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Testing Out

Chelsea will administer “testing-out” 2 times a year:

Students may choose to "Test Out" of any course by demonstrating a grade mastery of not less than C+ on the course comprehensive final exam or if there is no final exam, by exhibiting mastery through the basic assessment used in the course which may consist of a portfolio, performance, paper, project, or presentation. Credit earned for "Testing Out" will be recorded as a "P" pass.

"Testing Out" opportunities are offered in the fall, and spring. Students must make their "Testing Out" requests bySeptember and March, for respective test dates. Students planning to apply to "Test Out" must meet with their counselors well in advance of the application deadlines to be fully informed of application procedures and to complete the application process prior to the deadline. 

November 2024 & May 2025

Testing Window for November: 

  • Request to “test-out” form due: September 16 by 3:00 p.m.
  • Testing Out Materials (syllabus and book):   September 23
  • Testing Day: November 4-5
  • Results Mailed:  November 18

Testing Window for May:

  • Request to “test-out” form due: March 17 by 3:00 pm
  • Testing Out Materials (syllabus and book):   March 24
  • Testing Day: May 5-6
  • Results Mailed:  May 19

Request required applications and counseling office forms  HERE

**Forms submitted after deadline date will not be accepted.

Chelsea High School

Policy to Implement P.A. 335 Sec. 1279b

What the Michigan Merit Curriculum Law Says:

380.1278(a)(4)(c) A school district or public school academy shall also grant a student a credit if the student earns a qualifying score, as determined by the department, on the assessments developed or selected for the subject area by the department or the student earns a qualifying score, as determined by the school district or public school academy, on 1 or more assessments developed or selected by the school district or public school academy that measure a student’s understanding of the subject area content expectations or guidelines that apply to the credit

Other law in effect regarding testing-out:

Credit Awarded to Pupil Not Enrolled in Course

380.1279(b) The board of a school district shall grant high school credit in any course to a pupil enrolledin high school, but who is not enrolled in the course, who has exhibited a reasonable level of mastery ofthe subject matter of the course by attaining a grade of not less than C+ in a final exam in the course, or, if there is no final exam, by exhibiting that mastery through the basic assessment used in the coursewhich may consist of a portfolio, performance, paper, project, 

or presentation. For the purpose ofearning credit under this section, any high school pupil may take the final examination in any course. Credit earned under this section shall be based on a “pass” grade and shall not be included in acomputation of grade point average for any purpose. Credit earned under this section may or may notbe counted toward graduation, as the board of the school district may determine, but the board'sdetermination shall apply equally to all such credit for all pupils and credit earned under this sectionshall be counted toward fulfillment of a requirement for a subject area course and shall be countedtoward fulfillment of a requirement as to course sequence. Once credit is earned under this section, apupil may not receive credit thereafter for a course lower in course sequence concerning the samesubject area.

Information obtained: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/FAQ_-_Entire_Document_12.07_217841_7.pdf

For our purposes, we will define these terms from the law in the following manner:

“Pupil enrolled in high school” refers to a student who is currently attending that high school or who is formally registered for the next term.  (This includes:  8th graders and students from private or parochial school settings.)

“Enrolled in the course” refers to a student who has registered and begun attending class sessions.

“Any course” refers to any curricular offering available to students; not to be confused with a class taught by a specific teacher.

“Any” will be loosely interpreted.   Exempted courses include all federally funded vocational programs (consortium).

The “final exam” is a comprehensive assessment that includes the essential student learning of the course.   We do not give final exams at Chelsea High School; rather we give end-of-term tests which do not, in many cases, measure the “essential student learning” of the course.   Testing Out may have multiple components (demonstrations, research papers, oral examinations, portfolios, paper/pencil, etc.) as long as the same components are part of the total evaluation for students taking the course in the normal fashion.

PROCEDURES TO IMPLEMENT

  1. Chelsea will administer “testing-out” 2 times a year – November and May
     

  2. Student must test out of  Section A prior to testing out of Section B with the following three exceptions:

  • Civics B may be taken at any time

  • Conceptual Physics B may be taken at any time

  • World Language Classes (French A/B or Spanish A/B) must be taken at same time as the test covers both sections

  1. Student will be given one opportunity to “test-out” of any curricular offering during their high school experience.
     

  2. Credits earned by passing a course in this manner shall be counted toward the total number of credits needed to graduate.  These credits will satisfy distribution and sequence requirements (CSD Board Policy 5460)
     

  3. Credits earned in this manner will not impact G.P.A. and will be recorded on the transcript as “O Course” for test-out and a “P” grade will be recorded.
     

  4. Teachers are not to provide any instruction to prepare students for these tests.   Each department will provide a syllabus so the students know what the test will cover and what additional items (demonstrations, research papers, portfolios, etc.) will be required as part of the comprehensive evaluation.   A textbook will be made available if desired.   Students must return the book to take the Test-Out exam.  
     

  5. In all cases, before a student requests to test-out, a meeting must beheld with the counselor to discuss the ramifications of testing-out.   The intent of “testing-out” is to provide students options beyond what they might have if forced to take courses in which they have already mastered the material.  The counselor should make a recommendation to either be allowed or not allowed to “test-out” based upon past performance, standardized testing and other information.  This recommendation should then be reviewed by the parents prior to a final request to test-out.

Final approval of testing-out is at the discretion of the principal.