National PASS Center

Helping Students Succeed

PASS Student Picture

PASS Student Picture

PASS Student Picture

Mission

To coordinate PASS activities, continuing the PASS vision of providing migrant youth with viable credit accrual options based on a learner-centered process with flexible, portable, readable and credible materials.

What Is PASS?

One of the educational challenges for secondary migrant students is credit accrual. The National PASS Program provides a successful option to migrant programs seeking flexibility for their students. PASS provides student choice, is flexible to meet differentiated student needs, and is portable. Courses are developed to help students earn credits and graduate with academic diplomas from their high schools. Flexibility in administering PASS enhances instructional opportunities for students in a variety of settings. PASS consists of self-contained, semi-independent study courses. The program is provided by The National PASS Coordinating Committee comprised of migrant educators across the country and is used in more than 25 states.

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Why Use PASS?

Many schools use PASS because courses may not be offered when a student needs them. Courses may be used to make up failed credits, to remediate in basic subjects, to assist with dropout recovery, or to offer elective credit. Students do not need to access a computer or the Internet to complete a course, but there are options for students who choose to do so. Students can work on PASS courses during the school year or summer. Courses are aligned with state and common core standards.

PASS During Covid-19

These are suggestions for ways you can support PASS instruction. Remember that your district/state has the flexibility to make modifications and accommodations to PASS as you deem appropriate for your students and for the situation at hand. National PASS does not issue the credit for courses, so we cannot issue mandates; only options for increased flexibility. We fully support your ability to make those decisions to ensure students are able to successfully continue their education during this time of school building closures and sheltering from home.

If your districts are modifying the amount of work expected from all credit-seeking students, you should follow suit with PASS. If they are not administering testing, that too can be a possibility for PASS.
Modify the number of assignments that must be completed within the units
Differentiate testing by using assignments instead of end of unit tests for assessment purposes.
Use a drop off/pick up schedule if USPS is not an affordable option for delivery of materials.
For those students with computer access, provide them the WORD (not PDF) workbook online. This would allow them to respond within the workbook. They could use a different color and font for responses. They could cut/paste only those parts that require responses/work samples and e-mail them to you.
Put PASS onto Canvas management system and post quizzes to the online format.
Put your PDF files of enrolled courses into Microsoft Teams and create a PASS class for access.
Tests can be proctored via Zoom or other similar platform. Consider having parents proctor. Mail hard copies of the tests and provide an addressed envelope with stamp for return. Give oral phone tests. Select questions over critical content instead of using all test items.
Use oral/written pre-testing to determine what content can be eliminated.
Provide students your set “office hours” to ensure they are supported for time management, moral support, as well as concept/skill support. Check in with them more frequently than before.
If a student has access to the Internet, have them subscribe to Florida PASS on YouTube. There, they have free access to a great number of videos aligned with and supporting many PASS courses.
Touch base via phone.
Screen shots of completed work/assignments can be a way to check in.
Provide choice of activities for units instead of requiring all activities to be completed. Providing options and choice can be motivating.
If students have access to technology you can visit and provide support via Face time, Zoom or other similar platform.