Honors Criteria

2025-2026

DRYDEN MIDDLE SCHOOL

HONORS ELA, MATH, & SCIENCE CRITERIA

ENTRANCE CRITERIA

Students should meet all three criteria for initial placement in an honors section:

REPORT CARD 

  • In grades 6 and 7, the student should earn a cumulative average of 93% in the content area throughout the year. (this includes final exams)
  • In grade 5, the student should achieve at or above grade level expectations (3 or 4) in the content area standards throughout the year.     

STAR PERFORMANCE  

  • The student should achieve at or above the 75% Percentile Rank (PR) on 2 content area STAR assessments in the past year.
  • For Science, on both STAR Math and STAR Reading assessments, the student should achieve at or above the 75% Percentile Rank (PR). 

*Parents should contact their child's ELA or math teacher for STAR score information.  

CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE RUBRIC/TEACHER RECOMMENDATION

  • In 5th grade, the student should score well (3 or 4) on the classroom performance rubric filled out by the current content area teacher.
  • In grades 6-8, there will not be a performance rubric, but there will need to be a teacher recommendation.

*New students to the Dryden district and non-honors students may be moved into an honors section if criteria is met after the first marking period.  (the Living Environment class excluded)

*In certain circumstances, a student may be placed in an honors section at the administrator’s discretion.

 

PROMOTIONAL CRITERIA

Once placed in an honors course, the student should maintain a 93% average and achieve at or above the 75% Percentile Rank (PR) on 2 content area STAR assessments in the past year in order to continue in Honors at the next grade level.

For a DMS student to be invited to take the Algebra Honors Class, they should:

  • Attain at least the 75% Percentile Rank on 2 out of 3 Math Star tests in the school year.
  • Have a final average of at least 93% in their current math course.
  • Score at least 90% on the work habits rubric (based on math teacher observations)
  • Be recommended by a team of DMS & DHS math teachers (based on knowledge of students and classroom observations)

EXIT CRITERIA

At twenty weeks, a student may be removed from the honors section if the cumulative average of the first two marking periods is below 85.

Removal from an honors section may occur at the administrator’s discretion at any time, pending a parent conference.  For students placed in a high school level course, refer to the High School Course Catalog for additional exit criteria pertaining to that class.

                                                             

            Revised 5/7/25