Michigan Merit Curriculum Personal Curriculum Guidelines

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Michigan Merit Curriculum Personal
CurriculumGuidelines

• 03-24-08
• Robert Bada
• Superintendent

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What is the purpose of the Personal Curriculum?

• Allows a parent or guardian or an emancipated
  minor to modify the Michigan Merit Curriculum
  under very limited circumstances.
• A student wishes to make a minor modification to
  the mathematics requirement.

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What is the purpose of the Personal Curriculum?

• A student with an Individual Educational Plan
  needs to modify the requirements based on his/her
  disability.
• A student that transfers to a district from out
  of state or from a nonpublic school.

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can not do except
in the case of students with disabilities.

• There are no modifications to credit requirements
  allowed in the following areas except for
  students with an Individual Education Plan and
  transfer students.
• English Language Arts - 4 Credits
• Science 3 Credits (Biology, Physics/Chemistry,
  Other)

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can not do except
in the case of students with disabilities.

• Civics/Government
• Online Learning Experience
• Mathematics 4 Credits (Algebra 1, Geometry,
  Algebra 2 (First Semester)
• World Languages (In 2016 when the law goes into
  affect)

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can do.

• Allow a student to
• Substitute one social studies credit as long as
  they have passed Civics for additional credits in
  English language arts, mathematics, science or
  world languages.

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can do.

• Substitute one health and physical education
  credit for additional credits in English language
  arts, mathematics, science or world languages.

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can do. Cont.

• Substitute one visual and performing arts or
  applied arts credit to acquire additional credits
  in English language arts, mathematics, science or
  world languages.

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can do. Cont.

• Modify the MMC for students who have an
  Individual Education Plan to a very limited
  extent. (Use of this option does not guarantee
  that the student will qualify for a diploma.)

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can do. Cont.

• A student can use the Personal Curriculum to
  reduce the credit requirements for mathematics to
  3.5 credits providing

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can do. Cont.

• A student completes a minimum of Algebra 1,
  Geometry and Algebra 2 - first Semester, they can
  take a mathematics related course their senior
  year in place of Semester 2 of Algebra 2.
• This is the only time a student can receive a
  diploma with less than 4 mathematics credits.

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What a Personal Curriculum Plan can do. Cont.

• A student who successfully completes Algebra 1
  and Geometry may opt to take Algebra 2 over 2
  years.
• A student who enrolls in a formal career and
  technical education program or curriculum and
• Successfully completes the same content as 1
  semester of Algebra 2, as determined by the
  department.

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The bottom line.

• The personal curriculum option was designed to
  allow regular education students to opt out of
  some classes so they can take classes that match
  their career goals not to lessen the high
  academic standards set by the MMC.

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The bottom line.Cont.

• Students with Individual Education Plans are
  given more options under a personal curriculum.
• A student must demonstrate that their desire for
  a personal curriculum runs parallel with their
  Educational Development Plan and career goals.

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The bottom line.Cont.

• The Personal Curriculum Committee makes the final
  determination concerning all applications for a
  personal curriculum.
• Only parents and guardians along with emancipated
  minors and students who are at least 18 can
  request a personal curriculum.

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The bottom line.Cont.

• For the majority of general education students a
  personal curriculum will not apply.
• Participation in a personal curriculum does not
  guarantee a student will graduate with a diploma.
  They must successfully demonstrate mastery of the
  course content by attaining a passing score on
  the content objectives for each course as
  described in their personal curriculum.

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The bottom line.Cont.

• Students with a personal curriculum that strays
  too far from the merit curriculum will not
  receive a diploma.
• If a student fails to successfully meet the
  conditions of their personal curriculum they
  revert to the standard curriculum and must meet
  all its requirements to receive a diploma.