The Ohio Board of Education is recommending lawmakers reduce the number of exams students must take to graduate.
Board members voted Tuesday to get rid of three types of assessments. The first are local tests that are used solely to evaluate teachers.
They also voted to eliminate the WorkKeys exam, a test that students in career-tech pathways must pass to graduate.
State Superintendent of Instruction Paolo DeMaria told members of the board the recommendation to eliminate WorkKeys comes from a career-tech work group that studied the testing requirements.
“The WorkKeys is seen as yet another exam that needs to be taken and not really adding any value to the process,” he said.
Career tech students must achieve an industry credential plus take end of course exams to graduate and DeMaria said that should be sufficient.
The board also recommended Ohio lawmakers do away with the English Language Arts I exam, which is the end of course exam for freshmen.
Ohio lawmakers would have to vote on the recommendations before they could take effect.
