| Farwell Area Schools |
| Bylaws & Policies |
2623 - STUDENT ASSESSMENT
The Board of Education shall, in compliance with law and rules of the State Board of Education, assess student achievement and needs in designated subject areas in order to determine the progress of students and to assist them in attaining District goals.
Each student's proficiencies and needs will be assessed by staff members upon his/her entrance into the District and annually thereafter. Procedures for such assessments will include, but need not be limited to, teacher observation techniques, cumulative student records, student performance data collected through standard testing programs, and physical examinations.
The Superintendent shall develop and the Board shall approve a program of testing that may include:
| A. | the Michigan Education Assessment Program and the Michigan Merit Examination (or other readiness assessment program approved by the State Superintendent) administered each year in accordance with the schedule established by statute and the State Department of Education; | |
| The purpose of the Michigan Education Assessment Program and Michigan Merit Examination is to assess student performance in mathematics, science, social studies, reading, and English language arts for the purpose of improving academic achievement and establishing a Statewide standard of competency. | ||
| B. | selection of assessment instrument, data, and other District criteria that will be used to assess educational achievement of each student in grades 1-5; | |
| Third grade students who do not meet the District's and State's established assessment criteria may be offered the opportunity to attend summer school, if so mandated by the State. | ||
| C. | assessment tests; | |
| D. | achievement tests; | |
| E. | vocational inventories. |
The Board requires that:
| A. | any assessment tests used shall not be a psychiatric examination, testing, or treatment; or a psychological examination, testing, or treatment in which the primary purpose is to reveal information concerning: |
| 1. | political affiliations; | ||
| 2. | mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student or his/her family; | ||
| 3. | sex behavior and attitude; | ||
| 4. | illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior; | ||
| 5. | critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships; | ||
| 6. | legally recognized privileged and analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers; | ||
| 7. | income without the prior consent of the adult student or without the prior written consent of the parent; |
| B. | any personality testing complies with Department of Education guidelines. |
The Board also requires that:
| A. | tests be administered by persons who are qualified under State law and regulation; | |
| B. | parents be informed of the testing program of the schools and of the special tests that are to be administered to their children; | |
| C. | data regarding individual test scores be entered on the student's cumulative record, where it will be subject to the policy of this Board regarding student records. |
All eleventh grade students shall participate in the Michigan Merit Examination, and the High School Proficiency Test, unless excluded under guidelines established by the State Department of Education.
A student who does not qualify for a Michigan Merit Award Scholarship under the Michigan Merit Award Scholarship Act, and who wants to repeat the Michigan Merit Examination (or other State approved readiness assessment) may repeat the Examination in the next school year on a designated testing date. The first time a student repeats the Examination shall be without charge to the student, but the student is responsible for paying the cost of any subsequent repeat.
In addition to the testing programs, the Superintendent shall develop administrative guidelines whereby a portfolio is developed and maintained for each student. (No longer required, but may be retained if desired.)
M.C.L.A. 380.1279, 380.1279g, 390.1451 et seq., 380.1280b, 380.1282a
A.C. Rule 340.1101 et seq.
MEAP Test Administration Manuals
Revised 12/1/97
Revised 1/21/02
Revised 3/19/07