Determining High School Credit
By Candice Childs
Credit is typically defined as: one hundred fifty (150) hours of in-class instruction. This is determined by the typical school year which is thirty-six (36) weeks [five-day week] or one hundred eighty (180) school days. If the class is held five times a week over the thirty-six weeks for fifty minutes each day that is 180 x 50 minutes = 150 hours. Because some schools may call a one semester class a one-credit course, there is a more universal term, “Carnegie Units,” which is the standardized term for the 150 hours for one credit.
Some homeschoolers and “buy-your-credit” programs allow for a lower standard than 150 clock hours, some as low as 80 hours for a credit. Though time is often wasted in a classroom with a fifty-minute period, homeschoolers should hold themselves to a higher [traditional] standard. Besides, some subjects require a lot of time outside of the classroom. For courses in English, time-based credit is not a good measurement as most reading and writing assignments are completed outside of the class time unless the student is in special ed. program. Also, reading and composition speed varies greatly among students but the expectations shouldn’t be lowered.
Concurrent with this time-based attendance factor are the objectives, skills, assignments/due dates, and activities determined by the teacher for the course syllabus. Classroom teachers usually have the option to adjust the course syllabus according to the needs of the class, though often teachers will be more constrained to meet the written requirements, even if only poorly met. For example, there is a common joke in U.S. History classes that the parting words of the teacher must be, “By the way, we won World War II.” Homeschooling parents should avoid this practice. Additionally, unless the student has special needs, the resources should be high school level to qualify as a high school course. For example, using a book about chemistry that is meant for junior high is not high school chemistry.
Activity-Based Credit
Keeping track of time students spend learning the material may be sufficient for courses that are time-based by nature, usually not requiring much homework or outside study beyond class time. In all these areas, however, new skills and emerging mastery should be developed within the semester.
Activity-based courses include:
Art
Music
PE
Home Economics
Auto or Wood Shop
Computer Applications
Mastery/Skill-Based Course Credit
Subjects such as Algebra or computer skills relate to mastery of specific skills; the time spent is irrelevant. The student hasn’t completed Algebra I if he has spent 75 hours but only completed the first 25% of the text. If the student is already typing at 60 words per minute with four or less errors in a 2-minute test using the full keyboard, he has passed two semesters of Keyboarding.
Another possibility of earning credit is by “challenging the course.” Passing the final exam in first year algebra would demonstrate that the student had the necessary skills for passing this course. The University of Nebraska high school home study program awards varying amounts of credit based on scores on the GED as well. The SAT Subject area tests, offered in May each year, would provide a way to establish mastery too.
Mastery/Skill-based courses include:
Algebra I & II
Geometry
Pre-Calculus/Advanced Math
Calculus
Keyboarding
Foreign Languages
Computer training for certification
Scope and Sequence Course Credit
Most science, English, and history courses have specific content and breadth (scope) that must be covered and may require a particular order within the study (sequence). Mastery of the SAT Subject Area Tests will assess scope and some sequential understandings like chronology in history. However, a research project, a term paper, science project, or science lab activities wouldn’t be “testable,” and doing these activities are necessary for the college bound student and typically part of standard high school courses.
Work Experience and Apprenticeship Credits
Many traditional schools award credit for work experience but usually at a different hours per credit ratio due to the highly repetitive factor of most work experience situations (the student is not learning new skills after the initial one-day or one-week training) though they are learning how to responsibly hold a job. Some states define 1.0 credit for work experience as around 400 hours. Keeping all check stubs and having the employer/manager write a summary of acquired job skills and evaluation of work performance would usually be sufficient evidence for this type of credit. The work experience should be related to the total educational program of the student and include varied experiences of educational value, but it is primarily focused on learning how to find and hold a job.
If the student is doing something like building a house where the student is learning new skills each week or even each day, then this is more of an apprenticeship and instruction-based experience. This would then be an activity-based credit with 150 hours making 1.0 credit.
