NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: April 19, 2018
JACKSON, Miss – The Mississippi State Board of Education voted today to seek public comment on a proposed revision to its timeline for incorporating end-of-course assessment scores into students’ final grades.
Among other required courses, high school students are required to take the following courses to qualify for graduation: Algebra I, English II, Biology I and U.S. History. They must also take an end-of-course assessment for each course.
In the 2013-14 school year, the Board removed the requirement that students pass all four end-of-course assessments to graduate. The Board also established a timeline to incorporate each test score as 25 percent of a student’s final grade for the corresponding course.
The Board’s proposal recommends phasing in the inclusion of end-of-course assessment scores into final grades as follow:
- School year 2018-19: Algebra I and English II
- School year 2020-21: Biology I
- School year 2021-22: U.S. History
The proposal delays the inclusion of Biology I and U.S. History scores into final grades because new assessments are being developed for these subjects. New assessments are needed because new academic standards have been adopted for both subjects.
Graduation requirements for the 2017-18 school year are detailed in the publication, Graduation Options: Guide for Districts.
The Board’s proposal will be posted at https://new.mdek12.org/PN/APA.
Media Contact:
Patrice Guilfoyle, APR
Director of Communications
601-359-3706
Jean Cook, APR
Communications Specialist
601-359-3519