About the Middle Level Credit System
The State Department of Education and State Board of Education created the Middle Level Credit System in May 2007 with the purpose of improving rigor, relevance and relationships in the middle grades, identifying pockets of success throughout Idaho to develop best practices for all middle schools, and ensuring every Idaho student is prepared to be successful in high school and beyond.
Focus of the Middle Level Credit System
The Middle Level Credit System has focused on five key areas: Student accountability, middle level curriculum, academic intervention, leadership among staff at the middle level, and student transitions between the middle and high school grades.
Require implementation of a credit system no later than 7th grade. A school district
or charter school shall require students to attain a minimum of 80 percent of credits
or complete an alternate route in order to move on to the next grade. Students will
not be allowed to lose a full year of credit in one academic area. Attendance is
a required factor in the credit system.
Offer professional development for teachers and provide school districts and charter
schools with the technical assistance necessary to ensure curriculum is relevant,
challenging, integrative, and exploratory. School districts and charter schools
will still have considerable flexibility in curriculum decisions.
Require a structured mechanism for students to recover credits so they can meet
all credit requirements, and develop best practices for school districts and charter
schools on how to maximize resources and provide meaningful intervention programs.
- Recommendation for certification and/or endorsement for the middle level.
- Statewide standards/best practices for advisory
- Continuous cultivation of leadership and professional relationships
Develop best practices for a systematic approach for student transition from middle
school to high school based on successful programs in middle schools across the
state.
Develop best practices for ways in which parents can become more involved when their
students reach the middle grades.