Graduation Requirements Salado ISD

Graduation Requirements Salado ISD ENGLISH SUBJECT AREA MINIMUM PROGRAM ^ STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION RECOMMENDED PROGRAM +, II, III, IV, II, III, IV college English course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM +, II, III, IV college English course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) MATH* 3 CREDITS Algebra I, Geometry, 3 rd Math Algebra I, Geometry, Math Models, Algebra II OR Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II AND 1 Credit After completing the first 3 credits from above, a student must take a 4 th year of math, selected from one of the following: Advanced Quantitative Reasoning Precalculus AP Calculus AP Statistics college math course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II AND 1 Credit After completing the first 3 credits from above, a student must take a 4 th year of math, selected from one of the following: Advanced Quantitative Reasoning Precalculus AP Calculus AP Statistics college math course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) (Note: Math Models cannot count on this program.) SCIENCE 2/3 CREDITS 2 Credits Biology and IPC OR Biology, Chemistry and Physics Biology, IPC, Chemistry, Physics OR Biology, Chemistry, Physics AND 1 Credit After completing the first 3 credits from above, a student must take a 4 th year of science selected from one of the following: Anatomy and Physiology AP Biology AP Chemistry AP Physics Earth and Space Science college science course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) Biology, Chemistry, Physics AND 1 Credit After completing the first 3 credits from above, a student must take a 4 th year of science selected from one of the following: Anatomy and Physiology AP Biology AP Chemistry AP Physics Earth and Space Science college science course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) (Note: IPC cannot count on this program.) SOCIAL STUDIES World Geography, World History, U.S. History, U.S. Government, Economics World Geography, World History, U.S. History, U.S. Government, Economics college social studies course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) World Geography, World History, U.S. History, U.S. Government, Economics college social studies course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) FINE ARTS Art, Band, Choir, or Theater Art, Band, Choir, or Theater Art, Band, Choir, or Theater (Note: 1 credit must be earned in the same course.) (Note: 1 credit must be earned in the same course.) (Note: 1 credit must be earned in the same course.)

Graduation Requirements Salado ISD SPEECH SUBJECT AREA MINIMUM PROGRAM ^ STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION RECOMMENDED PROGRAM + Communication Applications Communication Applications DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM + Communication Applications HEALTH Principles of Health Science Principles of Health Science Principles of Health Science Computer Technology Applications Principles of Information Technology Principles of Information Technology Principles of Information Technology Foreign Language 0.0 CREDITS 2 CREDITS Spanish I, II college LOTE course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) 3 CREDITS Spanish I, II, III college LOTE course (must get prior approval from SHS Counselor) Physical Education PE Foundations of Personal Fitness PE Team Sports PE Individual Sports Athletics (up to 4 credits) JROTC (up to 1 credit) Marching Band (up to 1 credit) Cheerleading (up to 1 credit) PE Foundations of Personal Fitness PE Team Sports PE Individual Sports Athletics (up to 4 credits) JROTC (up to 1 credit) Marching Band (up to 1 credit) Cheerleading (up to 1 credit) PE Foundations of Personal Fitness PE Team Sports PE Individual Sports Athletics (up to 4 credits) JROTC (up to 1 credit) Marching Band (up to 1 credit) Cheerleading (up to 1 credit) Electives 5 CREDITS 6 CREDITS 5 CREDITS SPECIALIZATION COMPONENTS N/A N/A In addition to the required credits, students must also complete 4 advanced measures for the Distinguished Program. TOTAL 22 CREDITS 28 CREDITS 28 CREDITS In addition to credit requirements students must show mastery on ALL state EXIT LEVEL TESTS for their grade level. *If Algebra I is taken in 8 th grade it must be recorded on the transcript. Three years above Algebra I must be completed. **Students who take marching band will receive a 0.5 PE substitution of the physical education requirement upon successful completion of the fall semester course. Students may be classified for physical education on the basis of health as to unrestricted, restricted, and adapted and remedial instruction. Students may earn no more than 4 credits toward state graduation requirements in physical education. ^Minimum Plan Eligibility Requirements Require a written agreement between the student s parent/guardian, the school counselor and a school administrator allowing the student to pursue the minimum plan instead of the recommended plan. Require that before a decision can be made for the student to pursue the minimum plan, the student must: o Be at least 16 years old, or o Have completed two credits for graduation in English, math, science and social studies, or o Have failed to be promoted to the 10 th grade one or more times as determined by the school district. Exemption: Students with disabilities are automatically placed on the minimum plan if the student s ARD places the student in a modified curriculum area.

Distinguished Achievement Program The Distinguished Achievement Program recognizes students who demonstrate levels of performance equivalent to that of college students or work done by professionals in the arts, sciences, business, industry, or in community service. Student performance on advanced measures other than Advanced Placement examinations may be assessed through an external review process. Students must obtain approval prior to pursuing credits for college courses, products of professional quality, or original research/projects. Documentation of completion of the four advanced measures even if this documentation is received after graduation (in the case of AP scores) must be provided. For the class of 2015 and after, in order to graduate on the Distinguished Achievement Program, students must meet or exceed the Level III Advanced Academic standard in Algebra II and I. Distinguished Achievement Program (28 Credits) Requirements: A student must achieve any combination of four of the following prior to graduation: Original research/project: (No more than two of the four advanced measures may come from this category.) Individual product of professional quality as judged by a panel of professionals in the field that is the focus of the project. Prior approval is required for this category. Approved Individual Products/Original Research Projects Mentor based projects completed through approved mentor courses Students must be enrolled in an approved course or under the supervision of a Salado ISD teacher to complete an advanced measure in this category. External evaluation of a project must be maintained in the student s cumulative folder and documented on the student s permanent record card and counselor card. Test data: (All 4 of the required advanced measures may come from this category.) A score of three or above on a College Board Advanced Placement examination (each score of three or above counts as one advanced measure); A score on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) that qualifies a student for recognition as a commended scholar or higher by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation; as part of the National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP) of the College Board or as part of the National Achievement Scholarship Program of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The PSAT/NMSQT score shall count as only one advanced measure regardless of the number of honors received by the student. College courses: (All 4 of the required advanced measures may come from this category.) A grade of A or B in a dual credit college course. Prior approval is required for this category. (Each grade of A or B counts as one advanced measure).

DUAL CREDIT CLASSES Dual credit provides students with an opportunity to complete high school credits while earning college credit at the same time [EHDD (Local)]. The following guidelines are established for dual credit courses: Seniors and juniors may receive dual credit from either Temple College in Temple, TX or Central Texas College in Killeen, TX. Dual credit will not be awarded from any other college or university. Students must meet admission requirements of Temple College or Central Texas College and receive permission from the Salado High School counselor prior to attending classes. It is the responsibility of the student and/or parent to complete and submit all admission and fee requirements to the college. Salado High School staff may not accept admission paperwork or fees for dual credit course enrollment. Salado ISD will reimburse students $50 per semester (3 or 4 hours) to the student under the condition that the student pass and receive credit for the class. Withdrawal, failure to attend, or a grade of F will cause the student to forfeit the reimbursement. Students will pay all enrollment costs including entrance exams, if required. Students will not be reimbursed for summer classes taken at college. Classes available for dual credit and comparable college course descriptions will be in accordance with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and college course description. This description is available through the counselor s office. Students must enroll in classes equal to five state credit units at the Salado campus. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board limits students to only two dual credit courses per semester unless they are participating in an approved two year concurrent enrollment program, i.e. the Texas Bioscience Institute at Temple College. English, Math, Science and Social Studies courses will be weighted (110%) for GPA and class rank [EIC (Local)]. Transcripts will show numerical grades for college letter grades. (A=95;B=85;C=78;D=73; and F=59) Numeric grades supersedes letter grade when available. No grade higher than a 100 will be recorded. Students enrolled in Dual Credit courses that earn a D will not be allowed to enroll the following semester. Dual Credit courses completed during summer session will be reflected in the following semester s ending GPA. In order for a Dual Credit course to be added to a student s transcript, an official college transcript must be provided to the Salado High School counselor within 30 days of the completion of the course. If no official college transcript is received the student will receive an incomplete on their transcript until the transcript is submitted. Please note that an incomplete does affect UIL eligibility.

Standards for STAAR Three performance categories have been set for STAAR s. The definitions for the categories are: Level III: Advanced Academic * in this category indicates that students are well prepared for the next grade or course. They demonstrate the ability to think critically and apply the assessed knowledge and skills in varied contexts, both familiar and unfamiliar. Students in this category have a high likelihood of success in the next grade or course with little or no academic intervention. * For Algebra II and I, this level of performance also indicates students are well prepared for postsecondary success. Level II: Satisfactory Academic ** in this category indicates that students are sufficiently prepared for the next grade or course. They generally demonstrate the ability to think critically and apply the assessed knowledge and skills in familiar contexts. Students in this category have a reasonable likelihood of success in the next grade or course but may need short term, targeted academic intervention. ** For Algebra II and I, this level of performance also indicates students are sufficiently prepared for postsecondary success. Level I: Unsatisfactory Academic in this category indicates that students are inadequately prepared for the next grade or course. They do not demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the assessed knowledge and skills. Students in this category are unlikely to succeed in the next grade or course without significant, ongoing academic intervention. As the state has done for at least the past two testing programs the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) the passing standards will be phased in. The Level II passing standards will be a four year, two step process. A two year phase in will be used for Level III performance on I Reading and Writing and Algebra II only. The phase in approach was adopted because of the significant increase in the rigor of the STAAR program and because the distance between the initial and final passing standards for Level II are generally larger than the distance between the initial and final passing standards for TAKS. The phase in will provide districts with time to adjust instruction, provide additional staff training, and close knowledge gaps. The performance standards each student must achieve will be based on the year a student takes his first end of course assessment. If students take their first STAAR assessment in 2012 or 2013, they will be held to the first set of Level II phase in performance standards for every assessment in that content area. Students who take their first STAAR assessment in 2014 or 2015 will be held to the second set of Level II phase in performance standards. The final Level II performance standards will be in place for any students who take their first STAAR assessment in 2016 or later. The final Level III performance standards will be in place for any students who take their first STAAR I writing and reading and Algebra II tests in 2014 or later.

Level II Standards The scores needed to reach the various performance levels are expressed as scale scores. Once fully phased in, the score needed to achieve Level II performance will be a scale score of 4000 for each of the following assessments: Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, World Geography, World History, and United States History. The initial phase in standard for these tests will be 3500. The scale score needed to achieve a Level II performance on each of the, II, and III Reading and Writing assessments is 2000. The initial phase in score is 1875. Level III Standards The Level III standards will not be phased in for and II Reading and Writing, Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, World Geography, World History and U.S. History. The final performance standards on these tests for Level III will range from 4333 to 4634, depending on the assessment. An initial phase in score of 4080 will be required to earn a Level III performance for the Algebra II assessment with the final Level III score set at 4411. The I Reading assessment will require an initial phase in score of 2135, while the I Writing assessment will require an initial score of 2155. The fully implemented standards will require a score of 2356 on the I Reading test and a score of 2300 on the I Writing test. State law now requires students graduating in 2015 or later to earn a Level III rating on Algebra II and I to qualify for the state s Distinguished Achievement Program high school diploma. The table on the following page lists the scale scores needed on all the STAAR assessments. The category called minimum refers to a score that is below Level II but is high enough to be included in the cumulative score students must achieve on the three assessments in each core content area. Additional information about the STAAR standards can be found at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/ Students first enrolled in grade 9 or below in the 2011 2012 school year will be required to take the STAAR assessments for courses in which they re enrolled as part of their graduation requirements and will no longer take TAKS. Students enrolled in grade 10 or above in the 2011 2012 school year or who are repeating grade 9 in the 2011 2012 school year will graduate under TAKS requirements and do not have the option of taking STAAR assessments. 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 2014 2014 2015 Grade 9 Grade 10 TAKS Grade 11 Exit TAKS Exit TAKS Grade 12 Exit TAKS Exit TAKS Exit TAKS or Exit TAKS*

STAAR / Phase In Schedule Phase In I 2012 and 2013 Phase In II 2014 and 2015 Final Recommended Standards 2016 (Level III Final Recommended Standard begins in 2014) Phase in and Final Recommended Level II and Level III Standards and Minimum Scores Assessment Reading Reading *I Reading Writing Writing *I Writing 2012 & 2013 Phase in 1 Level I Minimum 2012 & 2013 Phase in 1 Level II Satisfactory 2014 & 2015 Phase in 2 Level I Minimum 2014 & 2015 Phase in 2 Level II Satisfactory 2016 Final Recommended Level I Minimum 2016 Final Recommended Level II Satisfactory 2012 & 2013 *Phase in Level III Advanced Academic 1813 1875 1887 1950 1936 2000 N/A 2304 1806 1875 1880 1950 1929 2000 N/A 2328 1808 1875 1882 1950 1932 2000 2135 2356 1798 1875 1872 1950 1921 2000 N/A 2476 1807 1875 1880 1950 1928 2000 N/A 2408 1808 1875 1881 1950 1929 2000 2155 2300 Algebra I 3371 3500 3626 3750 3872 4000 N/A 4333 *Algebra II 3350 3500 3604 3750 3852 4000 4080 4411 Geometry 3362 3500 3619 3750 3868 4000 N/A 4397 Biology 3367 3500 3621 3750 3868 4000 N/A 4576 Chemistry 3348 3500 3600 3750 3846 4000 N/A 4607 Physics 3346 3500 3600 3750 3848 4000 N/A 4499 World 3383 3500 3632 3750 3874 4000 N/A 4404 Geography World History 3326 3500 3576 3750 3822 4000 N/A 4634 U.S. History 3372 3500 3624 3750 3869 4000 N/A 4440 2014 Final Recommended Level III Advanced Academic

STAAR Assessments and Graduation Plans STAAR / assessments are required for different graduation plans as follows for students entering 9 th grade in 2011 2012 and beyond: ELA MATH SCIENCE SOCIAL STUDIES Minimum Graduation Plan Recommended Graduation Plan Distinguished Graduation Plan I I at PS* I at CCR** V V V Algebra I Algebra I Algebra I Geometry Geometry Geometry 3 rd Math Algebra II at PS* Algebra II at CCR** 3 CREDITS 4 th Math 4 th Math Biology IPC 3 rd Science 3 CREDITS World Geography World History US History Govt / Econ Biology Chemistry Physics 4 th Science World Geography World History US History Govt / Econ Biology Chemistry Physics 4 th Science World Geography World History US History Govt / Econ *Students on the Recommended Plan must meet the Level II passing standard (PS) in Algebra II and I. **Students on the Distinguished Plan must meet the Level III college and career readiness standard (CCR) in Algebra II and I.

Students must meet or exceed the minimum score for the to count towards the graduation requirements. Unsatisfactory students do not meet the satisfactory standard Satisfactory similar to the Met Standard scale score on TAKS Advanced similar to Commended on TAKS, but more aligned to college readiness What are the STAAR requirements for graduation? To graduate, a student must achieve a cumulative score in each of the four core content areas. For each of the four core content areas, the student s cumulative score n x student s passing scale score, where n = number of assessments taken. For example, to fulfill Mathematics requirements, a typical student would take s in Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II, meet or exceed the minimum score on each, and have a sufficient cumulative math score on all three tests. NOT Graduation requirements for Recommended High School Program (RHSP) In addition to meeting the cumulative score requirement in each of the four core content areas, students on the recommended high school program must meet passing standard on I and Algebra II. Graduation requirements for Distinguished Achievement Program (DAP) In addition to meeting the cumulative score requirement in each of the four core content areas, students on the distinguished achievement program must meet the College and Career Readiness (advanced) performance standard on I and Algebra II. What is the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standard? College readiness means the level of preparation a student must attain in ELA and Mathematics to succeed in an entry level course for credit in college. CCR standards have been incorporated into the TEKS for ELA and Math. These standards will be assessed in I and Algebra II s and will yield a CCR performance standard, which is higher than the passing standard for the s. What are STAAR testing options for special education students? Modified versions of the assessments will be available for students similar to TAKS Modified. What option exists for students who pass the course but are not successful on the associated assessment? The student will not be required to retake the course, but will have the opportunity to retake the test at the next available administration. Salado ISD shall provide accelerated instruction to each student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment. Do students have to take an if credit is acquired through CBE (Credit by Exam)? If there is an associated for the CBE credit course, the student is required to take the for graduation requirements.