Search
/ Administration / Policies & Procedures / E Policy Index: Instruction / EIC (TSBVI) – Academic Achievement: Class Ranking

EIC (TSBVI) – Academic Achievement: Class Ranking

RANK IN CLASS

Rank in class shall be based on a weighted grading system. Weighted points shall be assigned to TEA-approved courses, as follows:

AP and Dual Credit – 6

Pre-AP and Honors – 5

General Education – 4

Modified/Alternate/Speech/Health/MAPS – 3

Local credit courses – 0

Below 70 in any course – 0

GRADE POINT AVERAGE

All eligible courses in grades 9–12 shall be graded on a 100-point system using the semester grades and corresponding weighted grade points.

Eligible courses for the computation of the grade point average (GPA) shall include all SBOE approved courses taken in grades 9–12. High School credits awarded prior to 9th grade will count towards GPA.

Scores earned on either type of credit by examination, with or without prior instruction, will also count toward the GPA. Grade point average shall be computed by totaling the semester numerical grade points earned and dividing by the number of numerical grade-earning courses attempted.

The Academic Achievement Records (transcript) shall carry the final GPA.

VALEDICTORIAN AND SALUTATORIAN

The valedictorian and the salutatorian shall be the eligible students with the highest and second-highest class ranking as determined by this policy who have:

  1. Completed the Recommended High School Program or the Advanced/Distinguished Achievement Program or Foundation Graduate Program with Endorsement(s) with a minimum cumulative GPA of 80.
  2. Met all course requirements or demonstrated subject mastery (course proficiency) through state-approved assessments.
  3. Been continuously enrolled in and attending classes at TSBVI for one full regular school year immediately preceding the students’ graduation.
  4. Exhibited qualities of a good citizen include respect for others, punctuality, positive attitude, community service, and responsibility.

SELECTION

The valedictorian and salutatorian will be selected by a committee appointed by the Principal.

Co-Honors

In case of a tie for the position of valedictorian, the students who tie shall be recognized as co-valedictorians.

In cases of a tie for the position of salutatorian, the students who tie shall be recognized as co-salutatorians.

AUTOMATIC ADMISSION TO INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

All applicants from Texas schools accredited by a generally recognized accrediting agency and who graduate in the top ten percent of their high school class or who graduate in the top 25 percent of their high school class, to the extent the governing board of a general academic teaching institution has adopted such an admission policy, shall be admitted to a general academic teaching institution [see Education Code 61.003(3)] if the student meets the following conditions:

  1. The student has met one of the following:
    1. Successfully completed the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation, Recommended, or Advanced High School Program from a Texas public high school as outlined under Education Code 28.025 [see Policy EIF];
    2. Satisfied ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks on the ACT assessment; or
    3. Earned a score on the SAT that meets the minimum requirements described by 19 Administrative Code 5.5(b)(1)(D).
  2. The student submitted an official high school transcript or diploma that must, no later than the end of the student’s junior year, indicate whether the student has satisfied the above requirements.

19 TAC 5.5(b); Education Code 51.803(a)

Valedictorian Eligibility

In addition to admissions under the top ten percent rule, each general academic teaching institution shall admit an applicant for admission to the institution as an undergraduate student if the applicant graduated as the valedictorian of the student’s high school graduating class in one of the two school years preceding the academic year for which the student is applying for admission and satisfies the requirements listed in Education Code 51.803. Education Code 51.803(d-1)

Exception

Beginning with admissions for the 2011–2012 academic year, the University of Texas at Austin (UT) is not required to offer admission to applicants who qualify for automatic admission in excess of the number required to fill 75 percent of the University’s enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident undergraduate students in an academic year.

If the number of applicants who apply to UT for admission in the next academic year and who qualify for automatic admission exceeds 75 percent of UT’s enrollment capacity, UT shall, not later than September 15, provide to each school, for dissemination to high school juniors and their parents, notice of which percentile ranks of high school seniors who qualify for automatic admission are anticipated to be offered admission during the next school year.

Education Code 51.803(a-1)–(a-2)

Curriculum Requirements

An applicant who does not satisfy the curriculum requirements for the distinguished level of achievement under the foundation program, the Recommended High School Program, or the Advanced/Distinguished Achievement High School Program is considered to have satisfied those requirements if the student completed the portion of the applicable curriculum that was available to the student but was unable to complete the remainder solely because the necessary courses were unavailable to the student at the appropriate times in the student’s high school career as a result of course scheduling, lack of enrollment capacity, or another cause not within the student’s control. Education Code 51.803(b)

To qualify for admission under this section, an applicant must submit an application before the expiration of any application filing deadlines and provide a transcript that satisfies the requirements listed in Education Code 51.803(d). A student’s transcript or diploma must, no later than the student’s junior year, indicate the student’s progress toward satisfying the curriculum requirements [see EI]. Education Code 51.803 (c)-(d)

Signs to Be Posted

The Board shall require the high school to post appropriate signs in each counselor’s office in braille and large print, in each principal’s office, and each administrative building indicating the substance of the automatic admission provisions above. Education Code 28.026

Dissemination by Local ISD

The local school district shall provide each student, at the time the student first registers for one or more classes required for high school graduation, with a written notification concerning automatic college admission, the curriculum requirements for financial aid under Education Code, Title 3, and the benefits of completing the requirements for automatic admission and financial aid. A school district shall obtain written acknowledgment of receiving the notification from each eligible student and the student’s parent or guardian. The notification must be signed by the student’s school counselor in addition to being signed by the student and the student’s parent or guardian. 19 TAC 61.1201

To assist in dissemination of information regarding the automatic admissions program, a district shall:

  1. Require that each school counselor and class advisor at a high school be provided a detailed explanation of the substance of the program;
  2. Provide each student, at the time the student first registers for one or more classes required for high school graduation, with a written notification, using the appropriate form adopted by the Commissioner, of the substance of the program;
  3. Require that each school counselor and senior class advisor at a high school explain to eligible students the substance of the program;
  4. Require that, at the beginning of grades 10 and 11, a certified counselor explain the requirements of automatic admission to a general academic teaching institution to each student who has a grade point average in the top 25 percent of the student’s high school class [see FFEA]; and
  5. Not later than the 14th day after the last day of classes for the fall semester or an equivalent date in the case of a school operated on a year-round system, provide each eligible senior student and each junior student who has a grade point average in the top ten percent of the student’s high school class, and the student’s parent or guardian, with a written notification, using the appropriate form adopted by the Commissioner, of the student’s eligibility with a detailed explanation in plain language of the substance of the program. The district shall obtain written acknowledgment of receiving the notification from each eligible student and the student’s parent or guardian.

Education Code 28.026, 33.007(c)

Note: 

The Notification of Eligibility for Automatic College Admission,[i] intended to satisfy the requirement in item 5 above, is available on the TEA website.

Class Rank

High school rank for students seeking automatic admission to a general teaching institution on the basis of their class rank is determined and reported as follows:

  1. Most recent available class rank, based on a point in time no earlier than the end of the 11th grade, shall be used for admission decision-making.
  2. The top ten percent and top 25 percent of a high school class shall not contain more than ten percent and top 25 percent, respectively, of the total class size.
  3. The student’s rank shall be reported by the applicant’s high school or school district as a specific number out of a specific number total class size.
  4. Class rank shall be determined by the Texas school from which the student graduated or is expected to graduate.

19 TAC 5.5(f)

End-of-course assessments

A student’s performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument may not be used in determining the student’s class ranking for any purpose, including entitlement to automatic college admission. Education Code 39.0232(b)(1)

Adopted:         11/14/97

Amended:       1/30/04, 9/20/13, 8/9/18, 1/25/19, 4/8/22

Reviewed:

[i] Notification of Eligibility for Automatic College Admission: http://tea.texas.gov/index2.aspx?id=2147485632