Policy 602 - Acceleration and Retention of Students

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance to employees, families and students regarding student acceleration, retention and gifted program design.

A. Acceleration and Retention:

a. The School Board recognizes that in certain situations it may be desirable to accelerate or retain the placement of a student in instructional programs appropriate to the student's academic, social, and personal development levels

i. The school district must adopt procedures for the academic acceleration. These procedures will include how the district will:

1. assess a student’s readiness and motivation for acceleration; and

2. match the level, complexity, and pace of the curriculum to a student to achieve the best type of academic acceleration for that student.

ii. The school district must adopt procedures consistent with Minnesota state guidelines for early admission to kindergarten or first grade of gifted or talented learners. The procedures must be sensitive to underrepresented groups.

b. A request for acceleration or retention should be directed to the building principal.

B. Enrichment Program Design:

a. The School Board is committed to the development and implementation of enrichment programs that address the unique needs of students at every level.

b. A process to assess and evaluate students for program assignment shall be developed in coordination with such programs.

c. The school district may identify students, locally develop programs and services addressing instructional and affective needs, provide staff development, and evaluate programs to provide students with challenging and appropriate educational programs and services.

d. The school district must adopt guidelines for assessing and identifying students for participation in gifted and talented programs and services consistent with Minnesota state guidelines. The guidelines should include the use of:

i. multiple objective criteria; and

ii. assessments and procedures that are valid and reliable, fair, and based on current theory and research. Assessments and procedures should be sensitive to historically under-represented groups

• Adopted: September 12, 1994
• Amended: August 14, 1995
• Amended: August 16, 2004
• Amended: September 17, 2018
• Amended: December 18, 2023
• Last Reviewed: December 18, 2023

• Policy 602-R Accelerations and Retention of Students Regulations
• Policy 602-R Form: Accelerations and Retention of Students