OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
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H.B. 67 Final Analysis
134th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 67’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the General Assembly
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Koehler and Bird
Effective date: Emergency: March 20, 2021
Effective Date:
Allison Schoeppner, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
Assessment related provisions
Exempts public and chartered nonpublic schools from administering the state required
American history end-of-course exam in the 2020-2021 school year.
Specifies dates for spring achievement testing windows for the 2020-2021 school year.
Requires the Department of Education, or any entity with which the Department contracts
for the scoring of the third-grade English language arts assessments, to send to each school
district or school a list of individual scores on that assessment by June 28, 2021.
High school graduation
For the 2020-2021 school year, permits an 11th or 12th grade student who takes or
retakes or who is unable to take or retake an end-of-course exam to use the final course
grade in a course associated with the exam in lieu of a score on that exam to satisfy
conditions for a high school diploma.
Permits school districts, other public schools, and chartered nonpublic schools to grant a
high school diploma in the 2020-2021 school year to any student on track to graduate
and for whom the principal, in consultation with teachers and counselors, determines
has successfully completed the high school curriculum or individualized education
program.
Permits a district or school that has previously adopted a resolution to exceed the state
minimum high school curriculum requirements to elect to require only the minimum
curriculum for the purpose of determining high school graduation for the 2020-2021
school year.
April 1, 2021
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
For the 2020-2021 school year, permits a student to qualify for a high school diploma by
both successfully completing the school’s curriculum requirements and earning the
OhioMeansJobs-Readiness Seal.
Data reporting
Requires the Department to report any data that it has regarding the performance of
school districts and buildings for the 2020-2021 school year by October 14, 2021.
Community school sponsor ratings
For the 2020-2021 school year, prohibits the Department of Education from issuing a
rating to a community school sponsor for the academic performance component.
Requires that a sponsor’s rating for the 2020-2021 school year be based on only the
adherence to quality practices and compliance with laws and rules components, and not
the academic performance component.
States that a sponsor’s rating for the 2020-2021 school year does not qualify the
sponsor for any incentive for which the sponsor was not previously eligible prior to
receiving that rating.
Home-instructed students
Exempts parents of home-instructed students from the administrative rule requirement
to submit an academic assessment record for the 2020-2021 school year as a condition
of allowing the student to continue home instruction in the 2021-2022 school year.
Federal waiver
Requires the Department to seek a waiver from the U.S. Secretary of Education from
federal accountability and school identification requirements.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Waiver of the American history end-of-course exam
For the 2020-2021 school year only, the act exempts public and chartered nonpublic
schools from administering the state end-of-course exam in American history.1
Related provisions
The act prohibits the Department of Education from subtracting from a district or
school’s student count for state funding any students to whom a district or school did not
administer the American history end-of-course exam in the 2020-2021 school year.2
1 Section 3(A).
2 Section 3(B). See also R.C. 3314.08(L)(3), 3317.03(E)(3), and 3326.37, none in the act.
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It also prohibits an internet- or computer-based school from withdrawing students who
were not administered the American history end-of-course exam for the 2020-2021 school
year.
Finally, the act specifies that students participating in the Educational Choice
Scholarship Program, the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program, or the Pilot Project
(Cleveland) Scholarship Program may apply to renew their scholarships for the 2021-2022
school year regardless of whether they took the American history end-of-course exam in the
2020-2021 school year.3
Spring testing windows
The act establishes specific dates for the spring administration of assessments. They are
as follows:4
For online testing:
1. English language arts for all grades – March 22 to May 7, 2021;
2. Mathematics, science, and social studies for all grades – March 29 to May 21, 2021.
For paper format testing:
1. Third-grade English language arts assessment – March 22 to April 23, 2021;
2. English language arts assessment for grades 4-12 – March 22 to April 30, 2021;
3. Mathematics, science, and social studies for all grades – March 29 to May 14, 2021.
Additionally, it requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to designate times for
the above administrations and to adjust or extend any deadlines related to the assessments
accordingly.5
Third-grade ELA assessment results
The act requires the Department, or an entity with which the Department contracts for
the scoring of the third-grade English language arts assessment, to send to each school district
or school a list of individual scores for all students taking this assessment by June 28, 2021. 6
Otherwise required under continuing law, the Department or other entity must report
those results within 45 days after the assessment but no later than June 15 following the
administration.7
3 Section 3(D).
4 Section 5(A).
5 Section 5(B).
6 Section 5(C).
7 R.C. 3310.0711(G)(2)(b), not in the act.
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High school graduation
Course grades in lieu of end-of course exam scores
For the 2020-2021 school year, the act permits a student in the 11th or 12th grade who
takes or retakes an end-of-course exam, or who is unable to take or retake an end-of-course
exam for any reason in that school year, to use the student’s final course grade in lieu of an
exam score to satisfy conditions for a high school diploma.
For determining whether a student satisfies a condition for a high school diploma, the
act establishes how final grades are equivalent to a competency score and end-of-course exam
performance levels. The following table indicates how a final course grade is equivalent to an
exam performance level under the act, and how many graduation points a student may earn for
each exam performance level under continuing law.
Final grade Exam performance level Graduation points
Any “A” Advanced 5
Any “B” Accelerated 4
Any “C” Proficient 3
Any “D” Basic 2
“F” Limited 1
Under the act, any “C” grade or higher is equivalent to a competency score. The act also
specifies that for a course where only a pass or fail designation is used, a “fail” designation is
equivalent to a “F” letter grade. In the case of a “pass” designation, the student’s school district
or school must determine to which exam performance level a student’s performance in the
class is equivalent. However, the act specifies that earning a “pass” designation is equivalent to
a competency score.8
A similar provision was enacted by H.B. 164 of the 133rd General Assembly for the 2019-
2020 school year.9
High school diplomas for the 2020-2021 school year
The act permits school districts, other public schools, and chartered nonpublic schools
to grant a high school diploma in the 2020-2021 school year to any student on track to graduate
and for whom the principal, in consultation with teachers and counselors, determines that the
student has successfully completed the high school curriculum or individualized education
8 Section 9.
9 Section 12 of H.B. 164 of the 133rd General Assembly.
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program.10 Additionally, it permits a district or school that has previously adopted a resolution
to exceed the state minimum high school curriculum requirements to elect to require only the
minimum curriculum for the purpose of determining high school graduation for the 2020-2021
school year.11 Similar provisions were enacted by H.B. 197 of the 133rd General Assembly for
the 2019-2020 school year.12
A separate provision of the act permits a student, for the 2020-2021 school year only, to
qualify for a high school diploma by both (1) successfully completing the student’s high school’s
curriculum requirements and (2) earning the OhioMeansJobs-Readiness Seal.13 Under
continuing law, that seal is one of several state diploma seals that combined with other
requirements a student may use to qualify for a high school diploma. A student earns the seal
by demonstrating work-readiness and work ethic competencies such as teamwork, problem-
solving, reliability, punctuality, and computer technology competency, that are set by the state
Superintendent, in consultation with the Chancellor of Higher Education and the Governor’s
Office of Workforce Transformation.14
Data reporting
The act requires the Department to report any data that it has regarding the
performance of school districts and buildings for the 2020-2021 school year by October 14,
2021, instead of by September 15, as under continuing law, for data reporting after the 2020-
2021 school year.15
Community school sponsor ratings
For the 2020-2021 school year, the act prohibits the Department of Education from
issuing a rating to a community school sponsor for the academic performance component, as
otherwise required by law. It also prohibits the Department from including academic
performance in the calculation of an overall rating for a sponsor.16
Thus, the act requires that a sponsor’s rating for the 2020-2021 school year be based on
only the adherence to quality practices and compliance with laws and rules components.
It also states that a sponsor’s rating for the 2020-2021 school year does not qualify the
sponsor for any incentive for which the sponsor was not previously eligible prior to receiving
that rating.
H.B. 197 of the 133rd General Assembly enacted a similar prohibition against the
Department issuing to a sponsor a rating for the academic performance component or factoring
10 Section 4(B).
11 Section 4(C).
12 Section 17(D)(2) and (3) of H.B. 197 of the 133rd General Assembly.
13 Section 10.
14 See R.C. 3313.6112, not in the act.
15 Section 8. See R.C. 3302.03. See also Section 6(A) of H.B. 409 of the 133rd General Assembly.
16 Section 6(D) of H.B. 409 of the 133rd General Assembly, amended in Section 1 of the act.
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that rating into the sponsor’s overall rating for the 2019-2020 school year.17 H.B. 164 of the
133rd General Assembly later prohibited the Department from issuing any community sponsor
ratings for that school year.18
Home-instructed students
The act exempts parents of students receiving home instruction from the administrative
rule requirement to submit an academic assessment record for the 2020-2021 school year to
the student’s resident school district superintendent as a condition of allowing the student to
continue receiving home instruction in 2021-2022.19
A similar provision was enacted by H.B. 197 of the 133rd General Assembly for the 2019-
2020 school year.20
Federal waiver
The act requires the Department to seek a waiver from the U.S. Secretary of Education
from federal accountability and school identification requirements.21
On February 22, 2021, the Secretary released a guidance document for the 2020-2021
school year indicating state waivers from federally required achievement tests will not be
granted, but states may apply for waivers from accountability and school identification
requirements.22
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 02-03-21
Reported, H. Primary & Secondary Education 03-04-21
Passed House (93-1) 03-04-21
Reported, S. Primary & Secondary Education 03-17-21
Passed Senate (32-1) 03-17-21
House concurred in Senate amendments (96-0) 03-17-21
20-HB67-134/ks
17 Section 17(F) of H.B. 197 of the 133rd General Assembly.
18Section 17(F) of H.B. 197 of the 133rd General Assembly, as amended in Section 5 of H.B. 164 of the
133rd General Assembly.
19 Section 6. See Ohio Administrative Code 3301-34-04.
20 Section 17(L) of H.B. 197, as amended by H.B. 164, both of the 133rd General Assembly.
21 Section 7.
22 See https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-guidance-
states-assessing-student-learning-during-pandemic.
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Statutes affected: As Reported By Senate Committee: H.B, 3302.03, 3302.033, 3314.012, 3314.017
As Passed By Senate: H.B, 3302.03, 3302.033, 3314.012, 3314.017
As Enrolled: H.B, 3302.03, 3302.033, 3314.012, 3314.017