08/27/2025
The education conversation 9 years ago (2016):
Posted by Retired Judge A.J. Wagner
August 25, 2016~
Ohio's graduation rates will plummet in 2018 due to policies regarding standardized testing. I estimate 40% of our seniors will not graduate in 2018. In economically deprived areas that number could easily reach 70%. Board member Stephanie Dodd passed on this email from a superintendent in Shadyside, Ohio. It is personal, compelling, and informative about the situation tens of thousands of Ohioans will face in the coming years. I publish it here with permission. Thank you Superintendent Haswell.
From: John Haswell
Sent: Friday, August 19, 2016 11:58 AM
To: Dodd, Stephanie
Subject: Letter
Dear Paolo DeMaria,
“Colleagues hail Paolo DeMaria as a passionate leader, a tireless worker, a respectful listener, a consensus builder and a man with a great sense of humor. All are qualities Ohio’s 38th superintendent of public instruction calls on daily as he works to support an education system of nearly 3,600 public schools and more than 1.6 million students.” That passage is from the ODE website, and with these attributes in mind, I respectfully ask you to read this letter.
My name is John Haswell, Superintendent of Schools and 7-12 Principal in Shadyside Local School District and, more importantly, the father of a 15-year-old daughter. You notice that professionally I serve a dual role, and that is for good reason; our district has been in fiscal caution since 2003. I am also a certified bus driver that has had to drive regular bus routes as well as extra-curricular routes because of our inability to employ bus drivers in our district. I do these things sir, because I love our little school district. I will do whatever it takes to get the job done for our students.
As I mentioned, I am also the father of a beautiful, just turned 15-year-old daughter that is about to enter her sophomore year. Her name is Victoria, and she is a varsity cheerleader, a talented singer, track athlete, and possesses a beautiful personality. She is also already well behind on her end of course exam mandated graduation requirements. Victoria comes from a home that truly values the importance of education; not only is her father the Superintendent of schools, her mother is a first grade teacher in our district with 30 years of experience. I should also disclose that my daughter is what I consider an average student, and we have pushed her hard. She is the youngest in her class, she took Algebra 1 as an eighth grader, and she has always been a poor test taker.
Sir, here is how she currently stands with these mandated end of course exams: Algebra 1- Basic 2 points, English 1- Basic 2 points, Geometry- Limited 1 point. This means she has not reached the 4 point math requirement and she has a total of 5 graduation points. As you are aware, it takes 18 total points to graduate high school. Victoria, as well as all of her non-IEP peers, need to average 2.6 points on these 7 tests to be eligible for graduation. My daughter is averaging 1.7 points.
I previously mentioned that she just turned 15 on July 10, 2016. I have yet to tell her the test results as I do not want to ruin the rest of her summer and add unneeded stress to a developing adolescent that my wife and I are raising in a 21st century world filled with the perils of social media, drug addiction, and instant access to anything at the push of a button.
Victoria will have to retake the Geometry exam because of the low grade. However, I will be moving her on to Algebra 2 as it is also a mandate to graduate high school. I may put her back in Geometry again this year until she retakes this test and or our district figures out how to provide required remediation. That sir, will undoubtedly do a world of good to her self esteem. She will view herself as a failure even though she passed Geometry with a C average.
Looking away from my daughter and at the students that are struggling similarly, I would like to admit that I too struggled with Algebra, as did Victoria`s mother. I feel that I have done fairly well for myself despite not doing well in Algebra, and I never even took Geometry. Regardless of my weaknesses in math, I was able to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Education in four years at Capital University, and a Master’s in Administration from Franciscan University of Steubenville. I currently hold six certifications: Physical Education K-12, Health 7-12, Principal Pre-K- 6, Principal 4-9, Principal 5-12, and Superintendent. As previously noted, I also hold a Class B Driver License with a school bus certification.
Now I would like to look at the big picture: approximately 5 percent of people in this country require Algebra and Geometry as a necessity for a job requirement, yet Ohio places great emphasis on Algebra 1, 2 and Geometry. I keep hearing the word “RIGOR” repeated over and over in Ohio. Ohio sets rigorous standards for their students. I do not understand, sir. Why are we going to keep our children from graduating because of subjects that 5 percent of people will use? Rigor or Ridiculous? Limited scores were obtained by 42,279 students on Algebra 1 end of course exam this year. Unless those students are on an IEP they are not on track to graduate. Forty-nine percent, or 66,247 students, are not proficient in Algebra 1. Sir, 25,238 students scored limited in Geometry this year. One of them is my daughter. Fifty-one percent, or 56,988 students, are not proficient in Geometry. 67,517 children scored limited on Algebra and Geometry in Ohio. 123,235 students are not proficient on these two tests. This means many of these children will have to repeat these tests. My question to you sir is, how do we expect these children to pass a retake test when many of them have moved on to another math class? If they could not pass the state test while they were taking the class they are probably not going to do so well on the retake. Again, sir keep in mind my daughter successfully passed Algebra and Geometry.
The rest of the mandated tests break down like this; English 1, 33,116 Limited, 27,126 Basic, 60,252 below Proficient, English 2, 27,113 Limited, 32,240 Basic, 59,353 below Proficient, American History, 13,527 Limited, 18,317 Basic, 31,844 below Proficient, Government, 11,175 Limited, 22,473 Basic, 33,648 below Proficient, Biology 17,534 Limited, 21,187 Basic, 38,721 below Proficient. We are always told to rely on data. Make data driven decisions! This is what the Ohio Improvement Process was founded on. I know because I was on the ground floor of the process when it was being developed. I was an Assistant Principal at Bellaire Local School District and we were one of the pilot schools in that process. I would love for someone to tell all of us in Ohio how to get 347,053 students that are below Proficient on these 7 end of course exams to retake the tests and score at least Proficient. We are mandated to provide remediation to all of these students. A total of 859,942 Ohio students took part in the 7 mandated tests. 347,053 are below proficient . 40% of Ohio students are below proficient on the high stake tests. Rigor or ridiculous?
So, roughly half of the students in Ohio in math and 40% overall, including my daughter, are not on track to meet the 18 point graduation requirement. I, along with many other parents, principals, and guidance counselors, will now be forced to turn attention to the Career path. I can already envision this conversation with my daughter. It will go something like this: “Honey, your scores on your end of course exams are not up to state standards even though you successfully passed Algebra 1, Geometry, and English 9. We have to start looking at a Career pathway to graduation. So here are your choices: Agriculture, Arts & Communication, Business and Finance, Construction, Education and training, Engineering, Health, Hospitality and Tourism, Human Services, Information Technology, Law & Public Safety, Manufacturing and Transportation. Let’s go through these and see what you are interested in and figure out how you can score 12 points on this path so you can graduate with your class in 2019.” Sir, did I mention that she is a 15-year-old sophomore? Do we REALLY want to kid ourselves into thinking that 15 year olds across the state of Ohio are prepared to pick a career path?
In my humble opinion, the high school experience is for taking and passing core classes and electives so that upon reaching senior year you have had a taste of the curriculum and can begin to figure out what you would like to do with the rest of your life. Even with this, many seniors have no idea what they really want to do with the rest of their lives.
In my personal case, I graduated high school in 1983 with no idea as to what I wanted to do. The only thing I knew as an 18 year old was that I really liked playing football in high school and I would like to continue to play. My family did not have enough money to send me to college at this point, so I sat out for a year and worked various jobs. That year, sir, was the most important of my life. After that year I knew that I did not want to be a roofer working in 100 degree heat, three stories off the ground, scared to death that I was going to fall for the rest of my life. Eight hours a day I suffered the heat and fought off the fear. That was the greatest motivator of my life and provided the stimulus for all I have since accomplished.
In conclusion, I would like to invite you to my house when I have this conversation with Victoria. I would love for you to witness the impact this conversation is going to have on my beautiful,15-year-old daughter. I’m not clairvoyant, but I know my daughter and the psychological development of adolescents, and this will do nothing but wreck her self esteem with which we battle daily to maintain. Come and see firsthand the conversation thousands of families, principals, and guidance counselors are going to have this year because of the system that ODE, politicians, and bureaucrats have put in place for our students. It is a system set up to fail our average students.
Thank you for listening, sir. I hope you can create positive change to the system in place. It is the system that is failing (three different tests in three years— OGT, PARCC and AIR), not our children. I believe that you are taking a wonderful step in giving the ACT to every junior in Ohio next year. This will serve as an indicator for students, educators, parents, counselors, and the State as to who is on track to attend a four-year college. It will also provide for logical conversations in the guidance of our students. In my case, it would sound something like this: “Honey, I would love for you to attend a four-year college, and I believe that you still can, but you first need to concentrate on the classes you are taking and pick it up a little bit. However, if your ACT scores do not get any better next year we will look at a two-year college to help you transition from high school to the rest of your life. As you mature, honey, things will become clearer to you. I was an average, unmotivated student in high school that really needed to work hard for what I earned after high school. I hope that I instilled in you the work ethic that has served me well in my life. It will be ok, honey. We will figure this thing out together.” Knowing that my daughter is unlikely to score remediation free in English and Math next year, I would still like to have the above conversation with her. I won’t get the opportunity as long as this current system is in place and I refuse to shove a career path down the throat of a 15-year-old child. I will be having my conversation with my daughter on August 22. School starts on the 24th for our students. Please feel free to reach out to me. I would love to sit face to face and have a conversation with you.
Sincerely,
John M. Haswell
Parent
Superintendent
7/12 Principal
Bus Driver
