Advice on awarding credit

[danielle]

I'm sketching out a tentative 4 year plan with dd and what she wants to study. After counting up credits (generally awarding 2 semester credits for a year long course, 3 for a science with lab) she's going to end up, after 4 years, with 64-68 credits!! (18 freshman, 17-19 sophomore, 15-17 junior and 14 senior). This is WAY more than our local high school would require (45 credits for them). It would also mean 13-14 AP classes (she did one in 8th grade).

Opinions? Worth doing or insane? Experience?
Danielle

[Jann in TX]

Our schools award 1 credit for a year-long course and .5 for a semester.

Make sure you are using the same 'scales' when you compare!

After converting your scale to my dd's the number of credits is very similar to what she will have when she graduates.

[readwithem]

I'm sketching out a tentative 4 year plan with dd and what she wants to study. After counting up credits (generally awarding 2 semester credits for a year long course, 3 for a science with lab) she's going to end up, after 4 years, with 64-68 credits!! (18 freshman, 17-19 sophomore, 15-17 junior and 14 senior). This is WAY more than our local high school would require (45 credits for them). It would also mean 13-14 AP classes (she did one in 8th grade).

Opinions? Worth doing or insane? Experience?
Danielle

Does your local high school give 2 credits for each year-long course? I would think it would be only one. You might check their website for specifics.

One thing you may consider is using some of her "credits" as extracurriculars.

My dd will be a junior this year, and I haven't totally figured out what will fall where on her transcript. Some will be for-credit courses, some will be ec's. At this point I'm making sure we are covering all the basics for a college prep course of study. :)

[danielle]

Point of information. The local high school most definitely awards semester credits. Double checked--they actually require 48 semester credits = 24 yearly credits. In other words, 6 full year courses per year. Our plan would give us 32-34 courses or about 8 per year.
Danielle

[Pamela H in Texas]

8 per year doesn't sound bad. Most schools have the equiv of 6, 7, or 8 full year courses per year. Some kids get credit from 8th grade or summer courses or whatever. Counting a few as only semester long, a student would easily get 30-36 classes in.

[Lori D.]

And when you go to create a college transcript:


1 credit = 150-180 hours of coursework

* 25-30 min./day, 5 days/week, the 260 school days of 2 years
* OR 50-60 min./day, 5 days/week, 180 school days all in 1 year, or over several years
* OR 70-75 min./day, 4 days/week, 180 school days all in 1 year, or over several years


.5 credit = 75-90 hours of coursework

* 25-30 min./day, 4-5 days/week, 180 school days all in 1 year, or over several years
* OR 50-60 min./day, 5 days/week, 90 school days all in 1 semester, or over 1 year, or over several years
* OR 70-75 min./day, 4 days/week, 90 school days all in 1 semester, or over 1 year, or over several years


.25 credit = 38-45 hours of coursework

* 25-30 min./day, 4-5 days/week, 90 school days all in 1 quarter, or over 1 semester, or over 1 year, or over several years
* OR 50-60 min./day, 4-5 days/week, 45 school days all in 1 quarter, or over 1 semester, or over 1 year, or over several years
* OR 70-75 min./day, 4-5 days/week, 22-23 school days all in 1 quarter, or over 1 semester, or over 1 year, or over several years

[danielle]

Hmmm, the plot thickens. Books I've looked at say anywhere from 120 hours to 180 for a credit hour (high school). I don't think you can really compare to college credit hours--I only spent 3 hours/week in the average class in college, and the terms are shorter.

Anyway, to the best of my knowledge, our local school only has 45 minute class periods x 5 days x 36 weeks still only equals 135 hours. FWIW, the school is one of the best in the nation--I see it mentioned all the time, and every college admissions director I've spoken with knew it instantly--not that I plan to send dd there.

I plan to count 120 hours as the minimum for a year's course (2 credits on the semester system). But I wonder if it really matters--if the kid scores a 5 on the AP in a topic, or over, say 700 on a SAT II, who cares how much time she actually spent working on the class? I mean, if she can do it with less hours, and demonstrate mastery in some clear way, do hours really mean anything?

But I'd still like opinions...you ladies always have interesting takes on subjects, and angles I haven't thought of!
Danielle

[Pamela H in Texas]

Danielle,

I don't count hours SPECIFICALLY because I don't think my daughter should be punished for being quick (a fast reader, quick on the recall, fast on the concept, etc).

And at the same time, it makes NO sense to me that a struggling student would get more credit simply because it took him 1.5 to 2 times as much time.

We finish the material (mastered, btw), she gets the credit. Period. If it takes 60 hours or 150 hours or whatever, I don't really care. I don't have to worry about this with my son yet, but if we go back to private homeschooling, the same will be true for him.

[Lori D.]

Don't forget to count back in homework hours, practice times (musical instrument, e.g.), and other out-of-classroom hours expected by the school. That usually brings the hours back up over 150. I mentioned the 180 hours more as an upper limit for those homeschoolers (myself definitely included!) who think we can squeeze in all those "great resources" and call it just 1 class. (lol)

[Lori D.]

I agree to some extent. We're having to spread Biology over 18 months because we just are slow juggling the textbook and experiments -- but we'll only count that as 1 credit. On the other hand, we'll only take about 40 hours (which, "hours-wise" would come out to .25 credit class) to go through DH's old college Logic textbook, but we will count that as a 1 full credit because it is college level and volume of material.

Counting hours is really meant as a "ballpark guide" -- not a rigid set-in-stone law. We've found counting hours to be very helpful when we are are either not using a textbook; or when we are designing a course ourselves; or in determining credit for a college transcript. Counting hours helps us not expect either too much or too little from our students in awarding credit.

As you say, what really counts is do they know the material or not -- and that is almost more of a grade issue than a credit/hours issue -- either you know it and know it well (a "pass") or you don't and need to work on it some more (an "incomplete"). Cheers! Lori D.

[Lori D.]

Hmmm, the plot thickens. Books I've looked at say anywhere from 120 hours to 180 for a credit hour (high school). I don't think you can really compare to college credit hours--I only spent 3 hours/week in the average class in college, and the terms are shorter.

Sorry, I didn't make those numbers clear! You're right -- you really can't compare high school and college hours.

What I MEANT to say was that when you create a transcript for your high school student to show to colleges for entrance into college, the college will be usually expecting that when you say "1 credit" for a high school class, it means the student spent approximately 150 hours in high school to earn that 1 credit.

Colleges are on a totally different system, usually calling the basic measurement a "unit", not a "credit". Additionally, the "unit" usually measures how many times a week the class meets. So a 1-unit class usually meets once a week throughout the semester. A 3-unit class usually meets 3 times a week throughout the semester. A 4-unit class usually meets 3 times a week for lectures PLUS once a week for a lab session throughout the semester.

Hope that makes things a little more clear! : ) Warmly, Lori D.

[carol]

My son is taking 6 core courses plus electives. Each course is 1 credit if it is designed for a full year and a
1/2 credit if designed as a semester course. Don't keep
track of hours unless it is a self-designed course. In the local high school they spend 50min. per class period times a 180 days which equates to 150 hours. Most of my self designed courses are electives so I give credit at 150 hours. These are P.E., art classes with instruction, band and music instructution plus practice.

Carol

[kate in seattle]

I think the 1 credit = 1 full year class, .5 credit = 1/2 year (1 semester) class is pretty consistent with high schools all over Washington state. I am sure there are some schools somewhere who do it "different". I would not be inclined to do that on a homeschool transcript for college.

I heard an admissions person from University of Washington speak once. He emphasized how colleges want course titles, credits, etc, which are easily understood.

Example, if you list "Spanish I" on your transcript, all colleges have a pretty good idea of what is represented by that class title. Being homeschooling moms we tend to get creative and call it "Latin American Culture and Language" because hey, we went to a local Cinqo de Mayo party and watched Dora with the younger siblings and made a pinata and spent time every week speaking Spanish and went on a mission trip to Guatemala and finished a textbook. Just call it Spanish I, give 1 credit and put the mission trip in EC's. That's not the specific example he used, but was kind of the gist of his comment.

Kate in Seattle