Graduation test format draws some complaints

Some students said they didn't see the second essay question.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- About 40 school districts have complained about confused students skipping an essay question that makes up more than a third of their score on the writing section of the Ohio Graduation Test, according to the state Department of Education.
Students answered one essay question, then a series of multiple choice questions and short-answer questions before encountering a page that said "this page was intentionally left blank."
A second essay question -- worth 18 of the test's 48 total points -- came after the blank page. However, some students thought the blank page signaled the end of the test, the department said. It was meant to provide space to compose a draft.
The test's booklet, as well as instructions that proctors read to students, clearly said the exam has two essay questions, department spokesman J.C. Benton said. The last page of the test is marked with a "STOP" symbol.
"We certainly sympathize, but reading and following directions is something that apparently needs to be learned by both students and testing administrators," Benton said.
Must pass everything
Beginning with the class of 2007, students must pass all five portions of the exam to graduate. The exams in writing, reading, math, social studies and science are being administered through next week. Students unhappy with their scores as sophomores have six more chances to take the test.
Benton said the test format is identical to last year, when there were no complaints, and also to a practice test found on the state Web site.
The state is unsure how many students stopped early.
In the Centerville district, just outside Dayton, 15 of 740 high school students who took the test didn't see the second writing question.
"It's not fair to trick people and then say, 'Shame on you,"' said Centerville Superintendent Gary Smiga. "We weren't testing the students on their ability to follow directions. We were measuring their ability to write."
At one school
At the Upper Arlington district near Columbus, 20 of the 464 sophomore test takers didn't see the final essay question, said high school Principal Kip Greenhill.
"It says nothing about going on to the next page," he said. "We're going to have students fail this test and it doesn't mean they are bad writers."
Brooke Cunningham, a sophomore at Bishop Hartley in Columbus, said she realized she had missed the question when other students discussed it after the test.
"I was devastated," she said.
The 16-year-old said she stopped listened to the test instructions after a few minutes because they sounded the same as instructions she had heard a day earlier when she took the reading exam.