Policy Title: Pre-Requisite Exams for Student Scheduling

STAKEHOLDERS AFFECTED: Students, teachers, and guidance counsellors.

1. PURPOSE: This policy is designed to assist the student body with registering for classes that are in line with their
future educational goals and directly support their academic capabilities. The implementation of this policy is
necessary as to avoid student misplacement. As a result of the implementation of this policy students will be
placed in classes that are conducive to their ability, supportive of their needs, and build upon their pre-requisite
knowledge.

2. BACKGROUND: Ocean City High School students are currently responsible for registering for their own courses
for the upcoming school year. This process is completed electronically via their own personal login information.
Students may ask teachers and guidance counsellors for direction as to which classes they should choose, but
ultimately the final decision is theirs. Alterations to this process are essential because students are frequently
signing up for classes that are not in line with their current academic sequence and are therefore struggling to be
successful. As a result an excessive number of issues arise. First, many students are failing and struggling to
keep up with the rigor of the course. The biggest problems however are a result of the number of students that
are dropping Advanced Placement and Honors level courses. This causes overcrowding of the College Prep
Levels and a scheduling challenge for guidance counsellors. Appropriately placing students from the start of the
school year will put these students in an educational environment that supports their needs and enables them to
be successful. Each stakeholder is a beneficiary of this policy change; students will thrive in an educational
setting that supports their abilities, teachers will have class sizes that remain manageable, and guidance
counsellors will not be bombarded with scheduling changes.

3. POLICY STATEMENT All students will be required to take a placement exam if they wish to enrol in courses of
the Advanced Placement or Honors levels. These exams will assess student knowledge of the prerequisite skills
necessary for the success of class they wish to register for. If the student does not demonstrate proficiency on
these tests they will have to register for a class that better suits their academic abilities. The execution of pre-
requisite exams as a scheduling requirement will be a new policy for Ocean City High School. As with any new
policy there are barriers for change. Time needs to be allotted for teachers to collaborate, and for guidance
counsellors to meet with students to explain what is expected of them. Teamwork amongst teachers of the AP
and Honors classes is a necessary component to the success of this policy. They must work together to design
exams that adequately represent the knowledge base needed for their courses.

4. RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION, COMPLIANCE MONITORING, MEASURING AND CONTINUAL

IMPROVEMENT Teachers and guidance counsellors will be responsible for the implementation of this policy. The
placement tests will be designed by the teachers of the Honors and Advanced Placement courses and will be
administered by the guidance department. Exams will be multiple-choice and grading will be done electronically;
this allows for grading that is not subjective and ease of data analysis. Effectiveness of these procedures can be
documented as to the correlation between each students placement test scores and their success in the course.
Through use of this data adjustments can be made to exams to better support the placement of future students.

5. SCOPE OF POLICY The key stakeholders in this policy are the students, teachers, and guidance counsellors.
Each stakeholder plays a key role in the success of this policy. Students will be responsible for taking the
placement tests, teachers will design them, and guidance counsellors will administer them. This policy does not
affect students who do not wish to enrol in Advance Placement or Honors courses.

6. DEFINITIONS
Pre-requisite exams/placement tests: a test usually given to a student entering an educational institution to
determine specific knowledge or proficiency in various subjects for the purpose of assignment to appropriate
courses or classes.

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