State says test scores dropped

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by Eric Marotta and Miles Jung-Kilbreath

Editor and Reporter

Nordonia Hills -- Preliminary results of the Ohio Graduation Test show a slight decrease in the number of Nordonia Hills sophomores who passed all five portions in 2008.

Tenth-graders took the test in March, and need to pass all five parts, which include reading, math, writing, science and social studies, before they can graduate from high school, according to the Ohio Department of Education Web site.

In all, 338 Nordonia Hills 10th graders took the test, with 73.7 percent scoring as proficient or above in all five tests.

Results from March last year show 74.6 percent of the 10th-grade students placed as either proficient or above in all five tests.

Curriculim Director Irene Beville said she has not fully examined the preliminary data, but said district staff will examine each test question on each test to learn what areas of instruction need to be revamped to address problem areas.

"We really take a good look at this," she added. "We spend a lot of time looking at the data."

She noted the slight drop in the percentage of students who passed all five areas amounts to a handful of individuals.

"I don't see that as being a significant decrease," said Beville. "Our goal would be to see more than 75 percent of our students score proficient the first time around. I think we're still in reach of that."

In the individual tests, the percentage of students passing individual tests were as follows: Reading -- 92.4 percent; Math -- 86.7 percent; Writing -- 93.2 percent; Science -- 82.2 percent; and Social Studies -- 86.8.

E-mail:
emarotta@recordpub.com

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