Florida DOE waives testing rules for graduation, grades

With the effects of COVID-19 still being felt by schools in Orange County and the state of Florida, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran signed into action today — Friday, April 9 — an emergency ordinance that will have significant effects for students.

The seven-page document — which can be seen HERE in its entirety — hits on numerous things, but the three biggest takeaways are in regard to promotion and retention decisions, third-grade promotion and the waiving of school-testing rules.

"School districts and charter school governing boards are authorized to determine promotion and final course grades in classes with state end-of-course (EOC) exams, based solely on the student's performance in the course, including in instances where the student does not have a score from the EOC exam," the ordinance states. "This authorization only applies to courses students successfully completed in the 2020-21 school year."

In cases regarding retention, the decision on whether or not to require a child to repeat a grade solely for academic reasons must be determined by the school's principal — following a review of the student's academic record, with input from parents and teachers, the document states.

Meanwhile, for third-grade promotion, the document states that a student may be "promoted to grade four, regardless of the absence of an English Language Arts (ELA) assessment score or the absence of a Level 2 or higher ELA score, if the district is able to determine that a student is performing at least at Level 2 on the ELA assessment through the good cause exemption process provided in s. 1008.25, Fla. Stat."

The third and final key point in the document relates to graduation waivers for currently enrolled students who are expected to graduate this spring. Normally students are expected to pass testing in order to graduate, but for those graduating this spring, testing requirements can now be waived.

"A school district is authorized to waive the required state assessments for graduation, if the district determines on a case-by-case basis that the student's high school record establishes a comparable level of achievement," the document states.