Much has already been written about the coming “graduation crisis,” which the Ohio Department of Education admits could result in 30 percent of Ohio’s students being prevented from receiving a diploma.

In Ohio’s urban centers, the percentage of nongraduates could reach 60 percent to 70 percent.

This year’s juniors are the first graduating class required to satisfy the new requirements, which demand earning a total of 18 points from 7 state assessments. Ohio’s graduation tests have changed vendor and/or form in each of their high school years.

As students and parents begin to panic, and schools scramble to provide remediation for tens of thousands of retakes statewide, some facts have gotten lost in the discussion. Most important among these is the fact that there is absolutely no federal regulation that insists graduation to be tied to standardized tests.

Ohio is one of only 13 states with this requirement. http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/01/ohio_schools_coming_graduation.html

The State Board of Education’s Standards and Graduation Committee discussed Ohio’s graduation requirements during its December meeting. The committee, and ultimately the full board, passed a resolution to direct the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create a work group to review the graduation requirements and consider any alternative approaches as they relate to the class of 2018.

The superintendent will present a recommendation to the Standards and Graduation Committee by the April 2017 board meeting.