Policies for Subject Area Testing

Policies for Subject Area Testing. Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, students shall not be required to pass any end-of-course Subject Area Test in a course for which the student earns or receives credit in a Mississippi public school as a requirement for graduation. Student performance on the end-of-course Subject Area Test shall be considered, along with the overall course grade based on the Concordance Table as outlined in State Board Policy 3803. Archived Information Regarding State Board Policy 3801 for Students Graduation Prior to School Year 2014-2015: Enrollment in a non-public school/program (to include, but not limited to, private schools, parochial schools, home schools, virtual schools, summer schools, independent study/correspondence programs, etc.) shall not be used to circumvent participation in the Mississippi Statewide Assessment System or students meeting the graduation requirements outlined in this policy. 1. Students will not be required to pass any end-of-course Subject Area Test in a course for which the student earns or receives credit (i.e., course completed as recorded on an official transcript) in a Mississippi public school prior to the 2001-2002 school year. (MS Code 37-16-7) 2. Any student enrolled in a Mississippi public school who concurrently earns a Carnegie unit for any course which includes a required end-of-course Subject Area Testing Program (SATP) exam from a non-public school (to include, but not limited to: private school, parochial school, home school, virtual school, summer school, or independent study / correspondence program, etc.) must take and pass the SATP exam in order to earn a standard diploma. 3. Students entering a Mississippi public school will not be required to pass any end-of- course Subject Area Test in a course for which the school accepts credit earned by the student in a public school of another state as fulfilling the requirements for a Mississippi high school diploma. a. Effective with the 2011-2012 school year, students entering or enrolled in a Mississippi public school implementing an innovative program authorized by the State Board of Education who have earned credits in the Required Subjects for a diploma in the state of Mississippi and will have completed an end of course assessment or end of domain assessment, will be exempt from State Board Policy 3803 until the State Board of Education has adopted standards and cut-scores for the corresponding assessments. 4. Students entering a Mississippi public school will not be required to pass any end-of- course Subject Area Test in a course for which the school accepts credit earned by the student in a private school as fulfilling the requirements for a Mississippi high school diploma, provided the private school is accredited regionally or by the state of Mississippi. 5. Students entering a Mississippi public school will be required to pass any end-of-course Subject Area Test in a course for which the school accepts credit earned by the student in a private school as fulfilling the requirements for a Mississippi high school diploma if the private school is not accredited regionally or by the state of Mississippi. 6. Students entering a Mississippi public school will be required to pass any end-of-course Subject Area Test in a course for which the school accepts credit earned by the student through home schooling as fulfilling the requirements for a Mississippi high school diploma. 7. Passage of the required Subject Area Test (High School End of Course Assessment or End of Domain Assessments as appropriate) is a separate requirement for graduation for students prior to the 2014-15 school year. In accordance with Section 37-16-5 of the MS Code, innovative programs authorized by the State Board of Education, shall periodically assess student performance and achievement in each school. Such assessment programs shall be based upon local goals and objectives which are compatible with the state’s plan for education and which supplement the minimum performance standards approved by the State Board of Education. Data from district assessment programs shall be provided to the State Department of Education when such data is required in order to evaluate specific instructional programs or processes or when the data is needed for other research or evaluation projects. Each district may provide acceptable, compatible district assessment data to substitute for any assessment data needed at the state level when the State Department of Education certifies that such data is acceptable for the purposes of Section 37-16-3. Source Code: MS Code 37-17-6, 37-16-7