New Policy:  October 10, 2007

                                     Revised:  April 13, 2011

Revised:  November 14, 2012

I.  Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to institute a process for the establishment and revision of assessments to be used to determine how well students have achieved Graduation Standards.

II.  General Statement of Policy

The school district has established a procedure by which students shall complete the Graduation Standards.  This procedure includes the adoption of performance assessment methods to be used in measuring student performance.  The school district strives to continually enhance student achievement of the Graduation Standards.

III.  Definitions

A.  "Graduation-required assessment for diploma" or "GRAD" means the assessment that measures the reading, writing, and mathematics proficiency of high school students.

B.  “Benchmark” means the academic knowledge and skills students must achieve at each grade level or high school level to satisfactorily complete a state standard.

C.  “Elective standards” are the academic standards adopted by the school district in the subject areas of vocational and technical education and world languages.

D.  "Rubric" means the criteria set by the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) that must be used by a district to score a student work that meets the specifications of a content standard.

IV.  Establishment of Criteria For Assessment

A.  The School Board shall establish criteria by which student performance of locally adopted Graduation Standards and elective standards are to be evaluated and approved.  The criteria will be submitted to the school board for approval.  Upon approval by the school board, the criteria shall be deemed part of this policy.

B.  The superintendent shall ensure that students and parents or guardians are provided with notice of the process by which program Graduation Standards will be assessed.

C.  Staff members will be expected to utilize staff development opportunities to the extent necessary to ensure effective implementation and continued improvement of the implementation of the Minnesota Academic Standards.

V.  Standards for Minnesota Academic Standards Performance Assessments

A.  Benchmarks:  The school district will offer academic knowledge and skills to allow students to satisfactorily complete a state standard by the use of grade level or high school level benchmarks.  These benchmarks will be used by the school district and its staff in developing tests to measure student academic knowledge and skills.

B.  Local Assessments:  Locally selected assessments are expected to provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their achievement of the elective standards or other locally adopted standards. 

C.  Statewide Academic Standards Testing: 

1.  The school district will utilize state constructed tests developed from and aligned with the state’s required academic standards as these tests become available.  If a state assessment is not available, the school district will determine if a student has met the required academic standards through locally developed assessments.

2.  The school district will administer annually, in accordance with the process determined by the Department, the state-constructed tests to all students in grades three through eight and at the high school level as follows:

                                                           a.  Annual reading and mathematic assessments in grades three through eight and high school;

                                                           b.  Annual science assessments in one grade in the grades three through five span, the grades six through eight span, and a life science assessment in the grades nine through twelve span (a passing score on high school science assessments is not a condition of receiving a diploma);

3.  The school district will develop and administer locally constructed tests in social studies, health and physical education, and the arts to determine if a student has met the required academic standards in these areas.

4.  Students incapable of taking the statewide or locally constructed tests, as determined by the student’s IEP, or students with limited English proficiency who have been in the United States for fewer than three years, shall be exempt from statewide and local testing with the approval of the student’s parent or guardian.  The school district will report student exemptions to the Department consistent with the format provided by the Department.  Alternative assessments shall be provided to students exempt from the statewide tests.

5.  The school district may use a student’s performance on a statewide assessment as one of the multiple criteria to determine grade promotion or retention.  The school district also may use a high school student’s performance on a statewide assessment as a percentage of the student’s final grade in a course, or place a student’s assessment score on the student’s transcript.

D.  Passing Scores for GRAD

1.  The passing scores of basic skills tests in reading and mathematics are the equivalent of 75 percent correct for students entering grade 9 based on the first uniform test administered in February 1998. Students who have not successfully passed a Minnesota basic skills test by the end of the 2011-2012 school year must pass the GRADs under paragraph E.4.b. below.

2.  For students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006 school year and later, only the following options shall fulfill students’ state graduation test requirements:

                  a.  for reading and mathematics:

(1)  obtaining an achievement level equivalent to or greater than proficient as determined through a standard setting process on the Minnesota comprehensive assessments in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics or achieving a passing score as determined through a standard

setting process on the GRAD in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics or subsequent retests;

(2)  achieving a passing score as determined through a standard setting process on the state-identified language proficiency test in reading and the mathematics test for English language learners or the GRAD equivalent of those assessments for students designated as English language learners;

(3)  achieving an individual passing score on the GRAD as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an IEP or Section 504 accommodation plan;

(4)  obtaining an achievement level equivalent to or greater than proficient as determined through a standard setting process on the state-identified alternate assessment or assessments in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics for students with an IEP; or

(5)  achieving an individual passing score on the state-identified alternate assessment or assessments as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an IEP; and

                  b.  for writing:

(1)    achieving a passing score on the GRAD;

(2)    achieving a passing score as determined through a standard setting process on the state-identified language proficiency test in writing for students designated as English language learners;

(3)    achieving an individual passing score on the GRAD as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an IEP or Section 504 accommodation plan; or

(4)    achieving an individual passing score on the state-identified alternate assessment or assessments as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an IEP.

3.  Students enrolled in grade 8 in any school year from the 2005-2006 school year to the 2009-2010 school year who do not pass the mathematics GRAD under paragraph VI.D.2. above, are eligible to receive a high school diploma with a passing state notation if they:

a.  complete with a passing score or grade all state and local coursework and credits required for graduation by the school board granting the students their diploma;

b.  participate in district-prescribed academic remediation in mathematics; and

c.  fully participate in at least two retests of the mathematics GRAD test or until they pass the mathematics GRAD test, whichever comes first. A student’s current pass status for each subject that has a required graduation assessment score for each of the following assessments must be placed on the student’s high school transcript.

4.  The school district must place a student’s highest assessment score for each of the following assessments on the student’s high school transcript: the mathematics Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, reading Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, and writing GRAD, and, when applicable, the mathematics GRAD and reading GRAD.  In addition, the school district may include a notation of high achievement on the high school diplomas of those graduating seniors who, according to established school board criteria, demonstrate exemplary academic achievement during high school.

E.  Rigorous Course of Study Waiver: 

1.  Upon receiving a student’s application (see appendix) signed by the student’s parent or guardian, the school district must declare that a student meets or exceeds a specific academic standard required for graduation if the school board determines that the student:

                                                             a.  Is participating in a course of study, including an advanced placement or international baccalaureate course or program; a learning opportunity outside the curriculum of the school district; or an approved preparatory program for employment or postsecondary education that is equally or more rigorous than the corresponding state or local academic standard required by the school district;

                                                             b.  Would be precluded from participating in the rigorous course of study, learning opportunity, or preparatory employment or postsecondary education program if the student were required to achieve the academic standard to be waived; and

c.  Satisfactorily completes the requirements for the rigorous course of study, learning opportunity, or preparatory employment or postsecondary education program.

2.  The school board also may formally determine other circumstances in which to declare that a student meets or exceeds a specific academic standard that the site requires for graduation under this section.

3.  A student who satisfactorily completes a postsecondary enrollment options course or program or an advanced placement or international baccalaureate course or program is not required to complete other requirements of the academic standards corresponding to that specific rigorous course of study.