Grading part 2

[bibiche]

Do I need to grade classes taken before high school that I intend to put on transcript? Some would be AoPS classes that weren’t graded (we didn’t care about the grade, only the knowledge, so didn’t ask for grade), others would be unofficial college courses that would support deep, long-term interest in a particular field. The latter were not taken for grades or credit.

[cintinative]

7 minutes ago, bibiche said:

the others would be unofficial college courses that would support deep, long-term interest in a particular field. The latter were not taken for grades or credit.

Can you clarify this? It sounds like when you took them, you didn't intend for them to be for high school credit, but now you are rethinking that?

[bibiche]

1 minute ago, cintinative said:

Can you clarify this? It sounds like when you took them, you didn't intend for them to be for high school credit, but now you are rethinking that?

Well, I still wouldn’t be using them for high school credit, I don’t think. But maybe? For maths, for example, he has continued on but I wanted to make sure they know that he already completed all the required courses before precalculus. For the other subject, his high school report doesn’t reflect his deep interest in a particular field in which he took many college classes before high school and not as many in high school (because he was taking other required classes). Maybe the transcript isn’t the place to include them? 

[cintinative]

8 minutes ago, bibiche said:

 Maybe the transcript isn’t the place to include them? 

I'm no expert, but I thought the transcript was only for classes for which you are awarding credit. I hope someone else can clarify.  😃

[Miss Tick]

I've seen people say they included classes like that on the transcript with a note that they weren't included in the GPA calculation. The intent was just as you described, to show that the classes had been completed prior to high school.

[EKS]

I'd award credit and issue a grade for anything you put on the transcript, unless a course would bring down the GPA.  I wouldn't (and didn't) exclude any classes from the GPA calculation.  If colleges want to recalculate the GPA, they are free to do so.

[Momto6inIN]

I'd only put courses on the transcript that I intended to give a grade and credit for. For something like what you describe that indicates his deep involvement in a particular field, I'd probably include it as an EC and explain how the courses deepened his participation and knowledge in that field.

For math courses taken prior to high school, I just included as asterisk and a note on the transcript "Algebra I and II were taken prior to 20__ and are not included in the number of credits or GPA". As long as he continues in math and shows a progression of higher coursework taken, there's no real reason to include them on the transcript. If he takes precalc and calc and whatever all else beyond that they are going to know that he knows algebra already.

I guess if a student needed those credits to graduate with enough credits, I guess I'd award credit for stuff taken in 8th grade. But if they're still taking 4x4 courses each year in high school and they have other electives to round it out to at least 6 credits per year - which most of the kids who are taking advanced math and college courses in middle school are - then I don't know why you'd include their middle school work. A strong high school transcript that shows high college level work being done consistently throughout high school doesn't really need it to make them stand out.

[Clemsondana]

We're playing around with how to do this, too.  Our umbrella was going to list them along with a grade, but they also have rules about how many credits you can earn and we don't need the credits - if you start high school taking Alg. 2 in 9th, then you likely had alg 1 sometime in middle school.  But, I do want to include the Number Theory and Counting & Probability classes because they add some breadth.  I think we'll likely just list them as 'classes taken prior to 9th grade' and not assign a grade or a credit, but I'm not sure.  If your student's classes were DE college classes, wouldn't they be on the college transcript?  Even if they were just an audit, they'll be listed.  

[easypeasy]

We *only* listed courses taken during high school AND graded.

For math and science courses taken earlier (7th/8th grade), I made an asterisked note at the bottom of the transcript with a small chart that listed:

2009-2010 | Biology I | A

2009-2010 | Pre-Algebra | A

2010-2011 | Algebra I | A

and then mentioned these courses (with a short description and textbook list) specifically in my counselor's packet.

 

I did NOT list courses on the transcript that were audited or taken as a S/U or P/F grade because some universities WILL recalculate GPAs and sometimes a satisfactory/pass is given a "C" which would have then been factored into the GPA. It was difficult to tell which colleges might do this, so I did not take the chance and instead listed those courses on their CV as extracurricular activities. This way, they were still available to be seen and show an interest without risking the GPA.

Edited September 12, 2022 by easypeasy