EAF 584 Superintendent and Central Office Staff

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EAF 584 Superintendent and Central Office Staff

• School Board Policy Revision
• April 22, 2004
• Michael P. Smith

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Final Exam Policy Revision

• This packet provides a copy of the existing Board
  policies (Article 5, 5121, 5124.10, and 5124.12)
  covering semester exam waivers and reporting
  periods for the high schools.

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Final Exam Policy Revision

• These policies have caused debate among our
  faculty for many years because of their content
  and how they are interpreted. The existing
  policies provide for junior and senior high
  school students to waive final semester exams
  provided they fulfill the criteria described in
  policy 5121.

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Final Exam Policy Revision

• Depending on their final exam status, some
  students grades are calculated based on the
  number of grades reported each semester under
  policy 5124.

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Final Exam Policy Revision

• Revisions of these policies (Article 5, 5121,
  5124.10, and 5124.12) are presented with proposed
  updates in bold Arial type. These revisions will
  reduce the number of high school report cards
  from the current three per semester to two, and
  final exams will be compulsory for all students
  except second semester seniors who meet specific
  criteria.

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Final Exam Policy Revision

• These changes are vital to promoting a more
  rigorous academic standard for all of our
  students. This better aligns our curricular
  objectives to meet the demands of both the
  Illinois State Standards (ILS) and the No Child
  Left Behind (NCLB) legislation.

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SEMESTER EXAM WAIVER

• Second semester senior students who meet the
  guidelines as established by the administration
  may waive the final semester exam for the
  course(s) for which they qualify.

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Specific Qualifications

• Second semester seniors may waive with parent
  permission semester tests if the following
  guidelines are met
• 1. has earned meets or exceeds ILS standards on
  PSAE during their junior year

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Specific Qualifications

• 2. "C" average or higher in the class
• 3. no more than four accumulated tardies for each
  semester
• 4. no unexcused absences
• 5. no more than five excused absences
• 6. no more than 50 demerits
• 7. no suspensions from school

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REPORT CARDS

• Report cards for grades nine through twelve shall
  be distributed four times per year.

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REPORT CARDS

• I. Nine Week Grades To be determined by each
  teacher.
• II. Semester Grades To be determined by counting
  each nine week grade as 40 and the final exam as
  20 of the semester grade. (Secondary Only)

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REPORT CARDS

• The final exam will only be counted in favor of
  those students whose semester grades it helps
  provided those students have a C average or
  better. This no fault policy would apply only
  to juniors and seniors.

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Rationale for Revisions in this Proposal

• We are setting a higher, more rigorous academic
  standard for all our students.
• Increased accountability for each academic
  program.
• The current policy is unequally applied because
  each high school uses different attendance
  procedures to determine eligibility.

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Rationale for Revisions in this Proposal

• Some students game the system by manipulating
  the attendance requirements under the current
  policy. This could also be addressed by
  expanding and strengthening the attendance
  requirements to include the attendance record for
  first and second semester seniors.
• It is unfair to permit the upperclassmen to waive
  finals as established in the current policy.

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Rationale for Revisions in this Proposal

• The current policy does a disservice to our
  college bound as well as our students with low
  academic achievement.
• Enhance the existing policy incentives to improve
  student achievement, good conduct, attendance,
  and hard work.

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Background Information

• The original draft of the existing policy was
  intended to be applied to freshmen and
  sophomores. In the course of adopting the
  current policy, it was amended to apply to only
  junior and senior students. It has been done
  this way for so long that it is perceived by some
  as an entitlement. However, final exams are an
  important part of academic life.

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Background Information

• We must strive to help all of our students
  practice and participate in these culminating
  activities at the end of each academic term.
  This process helps them become better prepared,
  better organized, and more effective learners.

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Background Information

• In 1997, the ILS were adopted and each high
  school teachers lesson plans had to reflect the
  specific standards addressed by each classroom
  activity. Final exams in our academic subjects
  are expected to comprehensively review all the
  relevant material covered during a given semester.

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Background Information

• Teachers have broad control over the content of
  these exams, but their lesson plans each week
  must reflect a direct link to the ILS. The
  existing policy negates the importance of the
  comprehensive final exam as a learning tool.

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Background Information

• An internet article titled Centrally Scheduled
  Final Exams (2004) reports that over ninety
  percent of undergraduate students at the State
  University of New York wrote final exams in one
  or more of their classes. Anecdotal evidence
  from our students who have graduated under the
  current system suggests that they are not as well
  prepared as they should be for their college
  experience.

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Background Information

• Reducing the number of report cards from six to
  four times a year will permit more equity and
  balance to the existing policy. One of my math
  teachers pointed out that in order to be taken
  seriously, the final exam should be weighted
  enough to impact the outcome of the semester
  grade. After consulting with a variety of school
  administrators, counselors, deans, teachers and
  students it is clear that we can improve the
  existing policies. This will better serve the
  interests of all our students.

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Steps to Implementation

• Examine the data on existing students to assess
  the impact of these changes
• Chair an advisory committee of teachers,
  principals, and counseling staff at each high
  school to consider the merits of these changes.
  Selected students may be considered to contribute
  to this committee.
• Work more closely to align our curricular goals
  with achieving the ILS.

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Necessary Board Decisions

• Approve these revisions to (Article 5, 5121,
  5124.10, and 5124.12).
• Approve the Superintendents advisory committee.
  This will be drafted by the central office and
  submitted for Board approval.

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Necessary Board Decisions

• Publish a media packet to explain the benefits of
  this new policy revision. This will be drafted
  by the central office and submitted for Board
  approval.
• Engage in an open discussion of these changes and
  their benefits. Under the advisory committee,
  these policies will be monitored and amended as
  needed.

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Final Recommendations

• We should strive to prepare all of our students
  to improve their academic achievement. I
  recommend the Board adopt these policy revisions
  and create an advisory committee to monitor the
  impact of these changes.

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References

• BRIEF Centrally Scheduled Final Exams Student
  and faculty Participation (n.d.). Retrieved
  April 10, 2004, from http//www.provost.buffalo.ed
  u/OIA/publications/briefs/FINLEXAM.html

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El Fin Gracias!