North Forest High School Graduation Requirements
Grades and Extracurricular Activities Under the state s no pass/no play law, eligibility for participation in extracurricular activities during the first six weeks of the school year is determined by a student s grades from the final grading cycle of the previous school year or the number of credits earned during the previous school year. Six-Week Grading Periods (used in most secondary schools) First Grading Period: August 26 to October 4 Second Grading Period: October 7 to November 8 Third Grading Period: November 11 to December 20 Fourth Grading Period: January 7 to February 14 Fifth Grading Period: February 17 to April 4 Sixth Grading Period: April 7 to May 29 After the first six weeks, a student who receives a grade lower than 70 (or the equivalent) in any academic course is ineligible to participate in extracurricular activities during the first three school weeks of the next grading period. During that time the student may continue to practice or rehearse with other students but may not take part in any competition or public performance.
Graduation Requirements (2 parts) Earn required credits Pass required assessments A student must complete the academic course requirements and must pass the applicable statedeveloped graduation assessments before the student can graduate.
Grad Requirements: Credits and Exams Students must earn 26 credits to graduate Student must meet the standard on five STAAR End of Course exams 1. Algebra I 2. Biology 3. English I 4. English II 5. U.S. History If student does not meet minimum standard on these exams, student will be required to re-test until standard is met in order to be granted diploma Once student is enrolled in course, student is eligible to sit for exam
Graduation Plan: Cohort There have been recent changes to graduation requirements. The plan a student follows is based on the academic year the student ENTERED 9 th grade. Academic Year Cohort 2011-2012 2011 If you began high school during the 2011-2012 academic school year, you are part of 2011 Cohort
Earning Credits Typically you a half a credit for each semester (semester A and semester B) To earn credit, the average for that semester must be equal to or greater than 70. Each semester, the average is derived from your report card grades and final exam A semester Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Cycle 3 Fall Final Exam B semester Cycle 4 Cycle 5 Cycle 6 Spring Final Exam
Core Credits=16 Courses highlighted in gray represent courses with a required STAAR EOC exam. Once student is enrolled in course, they qualify to take the test English - 4 credits A B Science - 4 credits A B English I Biology English II Chemistry English III Physics English IV Math - 4 credits A B Social Studies - 4 credits A B Algebra I World Geography Algebra II World History Geometry U.S. History Government/Economics
Other Requirements = 10 credits LOTE - 2 credits A B Fine Arts - 1 credit A B Health - 1/2 credit Health Ed Speech - 1/2 credit Comm App A or B A or B LOTE means Language Other Than English (Spanish or French) Physical Education - 1 credit A B Can be PE, NJROTC or marching band Can be Art, Choir, Band, or Dance Electives 5 credits A B Technology 2 LOTE 1 Physical Ed 1 Fine Arts ½ Health ½ Speech + 5 Electives 10 credits total For students entering 9 th grade in 2011-2012 (2011 cohort), technology credit is required as one of the elective credits
Transcript Like a report keeps track of grades for current school year, a transcript shows information from the beginning of a student s high school career Academic transcript shows credits attempted/earned and test history on track to graduation Items you find on a transcript Credits Test history Classification GPA
Grade Classification Number of credits on transcript each August determines classification for the school year Credits Earned Classification (year) 0 5.5 grade 9 (freshman) 6 11.5 grade 10 (sophomore) 12 17.5 grade 11 (junior) 18 or more grade 12 (senior)
Grade Point Average (GPA) Even though all grades will be reported as numeric scores, these scores will still represent various levels of achievement which can be compared to letter grades. The following grading scale will be used in HISD to determine the grade points for each credit course: Numeric Average Letter Grade Regular Quality (Pre-AP/AP) 90-100 A 4 5 80-89 B 3 4 75-79 C 2 3 70-74 D 1 2 Below 70 F 0 0
Credit Recovery Options If credit is not earned for a specific course, below are options to recover credit Repeat course next year Repeat in summer School Composite Grading (More info on next slide) Grad Lab Online recovery if course is available online See Ms. Cooks for more info Credit Appeal For students with passing average and excessive absences Impacts of Absences on Grades If a student exceeds the absence limit for a semester or for the year on an annual promotion course, an asterisk (*) will appear next to the grade on the report card for the appropriate cycle. Even though the grade may be passing, no credit is awarded
Composite Grading: Whole year Average Whole course credit applies to all HISD two semester sequential courses (designated A and B ) and not to one semester courses. Should a student fail one semester and pass the other semester of a twosemester course, the student will earn one whole credit if the average is a 70 for both semesters combined. Update: Requirement for failing grade to fall between 60-69 no longer applies. Update: Change is retroactive to student s first year in an HISD high school
Reality Check A first year teacher in HISD makes $49,100/year A first year teacher works 187 days (out of 365) A teacher works 7.75 hours per day This equates to $33.88/hour for a first year teacher
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