Butte School District

FLEXIBILITY AND EFFICIENCY

1005FE

PROFICIENCY-BASED ANB

It is the policy of the District to increase the flexibility and efficiency of the District’s resources by utilizing the provision of law allowing proficiency-based ANB.

The school district has a definition of proficiency within the meaning of that term as used in 20- 9-311(4)(d) and Section 20-7-1601, MCA. The definition must not require seat time as a condition or other element of determining proficiency. The definition must be incorporated in the district's policies and must be used for purposes of determining content and course mastery and other progress, promotion from grade to grade, grades, and graduation for pupils enrolled in the district's transformational learning program.

Definition of Proficiency For purposes of this policy, the term “proficiency” means a degree of mastery of the underlying content through application in a performance assessment for a course that is reflective of a final grade, in the professional opinion of the teacher of record, of not less than a “B”. The determination of proficiency by a teacher must not require seat time as a condition or other element of determining proficiency.

The determination of proficiency for a pupil enrolled in a course shall be made no earlier than the deadline for submitting the final grade for the course. The determination of proficiency for a pupil not enrolled in a course shall be based on the pupil’s mastery of the underlying content of the course, demonstrated through completion of a final exam designed by the teacher of record for the applicable course with a minimum grade of a “B”.

Teachers of record have full professional discretion in determining proficiency of pupils in courses taught. Teachers of record are encouraged to integrate trial and error into the learning process and to incorporate continued opportunity for practice and revision of assignments until a pupil reaches a performance level that demonstrates to the teacher’s satisfaction that mastery of learning expectations has been attained.

At the discretion of the District, a student may be given credit for a course satisfactorily completed in a period of time shorter or longer than normally required and, provided that the course meets the District's curriculum and assessment requirements, which are aligned with the content standards stated in the education program. Examples of acceptable course work include, but are not necessarily limited to, those delivered through correspondence, extension, and distance learning courses, adult education, summer school, work study, specially designed courses, and challenges to current courses.

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