Fla. Stat. § 1003.4156
General requirements for middle grades promotion
Redline — January 1, 2011 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2024
As of January 1, 2011
(1) Promotion from a school composed of middle grades 6, 7, and 8 requires that: (a) The student must successfully complete academic courses as follows: 1. Three middle school or higher courses in English. These courses shall emphasize literature, composition, and technical text. 2. Three middle school or higher courses in mathematics. Each middle school must offer at least one high school level mathematics course for which students may earn high school credit. Successful completion of a high school level Algebra I or geometry course is not contingent upon the student’s performance on the end-of-course assessment required under s. 1008.22(3)(c)2.a.(I). However, beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, to earn high school credit for an Algebra I course, a middle school student must pass the Algebra I end-of-course assessment, and beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, to earn high school credit for a geometry course, a middle school student must pass the geometry end-of-course assessment. 3. Three middle school or higher courses in social studies, one semester of which must include the study of state and federal government and civics education. Beginning with students entering grade 6 in the 2012-2013 school year, one of these courses must be at least a one-semester civics education course that a student successfully completes in accordance with s. 1008.22(3)(c) and that includes the roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local governments; the structures and functions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government; and the meaning and significance of historic documents, such as the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States. 4. Three middle school or higher courses in science. Successful completion of a high school level Biology I course is not contingent upon the student’s performance on the end-of-course assessment required under s. 1008.22(3)(c)2.a.(II). However, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, to earn high school credit for a Biology I course, a middle school student must pass the Biology I end-of-course assessment. 5. One course in career and education planning to be completed in 7th or 8th grade. The course may be taught by any member of the instructional staff; must include career exploration using Florida CHOICES or a comparable cost-effective program; must include educational planning using the online student advising system known as Florida Academic Counseling and Tracking for Students at the Internet website FACTS.org; and shall result in the completion of a personalized academic and career plan. The required personalized academic and career plan must inform students of high school graduation requirements, high school assessment and college entrance test requirements, Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program requirements, state university and Florida College System institution admission requirements, and programs through which a high school student can earn college credit, including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Advanced International Certificate of Education, dual enrollment, career academy opportunities, and courses that lead to national industry certification.A student with a disability, as defined in s. 1007.02(2), for whom the individual education plan team determines that an end-of-course assessment cannot accurately measure the student’s abilities, taking into consideration all allowable accommodations, shall have the end-of-course assessment results waived for purposes of determining the student’s course grade and completing the requirements for middle grades promotion. Each school must hold a parent meeting either in the evening or on a weekend to inform parents about the course curriculum and activities. Each student shall complete an electronic personal education plan that must be signed by the student; the student’s instructor, guidance counselor, or academic advisor; and the student’s parent. The Department of Education shall develop course frameworks and professional development materials for the career exploration and education planning course. The course may be implemented as a stand-alone course or integrated into another course or courses. The Commissioner of Education shall collect longitudinal high school course enrollment data by student ethnicity in order to analyze course-taking patterns. (b) For each year in which a student scores at Level l on FCAT Reading, the student must be enrolled in and complete an intensive reading course the following year. Placement of Level 2 readers in either an intensive reading course or a content area course in which reading strategies are delivered shall be determined by diagnosis of reading needs. The department shall provide guidance on appropriate strategies for diagnosing and meeting the varying instructional needs of students reading below grade level. Reading courses shall be designed and offered pursuant to the comprehensive reading plan required by s. 1011.62(9). A middle grades student who scores at Level 1 or Level 2 on FCAT Reading but who did not score below Level 3 in the previous 3 years may be granted a 1-year exemption from the reading remediation requirement; however, the student must have an approved academic improvement plan already in place, signed by the appropriate school staff and the student’s parent, for the year for which the exemption is granted. (c) For each year in which a student scores at Level 1 or Level 2 on FCAT Mathematics, the student must receive remediation the following year, which may be integrated into the student’s required mathematics course.
(1) In order for a student to be promoted to high school from a school that includes middle grades 6, 7, and 8, the student must successfully complete the following courses: (a) Three middle grades or higher courses in English Language Arts (ELA). (b) Three middle grades or higher courses in mathematics. Each school that includes middle grades must offer at least one high school level mathematics course for which students may earn high school credit. Successful completion of a high school level Algebra I or Geometry course is not contingent upon the student’s performance on the statewide, standardized end-of-course (EOC) assessment. To earn high school credit for Algebra I, a middle grades student must take the statewide, standardized Algebra I EOC assessment and pass the course, and in addition, beginning with the 2013-2014 school year and thereafter, a student’s performance on the Algebra I EOC assessment constitutes 30 percent of the student’s final course grade. To earn high school credit for a Geometry course, a middle grades student must take the statewide, standardized Geometry EOC assessment, which constitutes 30 percent of the student’s final course grade, and earn a passing grade in the course. (c) Three middle grades or higher courses in social studies. One of these courses must be at least a one-semester civics education course that includes the roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local governments; the structures and functions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government; and the meaning and significance of historic documents, such as the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States. All instructional materials for the civics education course must be reviewed and approved by the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with organizations that may include, but are not limited to, the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, the Bill of Rights Institute, Hillsdale College, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, iCivics, and the Constitutional Sources Project, and with educators, school administrators, postsecondary education representatives, elected officials, business and industry leaders, parents, and the public. Any errors and inaccuracies the commissioner identifies in state-adopted materials must be corrected pursuant to s. 1006.35. After consulting with such entities and individuals, the commissioner shall review the current state-approved civics education course instructional materials and the test specifications for the statewide, standardized EOC assessment in civics education and shall make recommendations for improvements to the materials and test specifications by December 31, 2019. By December 31, 2020, the department shall complete a review of the statewide civics education course standards. Each student’s performance on the statewide, standardized EOC assessment in civics education required under s. 1008.22 constitutes 30 percent of the student’s final course grade. A middle grades student who transfers into the state’s public school system from out of country, out of state, a private school, a personalized education program, or a home education program after the beginning of the second term of grade 8 is not required to meet the civics education requirement for promotion from the middle grades if the student’s transcript documents passage of three courses in social studies or two year-long courses in social studies that include coverage of civics education. (d) Three middle grades or higher courses in science. Successful completion of a high school level Biology I course is not contingent upon the student’s performance on the statewide, standardized EOC assessment required under s. 1008.22. However, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, to earn high school credit for a Biology I course, a middle grades student must take the statewide, standardized Biology I EOC assessment, which constitutes 30 percent of the student’s final course grade, and earn a passing grade in the course. (e) One course in career and education planning to be completed in grades 6, 7, or 8, which may be taught by any member of the instructional staff. The course must be Internet-based, customizable to each student, and include research-based assessments to assist students in determining educational and career options and goals. In addition, the course must result in a completed personalized academic and career plan for the student, which must use, when available, Florida’s online career planning and work-based learning coordination system. The course must teach each student how to access and update the plan and encourage the student to access and update the plan at least annually as the student progresses through middle school and high school. The personalized academic and career plan must emphasize the importance of entrepreneurship and employability skills and must include information from the Department of Commerce’s economic security report under s. 445.07 and other state career planning resources. The required personalized academic and career plan must inform students of high school graduation requirements, including a detailed explanation of the requirements for earning a high school diploma designation under s. 1003.4285 and the career and technical education pathway to earn a standard high school diploma under s. 1003.4282(10); the requirements for each scholarship in the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program; state university and Florida College System institution admission requirements; available opportunities to earn college credit in high school, including Advanced Placement courses; the International Baccalaureate Program; the Advanced International Certificate of Education Program; dual enrollment, including career dual enrollment; work-based learning opportunities, including internships and preapprenticeship and apprenticeship programs; and career education courses, including career-themed courses and course sequences that lead to industry certification pursuant to s. 1003.492 or s. 1008.44. The course may be implemented as a stand-alone course or integrated into another course or courses.
(2) Students in grade 6, grade 7, or grade 8 who are not enrolled in schools with a middle grades configuration are subject to the promotion requirements of this section.
(2) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement this section and may enforce this section pursuant to s. 1008.32.
Official source: Online Sunshine (Florida Legislature). Reproduced from public-domain Florida statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.