Subject: High School Final Exam Policy

Effective Date: March 16, 2009	Approved By: Board of Directors

Policy:

The Governing Board believes that high school students should demonstrate competency in core academic subjects.

The Executive Director or designee shall ensure that school programs and services, including but not limited to, instructional materials, classes, course descriptions and study guides, align to the final examinations.

The High School Assistant Director of will organize the final exam program for the Independent Study and Home Study students and the Assistant Director of Academy Programs will organize the final examination program for the Academies. The High School Assistant Director shall include the High School Specialists in the planning and implementation of the final exams. Designated personnel will administer and proctor the examinations as required by this policy.

Procedure:

Administration

The school shall administer final exams at the end of each semester, or for courses taken for the summer, at the beginning of the school year, for all core high school courses. Educational Facilitators shall be responsible for reporting accurate information regarding students who are to be administered the final exam and to verify correct examinations are being scheduled for that student. This information shall be communicated to the Home Study Department which will compile the information for each testing location. Test Proctors at the test location shall be responsible for the accurate identification of eligible students who are to be administered the final exam, to verify correct examinations are taken, and to compile the tests after the completion of testing.

All students must complete a given examination in a single test sitting. The exams may be taken in one day, or spread over a period of time during final exam week.

Exam Results

The results of the examinations shall be provided to each student taking the examination within one week of the administration. The final examinations shall constitute no more than 20% of the final grade for the high school course.

Any student found to have cheated, or assisted others in cheating, shall receive no credit for the final exam. The school shall follow the guidelines outlined in the Rules for Student Discipline Policy.

Students who do not participate in the required final examination will have his/her grade reduced by the percentage designated for that test.

School and Test Site Coordinators

Test site coordinators shall ensure that strict supervision is maintained over each student taking the exam both while the student is in the testing room and during any period the student is granted a break from testing.

Records

The High School Assistant Director or designee shall maintain a record of all students who participate in each test cycle and location.

1.	The date on which each section of the examination was offered

2.	The names of each student who took each subject specific examination

3.	The grade level of each student and the course number and title

4.	The overall score for the examination.

Notifications

At the beginning of each school year, the High School Assistant Director shall provide written notification to all students in grades 9 through 12 and to their parents/guardians that each student enrolled in high school English, mathematics, science and social studies courses will be required to complete a proctored semester examination to comply with WASC recommendations and school policy. Such notification shall also be provided to a student who transfers into the school after the beginning of the school year at the time of the student's transfer. The notification can be included within the Parent Handbook, as well as the school calendar.

Original Policy 12/17/04

Revised Policy 06/08/07

Revised Policy 03/16/09