Memo

To: Elementary and Middle Grades Principals

From: The Executive Director of Elementary/K-8 and Secondary Schools

Date: June 8, 2011

Re: Student Promotion/Retention Guidelines SY2011

Principals, we are quickly approaching the end of the school year. To avoid surprises for parents and students, schools should have begun the promotion and retention process in which parents are invited to review student progress toward grade level standards. We are sending this memo as a reference for this process. The following steps should be followed:

  1. Meet with your instructional staff to go over the guidelines for promotion and retention. Make teachers aware that if students have earned at least a 60 in all core subjects, the students must be promoted. These students should not be referred to the Promotional Committee.
  1. All students that are recommended for retention must have had a SST/Promotional Committee meeting which included the parents/guardians. Use the current Promotion and Retention Policy as your guide for making all promotion decisions.
  1. Remind parents of the deadlines for appealing a promotion or retention decision. Parents must present a written appeal to the principal within five days after the last day of school (June 24, 2011).
  1. The first level of the Parent Appeal process is with you. When a parent brings a written appeal to you, you may grant that appeal if you agree that the student should be promoted. Inform the office staff to change retention to promotion in SMS.Keep documentation at school for reference.
  1. If you disagree with the parent, send the written parent appeal along with your completed Recommendation Form supporting your decision to the ED Office of Elem K-8 Schools by the sixth day after the last day of school (June 29th). Pleasesend completed appeals as early as possible.
  1. All parent appeals should include the following supporting documentation:
  1. Completed Recommendation Form
  2. Student report card that highlights previous indication of possible retention
  3. SST/Promotional Committee data
  4. Standardized test data as a back up to decision (not as a deciding factor)Please Note: First and second grade students who have passing grades in all subjects on the report card but who did not meet the 23rd percentile in reading on the Stanford 10 Assessment should be promoted. The Stanford 10 is one criteria for retention and should not beused alone to retain a student.
  5. School-based formative assessments and other grading criteria that have been previously presented to parents
  6. Documentation of intervention provided for the student
  7. Please do not send any student work.
  1. The Executive Director Office will mail notification of all decisions to the parent and copy the school as soon as they are processed.
  1. Students in grades 6-8 who have not earned passing grades in language arts or math and are recommended for retention can attend one of two summer promotion sites. A promotion decision will be made at the end of the summer session based on the summer learning requirements.
  1. Schools must submit a completed summer learning middle grades application for grades 6-8 students recommended for retention to Crystal Ashe, the Extended Learning Coordinator, in room 326 at North Avenue.

Promotion Guidelines SY2010-2011*

  • Students in grades one through five must receive a passing score of 60 or above in reading/language arts and mathematics. In grades one and two, Stanford 10 results may also be considered as a factor in promotion decisions.
  • Students in grades six through eight must receive a passing score of 60 or above in mathematics, English, social studies, and science.

*The current promotion policy is under review by the School Board Commissioners and therefore may be subject to change for school year 2012.