- Procedure
Procedure: 2421
Section: 2000 - Instruction
Title: Promotion and Retention
Status: Active
Adopted: May 23, 1996
Procedure - Promotion and Retention
I. Elementary Grades K-6
Prior to May 15, the teacher will confer with the principal regarding any elementary student who is failing to meet the minimum criteria for passing their grade level, based on the data collected by the teacher. Recent assessments will also be considered. Parents/guardians should be invited to meet with the principal and the teacher or the school counselor. Information will be presented to explain the student’s progress to date. Parents will be advised of how they might assist the student during the balance of the school year.
II. Middle School Grades 7 and 8
Any student at the middle school level failing a core curriculum course at the quarter (language, reading, math, social studies, science) shall meet with the school counselor and/or review team. Parents/guardians should be invited to meet with the principal and the teacher or the school counselor. Information will be presented to explain the student’s progress to date. Parents will be advised of how they might assist the student during the balance of the school year.
At least six weeks prior to the end of the school year, the parent, principal and teacher or counselor will again meet to review the latest progress and to determine which actions may be taken to benefit the student.
All middle school students shall be working on grade level expectations and state standards. Students not meeting standards shall meet with the counselor and/or review team. Parents and/or guardians shall be invited to meet with the review team.
A. Timelines
1. Parents will receive a progress report a minimum of two times; one of which may include the semester grade report.
2. Second Progress Reports: Notify parents of any F’s, with a reference copy of policy in handbook. Offer middle school academic improvement interventions and initiate a Student Plan for students not meeting one or more standards of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).
Meeting grades and standards
Grade Seven: Students should receive passing grades in nine out of ten core semester classes (reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies).
The middle school will create a student learning plan to ensure that students received appropriate support to meet standards. Parents will be notified whenever a student is in danger of failing.
Grade Eight: In eighth grade students are required to pass seven of their core semester curriculum classes (language arts, math, science, social studies).
Failure of one core class, as listed above, or not meeting state standards, automatically places the student in a position to be remediated through retention, summer school or other interventions.
Parents will be notified whenever a student is in danger of failing. The plan will include actions the school intends to take to improve the students performance, as well as strategies to help parents improve their child’s skills. The plan will provide annual adjustments as needed.
At the end of each semester, students who are failing in spite of school interventions will be referred to a review team.
3. End of First Semester Grade Report: Parents will be sent a notice of all students with a semester “F” in any core class. Building review team will recommend further interventions to help students meet grade level expectations.
4. May 15: The building review team will meet to make recommendations for summer school, classroom placement or repeat of failed courses the following year. A notice of impending retention letter will be sent, via certified mail, to parents.
B. Regulations
1. Academic Performance: It is the responsibility of the student to apply consistent and sustained effort toward assigned learning experiences. Middle school students should meet the following minimum standards to be eligible to be promoted to the next grade:
2. Grades: Seventh grade students should receive passing grades in nine out of ten core semester classes in CORE curriculum classes (Reading, Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies).
The middle school will create a student learning plan to ensure that students receive appropriate support to meet standards. Parents will also be notified whenever a student is in danger of failing.
3. Review Team: A review team consisting of the grade level counselor, the principal and appropriate teachers will make recommendations about students who may be ineligible for promotion to the next grade or are not meeting standards. The committee will review each student’s performance for the school year including the interventions that have been implemented. The review team will make recommendations regarding options available to the student and/or possible retention. The building principal will make the final decision about retention. This decision may be appealed to the assistant superintendent.
III. Optional Interventions
A. Summer School: After a review of students not meeting grade level and state standards, the review team will recommend the summer school program deemed appropriate for each student. Summer school is designed to reinforce essential skills for school success as well as to remediate deficiencies in any of the WASL content areas. The summer school classes will be prescriptive in nature: students will be required to work on skills/projects they did not master during the regular school year as the review team deems appropriate.
In addition to various factors such as attendance, functional level test scores in math, reading and writing will be considered in determining a student’s eligibility for promotion. The review team will use these measures, along with WASL scores and classroom grades, to help determine if a student is prepared for work at the next grade level. If the review team determines the student does not have the skills to be successful at the next grade level, summer school will be recommended.
If the student does not successfully complete the summer school program, the review team, consisting of counselors and teachers, will monitor the student’s progress and recommend appropriate actions to ensure successful completion of course work during the following year. Students who do not complete the recommended summer school program will be referred back to the building review team for further recommendations.
B. Retention: Retention will be considered as the option of last resort. The review team will take all factors into consideration, including the cooperation of the student working through various interventions tried through the year. If retention is recommended, a different course of study must be completed with a pass grade. The building principal will make the final decision about retention. This decision may be appealed to the assistant superintendent.
Other interventions may be recommended prior to this option such as credit retrieval, after school study, reading assistance through special corrective classroom instruction, and other innovative effective options as may be deemed appropriate. Documentation of parental contact, communication and involvement will be recorded and maintained by the review team.
IV. High School Grades 9-12
In grades nine through twelve, students are offered eight courses per semester in an alternating A/B block configuration. Each course has a .5 credit value. Thus, a student has the opportunity to earn 32 credits in four years (8 courses at .5 credit times 2 semesters times 4 years). In order to graduate, a student must earn 30 credits, pass all required courses in each discipline, meet standard on all areas of the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning), and successfully complete all requirements of the junior research paper and senior culminating project.
To better communicate a student’s actual academic progress to the student and her or his parent/guardian, the high school recognizes the following placement benchmarks for each high school grade level:
- Sophomore standing (10th grade)—a student must have accumulated six credits and have passed one semester each of freshman year English, math, and science by the beginning of the school year.
- Junior standing (11th grade)—a student must have accumulated fourteen credits, and have passed one semester each of sophomore year English, math, and science by the beginning of the school year.
- Senior standing (12th grade)—a student must have accumulated twenty-two credits, passed one semester of junior year English, and met standard on the junior research paper.
Adopted: 05.23.1996
Revised: 07.23.1998; 03.31.2005; 06.05.2006
- 2000