FYP, the Flexible Year Plan, is a program that allows schools to send students home who meet certain criteria two weeks early. Traditionally, the FYP two-week period has been held at the end of each school year.
This year, however, FYP will be split into two, one-week periods. The first FYP period will be the week after winter holidays. The second FYP period will be at the end of the school year as it has been in the past.
“Previously, the remediation for TAKS was coming after TAKS was taken,” Dean of Instruction Donna Willet said. “So, the decision was made district-wide that we needed to have some of the remediation prior to the start of TAKS.”
FYP Requirements
Fall
90% attendance (only 8 absences), passing all core classes, 70% average on common unit assessments. Seniors will have to have completed all TAKS requirements.
Spring
90% attendance, passing all core classes, passing all spring TAKS/EOC release exams. Seniors must have met all graduation requirements.
Because of the change in structure of FYP, some of the requirements have changed as to who is required to attend. The attendance and mastery of core classes requirements are still preserved in the switch, but instead of using TAKS or practice TAKS results, students will instead be required to pass common unit assessments.
The common unit assessments are typical exams taken in a student’s core classes but will focus specifically on skills needed for TAKS. To be exempt from attending FYP in January, a student must make an average of 70% on all their common unit assessments in the fall.
“We decided when we wrote curriculum in the summer what the main skills were that we were going to teach in a unit,” English Department Chair Lisa Prejean said. “In English, they are given a fresh piece of text and the students have to use those same skills to demonstrate their knowledge of such skills.”
Students who do not pass their core classes or common unit assessments, or meet the attendance requirement in the fall will be required to attend FYP from January 3-6, 2012.
For those students who do attend FYP, they will continue to follow their seven-period schedule from the fall.
“English, Math, Science and Social Studies will obviously be focusing on skills for TAKS or the EOC if they’re in 9th grade,” Willet said. “The other classes will be supplied with warm up exercises from specific content areas related to core classes. With the remaining time in class, they will do one of two things: review activities from the fall that will help their students be successful in the spring or they may be able to include some activities or lessons that have been cut.”
Students who are required to attend FYP in January will automatically be required to attend FYP in the spring due to state requirements, but students who are not required to attend FYP in January may still be required to attend FYP in May if they do not pass TAKS.
Also, students will not have the opportunity for credit recovery during FYP because of the shortened schedule. Instead, FYP will remain strictly TAKS and EOC focused.
