The District is committed to identifying students who are at-risk of not being ready for college-level work or not being ready for employment in entry-level career positions.  It is essential that such identification occur early enough that our schools can intervene with academic counseling, career counseling, and other intervention services to enhance a student’s readiness for post high school academic or employment opportunities.

Identification

Consistent with this District’s commitment, at-risk students will be identified by at least their ninth grade year, including students who transfer into the District during ninth grade.  In order to identify such at-risk students, District staff will utilize the following criteria:

1. Student performance in Mathematics and English on the eighth grade Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests.
2. The District will consider comparable statewide assessment performance for students transferring into ninth grade from outside of Missouri.
3. The District’s reported rate of students taking remedial courses in basic academic subjects of English, Mathematics, and Reading during their initial year of college.In assessing this data, the District will rely on data submitted by the Department of Higher Education pursuant to § 173.750 RSMo.
4. The student’s attendance rates.

While the above at-risk identifiers are mandatory, the District may consider additional criteria including, but not limited to, review of discipline record; performance more than one grade level below in Reading and/or Math; core subject middle school grades; academic assessment results; contents of Section 504 Plan; ACE score (Adverse Childhood Experience) of 5 or more or other relevant identifiers. 

Academic and Career Counseling

When at-risk students are identified, the District will initiate academic and/or career counseling as soon as is practicable to enhance at-risk students’ opportunity to graduate on-time, and to enhance their college and/or career readiness.

This policy may be appropriately waived for any student with a disability upon the recommendation of the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team.