Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 3, March 20, 2024
A. High schools
shall adhere to the curricular and time requirements established by the DOE and
approved by BESE.
B. Exceptional
students shall be afforded meaningful opportunities to participate in all areas
of study as determined by the IEP team during the development of the
IEP.
C. The basic unit of credit
shall be the Carnegie unit.
D. The
certificate of achievement is an exit document issued to a student with a
disability after he or she has achieved certain competencies and has met
certain conditions. Refer to Bulletin 1706-Regulations
for the Implementation of the Children with Exceptionalities Act.
E. A Louisiana state high school
diploma cannot be denied to a student who meets the state minimum high school
graduation requirements.
F. Each
LEA shall develop an early graduation program allowing students to accelerate
their academic progress, complete all state graduation requirements, and
receive a high school diploma in less than four years.
1. The early graduation program may include
distance education (§2326), dual enrollment (§2327), and Carnegie credit earned
in middle school.
2. LEAs shall not
have any policies or requirements that would prevent students from graduating
in less than four years.
G. Each school shall follow established
procedures for special requirements for high school graduation to allow each to
address individual differences of all students.
H. Prior to the beginning of the school year,
students may switch diploma pathways provided they have the consent of their
parent or guardian and have been advised by a school counselor. The student's
parent or legal custodian will approve in writing any changes to the student's
individual graduation plan.
I.
Community Service Diploma Endorsement
1. LEAs
may allow students to earn a community service diploma endorsement.
2. Entering freshmen in 2013-2014 and beyond
may earn the community service diploma endorsement by completing, at a minimum,
80 hours of documented community service prior to graduation.
3. The LEAs shall collect documentation of
community service hours on forms provided on the LDE website.
4. Students transferring into a participating
LEA after the ninth grade or students graduating early may receive an
endorsement provided a total of 80 community service hours are completed prior
to graduation.
5. Community
service hours shall not count toward academic course work or graded work in any
public school.
6. The community
service performed shall not be related to political activities of any
kind.
J. State Seal of
Biliteracy
1. LEAs are encouraged but not
required to participate in the state seal of biliteracy program.
a. A participating school governing authority
shall maintain appropriate records in order to identify students who have
earned the seal and affix the seal to the transcript and diploma of each
student who earns the seal.
2. The state seal of biliteracy certifies
that a student meets all of the following criteria:
a. has completed of all English language arts
requirements for graduation;
b. has
passed the Reading and English parts of the ACT series with a score of nineteen
or above; and
c. has demonstrated
proficiency at the intermediate-high level or above in one or more languages
other than English through one of the following methods:
i. passing a world language advanced
placement examination or a world language International baccalaureate
examination with a score determined by the department, in consultation with the
examination provider, to be indicative of language proficiency;
(a). Repealed.
ii. completion of a four-year high school
course of study in a world language or completion of at least four Carnegie
units content courses in a world language immersion setting;
iii. passing a foreign governments approved
language examination and receiving a certificate of competency from the
authorizing government agency at:
(a). the
corresponding European B2 level;
(b). - (c). Repealed.
iv. passing a nationally-recognized world
language proficiency examination with a score determined by the department, in
consultation with the examination provider, to be indicative of language
proficiency.
3. If the primary language of a student in
grades 9 through 12 is other than English, he shall do both of the following to
qualify for the state seal of biliteracy:
a.
a composite score of proficient on an English language development assessment
that addresses all modes of communication; and
b. meet the requirements of Paragraph 2 of
this Subsection.
K. Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM) Diploma Endorsement
1.
Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, high school students completing
specified courses in STEM discipline subjects that comprise Jump Start STEM
pathways will be eligible to receive the STEM diploma endorsement.
a. The STEM diploma endorsement is indicated
with a silver diploma seal and is awarded to students who successfully complete
a subset of required courses within a BESE-approved Jump Start STEM pathway,
set forth by the LDE. The LDE will annually publish on its website a list of
courses required for the STEM endorsement for each graduating class prior to
the beginning of each school year and shall notify each LEA of any additions or
revisions.
b. The advanced STEM
diploma endorsement is indicated with a gold seal and is awarded to students
who successfully complete all courses that make up a BESE-approved Jump Start
STEM pathway.
2. Each
LEA must:
a. provide information regarding
the requirements to attain a STEM diploma endorsement to students and their
parents or legal custodians as part of the individual graduation plan developed
beginning in the eighth grade and updated annually; and
b. maintain records needed to verify the
eligibility of students who have attained a STEM diploma endorsement, denote
such attainment on the student transcript, and affix the applicable diploma
seal to the high school diploma.
AUTHORITY
NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
17:6,
17:7,
17:154,
17:264,
17:1944,
17:1945, and
17:4073.
