Following the St. Johns County School District (SJCSD)’s decision to cancel district-created and teacher-created final exams due to technical issues, Superintendent Tim Forson announced on Tuesday that students in sixth through 12th grade will receive the maximum value possible for the exams in the affected courses.
“I feel it is important ‘to do no harm’ to student final grades for this year,” Forson said in a letter sent to parents on Tuesday. “There are students who were counting on this opportunity to earn percentage points that could make a difference in their grades. We will give students the full benefit of the doubt and the maximum exam score (100 percent) will be provided in the affected courses.”
Forson clarified that third-quarter and fourth-quarter grades each maintain a weight of 45 percent to the final grade. The district final exam, he said, maintains a weight of 10 percent, and the maximum points will be given. As a result, he said the district final exam portion of the grade will have the greatest impact for students who are within a point or two of the next higher letter grade.
In a letter sent to parents on Thursday, April 18, Forson said the district experienced “significant issues with the administration of the computer-based tests” during the first week of testing. The superintendent said he felt the district needed to cancel the district computer-based and paper-based exams to “remove the frustration of inconsistent test administration and protect instructional time.”
Elementary students’ grades will not be impacted by the cancellation of these exams, noted Forson in his letter on Tuesday. In addition, the decision to cancel the exams does not apply to iReady, Florida Standards Assessment (FSA), state End of Course (EOC) exams, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Dual Enrollment or Cambridge AICE. Forson said these assessments are not completed on the same testing platform as the district exams.
“I am sorry for this change so late in the school year, but feel it is the right decision for both students and teachers,” Forson said in his letter on Tuesday. “Thank you for your support and I look forward to a positive close to the 2018-2019 school year.”
