Oklahoma City students attend boot camp to help focus on passing state tests

That's why she gave up her summer mornings to review biology, geometry and history at Northwest Classen High School, 2801 NW 27.

She was one of dozens of students from throughout Oklahoma City Public Schools who attended a boot camp this month to help students pass state-mandated end-of-instruction exams, also known as EOIs.

Achieving Classroom Excellence, a 2005 law, requires that students pass four of seven end-of-instruction exams before they can earn their high school diplomas.

The class of 2012 is the first class required to meet the test requirements. Some students, like Nunez, have finished high school but haven't graduated.

As of spring, about 30,000 students had passed the exams, and about 2,000 hadn't passed the tests, though state officials believe the number is probably lower now.

Nunez attended Capitol Hill High School, 500 SW 36. She grew up in Oklahoma City Public Schools, where she said she got a good education. Most of her teachers were good. Some weren't so great. A few went too fast, leaving her lost.

She did well in school, though. She'd like to go to Oklahoma City Community College for two years and then move on to a four-year college to earn a bachelor's degree. She wants to be a police officer.

“It's something I've always wanted to do,” she said. “I can't think of myself doing anything else.”