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Promotion, Academic Acceleration, Placement and Retention

Promotion, Academic Acceleration, Placement and Retention

Promotion, Academic Acceleration, Placement, & Retention

The Board of Education recognizes that the personal, social, physical, and educational growth of children will vary and that they should be placed in the educational setting most appropriate to their needs at the various stages of their growth.

It is the Board's intent that each student be moved forward in a continuous pattern of achievement and growth that is in harmony with his/her own development.

Such pattern should coincide with the system of grade levels established by this Board and the instructional objectives established for each.

The promotion and retention provisions of this policy shall be in compliance with the terms of Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee (Policy 2623.02).

Promotion:

A student will be promoted to the succeeding grade level when s/he has:

  1. Completed the course and State-mandated requirements at the presently assigned grade;
     

  2. In the opinion of the professional staff, achieved the instructional objectives set for the present grade;
     

  3. Demonstrated sufficient proficiency to permit him/her to move ahead in the educational program of the next grade;
     

  4. Demonstrated the degree of social, academic, emotional, and physical maturation necessary for a successful learning experience in the next grade. 

Academic Acceleration:

Academic acceleration may involve whole-grade acceleration or individual subject acceleration. Academic acceleration occurs when a student is not only doing the caliber of work necessary to be promoted to the next grade or enrolled in the next course in the academic sequence, but also demonstrates the ability to do the caliber of work required of students in that next grade level/subject/course. An acceleration evaluation committee will determine whether the student will be permitted to skip a grade level (i.e., whole-grade acceleration), or take a subject at a higher grade level or skip a course in the usual and customary academic sequence (i.e., individual subject acceleration).

Any student residing in the District may be referred by a staff member or a parent/guardian to the principal of his/her school for evaluation for possible accelerated placement. Students may refer themselves or a peer through a staff member who has knowledge of the referred child's abilities. Copies of referral forms for evaluation for whole-grade or individual subject acceleration will be available at each school building. 

The principal of each school (or his/her designee) will solicit referrals of students for evaluation for accelerated placement, and notify all staff s/he supervises of the referral process.

Students referred for accelerated placement will be evaluated in a prompt manner. The building principal will schedule the evaluations. Normally, changes in a student's schedule will occur only at the start of a grading period.

Before a student is evaluated for accelerated placement, the principal (or his/her designee) shall obtain written permission from the student's parent/guardian.

Evaluations related to referrals that occur during the school year will ordinarily be completed and a written report issued within forty-five (45) calendar days. Evaluations related to referrals that occur at the end of a school year or during the summer will be completed and a written report issued either before the end of the school year, if possible, or within forty-five (45) calendar days of the start of the next school year.

Upon referral, the student's principal (or his/her designee) shall convene an acceleration evaluation committee to determine the appropriate learning environment for the referred student. This committee shall include the following:

  1. A parent/guardian, or a representative designated by that parent/guardian
     

  2. A gifted education coordinator or gifted intervention specialist, or if neither is available, a school psychologist or guidance counselor with expertise in the appropriate use of academic acceleration may be substituted
     

  3. A principal or assistant principal from the child's current school

  4. A current teacher of the referred student

  5. a teacher at the grade level or course to which the referred student may be accelerated 

The acceleration evaluation committee shall be responsible for conducting a fair and thorough evaluation of the student. The acceleration evaluation committee will consider the student's own thoughts on possible accelerated placement in its deliberations. In the event that career-technical programs are considered for acceleration, a career-technical educator shall be consulted as a part of the evaluation.

Students considered for whole-grade acceleration will be evaluated using an acceleration assessment process approved by the Ohio Department of Education.

Students considered for individual subject acceleration will be evaluated using a variety of data sources, including measures of achievement based on State academic content standards (in subjects for which the State Board of Education has approved content standards) and consideration of the student's maturity and desire for accelerated placement.

The acceleration evaluation committee shall issue a written decision on the outcome of the evaluation process to the principal and the student's parent/guardian. This notification shall include instructions for appealing the decision.

Appeals must be made in writing to the Superintendent within thirty (30) calendar days of the parent/guardian receiving the committee's decision. The Superintendent or his/her designee shall review the appeal and notify the parent/guardian of his/her decision within thirty (30) calendar days of receiving the appeal. The Superintendent or his/her designee's decision shall be final.

If the student is recommended for whole-grade or individual subject acceleration, the acceleration evaluation committee will develop a written acceleration plan. The parent/guardian shall be provided with a copy of the plan. The plan shall specify:

  1. Placement of the student in an accelerated setting;
     

  2. Strategies to support a successful transition to the accelerated setting;
     

  3. Requirements and procedures for earning high school credit prior to entering high school (if applicable); and,
     

  4. An appropriate transition period for accelerated students. 

A school staff member will be assigned to oversee the implementation of the acceleration plan and to monitor the adjustment of the student to the accelerated setting.

At any time during the transition period, a parent/guardian of the student may request in writing that the student be withdrawn from accelerated placement. In such cases, the principal shall remove the student from the accelerated placement without repercussions.

At any time during the transition period, a parent/guardian may request in writing an alternative accelerated placement. In such cases, the principal shall direct the evaluation committee to consider other accelerative options and to issue a decision within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving the request. If the student will be placed in a different accelerated setting from that initially recommended, the student's acceleration plan shall be revised accordingly, and a new transition period shall be specified.

At the end of the transition period, the accelerated placement shall become permanent. The student's record shall be modified accordingly, and the acceleration implementation plan shall become part of the student's permanent record to facilitate continuous progress through the curriculum.

Retention:

A student may be retained at his/her current grade level when s/he has:

  1. In the opinion of the professional staff, failed to demonstrate proficiency in mathematics and reading;
     

  2. In the opinion of the professional staff, failed to achieve the instructional objectives set forth at the current grade level that are requisite for success at the succeeding grade level;

A student may be placed at the next grade level when retention would no longer benefit the student.