Ohio Rev Code § 3301.0711 (2021)
2021 Ohio Revised Code|Title 33 | Education-Libraries|Chapter 3301 | Department of Education|Section 3301.0711 | Administration and Grading of Assessments.

Effective: October 17, 2019|Latest Legislation:  House Bill 166 - 133rd General Assembly|(A) The department of education shall: (1) Annually furnish to, grade, and score all assessments required by divisions (A)(1) and (B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code to be administered by city, local, exempted village, and joint vocational school districts, except that each district shall score any assessment administered pursuant to division (B)(10) of this section. Each assessment so furnished shall include the data verification code of the student to whom the assessment will be administered, as assigned pursuant to division (D)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code. In furnishing the practice versions of Ohio graduation tests prescribed by division (D) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code, the department shall make the tests available on its web site for reproduction by districts. In awarding contracts for grading assessments, the department shall give preference to Ohio-based entities employing Ohio residents. (2) Adopt rules for the ethical use of assessments and prescribing the manner in which the assessments prescribed by section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code shall be administered to students. (B) Except as provided in divisions (C) and (J) of this section, the board of education of each city, local, and exempted village school district shall, in accordance with rules adopted under division (A) of this section: (1) Administer the English language arts assessments prescribed under division (A)(1)(a) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code twice annually to all students in the third grade who have not attained the score designated for that assessment under division (A)(2)(c) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code. (2) Administer the mathematics assessment prescribed under division (A)(1)(a) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once annually to all students in the third grade. (3) Administer the assessments prescribed under division (A)(1)(b) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once annually to all students in the fourth grade. (4) Administer the assessments prescribed under division (A)(1)(c) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once annually to all students in the fifth grade. (5) Administer the assessments prescribed under division (A)(1)(d) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once annually to all students in the sixth grade. (6) Administer the assessments prescribed under division (A)(1)(e) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once annually to all students in the seventh grade. (7) Administer the assessments prescribed under division (A)(1)(f) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once annually to all students in the eighth grade. (8) Except as provided in division (B)(9) of this section, administer any assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code as follows: (a) At least once annually to all tenth grade students and at least twice annually to all students in eleventh or twelfth grade who have not yet attained the score on that assessment designated under that division; (b) To any person who has successfully completed the curriculum in any high school or the individualized education program developed for the person by any high school pursuant to section 3323.08 of the Revised Code but has not received a high school diploma and who requests to take such assessment, at any time such assessment is administered in the district. (9) In lieu of the board of education of any city, local, or exempted village school district in which the student is also enrolled, the board of a joint vocational school district shall administer any assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least twice annually to any student enrolled in the joint vocational school district who has not yet attained the score on that assessment designated under that division. A board of a joint vocational school district may also administer such an assessment to any student described in division (B)(8)(b) of this section. (10) If the district has a three-year average graduation rate of not more than seventy-five per cent, administer each assessment prescribed by division (D) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code in September to all ninth grade students who entered ninth grade prior to July 1, 2014. Except as provided in section 3313.614 of the Revised Code for administration of an assessment to a person who has fulfilled the curriculum requirement for a high school diploma but has not passed one or more of the required assessments, the assessments prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code shall not be administered after the date specified in the rules adopted by the state board of education under division (D)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code. (11)(a) Except as provided in divisions (B)(11)(b) and (c) of this section, administer the assessments prescribed by division (B)(2) of section 3301.0710 and section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code in accordance with the timeline and plan for implementation of those assessments prescribed by rule of the state board adopted under division (D)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code; (b) A student who has presented evidence to the district or school of having satisfied the condition prescribed by division (A)(1) of section 3313.618 of the Revised Code to qualify for a high school diploma prior to the date of the administration of the assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code shall not be required to take that assessment. However, no board shall prohibit a student who is not required to take such assessment from taking the assessment. (c) A student shall not be required to retake the Algebra I end-of-course examination or the English language arts II end-of-course examination prescribed under division (B)(2) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code in grades nine through twelve if the student demonstrates at least a proficient level of skill, as prescribed under division (B)(5)(a) of that section, or achieves a competency score, as prescribed under division (B)(10) of that section, in an administration of the examination prior to grade nine. (C)(1)(a) In the case of a student receiving special education services under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, the individualized education program developed for the student under that chapter shall specify the manner in which the student will participate in the assessments administered under this section, except that a student with significant cognitive disabilities to whom an alternate assessment is administered in accordance with division (C)(1) of this section and a student determined to have a disability that includes an intellectual disability as outlined in guidance issued by the department shall not be required to take the assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code. The individualized education program may excuse the student from taking any particular assessment required to be administered under this section if it instead specifies an alternate assessment method approved by the department of education as conforming to requirements of federal law for receipt of federal funds for disadvantaged pupils. To the extent possible, the individualized education program shall not excuse the student from taking an assessment unless no reasonable accommodation can be made to enable the student to take the assessment. No board shall prohibit a student who is not required to take an assessment under division (C)(1) of this section from taking the assessment. (b) Any alternate assessment approved by the department for a student under this division shall produce measurable results comparable to those produced by the assessment it replaces in order to allow for the student's results to be included in the data compiled for a school district or building under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code. (c)(i) Any student enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school who has been identified, based on an evaluation conducted in accordance with section 3323.03 of the Revised Code or section 504 of the "Rehabilitation Act of 1973," 87 Stat. 355, 29 U.S.C.A. 794, as amended, as a child with a disability shall be excused from taking any particular assessment required to be administered under this section if either of the following apply: (I) A plan developed for the student pursuant to rules adopted by the state board excuses the student from taking that assessment. (II) The chartered nonpublic school develops a written plan in which the school, in consultation with the student's parents, determines that an assessment or alternative assessment with accommodations does not accurately assess the student's academic performance. The plan shall include an academic profile of the student's academic performance and shall be reviewed annually to determine if the student's needs continue to require excusal from taking the assessment. (ii) A student with significant cognitive disabilities to whom an alternate assessment is administered in accordance with division (C)(1) of this section and a student determined to have a disability that includes an intellectual disability as outlined in guidance issued by the department shall not be required to take the assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code. (iii) In the case of any student so excused from taking an assessment under division (C)(1)(c) of this section, the chartered nonpublic school shall not prohibit the student from taking the assessment. (2) A district board may, for medical reasons or other good cause, excuse a student from taking an assessment administered under this section on the date scheduled, but that assessment shall be administered to the excused student not later than nine days following the scheduled date. The district board shall annually report the number of students who have not taken one or more of the assessments required by this section to the state board not later than the thirtieth day of June. (3) As used in this division, "English learner" has the same meaning as in 20 U.S.C. 7801. No school district board shall excuse any English learner from taking any particular assessment required to be administered under this section, except as follows: (a) Any English learner who has been enrolled in United States schools for less than two years and for whom no appropriate accommodations are available based on guidance issued by the department shall not be required to take the assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code. (b) Any English learner who has been enrolled in United States schools for less than one full school year shall not be required to take any reading, writing, or English language arts assessment. However, no board shall prohibit an English learner who is not required to take an assessment under division (C)(3) of this section from taking the assessment. A board may permit any English learner to take an assessment required to be administered under this section with appropriate accommodations, as determined by the department. For each English learner, each school district shall annually assess that student's progress in learning English, in accordance with procedures approved by the department. (4)(a) The governing authority of a chartered nonpublic school may excuse an English learner from taking any assessment administered under this section. (b) No governing authority shall require an English learner who has been enrolled in United States schools for less than two years and for whom no appropriate accommodations are available based on guidance issued by the department to take the assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code. (c) No governing authority shall prohibit an English learner from taking an assessment from which the student was excused under division (C)(4) of this section. (D)(1) In the school year next succeeding the school year in which the assessments prescribed by division (A)(1) or (B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code or former division (A)(1), (A)(2), or (B) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to September 11, 2001, are administered to any student, the board of education of any school district in which the student is enrolled in that year shall provide to the student intervention services commensurate with the student's performance, including any intensive intervention required under section 3313.608 of the Revised Code, in any skill in which the student failed to demonstrate at least a score at the proficient level on the assessment. (2) Following any administration of the assessments prescribed by division (D) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code to ninth grade students, each school district that has a three-year average graduation rate of not more than seventy-five per cent shall determine for each high school in the district whether the school shall be required to provide intervention services to any students who took the assessments. In determining which high schools shall provide intervention services based on the resources available, the district shall consider each school's graduation rate and scores on the practice assessments. The district also shall consider the scores received by ninth grade students on the English language arts and mathematics assessments prescribed under division (A)(1)(f) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code in the eighth grade in determining which high schools shall provide intervention services. Each high school selected to provide intervention services under this division shall provide intervention services to any student whose results indicate that the student is failing to make satisfactory progress toward being able to attain scores at the proficient level on the Ohio graduation tests. Intervention services shall be provided in any skill in which a student demonstrates unsatisfactory progress and shall be commensurate with the student's performance. Schools shall provide the intervention services prior to the end of the school year, during the summer following the ninth grade, in the next succeeding school year, or at any combination of those times. (E) Except as provided in section 3313.608 of the Revised Code and division (N) of this section, no school district board of education shall utilize any student's failure to attain a specified score on an assessment administered under this section as a factor in any decision to deny the student promotion to a higher grade level. However, a district board may choose not to promote to the next grade level any student who does not take an assessment administered under this section or make up an assessment as provided by division (C)(2) of this section and who is not exempt from the requirement to take the assessment under division (C)(3) of this section. (F) No person shall be charged a fee for taking any assessment administered under this section. (G)(1) Each school district board shall designate one location for the collection of assessments administered in the spring under division (B)(1) of this section and those administered under divisions (B)(2) to (7) of this section. Each district board shall submit the assessments to the entity with which the department contracts for the scoring of the assessments as follows: (a) If the district's total enrollment in grades kindergarten through twelve during the first full school week of October was less than two thousand five hundred, not later than the Friday after all of the assessments have been administered; (b) If the district's total enrollment in grades kindergarten through twelve during the first full school week of October was two thousand five hundred or more, but less than seven thousand, not later than the Monday after all of the assessments have been administered; (c) If the district's total enrollment in grades kindergarten through twelve during the first full school week of October was seven thousand or more, not later than the Tuesday after all of the assessments have been administered. However, any assessment that a student takes during the make-up period described in division (C)(2) of this section shall be submitted not later than the Friday following the day the student takes the assessment. (2) The department or an entity with which the department contracts for the scoring of the assessment shall send to each school district board a list of the individual scores of all persons taking a state achievement assessment as follows: (a) Except as provided in division (G)(2)(b) or (c) of this section, within forty-five days after the administration of the assessments prescribed by sections 3301.0710 and 3301.0712 of the Revised Code, but in no case shall the scores be returned later than the thirtieth day of June following the administration; (b) In the case of the third-grade English language arts assessment, within forty-five days after the administration of that assessment, but in no case shall the scores be returned later than the fifteenth day of June following the administration; (c) In the case of the writing component of an assessment or end-of-course examination in the area of English language arts, except for the third-grade English language arts assessment, the results may be sent after forty-five days of the administration of the writing component, but in no case shall the scores be returned later than the thirtieth day of June following the administration. (3) For assessments administered under this section by a joint vocational school district, the department or entity shall also send to each city, local, or exempted village school district a list of the individual scores of any students of such city, local, or exempted village school district who are attending school in the joint vocational school district. (4) Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, a school district, other public school, or chartered nonpublic school may administer the third-grade English language arts or mathematics assessment, or both, in a paper format in any school year for which the district board of education or school governing body adopts a resolution indicating that the district or school chooses to administer the assessment in a paper format. The board or governing body shall submit a copy of the resolution to the department of education not later than the first day of May prior to the school year for which it will apply. If the resolution is submitted, the district or school shall administer the assessment in a paper format to all students in the third grade, except that any student whose individualized education program or plan developed under section 504 of the "Rehabilitation Act of 1973," 87 Stat. 355, 29 U.S.C. 794, as amended, specifies that taking the assessment in an online format is an appropriate accommodation for the student may take the assessment in an online format. (H) Individual scores on any assessments administered under this section shall be released by a district board only in accordance with section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted under division (A) of this section. No district board or its employees shall utilize individual or aggregate results in any manner that conflicts with rules for the ethical use of assessments adopted pursuant to division (A) of this section. (I) Except as provided in division (G) of this section, the department or an entity with which the department contracts for the scoring of the assessment shall not release any individual scores on any assessment administered under this section. The state board shall adopt rules to ensure the protection of student confidentiality at all times. The rules may require the use of the data verification codes assigned to students pursuant to division (D)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code to protect the confidentiality of student scores. (J) Notwithstanding division (D) of section 3311.52 of the Revised Code, this section does not apply to the board of education of any cooperative education school district except as provided under rules adopted pursuant to this division. (1) In accordance with rules that the state board shall adopt, the board of education of any city, exempted village, or local school district with territory in a cooperative education school district established pursuant to divisions (A) to (C) of section 3311.52 of the Revised Code may enter into an agreement with the board of education of the cooperative education school district for administering any assessment prescribed under this section to students of the city, exempted village, or local school district who are attending school in the cooperative education school district. (2) In accordance with rules that the state board shall adopt, the board of education of any city, exempted village, or local school district with territory in a cooperative education school district established pursuant to section 3311.521 of the Revised Code shall enter into an agreement with the cooperative district that provides for the administration of any assessment prescribed under this section to both of the following: (a) Students who are attending school in the cooperative district and who, if the cooperative district were not established, would be entitled to attend school in the city, local, or exempted village school district pursuant to section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code; (b) Persons described in division (B)(8)(b) of this section. Any assessment of students pursuant to such an agreement shall be in lieu of any assessment of such students or persons pursuant to this section. (K)(1)(a) Except as otherwise provided in division (K)(1) or (2) of this section, each chartered nonpublic school for which at least sixty-five per cent of its total enrollment is made up of students who are participating in state scholarship programs shall administer the assessments prescribed by division (A) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code or an alternative standardized assessment determined by the department. In accordance with procedures and deadlines prescribed by the department, the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the school who is not participating in a state scholarship program may submit notice to the chief administrative officer of the school that the parent or guardian does not wish to have the student take the assessments prescribed for the student's grade level under division (A) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code. If a parent or guardian submits an opt-out notice, the school shall not administer the assessments to that student. This option does not apply to any assessment required for a high school diploma under section 3313.612 of the Revised Code. (b) Any chartered nonpublic school that enrolls students who are participating in state scholarship programs may administer an alternative standardized assessment determined by the department instead of the assessments prescribed by division (A) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code. Each chartered nonpublic school subject to division (K)(1)(a) or (b) of this section shall report the results of each assessment administered under those divisions to the department. (2) A chartered nonpublic school may submit to the superintendent of public instruction a request for a waiver from administering the elementary assessments prescribed by division (A) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code. The state superintendent shall approve or disapprove a request for a waiver submitted under division (K)(2) of this section. No waiver shall be approved for any school year prior to the 2015-2016 school year. To be eligible to submit a request for a waiver, a chartered nonpublic school shall meet the following conditions: (a) At least ninety-five per cent of the students enrolled in the school are children with disabilities, as defined under section 3323.01 of the Revised Code, or have received a diagnosis by a school district or from a physician, including a neuropsychiatrist or psychiatrist, or a psychologist who is authorized to practice in this or another state as having a condition that impairs academic performance, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or Asperger's syndrome. (b) The school has solely served a student population described in division (K)(1)(a) of this section for at least ten years. (c) The school provides to the department at least five years of records of internal testing conducted by the school that affords the department data required for accountability purposes, including diagnostic assessments and nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement assessments that measure reading and math skills. (3) Any chartered nonpublic school that is not subject to division (K)(1) of this section may participate in the assessment program by administering any of the assessments prescribed by division (A) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code. The chief administrator of the school shall specify which assessments the school will administer. Such specification shall be made in writing to the superintendent of public instruction prior to the first day of August of any school year in which assessments are administered and shall include a pledge that the nonpublic school will administer the specified assessments in the same manner as public schools are required to do under this section and rules adopted by the department. (4) The department of education shall furnish the assessments prescribed by section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code to each chartered nonpublic school that is subject to division (K)(1) of this section or participates under division (K)(3) of this section. (L) If a chartered nonpublic school is educating students in grades nine through twelve, the following shall apply: (1) Except as provided in division (L)(4) of this section, for a student who is enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school that is accredited through the independent schools association of the central states and who is attending the school under a state scholarship program, the student shall either take all of the assessments prescribed by division (B) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code or take an alternative assessment approved by the department under section 3313.619 of the Revised Code. However, a student who is excused from taking an assessment under division (C) of this section or has presented evidence to the chartered nonpublic school of having satisfied the condition prescribed by division (A)(1) of section 3313.618 of the Revised Code to qualify for a high school diploma prior to the date of the administration of the assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code shall not be required to take that assessment. No governing authority of a chartered nonpublic school shall prohibit a student who is not required to take such assessment from taking the assessment. (2) For a student who is enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school that is accredited through the independent schools association of the central states, and who is not attending the school under a state scholarship program, the student shall not be required to take any assessment prescribed under section 3301.0712 or 3313.619 of the Revised Code. (3)(a) Except as provided in divisions (L)(3)(b) and (4) of this section, for a student who is enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school that is not accredited through the independent schools association of the central states, regardless of whether the student is attending or is not attending the school under a state scholarship program, the student shall do one of the following: (i) Take all of the assessments prescribed by division (B) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code; (ii) Take only the assessment prescribed by division (B)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code, provided that the student's school publishes the results of that assessment for each graduating class. The published results of that assessment shall include the overall composite scores, mean scores, twenty-fifth percentile scores, and seventy-fifth percentile scores for each subject area of the assessment. (iii) Take an alternative assessment approved by the department under section 3313.619 of the Revised Code. (b) A student who is excused from taking an assessment under division (C) of this section or has presented evidence to the chartered nonpublic school of having satisfied the condition prescribed by division (A)(1) of section 3313.618 of the Revised Code to qualify for a high school diploma prior to the date of the administration of the assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code shall not be required to take that assessment. No governing authority of a chartered nonpublic school shall prohibit a student who is not required to take such assessment from taking the assessment. (4) The assessments prescribed by sections 3301.0712 and 3313.619 of the Revised Code shall not be administered to any student attending the school, if the school meets all of the following conditions: (a) At least ninety-five per cent of the students enrolled in the school are children with disabilities, as defined under section 3323.01 of the Revised Code, or have received a diagnosis by a school district or from a physician, including a neuropsychologist or psychiatrist, or a psychologist who is authorized to practice in this or another state as having a condition that impairs academic performance, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or Asperger's syndrome. (b) The school has solely served a student population described in division (L)(4)(a) of this section for at least ten years. (c) The school makes available to the department at least five years of records of internal testing conducted by the school that affords the department data required for accountability purposes, including growth in student achievement in reading or mathematics, or both, as measured by nationally norm-referenced assessments that have developed appropriate standards for students. Division (L)(4) of this section applies to any student attending such school regardless of whether the student receives special education or related services and regardless of whether the student is attending the school under a state scholarship program. (M)(1) The superintendent of the state school for the blind and the superintendent of the state school for the deaf shall administer the assessments described by sections 3301.0710 and 3301.0712 of the Revised Code. Each superintendent shall administer the assessments in the same manner as district boards are required to do under this section and rules adopted by the department of education and in conformity with division (C)(1)(a) of this section. (2) The department of education shall furnish the assessments described by sections 3301.0710 and 3301.0712 of the Revised Code to each superintendent. (N) Notwithstanding division (E) of this section, a school district may use a student's failure to attain a score in at least the proficient range on the mathematics assessment described by division (A)(1)(a) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code or on an assessment described by division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), (e), or (f) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code as a factor in retaining that student in the current grade level. (O)(1) In the manner specified in divisions (O)(3), (4), (6), and (7) of this section, the assessments required by division (A)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code shall become public records pursuant to section 149.43 of the Revised Code on the thirty-first day of July following the school year that the assessments were administered. (2) The department may field test proposed questions with samples of students to determine the validity, reliability, or appropriateness of questions for possible inclusion in a future year's assessment. The department also may use anchor questions on assessments to ensure that different versions of the same assessment are of comparable difficulty. Field test questions and anchor questions shall not be considered in computing scores for individual students. Field test questions and anchor questions may be included as part of the administration of any assessment required by division (A)(1) or (B) of section 3301.0710 and division (B) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code. (3) Any field test question or anchor question administered under division (O)(2) of this section shall not be a public record. Such field test questions and anchor questions shall be redacted from any assessments which are released as a public record pursuant to division (O)(1) of this section. (4) This division applies to the assessments prescribed by division (A) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code. (a) The first administration of each assessment, as specified in former section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code, shall be a public record. (b) For subsequent administrations of each assessment prior to the 2011-2012 school year, not less than forty per cent of the questions on the assessment that are used to compute a student's score shall be a public record. The department shall determine which questions will be needed for reuse on a future assessment and those questions shall not be public records and shall be redacted from the assessment prior to its release as a public record. However, for each redacted question, the department shall inform each city, local, and exempted village school district of the statewide academic standard adopted by the state board under section 3301.079 of the Revised Code and the corresponding benchmark to which the question relates. The preceding sentence does not apply to field test questions that are redacted under division (O)(3) of this section. (c) The administrations of each assessment in the 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014 school years shall not be a public record. (5) Each assessment prescribed by division (B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code shall not be a public record. (6)(a) Except as provided in division (O)(6)(b) of this section, for the administrations in the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017 school years, questions on the assessments prescribed under division (A) of section 3301.0710 and division (B)(2) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code and the corresponding preferred answers that are used to compute a student's score shall become a public record as follows: (i) Forty per cent of the questions and preferred answers on the assessments on the thirty-first day of July following the administration of the assessment; (ii) Twenty per cent of the questions and preferred answers on the assessment on the thirty-first day of July one year after the administration of the assessment; (iii) The remaining forty per cent of the questions and preferred answers on the assessment on the thirty-first day of July two years after the administration of the assessment. The entire content of an assessment shall become a public record within three years of its administration. The department shall make the questions that become a public record under this division readily accessible to the public on the department's web site. Questions on the spring administration of each assessment shall be released on an annual basis, in accordance with this division. (b) No questions and corresponding preferred answers shall become a public record under division (O)(6) of this section after July 31, 2017. (7) Division (O)(7) of this section applies to the assessments prescribed by division (A) of section 3301.0710 and division (B)(2) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code. Beginning with the assessments administered in the spring of the 2017-2018 school year, not less than forty per cent of the questions on each assessment that are used to compute a student's score shall be a public record. The department shall determine which questions will be needed for reuse on a future assessment and those questions shall not be public records and shall be redacted from the assessment prior to its release as a public record. However, for each redacted question, the department shall inform each city, local, and exempted village school district of the corresponding statewide academic standard adopted by the state board under section 3301.079 of the Revised Code and the corresponding benchmark to which the question relates. The department is not required to provide corresponding standards and benchmarks to field test questions that are redacted under division (O)(3) of this section. (P) As used in this section: (1) "Three-year average" means the average of the most recent consecutive three school years of data. (2) "Dropout" means a student who withdraws from school before completing course requirements for graduation and who is not enrolled in an education program approved by the state board of education or an education program outside the state. "Dropout" does not include a student who has departed the country. (3) "Graduation rate" means the ratio of students receiving a diploma to the number of students who entered ninth grade four years earlier. Students who transfer into the district are added to the calculation. Students who transfer out of the district for reasons other than dropout are subtracted from the calculation. If a student who was a dropout in any previous year returns to the same school district, that student shall be entered into the calculation as if the student had entered ninth grade four years before the graduation year of the graduating class that the student joins. (4) "State scholarship programs" means the educational choice scholarship pilot program established under sections 3310.01 to 3310.17 of the Revised Code, the autism scholarship program established under section 3310.41 of the Revised Code, the Jon Peterson special needs scholarship program established under sections 3310.51 to 3310.64 of the Revised Code, and the pilot project scholarship program established under sections 3313.974 to 3313.979 of the Revised Code. (5) "Other public school" means a community school established under Chapter 3314., a STEM school established under Chapter 3326., or a college-preparatory boarding school established under Chapter 3328. of the Revised Code.