May 12, 2020

of an assignment;

• may not require a classroom teacher to assign a minimum grade for an assignment without

regard to the student's quality of work; and

• is permitted, but not required to allow a student a reasonable opportunity to make up or

redo a class assignment or examination for which the student received a failing grade.

School districts determine the specifics of their local grading policies within the parameters listed

above. While TEA does not have the authority over grading policies, examples of district grading

policies that have been adopted to address the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year may be

accessed in Section 2.2 of the Instructional Continuity Planning Framework.

system or from periodic phone check-ins with the students or parents. Schools should attempt to

retain some documentation that instruction is happening. This could be grade books. For days

when work isn’t being graded, this could also be done by retaining a small representative sample

of student work (with appropriate notations for the date). In terms of what a small representative

sample might mean, it could be a copy of one student’s work per grade level subject team per

school per day, with attempts to add an example for students from different program types (e.g.,

bilingual). If you have on-line learning systems, it’s possible this would be done automatically in

those systems.

should try to focus on getting sufficient information to determine levels of proficiency for

students to ensure they are prepared to be academically successful moving into the next school

year.

Options to consider include the following:

• Districts may choose to delay recording of grades for a short period of time (e.g. the first

week of implementation of remote learning) to allow students and teachers time to transition

to a different method for teaching and learning.

• Districts may opt to record fewer grades than they would if school were open. However,

educators should ensure they are able to monitor student progress through some means.

• Campuses/teachers may choose to require minimum/maximum number of assignments for

grading.

• Districts may wish to implement a pass/fail approach to grading certain assignments.

• Districts/campuses may provide assignments for student completion with prompt feedback

from the teacher but choose not record grades for assignments.

3. What are the best ways to get work back and fairly apply grades? Posted March 25, 2020

If districts are able to implement high-tech options for completion of work, they may be able to

use their current student information systems to document grades. Districts using a low-tech

• the method used by the student to respond (i.e., apply the same criteria in grading

assignments whether the student submitted digitally or in hard copy)

• inability to access resources to complete the assignment

authority, thought should be given to the information that educators need to monitor student

progress and determine students’ preparation to be academically successful moving into the next

provide parents with notice of students’ performance at least one every 12 weeks.

5. How should we move forward with grading and completing report cards? Posted March 25,

Texas Education Code, §28.022(a)(3) requires districts to, at least once every three weeks, or

during the fourth week of each nine-week grading period, give written notice to a parent or legal

guardian of a student's performance in a foundation subject if the student's performance in the

subject is consistently unsatisfactory.

6. How should districts calculate GPAs for graduating seniors for this year? Posted March 25, 2020

Calculation of GPA is a local district decision and is not required. If a district chooses to modify

Class rank is a local district decision. Please note that while calculation of GPA and class ranking

are not required, districts and open-enrollment charter schools must identify junior and senior

students in the top 10% of their class for the purposes of eligibility for automatic college

admission to a Texas institution of higher education.

Districts may choose to calculate GPA and class rank for the first four six weeks of the school year

only. However, any method for calculation of GPA and class rank should be applied to all

impacted students equitably.

9. Is there direction on course credit for graduation, meaning would first semester work

constitute meeting credit requirement? Posted March 25, 2020

Please refer to the Graduation Guidance FAQ on TEA’s COVID-19 Support: Academics web page.

that students receive final grades and schools can make determinations regarding the award of

credit for the course or promotion/retention for the grade level in a timely manner. High school

students may be awarded proportionate credit if they complete only half of a course (TAC

§74.26(d)). Districts and charter schools that do not have a policy permitting the award of

proportionate credit may wish to consider awarding proportionate credit so that a student who

has completed half of the course can be awarded partial credit rather than awarding an

incomplete for the entire course.

11. If we receive a transfer student in the 2020-2021 school year with a grade of incomplete, can

enrolling a student with a grade of incomplete would need to determine the student’s academic

achievement or proficiency in all the TEKS for the particular course or subject area in accordance

with the standard used in the receiving district or charter school. If there is not enough

information to make this determination, the district or school may wish to consider administering

a credit by examination to the student to determine proficiency in the TEKS.

grades earned, and credits awarded. All completed high school courses, regardless of the amount

of credit earned, must be entered on the student transcript. A final grade of incomplete should

not be noted on the student transcript as the student did not complete the course. Districts and

charter schools are encouraged to establish timelines for students to make up incomplete

assignments so that final grades can be given and a determination made for the award of credit

for the course in a timely manner.

14. If a campus had already informed parents of possible retentions and has stopped recording

grades after the 4

Districts should follow local policy and use all relevant information that is available to make

determinations regarding student retention and support.

15. Is it possible to waive the parent/guardian signature and return requirements for Q3/Q4 report

§28.022(b)). State law does not designate a specific format of the signature. Consequently, a

district may opt to obtain an electronic signature or an electronically transmitted image of the

signed notice in lieu of an original signed document.

16. When districts make adjustments in the dates for the 5

six weeks grading periods for

funding purposes, what should we do with the grades that were entered in the 5

six weeks

grading period prior to the change in dates?

Please refer to the Attendance and Enrollment FAQ on TEA’s COVID-19 Support: District Waivers,

of grades on class assignments and examinations, before each school year (TEC, §28.0216). While

grades may be used as one method of documentation, this is not the only method of

documentation. Determinations regarding the assignment of grades are left to local district

discretion and are not required to be tied to attendance.

18. Should districts still issue grades for each instructional grading period based on their

FAQ on TEA’s COVID-19 Support: District Waivers, Finance & Grants web page.

19. For 8th-11th grade students completing the course for credit and excused from the

corresponding EOC, how should districts document this on their Academic Achievement

Record?

A new code “2020 Waived” will be added to the STAAR performance level code table (TC31) in

the Texas Records Exchange (TREx) system for students for whom the STAAR assessment

requirement has been waived.

A school district must provide at least one window to test between January 1 and March 31, one

window to test between April 1 and June 30, one window to test between July 1 and September

30, and one window to test between October 1 and December 31 annually. These requirements

remain in place. For the April 1-June 30 window, districts may want to plan to offer credit by

exam (CBE) at the end of the window to allow sufficient time to determine what options they will

be able to make available.

Please note that Texas Tech University (TTU) offers online proctored CBEs for a fee. Visit

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/k12/programs/testing/cbe/ for more information. The University of

Texas at Austin High School expects to begin offering online proctoring for CBEs for a fee in May.

Since Governor Abbott has waived the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness

(STAAR) testing requirements for the 2019-2020 school year, any accelerated instruction required

for students in grades 3-8, including students who receive special education services, should

already have been completed for the current school year.

For a student, including a student who receives special education services, who failed to perform

satisfactorily on a STAAR end-of-course (EOC) assessment in the 2019-2020 school year, a school

22. What do we do if a student requires accelerated instruction and that accelerated instruction

was not completed prior to school closure?

Accelerated instruction does not have to be provided during the current school year. However, a

district must provide a student, including a student who receives special education services, with

accelerated instruction prior to the next STAAR administration during the 2020-2021 school year.

This answer also applies to students who started but did not complete accelerated instruction

during the 2019-2020 school year.

course provider should then collaborate to determine the best way to address each student’s

needs.

24. What should a TXVSN course catalog provider do about assigning grades for students who did

not have the technology to complete the course?

The TXVSN course provider has responsibility for providing instruction to a student enrolled in a

TXVSN course and should identify options for each student to complete the course. The course

provider may wish to work with the receiver district on the best way to address each student’s

If issuing an incomplete is the mutual decision reached by both the course provider and receiver

district, providers and receivers are encouraged to establish timelines for students to make up

incomplete assignments so that final grades can be given and a determination made for the

award of credit for the course in a timely manner.