The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Rules Governing Public School End-of-Course Assessments and Remediation (Rules) were given final approval by the State Board of Education on October 12, 2009. Ark. Code Ann. 6-15-2009 mandates the administration of high-stakes end-of-course assessment in Algebra I. Beginning this school year, all students who are enrolled in Algebra I must pass the Algebra I End-of-Course Examination in order to receive an academic credit toward graduation. Any student identified as not passing the
Algebra I assessment shall be remediated through an Individualized Academic Improvement Plan (IAIP) and will have two additional retest opportunities to pass the assessment. If a student does not pass the Algebra I End-of-Course Examination after being administered three tests, then the student shall successfully complete a formative or strand analysis program as determined by the ADE in order to receive an academic credit toward graduation. Under these rules, schools bear the responsibility for ensuring that students in Algebra I
receive academic instruction and support in Algebra I that aligns to the Arkansas Curriculum Framework.
A process has been developed to enter the student’s grade without awarding credit until it has been determined that the student has actually passed the Algebra I End-of-Course Examination.
The student should be placed in an Algebra I course that signifies credit in the master schedule. Once the student has taken and did not pass the EOC, assessment a non-credit Algebra I course should be created in the master schedule and the student’s schedule should be changed to move the student from the credit course into the non-credit course. The APSCN training documentation can be used as guidance for creating master schedule courses and changing student schedules. In the Scheduling Training Guide, there are instructions for updating an individual student in the section on Replace Course beginning on page 156 and also for updating a group of students in the section on Move Students to a course beginning on page 128. If it is unclear how to create courses in the master schedule or how to change a student’s schedule, please contact the APSCN help desk at 800-435-7989 or contact your local APSCN field analyst.