RE: Potentially illegal conduct regarding Ohio Graduation Test PreparationOhio Board of RegentsDr. Sherri Lovelace-Cameron, Youngstown State UniversityEric Fingerhut, Ohio chancellor of higher educationHarold Gwin, Youngstown Vindicator To Whom It May Concern:In an item published in the

Youngstown Vindicator

on March 1st, reporter Harold Gwin writesabout a grant program funded by the Ohio Board of Regents through Youngstown StateUniversity. The grant is apparently designed to train teachers in helping students pass theScience portion of the Ohio Graduation Test.From the article:Dr. Sherri Lovelace-Cameron, associate professor of chemistry and coordinator of the YSU project, said the grant will cover tuition and fee costs for about two dozen high schoolteachers to take part in a summer graduate course showing them how to teach students ingrades six through 10 to prepare for the science portion of the OGT.The focus is on OGT issues that traditionally have given students problems — specifically, howto handle multiple choice and essay questions and more.Gwin's article indicates this program trains educators in how to teach students strategies for addressing the structure of the OGT questions -- specifically "how to handle multiple choice andessay questions and more."According to Ohio Administrative Code 3301-7-01 (standards for the ethical use of tests), thistype of approach appears to be illegal:(C) In monitoring practices related to preparing students for a state-wide assessment, each participating school shall use, but not be limited to, the following standards that define thetypes of practices that are unethical and/or inappropriate:(5) Preparation for an assessment that focuses primarily on the assessment, including itsformat, rather than on the objectives being assessed;It seems remarkable that the Ohio Board of Regents would give Youngstown State Universityover $42,000 to engage in a training program that might bring teachers in violation of Ohio law.