BUCYRUS — Wynford High School Principal Julie Miller gave the Wynford Local Schools Board of Education an update on state testing as a follow-up to a previous meeting when she discussed different tests students take at each grade level.
Miller asked teachers from the middle school about testing throughout the year, and most teachers said they would only like to keep midterms in core classes that have state tests to have an indicator of a student’s readiness for the state tests towards the end of the year.
They also told Miller they would be okay with doing away with final exams since they fall close to the state tests. The teachers suggested having an incentive, such as a fun day or a field trip, around the time when final exams would normally be to help motivate the students and give them something to look forward to.
The high school teachers generally had the same opinions on testing, but they suggested making exams in classes worth 10 percent of the final grade instead of 20 percent, so if a student fails a test, their grade wouldn’t drastically drop, but rather could go from a B to a B-.
The high school teachers also agreed to wanting some sort of incentive day for the students.
The students would have to do something to earn the fun day, such as have decent grades or good behavior.
Another incentive suggested was allowing students to drop exams. If a student were to score a 5 on the summative assessment, which is the highest possible score, he or she could drop one summative assessment in a class similar to the state tested classes per semester.
In order to do this, students must have an “A” each semester and have less than three unexcused absences in each semester.
If a student receives a 4, they may do the same thing as a student who receives a 5, but they may only drop a summative assessment in one of the semesters instead of both. They must maintain A’s and B’s with less than three unexcused absences.
Miller also proposed two new potential exam schedules.
In the first, there would be a maximum of four exams, but the students would take only two per day. the students would arrive at the normal time and would go about their day on a three-hour delay schedule that has been made specifically for testing, so that students may take their exams and still go to all their normal classes in a day.
The other option would be to have all four of the exams in one day with the students attending none of their regular classes afterward.
Miller said the options were created to not only try and help students, but also to stop students from coming in late and leaving early when they have their exams.
Also during the meeting, Superintendent Fred Fox gave a building update to the board.
The building process is about three weeks behind due to rain. The builders are trying to get the soil compacted so that inspectors may come in and inspect the foundation so the brick layers may begin work.
The next board of education meeting is scheduled for July 10 at 5:30 p.m.