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Bill to Change K-12 Testing Heads to Ohio Senate

The Statehouse News Bureau | By Jo Ingles

Published March 7, 2021 at 9:04 PM EST

a photo of students taking a test — State legislators are trying to minimize the impact of this year's standardized tests.

The Ohio House overwhelmingly passed a bill that changes the way K-12 students are tested for this school year because of interrupted learning during the COVID pandemic.

Rep. Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield) says the bill will allow for final course grades to be used instead of test scores for high school graduates. And it gives schools extra days to conduct proficiency tests.

“Substitute House Bill 67 has one single purpose – to provide relief to students who are returning to school so that these tests have as little impact on them as possible for this school year and this school year only.”

But because there’s no emergency clause, the bill wouldn’t take effect till after the school year ends. It’s expected the Senate will change that.