Western-Star.com

If high school students don't face enough challenges on an everyday basis, many of them were put through the rigors of taking the Ohio Graduation Test this week.

As 10th-graders, students get their first crack at the OGT, which consists of five categories — reading, math, writing, science and social studies — and must be passed in order for students to graduate.

Last year, Lebanon High School had 72.4 percent of its students pass all of the sections. Principal Sam Ison credits their success to year-long preparation.

"We've got it down so it's become a routine," Ison said.

That routine consists of weekly practices student complete in their home rooms. For example, Ison said, students will often do writing samples and work on specific concepts related to the OGT. For the final two weeks leading up to this week, students received some sort of practice in all of the areas of the OGT.

Ison said he believes the OGT is a good focal point for gauging the standards set by the Ohio Department of Education, but he wants Lebanon students to have higher standards. Because of that, Ison said, students often have tests in their regular classes that are more difficult than the OGT.

Lebanon's percentage of students passing the OGT in 2006 were: reading, 90.1; math, 86.8; writing, 86.6; science, 79.8; and social studies, 84.1.

Ison said all of Lebanon's sophomores passed every section of the OGT in 2006, as did all of their juniors. However, there are still some students who need to re-take at least on section of the test because they have not been able to do so in the past. For those students, Ison said, Lebanon provides individual help for juniors and seniors, as well as study tables and practice tests on computers for other students.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4507 or rycook@coxohio.com.