A.    PURPOSE

The Board believes that students should progress to the next level of study only after they are proficient in their knowledge and application of the current level of curriculum. To the extent reasonably possible, students should be given as much time or as little time needed to be proficient at a particular level of study.  Each placement decision shall consider the best interests of the child and the school system.  Local and state student standards and performance guidelines are based on the need to provide early intervention and ongoing assistance to students who are not performing on a proficient level.

B.    STANDARDS FOR PROMOTION

The Superintendent has established the following standards and processes for determining a student’s readiness to progress to the next level of study.  The standards shall be based, in part, upon proficiency in reading. The standards must provide multiple criteria for assessing the student’s readiness, such as standardized tests, grades, a portfolio or anthology of the student’s work and, when appropriate, consideration of accepted standards for assessing developmental growth.  The standards and process shall incorporate all state law and State Board of Education Policies, including those for the assessment and promotion of third grade students as described in G.S. 115C-83.6 et seq. and State Board of Education Policies.

Principals shall ensure that the standards are used by teachers and school administrators in assessing each student’s readiness to progress to the next level of study.  Principals have the authority to promote and to retain students based upon the standards set by the Board and the State Board of Education.

1.      Kindergarten
Kindergarten students start school with a wide range of prior experiences and background.  Therefore, it is especially important to assess the growth from the beginning to the end of the year.  Growth is documented on an ongoing basis using multiple formal and informal assessments along with teacher observations. If a student is not making expected progress in the content areas, intervention and ongoing support should begin immediately, and an intervention plan must be developed. Parents shall be notified of supplemental intervention and support and shall be invited to participate in the development of a plan for intensive support.  Absences can impact promotion decisions. Retention should be considered as a last resort. 

2.      Grades 1 & 2
Students in first and second grade are administered formal and informal assessments in reading, writing, and mathematics on a regular basis.  Instruction is differentiated to meet individual needs.  When a student is not making adequate progress as determined by system benchmarks, intervention and ongoing support should begin immediately, and an intervention plan must be developed. Parents shall be notified of supplemental intervention and support and shall be invited to participate in the development of a plan for intensive support.  Absences can impact promotion decisions. Retention should be considered as a last resort.

3.      Grade 3
When a student is not making adequate progress as determined by system benchmarks, a plan of intervention and ongoing support should begin immediately. Students who do not score at Level III or above on the first administration of EOG tests will be retested, when a retest is available, in accordance with State Board of Education policy.  The superintendent shall develop, in accordance with State Board policy, procedures addressing intervention plans and promotion requests for students who fail to score at Level III or above.  Parents shall be notified of supplemental intervention and support and shall be invited to participate in the development of a plan for intensive support.  Absences and previous retentions can also impact promotion decisions.

4.      Grades 4 and 5
When a student is not making adequate progress as determined by system benchmarks, previous EOG scores, or other diagnostic information, intervention and ongoing support should begin immediately. A plan of intervention must be developed for these students to address targeted needs.  Parents shall be notified of supplemental intervention and shall be invited to participate in the development of the plan for intensive support.  Students who are not proficient in their core coursework and state administered assessments may be candidates for retention.  Students who do not meet the promotion standards will be required to receive remediation and retesting, when a retest is available.  Absences and previous retentions can also impact promotion decisions.

    5.      Grades 6 through 8
In order to be promoted to the next grade level, students in grades six through eight must pass language arts, math, and at least two of the following courses for the current school year:  science, social studies, and health/physical education.  

When a student is not making adequate progress as determined by system benchmarks, previous EOG scores, or other diagnostic information, intervention and ongoing support should begin immediately. A plan of intervention must be developed for these students to address targeted needs.  Parents shall be notified of supplemental intervention and shall be invited to participate in the development of the plan for intensive support.  Students who are not proficient in their core coursework and state administered assessments may be candidates for retention.  Students who do not meet the promotion standards will be required to receive remediation and retesting, when a retest is available.  Absences and previous retentions can also impact promotion decisions.
     
6.    High School Diploma Standards 
To receive a North Carolina high school diploma, all students must meet all existing local and state graduation requirements. Please see the requirements contained within the High School Program of Studies.

7.     Early Graduation
Graduation prior to that of one’s class may be permitted on the basis of criteria as contained within the High School Program of Studies.

8.    Credit Recovery
Students who fail a high school course may retake parts of the course through credit recovery to earn credit for the course.  Credit recovery delivers a subset of the blueprint of the original course in order to specifically address deficiencies in a student’s mastery of the course and target specific components of a course necessary for completion.  A pre-assessment of the student’s understanding of the course material will be administered at the beginning of the course and the credit recovery will be tailored to meet the needs of the individual student.  The length of a credit recovery course is dictated by the skills and knowledge the student needs to recover and not a fixed length of seat time. 

Any EOC exam associated with the credit recovery course may be administered no later than 30 days upon completion of the credit recovery course to students who had no previously obtained proficiency.  The credit recovery will be graded as pass or fail and will not impact the student’s grade point average.  The original grade for the course will remain on the student’s transcript.

The Superintendent shall develop procedures addressing the implementation of credit recovery opportunities across the school system.

9.    Repeating a Course of Credit
Repeating a Course for Credit may be permitted on the basis of criteria as contained within the High School Program of Studies.

C.     INTERVENTION FOR STUDENTS NOT MEETING PROMOTION STANDARDS
     
The goal of the school district is to identify as early as possible students who are unlikely to meet the standards for progression to the next level     of study so that the school can provide appropriate intervention. Intervention must be provided for any student who does not meet grade level proficiencies established by the State. 

The principal or designee is responsible for ensuring that students at risk are identified and that the MTSS/intervention team develops a plan to include successful transition between grade spans for such students.

1.    Intervention Plans
By the end of the first school month, each school must submit to the Superintendent or designee the school’s plan for intervention.  Schools also must include in the school improvement plan the types of intervention strategies that will be offered at the school.  At a minimum, the intervention plan must address the following elements:

a.    identification of an intervention for students at-risk of failing the student accountability standards;
     
b.    intervention for students retaking the student accountability tests prior to the end of the school year;

c.    differentiated instruction for students who have been retained; and
    
d.    meeting individual students’ needs.

2.    Intervention Strategies
Intervention involves supporting a child at the level where he/she is performing and building a foundation that will encourage successful growth toward grade level proficiency. 

Intervention and instructional strategies for both supplemental and intensive support should align with the UCPS Standard Treatment Protocol.  Intervention should be provided in addition to, not in place of, core instruction.  Retention should be considered as a last resort when intervention strategies have not succeeded.  
    
Additionally, an intervention plan must be developed for every student in grades K-2 who is not making expected growth.  Each plan must include diagnostic evaluation, intervention strategies and monitoring strategies.

Supplemental and intensive intervention should reinforce and extend regular classroom instruction.  The school must seek to involve parents and the student in discussing intervention strategies when possible. Students must participate in the intervention strategies and demonstrate acceptable growth and achievement before being promoted to the next grade.

The Board will provide reading camp opportunities as required by law at no fee for students who are entitled to this intervention under state law.  The Superintendent or designee shall encourage parents of eligible students to enroll their students in a reading camp. To the extent resources permit, the Board will offer fee-based reading camp opportunities for students who are not entitled to attend at no cost. Such students provided with this opportunity will be advised of the cost of participation.   Annually, the Board will establish criteria for priority enrollment in its fee-based reading camps and will set the attendance fee at an amount not to exceed the statutory limit. The Superintendent or designee shall notify interested parents of the application procedure for the fee-based reading camps.

Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, an Individual Reading Plan (IRP) will be developed in accordance with state law for any student in kindergarten through third grade demonstrating difficulty with reading development based on the results of either (1) the first diagnostic or formative assessment of the school year or (2) the first diagnostic or formative assessment of the second semester of the school year. The student’s teacher shall notify the parent or guardian that the student has demonstrated difficulty with reading development and that an IRP has been developed for the student. The notice provided must include all other information required under G.S. 115C-83.6B(b) and should be in the parents’ native language when appropriate foreign language resources are readily available.

The district will provide access through the district website to available resources from the Department of Public Instruction’s Digital Children’s Reading Initiative as required by law. Printable activities from those resources will be provided in hard copy to students who do not have digital access at home.

By the established deadline each year, the Superintendent or designee shall submit to the Department of Public Instruction for approval a plan for the literacy interventions the school system will offer in the following school year, as required by G.S. 115C-83.6A.

D.    WAIVER OF UCPS STUDENT ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS

    1.    Review Process
Within five (5) working days of receiving tests scores, teachers or parents may request a waiver of student accountability standards for students scoring below Level III on the end-of-grade test in grades three through eight after the second administration of the test (when a second administration/retest is available). Teachers must provide documentation of the student’s performance during a review process. Documentation may include:

•    Student work samples;
•    Other test data;
•    Information supplied by parents;
•    For students with disabilities, information that is included in the individualized education program; and
•    Other information that verifies that a student is at grade level, including whether the student is performing at grade level in spite of EOC, EOG, or other required test results. For students with disabilities or limited English proficiency, is making adequate progress to meet both IEP goals and grade level requirements.

2.    Principal Waiver Review Committee
The principal or his/her designee must appoint a Waiver Review Committee to review student waiver requests.  The committee must be composed of teachers and administration from the school who do not currently teach the student. Special education personnel must be on the committee if a student with a disability is being considered for a waiver.  English as a Second Language teaching staff must be on the committee if a student with limited English proficiency is being considered for a waiver.  Upon request, the parents of any student being presented for review must have the right to be a non-voting participant of the Review Committee and to speak on behalf of their child.

The committee must consider and provide written findings on the following issues:

a.    Whether the student previously was retained and, if so, how many times;
     
b.    Whether the student is performing at grade level in spite of the EOC, EOG or other required test results;

c.    If working below grade level, whether the student could reasonably be expected to be able to “catch up” to grade level and/or be successful at the next grade level in spite of the deficiencies;

d.    Why the committee believes its recommendation to promote or not to promote is in the best interests of the student; and 

e.    If promotion is recommended, what additional or special instruction or resources would be necessary to provide the student with a reasonable opportunity for success in the next grade level.

Within five (5) working days after receiving a waiver request, the committee must make a recommendation to the principal about whether the student should be promoted, based upon documentation provided by the student’s teacher(s).  Within five (5) days after receiving the committee’s recommendation, the principal must review the recommendation and decide whether to promote or retain the student.  The principal must consider the committee’s written findings and may  promote the student if he/she determines that the student can reasonably be expected to be successful at the next grade level and/or that promotion is in the best interests of the student.  The principal must make written findings about why he/she believes the student should be promoted or retained.  The principal must promptly notify the student’s parent(s) of his/her decision and provide the parent(s) with copies of his/her written findings and the Review Committee report.  The principal has the statutory authority to make the final decision regarding promotion/retention. 

Parents who disagree with the principal’s decision may refer to Policy 1-18 Appeals Policy. 

E.    PROMOTION STANDARDS FOR STUDENTS WITH     DISABILITIES

To the extent possible, students with disabilities will be held to the same promotion standards as all other students.  All intervention and other opportunities, benefits and 
resources that are made available to students without disabilities shall be made available to students with disabilities who participate in the student promotion standards.  Such opportunities must be in addition to the special education services provided to the student.

However, for students who take alternative assessments in lieu of the EOG or the EOC tests, promotion decisions shall be based on criteria as recommended by the IEP team.
    
F.    ACCELERATION

Some students may need less time to master the curriculum.  Teachers are encouraged to challenge these students by expanding the curriculum, providing opportunities to explore the subject in greater detail or providing different types of educational experiences.  To sufficiently challenge a student, the principal may reassign the student to a different class or level of study, and/or may identify community resources, such as college classes.  

1.    At the elementary level, the principal, after consulting with various key stakeholders, may determine that skipping a grade level is appropriate. 
2.    At the secondary level, beginning with the 2014-15 school year, the Superintendent shall provide opportunities for students in grades 9 through 12 to earn course credit by demonstrating mastery of course material without first completing the regular period of classroom instruction in the course.  Students in grades 6 through 8 may earn credit by demonstrated mastery for certain high school courses offered in middle school.  To earn credit by demonstrated mastery, students must demonstrate a deep understanding of the content standards and application of knowledge through a multi-phase assessment, in accordance with standards established by the State Board of Education and any additional standards established by the Superintendent. Additional details are contained within the High School Program of Studies and Middle School Curriculum Guide.

G.     CHILDREN OF ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY PERSONNEL

As required by the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children (G.S. 115C-407.5), school administrators have the authority to exercise flexibility in waiving course or program prerequisites or other preconditions for the placement of children of military families in courses or programs offered by the school system.

H.    REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

1.    Superintendent’s Report to Board
At least on an annual basis, the Superintendent must provide the Board with the following information for each school:

•    aggregate student performance scores on state-mandated tests and any other standardized tests used by a school or the school district;

•    the number and percentage of students not meeting standards for grade level; 

•    the number and percentage of third grade students exempt from mandatory third grade retention by category of exemption as listed in state law; and
     
•    remedial or additional educational opportunities provided by the school district and the success of these efforts in helping students to meet promotion standards.

   
2.    Superintendent’s Report to Department of Public Instruction
Pursuant to standards established by the Department of Public Instruction, the superintendent must provide the Department with all required information regarding student performance.

3.     Publication on the School System Website
Information about the reading performance of first, second, and third grade students will be posted on the school system website in accordance with state law.

I.    RESOURCES

Consistent with the objective of improving student performance, the Board will provide maximum flexibility to schools in the allocation of state funds.  Schools are expected to budget financial resources in a manner which will meet the standards established in this policy.  The Board will consider requests to transfer funds from other funding allotment categories to intervention strategies as a part of the School Improvement Plan submitted by a school.  All funds must be used in a fiscally sound manner in accordance with Fiscal Management Standards (Policy 2-7).

J.    NOTIFICATION TO PARENTS

The Superintendent must ensure that a copy of this policy is provided to all students and parents.  In addition, the teacher(s) of a student who does not meet the standards in this policy must notify the student’s parents that the student has failed to meet the test standards and must provide the parents with information concerning opportunities for academic improvement.

K.    TIME FOR LEARNING

The Board believes that time is of utmost importance in the educational process and the children may need different amounts of instructional time.
     
1.    Interruption of instructional time must be kept to an absolute minimum.
Visitors, including parents, who engage in conduct which disrupts, or attempts to disrupt, the orderly educational environment, of the school may be removed from the premises and have their access to the school restricted.

2.    Every school must provide a minimum of 1,025 hours of instructional time within the academic year.

3.    The principal is responsible for ensuring that instructional time is maintained and protected in the school schedule.

4.    Each teacher is responsible for ensuring maximum use of instructional time in his/her classes.

5.    An extended school year, a year-round school, or non-traditional program may be included as part of the School Improvement Plan.  Modified programs that include, but are not limited to, Extended School Year, Year Round Schools, and Multi-tracking, must seek and receive Board approval.  

L.    TRANSITION PLANS

Transitions in the school environment can be stressful experiences that pose academic, social and emotional challenges for students. Addressing students’ academic, social and emotional needs to create successful transitions provides students with a better chance of academic success. A comprehensive and coordinated transition plan will be implemented for students who are at risk of academic failure in order to facilitate their educational transitions between elementary school and middle school and between middle school and high school.

The Superintendent shall appoint a transition team to design, implement and evaluate a school system transition plan. This team will be comprised of stakeholders who can identify the needs of students at the different developmental levels and implement plans that produce positive results for students at risk of academic failure. Such stakeholders may include principals, teachers, support staff and other school system employees, parents of students in the school system, and local business and community leaders such as civic group leaders, health department personnel, preschool and Head Start program 
personnel, faith community leaders, and personnel from local colleges, universities and community colleges. At each school, the principal shall lead a school transition team or an existing school-based leadership team in using the school system transition plan to design a school-based transition plan tailored to meet the specific needs of that school’s population.

The transition plans should be designed to encourage successful transitions that foster respect for individual differences, encourage understanding of the whole child, create a sense of trust and belonging, and reduce child and family anxiety about school. The plans must include an on-going evaluation process to verify that the outcomes established for the different transition levels are being accomplished and that these goals are updated as student data and environmental changes occur. 

            
LEGAL REF.:      G.S. 115C-36, -45(cf), -47, -81, -81.5, -83.2, -83.3, -83.6, -83.7, -83.8, -83.9, -83.10, -83.11, -105.21, -105.20, et. seq. -174.11, et. seq., -288 et. seq. -288(a), 407.5; 16 N.C.A.C. 6D.0305 and 6E.0202; NC High School Athletics Association Handbook (1996-1997); Guidelines for Testing Students with Limited English Proficiency (Department of Public Instruction); IDEA Reauthorization of 2004; U.S.C. Sections 1209 and 1211; State Board of Education Policies CCRE-001, KNEC-002, KNEC-003

CROSS REF.:    Board Policy 2-7, Fiscal Management Standards
                Board Policy 3-26, Extracurricular and Non-Instructional Duties
                Board Policy 5-10, School Improvement Plan
                Board Policy 5-14, Goals and Objectives of the Educational                     Program
                High School Program of Studies
                Middle School Curriculum Guide
                Elementary School Curriculum Guide (by grade level)
     

UNION COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
APPROVED:        8/4/98  
REVISED:        5/2/00
REVISED:        3/20/07
REVISED:        9/16/08
REVISED:        10/21/08    
REVISED:        5/11/10
REVISED:        2/1/11
REVISED:        9/6/11
REVISED:        1/8/13
REVISED:        12/1/15
REVISED:        10/4/16
REVISED:        10/3/17
REVISED:         10/1/19
REVISED:         2/1/22