Dive Brief:

• The Ohio Senate passed a bill this week that would shield students from consequences if they opt out of the state's high-stakes exams.
• The bill stops schools from using test scores to determine a student's promotion to the next grade.
• Ohio is currently rolling out the new, digital, Common Core-aligned PARCC exam.

Dive Insight:

The legislation comes amid growing concern from parents that schools are spending too much time testing and teaching to the test, and are therefore choosing to opt their children out of the exams.

The one grade and subject not protected by this legislation is third-grade reading. That exam has always been used as a threshold to determine whether or not students move on to the fourth grade, since it becomes increasingly difficult after the point for students to catch up, as that's the point where ELA classes change focus from developing literacy to metacognition skills and thinking about what you have read. The state's senate is also working to ensure that schools do not lose funding if students don't take the exams.