A article in today's Cincinnati Enquirer discusses the plight of the 30,000 high school seniors who must pass all or part of the Ohio Graduation Test in order to graduate this spring.

This is the first year that a student must pass all five sections of the OGT in order to receive a diploma. For the last three years, classes have had the option of taking the ninth grade proficiency test instead of the OGT. That option disappears this year.

A handful of seniors in the Cincinnati area are sweating out the week, hoping to finally make the grade by passing the test. Some have already been accepted into post-secondary programs, but lack the diploma to start those programs.

Some students took practice test, like those offered by IQ-ity and its competitors, in preparation for the OGT. In some schools, they received in-school and after-school tutoring.

Math, science and social studies are the most difficult, students said.

An Ohio Department of Education spokesman was quoted as saying more students will pass the test this year than last because more schools are basing lessons on state standards.

The IQ-ity practice test, devised by state educators expressly for Ohio students, is the only online practice test aligned to the state's standards, benchmarks and grade-level indicators.

Until September, school districts are invited to try out the IQ-ity practice test at no charge and compare it to similar tests on the market like Study Island. The free trial period covers the critical summer school period when many remedial students are boning up for the tests.