Public high school not granting honors credit for transferred public school honors courses

[nomfaux]

*This is not a homeschool question, but I'm not really sure where else to post it. Any advice anyone can offer is appreciated, thank you in advance!*
 
My oldest son is currently attending public high school. Last year, during his freshman year, we moved to a new city within our state, causing him to transfer to a new high school between semesters. He completed four semesters worth of honors level courses at his previous high school, and we were assured by our current school that these courses should transfer seamlessly. However, I finally received a copy of his official transcript a few weeks ago from the current school and they have neglected to designate two of the courses as honors level. Well, it has "HON" next to the course, but within their transcript system, he is not receiving weighted credit for those two courses, while he is for the other two.
 
So, my son asked his advisor about this, and she pushed the question towards the school registrar. He finally received a response back, and their reasoning was that they would have given honors credit for those two courses had he transferred within the city school district, but because he transferred from out of town, they won't allow it for those two courses. But they gave honors credit for the other two? Their decision seems strange.
 
Per the transcript I have a copy of, he's currently ranked 5th out of his class of 576 students. His advisor is confident he stands a strong chance in competing for valedictorian status, and I am as well. Even though those two semesters are only worth .05 extra points on his weighted GPA, those points could make or break him ranking even higher within his class. At the very least, it's important to my son that he receive appropriate credit for the level of work he completed, regardless of how colleges treat weighted grades.
 
I've put in a formal request for a written explanation, as well as requested copies of the policy(ies) used to make their decision. I'll update my post when I have their response. In the meantime, I've started poking around on my state's Public Education Department website, and found the following:

 

From NMAC 6.29.1.9.J(3): For students enrolling or re-enrolling in public schools, local school boards or governing bodies of charter schools will establish policies as follows.  (a) Credits shall be transferable with no loss of value between schools that are accredited by a state board of education in the United States, United States territories, Puerto Rico, the freely-associated states and outlying areas of the United States, department of defense schools or other authorized body.

 

 

Does this pertain to the issue we've run into? Does the loss of Honors designation constitute a loss of value with the credits earned? Anyone have any advice on what I can do to fight their decision?

[SparklyUnicorn]

No clue whatsoever, but I definitely would put up a stink.

 

Good luck.

 

 

[Caroline]

Our schools don't give weighted grades to freshmen honors courses. So Honors Biology does not get the weighted grade because it is a freshmen course, but Honors Chemistry does because it is not a freshmen level course. Could it be an issue like that? That sort of thing is decided by school system, and not a statewide thing. So kids coming to us from other school systems in the state will sometimes end up with a lower GPA because they had weighted grades in another system that we don't weight. 

 

I don't think the statute you quoted applies. The credit amount is still the same. It's the grade that isn't counted the same. He didn't lose any credit for the class. The course that was worth one credit towards graduation and it still is. Grades and credits are separate things. 

 

From the same site it says

 

    Standardized grading system.  A standardized grading system is required to be implemented by each district and charter school.  The system shall include the following components:

                              (a)     a written report to parents regarding the performance of their children tested with the New Mexico standards-based assessments;

                              (b)     for grades 3-12, a standardized alphabetic grading system, based on the 4.0 scale (i.e., a minimum of 4.0 or higher=A, 3.0=B, 2.0=C, 1.0=D); certain courses may be assigned a weighted score according to local policy;

                              ©     alignment of all district and school curriculum to the New Mexico content standards with benchmarks and performance standards; and

                              (d)     all school report cards shall include the results of standards-based assessments and may augment the standardized grading system with a narrative or other method that measures a student’s academic, social, behavioral or other skills.

 

 

According to that, weighting is a local policy, and I am sure they are allowed to award or deny the weighing from the other school district. 

[nomfaux]

Received a response back from the high school registrar directing me to this link: http://www.aps.edu/about-us/policies-and-procedural-directives/procedural-directives/i.-instruction/honors-and-advanced-placement-programs

 

Out-of-District Students

Students transferring into an APS high school from a non - APS school will neither be penalized nor gain advantage in the APS application of weighted credit for the coursework listed on an official transcript from a state or regionally accredited high school.

Weighted credit will be awarded for:

1. Advanced Placement (AP) courses that have been authorized by the College Board through the AP audit process.
2. Courses designated as Honors courses (have “Honors†in the course title) and are also designated as Honors courses as listed in the APS District High School Course Descriptions and Curricular Frameworks (yellow books).

 

 

(Emphasis mine.) Of course, I'm not able to find digital copies of the "yellow books" to verify for myself that their decision is legitimate. Yet.  :P Still digging there. I can probably comb through other local high school course listings to see if any of them offer honors level versions of the courses my son took. Or, you know, be a real pest and go in and ask if I can leaf through their yellow books.

 

I'm probably just being silly now, but there is that little block in the top right-hand corner stating that the procedural directive is under review. So, what does that mean for the legitimacy of the information on that page?

 

Then there's link at the bottom for the March 2010 revision, which states:

 

Students from outside the district transferring into an APS high school will receive weighted grade credit only for recognized AP courses or for courses designated on the transcript as weighted honors courses.

 

 

According to the Wayback Machine (yeah, yeah, I know), the wording from the 2010 revision was last snapshotted on March 20th, 2014. The new wording was first snapshotted on March 23, 2015, with that same block of "under review" text. I don't know how accurate the Wayback Machine is in regards to mapping dates of changes in websites or how frequently it does its little snapshots, but obviously sometime within that year the policy was updated on the website. I just don't know when the new policy was enacted, and based on the wording, it sounds like its still in review. Unless that's also something else on their website they've been lax on updating.

 

Ah well, I'm rambling now. Thanks to everyone who took a look at this so far. I'll update if I get any other new info. :)

[nomfaux]

Our schools don't give weighted grades to freshmen honors courses. So Honors Biology does not get the weighted grade because it is a freshmen course, but Honors Chemistry does because it is not a freshmen level course. Could it be an issue like that? Nope, they award weighted grades to freshman honors courses. He received weighted grades for two of the semester courses that were transferred from the previous school, as well as weighted grades for the second semester honors courses he took to finish out his freshman year at his current school. Just no weighted grading for the two others from his prior school. That sort of thing is decided by school system, and not a statewide thing. So kids coming to us from other school systems in the state will sometimes end up with a lower GPA because they had weighted grades in another system that we don't weight. 

 

I don't think the statute you quoted applies. The credit amount is still the same. It's the grade that isn't counted the same. He didn't lose any credit for the class. The course that was worth one credit towards graduation and it still is. Grades and credits are separate things. Yeah, that makes sense. It was still worth questioning. In my eyes, the weighted grade is part of the inherent value of taking an honors course, but they're using the word "value" in the strict sense of credit amount. I have an email sent out to the Public Education Department asking to clarify the statute and also asking if there is any statewide policy regarding how in-state transferring of honors courses affects weighted grades.

 

From the same site it says

 

    Standardized grading system.  A standardized grading system is required to be implemented by each district and charter school.  The system shall include the following components:

                              (a)     a written report to parents regarding the performance of their children tested with the New Mexico standards-based assessments;

                              (b)     for grades 3-12, a standardized alphabetic grading system, based on the 4.0 scale (i.e., a minimum of 4.0 or higher=A, 3.0=B, 2.0=C, 1.0=D); certain courses may be assigned a weighted score according to local policy;

                              ©     alignment of all district and school curriculum to the New Mexico content standards with benchmarks and performance standards; and

                              (d)     all school report cards shall include the results of standards-based assessments and may augment the standardized grading system with a narrative or other method that measures a student’s academic, social, behavioral or other skills.

 

 

According to that, weighting is a local policy, and I am sure they are allowed to award or deny the weighing from the other school district. 

 

"alignment of all district and school curriculum to the New Mexico content standards with benchmarks and performance standards"

 

This is what's so strange to me. An honors course should be treated as an honors course, no matter what part of the state it is from, because it's meeting the benchmarks to be considered an honors course for the state. Unless APS' concern stems from families bouncing their kids around from school to school to collect all of the honors classes like they're Pokemon just for the weighted GPA boost? I mean, it seems so silly for him to not have the weighted grade credit for the level of work he completed. But I'm also in extreme mama-bear mode, so I might not be seeing things as objectively as I should. :p

[Lori D.]

It's great that you are appealing and seeking an answer to "why yes to 2 classes and no to 2 others". But whatever the school decides, don't let it ruin the high school experience for you or your student. :) High school is a great opportunity for teens to explore new interests, perhaps discover previously unknown strengths or possible career areas, and have the chance to participate in unexpected opportunities that pop up -- all of which would be missed if the student is obsessed with class rank and GPA.

 

In case it is of any comfort, while valedictorian is great, college admissions and scholarships are awarded to MANY more students than just #1:

 

- college admission offices usually UNweight transcript GPAs when considering and comparing students

- in a class of nearly 600, the difference in class rank and GPA between #1 and #5 is pretty insignificant to college admissions offices -- right now, a rank of #5 out of 576 puts your DS in the 99th percentile :)

- honors classes are much less meaningful to college admissions than AP courses (as quite honestly, "honors" can mean whatever an individual school or district wants it to mean, while AP tests are a national standard)

- college scholarships tend to be awarded not on class rank, but on ACT/SAT scores, as well as factors that show high level of academics (AP scores, dual enrollment, advanced coursework -- such as Calculus or Advanced Physics, etc.), AND other activities that show the student is interesting and well-rounded -- so, extracurriculars, community involvement, development of personal interests / hobbies, travel, etc.

 

In the end, whether we think it's fair or right, or not, the school gets to make the final decision about those other 2 classes. Don't sweat it. Your son will *always* have the satisfaction of knowing that the original school where the courses were taken DID acknowledge and award the Honors status that he earned, and that fact is a part of his permanent transcript from that school. When applying to colleges, he will need to send in a transcript from ALL high schools he attended, so colleges will also see that he was awarded Honors status, regardless of what the current high school puts down as transfer credit.

 

Wishing you peace in this process, and wishing DS all the best in his high school adventures! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Edited November 21, 2015 by Lori D.

[lmrich]

I think the difference between graduating #5 and #1 is worth fighting for; keep looking into it.