Toledo Public Schools will adjust its March and April class schedule to accommodate the large number of high schoolers taking or retaking state tests.

Scoring enough points on the state’s seven recently revamped end-of-course tests is one way students can meet Ohio’s new graduation requirements that first apply to the class of 2018.

Students must earn a minimum number of points on subject tests as well as rack up a cumulative score on all seven exams that is greater than the number of points needed to pass individual assessments. 

That means many students retake tests in a scramble to scrape up more points toward their total score in order to graduate.

The English I test will be administered March 13 to all freshmen and the majority of sophomores and juniors. The English II test will be given March 14 to all sophomores and most juniors.

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All high schoolers will report to school as normal those days for morning classes, but students not taking or retaking a test will be dismissed at 10 a.m. Transportation will be provided.

Test-takers will have lunch and then begin the exams.

A similar schedule will occur the week of April 24-28, when students take state tests in Algebra, geometry, biology, American studies, and American government.

This is the first year TPS has scheduled tests this way. Officials chose this route because it will allow high schoolers to complete testing in seven days without missing so many classes and free up teachers and staffers to administer the tests, said Bob Mendenhall, the district’s executive director of curriculum instruction.

“The big reason we are doing this is because it’s going to save on lost instruction time,” he said.

The plan will allow smaller groups of students to take the tests in classrooms instead of filling up a cafeteria or gym. That will make for “a much better testing environment,” Mr. Mendenhall said.

The growing number of students retaking the test also will require the district to move around computers, which students use to take the tests.

TPS doesn’t have enough computers at its high schools, so during the testing period it will transport about 3,210 Chromebooks from elementary schools to the high schools.

When high schoolers are done with the computers the machines will return to elementary sites for testing at the lower grades.

The district also started tutoring programs and classes to help students get ready for the English tests.

The eight Waite High School students in Monique Kwiatkowski’s pilot class take pretests that help her gauge what skills they need to work on. The English teacher uses a computer program to track how long students have been on their computers, their scores, and other information.

“Most of them are invested because they really want to get a better score, and they want to graduate on time,” she said.

Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.

First Published February 26, 2017, 5:00 a.m.