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Credit question please...


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Hi All~

 

I'm looking for advice on how to list this year's math on our transcript and how many credits to assign.

 

We're starting 10th grade. My son is doing Algebra 2 over the summer. (He started in mid spring when he was finished with geometry and will finish it about mid way through our first quarter of the coming school year.) He will go on to Trig. and should be able to finish that by the end of the school year.

 

We are using Chalkdust.

 

Would you list these as two seperate courses on the transcript and, thus, give one full credit for each? Or, would you combine them as Alg. 2/Trig and only assign one credit total?

 

TIA for any help on this.:)

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From what I have seen, Trig is most frequently either listed with Algebra 2 or Precalculus and is part of a one credit course. If done alone it is seldom more than 1/2 credit which is how our ps handles it. I would list trig and alg 2 as a one credit course and have done so.

 

Mary

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Going by the amount of time spent on the course. Here is a discussion below:

 

Q. So what is a credit and how do they work?

 

A. There are different ways of accounting for credits. A Carnegie Unit is 150 clock hours of instruction, which can be broken up in several different ways. 150 regular 60-minute hours of time spent in a history class would equal one Carnegie Unit.

 

Q. Clock hours and 60 minute hours . . . what's the difference? Aren't all hours 60-minute hours?

 

A. No. Public education does things differently. All hours are not 60 minutes long. In educationese, they usually are less. Some states have laws that state that 180 50-minute hours of class time make up one high school credit. One father, who was a supervising social worker for the state of California and oversaw a good many teens in group homes whom he had to help get through school, says that 180 45-minute 'hours' make up one year of a high school course in California (CA).

 

The 180 x 50 minutes credit equals out to about 150 full sixty minute clock hours on a subject for one full credit - the same as a Carnegie Unit. CA, apparently, doesn't do Carnegies anymore. As a general rule, if your state is no longer using Carnegies, then the instruction time for their 'hours' has been reduced.

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I have seen trig as both, well, trig, and as part of a pre-calc class, which can include one semester of trig and one semester of other algebraic/calculus things.

If you've done Chalk Dust Trig, it is indeed one full credit.

So, one credit Trig and one credit Algebra 2. A child doing trig and Algebra 2 would not typically do Pre-Calc as a class, but rather go right into Calculus.

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And I don't like credits in terms of hours! LOL

 

Here's why:

 

Kid 1 will work 30 min per day for 6.0 mo and finish a course

Kid 2 will work 90 min per day for 8.5 mo to finish the same course

 

Why would Kid 2 get more credit or Kid 1 get less. It's the same course both taken within a typical school year. Both kids get the same credit in this house (not that it's been an issue as MY kid 2 isn't even getting credits yet).

 

Now I have a question....I'll start a new thread :)

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My teen took College Algebra and Trionometry at the community college. This CC is on a quarter system. The first course was a 5 hour class and Trig a 4 hour class. Since I considered the two to be equivalent to PreCalculus, I gave each class the equivalent of 1/2 high school credits.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I didn't have time to sign on yesterday to thank you all for the input. Sorry it took me a while to offer my thanks!:)

 

I'm still a little confused.:lol: In the chalkdust program, Alg 2 and Trig are two different courses with seperate books and dvds. But, the Alg 2 book is 10 (or 11 can't remember off the top of my head) chapters long and the Trig book is 6 (or 7) chapters long.

 

It seems like completing both would be more than a one year course but less than a two year course.

 

Would it be weird to list Alg 2 as its own course and give it a full credit and to list Trig on the same year and assign it a half credit? I hate to think of only giving him one credit for sooooo much work but I don't want it to looks suspect either.

 

I'd also just like to take a moment to thank all of you for all of your help on this board in general! I have learned so much and have gained a lot of confidence for the high school years from reading!! Your time and energy are so appreciated!

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I would say that Algebra 2, all by itself, is definitely one credit. I've not seen Algebra 2 coupled with anything else, anywhere.. It is always a full credit. From what you've described about the two texts, the Trig would likely be 1/2 credit. If you made it an Algebra & Trig credit, I do think that would be 'cheating' your son as far as the number of credits he's earned.. It would look FINE, and in fact, it would look GOOD to have Algebra 2 as a credit and Trig as a 1/2 credit.

 

I have to agree that counting credits by "hours of study" is not the best way to determine a credit. Like the previous poster said, one child can finish the same course in half the time as another. Does that mean he's learned half as much? NO!

 

This is why I ALWAYS prefer mastery-based, work at your own pace programs. Each child, regardless of how fast or slow they work, deserves a full credit if they have MASTERED the content! IMHO. :D

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