Alcorn School District procedures for Graduation, Credits and Recovering Credits
Response to COVID-19 and MDE Waivers
Revised 4/16/20
Requirements for Graduation for the Class of 2020
All courses required for graduation that begin in the 4th term (US Government, Botany, Economics, Zoology II, Intro to Geography) will be given a modified assignment via paper packet or online instruction for graduation purposes per MDE’s guidance.
A Senior who has a failing grade during the 3rd term will be allowed to complete the necessary course work provided by their teacher in order to gain credit with a 65.
A Senior can choose to increase their 3rd term grade up to 10 points by completing the work provided by their teachers. Points added to 3rd term grade as a result of procedures during COVID-19 will not count toward Honors, Hall of Fame, Valedictorian and Salutatorian GPA calculations.
Student’s 3rd-term average will also be their semester average.
Options for Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen completing credits for spring semester
Students who have a failing grade during the 3rd term will be allowed to complete the necessary course work provided by their teacher in order to gain credit with a 65.
All Students can choose to increase their 3rd term grade up to 10 points by completing work provided by their teacher. Points added will be reflected in the 4th nine-weeks grade.
Any Freshmen, Sophomore or Junior not completing assignments in a 9-weeks course at the end of the 4th term will be dropped from the course. These students will have the option to take the course next school year.
Student’s 3rd 9-week average will also be their semester average.
Assessment modifications
The US History, Biology I, Algebra I and English II end-of-course assessments will not be administered.
If a student is currently enrolled in one of these four classes and he or she passes the course, the student will not be required to pass the assessment for graduation.
If a current Senior has previously passed the course, but not the assessment, he or she will not be required to pass the assessment in order to graduate.
The Career Planning and Assessment System (CPAS) test will not be administered.
Refer to MDE PS 14.2
Guidelines for Fifth through Eighth Grades
Any student that has a 55 average will be automatically promoted to the next grade.
Any work submitted by a student via electronic means or paper/pencil during the Covid-19 school closure can be graded only if the grading of the assignment will help the students’ grade.
The fourth nine-weeks average will be equal to or greater than the highest of the first, second and third nine-weeks averages.
The fourth nine-weeks average must be a passing average.
All Students can choose to increase their 4th 9-weeks average up to 10 points by completing work (either online or from student packets) provided by their teacher.
Guidelines for Kindergarten through Fourth Grade
Student’s 4th 9-weeks average will be the average of their first, second, & third 9-weeks averages.
All 4th 9-weeks averages will be a minimum of a passing grade (70).
All Students can choose to increase their 4th 9-weeks average up to 10 points by completing work (either online or from student packets) provided by their teacher.
Student’s second semester and yearly averages will be determined using typical ASD grading policies.
Promotion and retention decisions will be based on the following:
Numerical Average
Benchmark Test Data
Teacher Expertise
Decisions regarding promotion/retention and the availability of additional opportunities above the previously mentioned incentives will be made by a group of teachers and/or the building principals on a case by case basis. This applies to students in K-4 only.
Assessment modifications
The Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) and MAAP-Alternate will not be administered (3rd-8th grades).
The Mississippi Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (post-test) will not be given.
The Literacy Based Promotion Act for 3rd Grade English Language Arts will not in effect for promotion and retention purposes.