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Graduation Requirements 2018 and Beyond
 
Ohio House Bill 487 established new requirements for earning a high school diploma in Ohio. New graduation requirements take effect with the class of 2018 - students who entered ninth grade for the first time in the 2014-2015 school year.
 
Students in the class of 2017 and those who repeated ninth grade during the 14-15 school year continue to operate under Ohio's current graduation requirements, including taking the Ohio Graduation Tests in the spring of their 10th grade years. Students through the class of 2017, including repeat freshmen during the 14-15 school year, will be allowed to continue retaking the OGT exams through 2022 to get a passing score.
 
 
1. Ohio Coursework Requirement:
This requirement has not changed for Rocky River students.  Students in the class of 2018 and beyond are still required to earn 21 credits in order to graduate, specifically:
     4 credits of English
     4 credits of math, including Algebra 2 or equivalent
     3 credits of science 
     3.5 credits of social studies
     0.5 credit of health
     0.5 credit of physical education
      1 credit of fine arts (visual or music)
     4.5 credits of electives from any department
 
Please see the course catalog for more details. 
 
2. Assessment Requirement:
This requirement has changed for all Ohio students.  Students in the class of 2018 and beyond will replace the 5-subject Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) with new, end-of-course exams taken on computers in seven (7) courses:
     English 9, English 10
     Algebra 1, Geometry
     American History*, American Government*
     Physical Science or Biology (class of 2018 only),
     Biology (class of 2019 and beyond)
 
Students can earn 1-5 points for each of the seven (7) courses' exams, based on their performance:
     5-advanced
     4-accelerated
     3-proficient
     2-basic
     1-limited
 
*Students who take AP United States History or AP American Government can use their scores from the AP exam in place of the state exams to accumulate graduation points.
 
Middle school students who take one of these courses for high school credit must take the corresponding state end-of-course exam.  
 
A student who earned high school credit in any of the above courses before July 1, 2014 has three (3) options for earning graduation points:
  1. Automatically will receive a score of 3 points per course exam toward the total points needed for graduation.  
  2. Use the course grade (as it appears on the transcript) to earn graduation points 
  3. Students may take the exam when it is available to earn more than 3 points.
 The number of points a student earns on these seven (7) end-of-course exams will not affect the student's eligibility for a diploma with honors. 
 
3. Demonstration of Readiness Requirement:
This requirement is new.  Ohio's students will be able to demonstrate readiness in one of three (3) ways:
  1. Earn a total of 18 points on the seven (7) end-of-course exams, following these guidelines: at least 4 points are from math exams; at least 4 points are from English exams; and at least 6 points are from science and social studies exams.
  2. Earn an approved industry-recognized credential and earn a workforce readiness score on the ACT WorkKeys, a job skills assessment.  To view ODE's list of approved industry credentials, click here.  ACT WorkKeys passing scores: 13 out of 20 (classes of 2018 and 2019); 14 out of 20 (classes of 2020 and beyond).  Students must score a minimum of 3 points on each of the WorkKey's three sections.
  3. Earn a remediation-free score on an approved college admission test-the ACT or SAT. The ODE has determined the following scores:
            ACT:
            Math 22 or higher
            Reading 22 or higher
            English 18 or higher
 
            SAT:
            Math 520 or higher
            Reading: 450 or higher
            Writing: 430 or higher 
ODE Links
Retakes
A student who scores below proficient on any EOC exam may retake the exam after receiving extra help from the school. A student scoring Proficient or higher can retake an exam only if he or she has taken all seven EOC exams and still is below the minimum point requirements. Any student who automatically earned three graduation points from a course can retake the exam for a higher score.
 
The highest score a student gets on a test will count. For example, is a student retakes an EOC exam, or if he or she takes the college admissions test before or after it is offered by the state, the student's highest score will count.
Transfer Students
Districts will scale down the graduation point requirements for students who arrive at a a school with credit for some, but not all, tested courses. However, these students still must earn at least five (5) points between the English 2 and the Geometry exams. Students who transfer having taken all of the tested courses will take only the college admission test. If the student does not reach the score needed for graduation, the student must take the English 2 and Integrated Math 2 exams and earn five points between them.
Foreign Exchange
The state will exempt a foreign exchange student from the high school social studies end-of-course test requirements, specifically American history and American government, if the pupil will not be staying the the United States.