JACKSON, Miss. –Mississippi high school seniors will no longer have to pass all four subject-area tests – Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History – to graduate.
State Board of Education members voted Friday to end the requirement immediately. Seniors this year, who fail one or more of the tests, can apply for graduation. .In doing so, they must show adequate mastery of the course’s content. The test scores and the earned grade will still count.
Next year, seniors who get a combined minimum score from all four tests will get a diploma. Or they can use the application process.
And starting in the 2016-17 school year, subject area test scores will account for only a fourth of a student’s final grade.
According to the Mississippi Department of Graduation, about 13 percent of this year’s seniors have failed at last one subject area test at some point since beginning high school. If they are unable to graduate, despite the new policy, they will have an opportunity to retake the test this summer and again in the fall.
