Student Accountability Policy

 

Students must demonstrate competent performance of the Indiana Academic Standards designated at each grade level prior to moving on to the next grade level.

 

ISTEP+ is a state-wide standardized exam that measures competency of the Indiana Academic Standards.  The ISTEP+ at the 10^th grade level serves as a state-wide graduation-qualifying exam.  All Indiana students must pass this exam in order to graduate.

 

Beginning in the 2002-2003 school year

 

1. All middle school students must pass both the Mathematics and the English/Language Arts sections of ISTEP+.  If they do not meet standards on one or both sections, they must meet 3 of the 4 following requirements for promotion to the next grade:

 

1. Students must have 95% attendance rate for the school year.

§         Out of 180 days in the entire school year, students must not be absent more than 9 days.

 

2. Students must earn no lower than 70.0% (C-) in any class on their 2^nd semester grade mark.

 

3. Students must pass year end final exam in Mathematics and/or English/Language Arts.

§         To fulfill this requirement, a student needs to pass the year-end standards based final exam for the content area he/she did not pass on ISTEP.  For example:  a student who passed the English/Language Arts section of ISTEP, but did not pass the mathematics portion would fulfill this requirement by passing the mathematics final exam at the end of the school year.

 

4. Students must not have more than two separate incidents resulting in a class suspension (being “kicked out” of class), after-school detention, in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension.

 

2. Students who pass both sections of ISTEP+  must meet 3 of the 4 requirements for promotion to the next grade.

 

1. Students must have 95% attendance rate for the school year.

§         Out of 180 days in the entire school year, students must not be absent more than 9 days.

2. Students must pass year end final exam in Mathematics, English/Language Arts.

3. Students must not have more than one failing grade on the second semester report card.

4. Students must not have more than two separate incidents resulting in a class suspension (being “kicked out” of class), after-school detention, in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension.

 

Petition Process for Assignment:

 

Students may petition to be assigned to the next grade level through the Selma Middle School Student Accountability Transition Committee.  This committee is made up of seven members: the principal, the student’s English, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Science teachers, one teacher representative from the previous grade level and one teacher representative from the student’s next grade level.

 

1. The student will contact the principal to request a petition hearing with the transition committee.

 

2. The principal will notify the student in writing of the date and time of the hearing.

 

3. At the hearing:

   1. The student may bring samples of work they feel demonstrates their competence of the Indiana Academic Standards.

   2. The student may discuss any extenuating circumstances that should be considered.

   3. The committee may ask the student to respond to content-oriented questions to give the student the opportunity to demonstrate competency of the Indiana Academic Standards.

   4. The parents may attend the hearing as spectators.  At the conclusion of the hearing, the parents may make a formal statement on behalf of their child. 

 

4. The committee has the right to invoke requirements the student must be responsible for fulfilling prior to making a decision.

 

5. The principal will notify the student of the committee’s final decision within three days of the hearing.

 

6. The Liberty-Perry Community School Board designated the transition committee’s decision as final in all general education student retention, promotion, and assignment cases on March 13, 2002.

 

7. The case conference committee establishes programming and services for all special education students.  Any adaptations, modifications or waivers to the policy will be determined by the student’s case conference committee.