Five percent of Akron Public Schools' senior class, or 78 students, have failed one or more of the five Ohio Graduation Tests and will not cross the stage at graduation ceremonies.

The number is down from the 8 percent who failed last year, the first year a more rigorous state test was required for graduation.

''We're seeing positive trends of increased seniors graduating and passing the OGT,'' Assistant Superintendent Ellen McWilliams told the Akron Board of Education on Tuesday.

''I really attribute these changes, these very positive changes, to what the high schools have done in terms of focused intervention. They've worked very, very hard at getting the students into interventions, or repeating courses if needed and into OGT prep.'' The numbers aren't firm. Some students who failed one of the
tests by 10 points or fewer may still graduate under the state's ''alternative pathway'' provision if they meet other requirements, such as achieving 97 percent attendance during their four years of high school, and have taken intervention programs offered by the district in the failed subject area.

Other seniors may not graduate if they have not accumulated enough credit hours. Students finished final exams last Friday and they are being graded this week. Those results should be known by Friday.

Special education students (there are 94 in this year's senior class) take the OGTs, but are exempt from the consequences of failing the tests.

The OGTs measure knowledge at the 10th-grade level in five areas: reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies.

Students have seven chances to pass all five tests before their graduation date, beginning with the spring of their sophomore year.

Seniors will get another chance this summer to pass.

The district will hold registration for its free OGT summer school on June 9 and 10 for juniors and seniors. Testing will begin the week of June 23 — a month earlier than normal — so that the scores will get back sooner and possibly allow students to enroll in college.

The testing requirements were established by the Ohio General Assembly in 2001 based on recommendations by the Governor's Commission for Student Success, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Educators consider the OGTs more rigorous than the Ohio Ninth-Grade Proficiency Tests that they replaced.

The graduating class of 2007 was the first required to pass the tests. About 8 percent of last year's class — 127 seniors — failed to pass all the tests by graduation time.

Firestone and East High School tied for the highest percentage of students passing the OGT this year at 99 percent. Buchtel's passing rate was 88 percent, the lowest of the seven traditional high schools, but up from 86 percent last year.

The Akron Alternative Academy scored 87 percent, which was better than 2007's 74 percent.

The academy targets students who have not been successful in traditional high schools by providing smaller classes, individual tutoring and intensive intervention to help them pass the OGT.

Overall, seniors are doing better on the reading and writing tests, but science continues to be the toughest test to pass, followed by math and social science.

The science test has 32 multiple-choice questions, four short-answer questions and two questions that require an extended written response.
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