ACT Explore offered to students in Lisbon
LISBON – An Eastern Ohio P-16 Partnership For Education grant has made it possible for Beaver Local Middle School eighth grade students to take the ACT EXPLORE test next month.
The test is for eighth grade only, and is to prepare students for high school and even for college. According to the ACT website, 17,384 Ohio eighth grade students took the EXPLORE test during the 2009-10 school year.
Middle school Principal Connie Shive said the free test is a “great opportunity” for students. The test will highlight students’ strengths and weaknesses in English, math, reading and science. It will also help students choose their high school courses for their freshman year, she said.
School staff learned about the grant through Superintendent Sandra DiBacco, who attended an informational P-16 Partnership For Education meeting.
“(She) got us involved in the project. We applied and were accepted,” Shive said.
Many other schools in Columbiana, Trumbull, and Mahoning counties were invited to apply for the grant as well, she added.
The Eastern Ohio P-16 Partnership For Education mission is to develop and implement a “seamless system of excellent education” to prepare students for post-secondary education and a future career.
“It’s our hope that (this) will give us an idea of our academic program through the eighth grade and how well we are doing preparing our kids for academic courses in high school,” Shive said.
The school does not appear to be struggling academically, however.
“Our eighth grade curriculum is set up based on state standards, and our test scores have been high,” she said. “If you look at the data, our eighth graders have been scoring very well across the county.”
According to the district’s 2009-10 Ohio Department of Education (ODE) report card, eighth grade students at the middle school exceeded the state requirements and the state average in reading, math, and science. The students also rated higher than similar districts in the three subjects.
All 156 eighth grade students will take the ACT EXPLORE test Nov. 10.
After the test, Shive, DiBacco, and two other teachers will host small group meetings with students to go over the results.
The purpose of each meeting is to show students what career strengths they have, Shive said.
“Our plan is to do that prior to scheduling for their high school coursework,” she explained.
DiBacco was out of the office Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.
Shive said preparing students for the ACT is important since the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) may be eliminated in the future.
An ODE press release indicated an increasing number of Ohio students took the ACT this year. Of the 89,275 students tested, 28 percent met the college-readiness benchmarks for all four subjects, compared to the national average of 24 percent.
Beaver Local High School students will be taking the OGT at the end of October, Principal Jim Lyons said Monday.
The ODE district report card indicated that during the 2009-10 school year, 10th grade students scored slightly higher on the OGT test than the state percentage and higher than similar districts. Eleventh grade students tested were on par with similar districts and the state.
Lyons could not be reached for additional comment Wednesday.
More information about the Eastern Ohio P-16 Partnership For Education can be found online at www.easternohio16.org.
