The Cincinnati Beacon
More “Unethical” Test Prep? Hamilton Freshman School ESCAPE
Monday, March 24, 2008
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
 Photo courtesy of here.
In this story from Yesterday’s Journal-News out of Hamilton, Ohio, reporter Linda Ebbing writes about yet another high school program which may be in violation of Ohio’s law regarding ”standards for the ethical use of tests.”
From Ebbing’s article:
From 2:20 to 3 p.m. students attend different classes — English, history, math and science — to learn skills and strategies for the OGT, which they will take next year for the first time.
From Ohio Administrative Code:
(C) In monitoring practices related to preparing students for a state-wide assessment, each participating school shall use, but not be limited to, the following standards that define the types of practices that are unethical and/or inappropriate:
(5) Preparation for an assessment that focuses primarily on the assessment, including its format, rather than on the objectives being assessed;
One must wonder what is being taught in an after school program that addresses “strategies for the OGT.” This sounds like test format is being addressed, which violates the law cited above.
Why does Ohio wish to prohibit teaching about test format anyway? Could it be that these tests assess something other than content knowledge?
Schools like Hamilton Freshman School should absolutely be permitted to do what it takes to get kids through this oppressive test. But does that mean we should ignore the law? Legislators love saying that teachers and schools need to be “accountable.” What about the legislators? Are they accountable to the laws they write into the books?
Should the students, parents, teachers, and administrators of this school be forced to abandon this program, particularly if it works? Should the Department of Education spend time investigating programs like this?
Or, should the laws be exposed? And in exposing these laws, does it draw attention to the fact that high-stakes exams like the Ohio Graduation Test are really about something other than evaluating content knowledge? And further, if these tests really do assess something other than knowledge, is that fair? Is that what “accountability” means?
If studying test format does not improve scores, then why are schools implementing these kinds of programs? Why is there such a thriving test-prep book publishing industry?
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