The test, which must be implemented by next year, is a tool for teachers to tailor their instruction for their students' skill levels, she said.
Some kids have gone to preschool
have knowledge of numbers and colors and words and some kids do not have that Hoessli said.
The Readiness Test is just one portion of a package of kindergarten diagnostic tests. But before it can be a useful tool, it should be more efficient, Tully said.
(The test) is time intensive
she said. Also, the teachers who give the test must have five hours of training that is not paid for by the state.
The Ohio Graduation Test, which 10th-grade students will field-test this year, is replacing the ninth-grade proficiency test as a requirement for graduation.
Although the sophomore class will take the graduation test, scores will not be counted in the district's grade card. The current freshman class will take the test next year as a graduation requirement, Parsons said.
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