A Modified Diploma will be awarded to each student who has satisfactorily completed the educational program prescribed by the School Team and KCSD. This will include earning required credits and passing modified competencies. The determination of those students who will be placed on a Modified Diploma track will be made by the School Team. A student’s IEP/PEP will indicate course goals, level of competence, and performance indicators to be employed. Students will be expected to maintain the same level of standards concerning attendance, (i.e., a minimum of eight semesters of high school or their equivalent).
ELIGIBILITY
A student will be considered a candidate for the Modified Diploma Program if he/she meets one or more of the following eligibility criteria:
A documented history of an inability to maintain grade level achievement due to significant learning and instructional barriers inherent in the student,
--OR--
A documented history of a medical condition that creates a barrier to achievement
MODIFIED DIPLOMA TIMELINE
A student’s school team shall decide that a student should work toward a modified diploma no earlier than the end of the 6th grade and no later than two years before the student’s anticipated exit from high school.
A student’s School Team may decide that a student who is working towards a Regular Diploma should work toward a Modified Diploma when a student is less than two years from anticipated exit from high school if there has been a change in the documented history of the student’s inability to maintain grade level achievement due to significant learning and instructional barriers or the documented history of a medical condition that creates a barrier to achievement.
MODIFIED DIPLOMA PROCEDURES
When a student is being considered for a Modified Diploma Program, the School Team should follow the steps listed below.
1. A careful study of the student’s records should be made including district-wide standardized test scores and/or individual test results, teacher observations, and pupil performance ratings of at least the last full school year.
2. A conference will be held to review student progress, potential to learn, and the School Team’s recommendation for parent approval or refusal.
3. The case manager or counselor of the student will coordinate his/her course schedules and maintain communication with the parent regarding progress toward completion of the Modified Diploma.
4. The school district may award a Modified Diploma to a student only upon the consent of the parent or guardian of the student. The school district must receive the consent in writing and during the school year in which the Modified Diploma is to be awarded.
Any student in the Modified Diploma Program does have the right to petition to re-enter the Standard Diploma Program. In the case of a student with an IEP, a careful projection of the effort and time commitment necessary to meet credit requirements in Standard Diploma courses will be completed. Such a change in the graduate’s plan could extend the school experience by one or more school years. This is due to the fact students would have to repeat those courses in which a modified grade was earned. Students can work on completion of a Modified Diploma through the end of the school year in which they turn twenty-one (21); however, modified placement sites may be required for this work after the age of eighteen (18). Accordingly, care should be taken to recommend students for a Modified Diploma only when a very clear need for such an adjusted program is documented.
MONITORING THE MODIFIED DIPLOMA
The School Team will monitor the modified course of study for the student. It is recommended that this occur once per semester. For those students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) the modifications will be detailed within the IEP. For those students without an IEP, a Personal Education Plan (PEP) for completing the Modified Diploma Program is required.
REQUIRED PROVISIONS AS PART OF
A MODIFIED DIPLOMA PROGRAM
Klamath County School District agrees to provide the following:
- Access to literacy instruction until graduation
- Access to needed courses
- On-site access to appropriate resources at each high school
- Modifications and supports
- Substantial academics
- Educational Profile
- Extended Application
- Essential Skills
- Transcripts identifying modified courses
- Only those courses identified by the school team shall be labeled as modified credits and/or modified grades
- The district uses parentheses to identify modified credits and/or grades on a student’s transcript.
MODIFIED DIPLOMA COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS
Klamath County School District requires that students complete 24 credits for the Modified Diploma.
Students will be expected to maintain the same level of attendance standards required of the Standard Diploma. Any variations on student attendance must be under special circumstances and will be approved on an individual basis.
Students will be expected to earn the required number of credits in the following areas or complete an educational program as prescribed for the student on an individual basis:
12 required credits 12 additional credits
- English/Language Arts – 3 Additional core credits
- Mathematics – 2
- Science – 2 Career and Technical Education
- Social Sciences – 2
- Health Education – 1 Electives
- Physical Education – 1
- CTE, Arts or 2nd Language – 1 Career Development
TOTAL COURSE CREDITS ....................24 credits
Grading options may be either Pass/Fail or a letter grade as determined on a case by case basis by the School Team. School Team is expected to follow the KCSD Pass/Fail Policy last revised in June 2015.
MODIFIED DIPLOMA AND ESSENTIAL SKILLS
Students who are working toward a Modified Diploma are required to demonstrate the Essential Skills of the ability to read and comprehend a variety of text, write clearly and accurately, and to apply math.
The School Team is responsible for approving adjustment of the assessment achievement standard to indicate proficiency for each student who is to receive a Modified Diploma. The team may alter the official state cut scores only for students with an IEP. Students without an IEP may have modified work samples but the team may not alter the official state cut score.