A number of them are addressed here:
How will students be graded for the Spring 2020 Semester?
At the April 20 school board meeting, Hays CISD adopted a resolution for a Pass/Incomplete grading policy for the Spring 2020 semester. Teachers will not enter traditional grades into the Parent Self Serve/Student Self Serve. Students will Pass classes if they participate as much as possible in the wo...
A number of them are addressed here:
How will students be graded for the Spring 2020 Semester?
At the April 20 school board meeting, Hays CISD adopted a resolution for a Pass/Incomplete grading policy for the Spring 2020 semester. Teachers will not enter traditional grades into the Parent Self Serve/Student Self Serve. Students will Pass classes if they participate as much as possible in the work shared in their online classrooms. If students do not participate, they will be given an “I” for Incomplete. For high school classes, a “P” will mean that credit is awarded for the semester; and “I” will mean that credit is not awarded for the semester and that students will need to complete work to make up the credit when school resumes. This plan ensures that students who failed the Fall 2019 semester of a yearlong course will be permitted to repair failing grades or make up missing assignments in order to earn the yearlong credit.
How will class rank and GPA be impacted?
For high school seniors, class rank will be calculated based on the semester average at the end of the second nine-week grading period of the 2019-2020 school-year. This will be the final GPA for current seniors. For the classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023, GPA will be calculated using those grades available as of the end of the second nine-week grading period. Grades from the spring semester 2020 will not be used to calculate for this or any future school years. Students who were struggling academically before, or begin to struggle during, the closure will be given individual support on a case by case basis with the goal of enabling them to earn credit. While no system is perfect we believe the structure established for GPA is the most equitable solution for all, allowing teachers and students to focus on student learning during this unprecedented time.
If a student is a senior but still must complete one or more EOCs to graduate, will he/she be able to graduate?
Most students have already completed courses that have corresponding EOC assessments before their senior year. Normally, a student who has not passed up to two of his or her required STAAR EOC assessments may graduate through the individual graduation committee (IGC) process. For students who are still working to meet assessment graduation requirements as seniors in the 2019–2020 school year, TEA has waived the required performance on academic assessments to graduate under TEC, §28.025(c) and §39.025(a) for spring 2020. Effectively, this means that current seniors may graduate through the IGC process regardless of the number of EOC assessments they still need to pass.
If a student is not graduating this year and still has one or more EOCs required to graduate, how will that affect the student’s credit in the upcoming year?
TEA has waived the required performance on academic assessments under TEC, §28.025(c) and §39.025(a) for spring 2020 only. This means:
• If the student is not graduating and is currently enrolled in an EOC course, the EOC passing requirement will be waived if the student receives credit for that course.
• If the student is not graduating and has an outstanding EOC assessment that they have not passed from a previous year, they will still need to retake and pass that EOC assessment prior to graduation.
What assessments have been cancelled for this school year?
Academic assessment requirements have been suspended by the State for the remainder of the 2019–2020 school year. This includes all STAAR assessments including tests for grades 3-8, End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments, and STAAR Alternate 2 tests.
Will schools and districts be held to federal testing and accountability requirements?
TEA is working with the United States Department of Education to request waivers from federal
testing and accountability requirements for the 2019–2020 school year.
Will the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) and TELPAS Alternate administration window be extended?
The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) and TELPAS Alternate
administration windows are currently open and are being extended to remain open through May 29, 2020, for a district to complete optionally if it chooses. Scoring data will be provided for each TELPAS domain a student completes. TEA is looking at exit criteria for English learners to determine what adjustments may be made this year for this determination.
What does this mean for middle school students?
As with high school students, all grades for the spring semester will be entered as “Pass” or “Incomplete.” Students who are in danger of not earning the yearlong credit for high school credit courses will be able to repair their grades in order to earn the final yearlong credit.
Incomplete Grading
For grades K-8, incompletes will not be used for promotion or retention, but will be used to identify students who will need extra help and support next school year through small group instruction and/or tutorials. When we return to school, we will ensure that all students are provided opportunities to obtain any needed or missed skills/concepts.
How will elementary students keep up with their learning?
Teachers will work closely with their students through online learning, emails with pictures of students’ completed work, or even joint phone calls with caregivers and students. Teachers will monitor student progress on the most important skills, content and standards that will prepare our young people for success next year. Teachers will be in communication with parents and caregivers regarding their students’ progress. Parents are encouraged to reach out to teachers and campus administrators with any needs that may arise.
Will the cancellation of Reading and Math STAAR assessments for students in grades 5 and 8 impact their promotion to the next grade?
Districts will have local discretion on whether students in grades 5 and 8 should advance to the next grade, just like students in all other grades. In alignment with TEC, §28.021, criteria that should be considered include the following:
• The recommendation of the student’s teacher,
• The student’s grade in each subject or course, and
• Any other necessary academic information, as determined by the district.
Student participation during the remainder of the spring semester is vital to ensuring that sufficient data exists to support student promotion. Contact your child’s teacher if you have questions about opportunities for student participation.
Will we still offer the SAT to juniors?
SAT tests are cancelled for the time being. We are investigating ways to administer SAT for students who were to take it this spring.
Will there be Advanced Placement (AP) exams this year?
Yes. The College Board is revising the tests to be administered online. Each test will be 45 minutes long and will be administered twice so that students have an option when to take the test. AP teachers are/will be sharing content with students, and College Board began providing online test review courses starting Wednesday, March 25. Information on the tutorials is here. Test dates and types of questions on the site are posted here.
How will students keep up in fine arts or athletics?
Students in performance-based courses such as fine arts, Career and Technical Education, athletics, world languages, or others will continue working on their proficiencies using individual videos, performance and technique challenges, and continuous skill development to keep students actively engaged.
