The Tracking System at Fr. Judge High School
How Student Tracking is determined for Freshmen year and the following years at Fr. Judge High School
First, it should be noted that the tracking system is not permanent. Students are free to move up or down in track based on the previous year’s academic performance. A student who starts the freshman year in a particular track may be moved up or down a track in one or more subjects in sophomore, junior, and/or senior year. Some students who start in track three move up to track one by the senior year, and others who start in track one may be moved down in certain subjects.
At Fr. Judge High School, incoming freshmen students are tracked according to the following formula:
1. All final 7th grade marks are totaled
2. All 8th grade, first semester grades are totaled
3. All the Terra Nova scores from the eighth grade test are totaled
All three totals are added together to get a composite score.
All incoming freshmen are ranked in relation to all the other incoming freshmen.
The two highest ranked sections of students are placed in Honors Track. The next four sections are placed in Track Two. The next four sections are placed in Track Three. Classes in Track One, Two, and Three are all college prep classes.
You will be able to approximate where your son places by using the following guidelines:
** Historically, students who are placed in the Honors track have an academic average above 95.5 for 7th and 8th grade and are above the 83 average percentile on the Terra Nova test.
Students who are placed in track two typically have an academic average above 87 for 7th and 8th grade and are above the 73 average percentile on their 8th grade Terra Nova test.
There is one other small group of students who are block rostered for our Achieve Program. Entrance to this program is usually by parent request.
Students who come from non-traditional feeder parishes are given a math and verbal placement test. They are placed according to how well they perform on this test.
The Freshmen year is the only year that students are tracked across the roster for all classes. It is common for students to be in different tracks for different subjects in sophomore, junior, and senior year.
**Rational for using this method to determine tracking for incoming freshmen
This method has historically worked very well for the students at Fr. Judge. It allows us to use a wide variety of grades given by a variety of elementary teachers over two academic years. It also uses all the grades from a national standardized test called the Terra Nova. This test is given on the same day, under the same conditions in all of our parish elementary schools. The use of this test helps to eliminates variance in teacher grading. Also, there is an IQ component to this test. We, therefore, have an overall assessment of a student’s ability for tracking.
** You should be able to project the academic tracking of your student from the information provided under Academics, Tracking Procedures at www.fatherjudge.com. Of course, the actual track would depend on the academic record of the other students entering Fr. Judge.
Moving Up or Down in Track AFTER the Freshman Year
If a student has a final grade of 94 or above in a subject at the end of the school year and has a good class rank, he is generally recommended to move up a track for the following year. If a student has a final grade in the low 70’s, he is generally recommended to move down a track in that subject for the following year. The Academic Office does not move students up and down tracks. The teachers make this recommendation in consultation with the parents.