Governor's Reform Plan Supports Stark County's Long Term Advocacy to Replace the Ohio Graduation Test with the ACT
Lawmakers responded to the elimination of the graduation test with a standing ovation. - The Canton Repository*
For the past two years, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has traveled across the state talking with parents, educators, researchers, business and community leaders about the future of Ohio's education system.
This Wednesday, in his 2009 State of the State Address, he gave Ohioans a view of that future when he outlined his plan to reform Ohio's education system for the 21st Century. One part of the governor's new reform plan has special meaning for Stark County.
Strickland stated, "Ohio's current graduation test does not measure creativity, problem solving, and other key skills. We will make our assessments both relevant and rigorous by replacing the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) with the ACT and three additional measures."
Here, educators and community leaders have increasingly advocated for such a plan since 2003, when members of the Stark County P-16  Compact first suggested using the ACT instead of the OGT. A study conducted by the Stark Education Partnership in 2004** furthered that advocacy by demonstrating that the ACT provided an adequate measurement of Ohio's Academic Content Standards.
Since that time, districts here have worked to increase the number of students taking the ACT Test as a preparation for both college and the workforce.***
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* January 28, 2009. Strickland proposes school funding reform, longer school year
** See Advancing Ohio's P-16 Agenda: Exit and Entrance Exam
*** See ISSUES, January 22, 2009 |
