December 2014

 The State Board of Education defines “mastery” as a student’s command of course material at a level that demonstrates a deep understanding of the content standards and the ability to apply his or her knowledge of the material.

 “Credit by demonstrated mastery” is the process by which a school district shall, based upon a body-of-evidence, award a student credit in a particular course without requiring the student to complete classroom instruction for a certain amount of seat time.

 Section 13 of GCS-M-001 provides the following Credit by Demonstrated Mastery policy:  13. Credit by Demonstrated Mastery

◦ Beginning with the SY to inform placement for the SY, CDM shall be available for all NC students in grades 9-12 for high school courses and in grades 6-8 for high school courses offered in middle school.  For Hickory Public Schools, CDM is offered for Math I in the middle schools. (current 6 th and 7 th graders)

 Middle School ◦ 6 th graders – Math I ◦ 7 th graders – Math I ◦ 8 th graders – Courses offered at HHS Affects the students’ schedules for NEXT school year.

 Johnny is a current 6 th grader. He is amazing in math. His family chooses to CDM Math I. He makes the cut score on the EOC and passes the artifact. He receives CDM for Math I. Next school year, he can take Math II while in the 7 th grade and Math III while in the 8 th grade. In the 9 th grade, he will take a fourth level math.

 Julie is a math whiz!!! Her family wants her to do the CDM process for Math I. She passes Math I through CDM. In the 8 th grade she can start Math II. In the 9 th grade she will take Math III.

 Sammy is a whiz in many core subjects. His family wants him to CDM some of his freshmen level classes such as English I, Math I and Earth Science. Sammy takes but does not pass the exam for Earth Science. In 9 th grade, he will sit for that course. Sammy does meet the CDM requirements for Math I and English I so he will jump to Math II and English II during his 9 th grade year.

 Student/family completes application  Meet with school team to discuss application and process  Complete Phase I assessment  If success, complete Phase II performance based task and present to content team  If success, receive credit for course

 Complete the application for CDM prior to the due date  Meet with the school counselors to discuss the long-term benefits/consequences of CDM  Contact prospective colleges/universities to see if any admission concerns  If planning to be a college athlete, contact NCAA to see if all requirements will still be met  Meet all timelines and due dates

 The credit for the class will appear on the transcript as a “P”  There will be no honors credit assigned  The class will not count in the GPA  The student must pass the Phase I assessment on the first try, without receiving instruction in the class  If the student does not pass the Phase I assessment, the student must sit for the class the following year

 Are some classes excluded in CDM? Yes -CTE classes that are work-based or internships -Performance-based classes -Classes not offered at the school -AP -IB

 What score does the student need to have on the exam? - EOC Math I > 264 Biology > 261 English II > CTE Final Exam - 94

◦ No. Retesting is not permitted. Students attempting CDM receive one opportunity per course to achieve the minimum standards to earn CDM.

◦ Pass. The school shall not grant a numeric or letter grade for the course and shall not include the grade in the student’s GPA. The course will receive standard weight only.

◦ No. Students may earn credit using CDM for as many courses as they wish and districts may not impose local limitations.

◦ No. CDM is only available for standard-level courses

◦ No. This policy currently only applies to students who wish to accelerate without enrolling in a course

 Application due before February 1 of each year for spring testing and scheduling for the next school year  Testing completed the last two weeks of February  Notification of scores mid-March  Phase II performance artifact process mid- March to April

 Application due before June 12 of each year for summer testing and scheduling for the next school year  Testing completed the last two weeks of July  Notification of scores last week of July  Phase II performance artifact process August

 Application due before September 1 of each year for fall testing and scheduling for the spring semester  Testing completed the last two weeks of September  Notification of scores first week of October  Phase II performance artifact process October