Policy Change Adds Grades

Courses Taken Before High School Could Be Included On Transcripts

Sunday, November 18, 2012

— Seventh- or eighth-grade students who take high school level classes could see their scores start turning up on high school transcripts after a School Board vote Tuesday night.

At A Glance

Policy Language

A September change to Rogers’ graduation requirements/honors policy removed the words “all credits must be earned in grades nine through 12” and replaced it with “All courses with an Arkansas Department of Education high school course number will count toward graduation credit and grade point average.”

The proposed November revision to Rogers’ graduation requirements/honors policy reads: “All courses with an Arkansas Department of Education high school course number will count toward graduation credit”, deleting the words “and grade point average.” It also notes: “High school courses taken in middle school will not be included in the grade point calculation.”

The policy is on the agenda for the 6 p.m. Tuesday School Board meeting. The meeting will be held at the district’s Administration Building, 500 W. Walnut St.

Source: Staff Report

Grades from classes with a high school course number, such as Algebra I, geometry, Spanish I or French I, will show on a high school transcript, no matter what year the class was taken. If the classes were taken in middle school, those grades will not affect a student’s high school grade point average or class rank, reversing a September revision of Rogers’ graduation requirements/honors policy.

Before September, student transcripts did not reflect credit or grades for high school level work taken before ninth grade, said Phil Eickstaedt, executive director of secondary curriculum and instruction.

“It wasn’t there officially,” Eickstaedt said.

The change in policy was required by the Arkansas Department of Education based on an interpretation of uniform grading law. The district realized policy had to change near the beginning of the school year, Eickstaedt said. Rogers self-reported the error, said Phyllis Stewart, liaison for Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell.

Stewart was unable to confirm how long ago Rogers was to have started including middle school work on high school transcripts, but the requirement has been in place a long time, she said.

Parents started calling after the September decision to include middle school grades in the high school grade point average, Eickstaedt said. Rogers officials requested clarification from the state and was told including grade point average before ninth grade was optional. Administrators revised the policy.

“We’re trying to do this in a way that is fairest to the students,” Eickstaedt said.

In Bentonville, all high school level courses — including those taken in junior high — are included on a high school transcript, said Dana Watson, counseling chairwoman at Bentonville High School. Junior high classes do not count toward graduation credits or grade point average.

Documentation of Smart Core classes, no matter what grade they are taken, is required for the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, funded by Arkansas Lottery games.

An early record of advanced math classes can show achievement, but does not affect the scholarship process, said Brandi Hinkle, communication coordinator for the Department of Higher Education.

“We don’t look at any grade prior to the ninth grade,” Hinkle said. “To my knowledge, no college looks at middle school courses. It’s only ninth grade and up.”

The Arkansas Universal Scholarship Application used by the department shows the reviewer a student’s ACT score, high school grade point average and indicates whether a student has completed Smart Core courses or not. Students applying for next year’s Academic Challenge Scholarship will need an ACT score of 19 or higher, hold a grade point average of 2.5 or better and show they have completed the Smart Core courses. Previously, students had to qualify in only two of the three categories.

Grade point average and class ranking systems will be re-evaluated before next fall in light of the policy change, Eickstaedt said.

Some Rogers students have taken classes such as Algebra twice, once in middle and once in high school. The high school grade will stand and students will no longer be allowed to retake the class as part of the policy change.

The number of students who take a class twice is minimal, said Peggie Bien, registrar at Rogers High School.

Accelerated students will be most affected by the change.

Eickstaedt estimates 30 percent of students have been taking algebra prior to the first year of high school. Common Core will change that, he said. Curriculum changes in Common Core shift the year some math concepts are taught and its authors estimate only 10 percent of students will be ready to take algebra early. Common Core changes affect ninth through 12th grades next fall.

Approximately 30 percent of students were accelerated in algebra prior to the advent of Common Core, Eickstaedt said. Not all students will have the academic base to advance quickly through classes as Arkansas rolls out new curriculum changes, he said.

Advancing too quickly is not always in the best interest of the child, Eickstaedt said.

“Parents are actually re-thinking this,” he said.