Article written for media writing course

1. TOLEDO, Ohio – As the school year ends, students and teachers at Scott High School are
heading into summer concerned about the future of state testing next fall.
The 9th graders this year at Scott joined other students in the state of Ohio to participate in
the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. The PARCC tests students
in English and Mathematics.
The Ohio Department of Education adopted PARCC after the legislature voted to change
the graduation requirement. The reason for this change is to ensure students’ success in college
and in the work force.
This year’s 9th graders were the first to experience this change.
However, after much protest from teachers and parents, students and teachers are unsure
whether or not they will continue with that form of state testing next school year. Their protests
lead to lawmakers taking action by proposing a law, which would rule out PARCC. This new
law will change the way students are tested if passed.
A few teachers at Scott, Kyle Clark and Tamera Muchiarone, are not in favor of the test
simply because it did not work for their students.
Students were not prepared for the kind of questions asked, said Muchiarone. Students
were used to the format of the old test, the Ohio Graduation Test.
The OGT was the graduation requirement before PARCC. The old test was based on
memorization of facts. The new test is more analytical.
The change in format is problematic considering that many students have been preparing
for the old test since middle school, teachers said.
Savadah Eastman, a freshman at Scott High School, was in the class that took the new
form of testing.
“It’s not right because I wanted to take the OGTs. I studied for my OGTs my 7th and 8th
grade years,” said Eastman.
Teachers are also concerned with how the new test cuts into their instruction time. Kyle
Clark, a freshmen social studies teacher, was worried that students got really behind during
testing in the classroom. Students missed a whole week of his class to test for a different subject.
When he found out that the old test was being replaced, he was excited because he
thought the old test covered too much material. When he found out the PARCC was replacing it,
his excitement shifted to disappointment because that test isn’t much better.
Students who have already taken the OGT are relieved that they don’t have to take the
new test. Victoria Hawkins, a sophomore, says the PARCC will be harder to pass than the OGT.
She’s heard from several freshmen that the test was difficult.

2. With the possibility of a new law passing, teachers are unsure if the test will be
administered the following school year or if the Ohio Department of Education will come up
with a better replacement.
The Ohio Department of Education’s website says they hope to have answers by the fall.