CREDIT BY EXAMINATION
Entering from Accredited Schools
Students entering the District from accredited public, private, or parochial schools (grades 6-12) shall provide evidence of prior schooling outside the District. The student shall be placed initially in the grade level reached elsewhere, pending observation by guidance personnel and the principal. On the basis of these observations and results of prior school district records, the principal shall determine grade placement.
“Accredited” is defined as accreditation by Michigan Department of Education, an equivalent agency from another state, or from a non-public accrediting association that is a member of the Private School Accreditation Commission or a regional accreditation associate (e.g., North Central Association of Colleges and Schools).
Entering from Non-Accredited Schools
Students entering the District in grades 6-12 from Non-accredited public, private, or parochial schools, including home schools, shall be placed initially at the discretion of the principal, pending observation by classroom teacher(s), guidance personnel, and the principal. Criteria for placement may include the following:
- Scores on examinations that may be administered by the district,
- Prior academic record,
- Review of home schooling curriculum,
- Chronological age and social and emotional development of the student,
- Results of examinations administered by the District at the principal's request for students seeking placement in grade 6-12, or
- Other criteria deemed appropriate by the principal.
- Student may be placed temporary until the proper grade and/or classes are determined.
- Students will be tested immediately. There will be no charge for the initial testing; however, subsequent testing will be charged
HIGH SCHOOL GRADE PLACEMENT/TRANSER OF CREDIT FROM SCHOOLS OUTSIDE THE DISTRICT
Accredited Schools
The District shall accept credits earned toward state graduation requirements by students in accredited Michigan public school districts, including those earned in accredited summer school programs. The District shall accept courses taken in schools that are listed in the Michigan Accredited Non-Public School Directory or schools that are accredited by the regional accreditation association. It is the responsibility of the student/parent to provide or obtain documentation of accreditation from the non-public school.
Out-of-state transfer students and transfer students from non-public schools shall complete all requirements for graduation as outlined in the State Board of Education Rules for Curriculum. The list does not include courses taken in religion or Bible.
Non-Accredited Schools
Students from home study or non-accredited public, private, or parochial schools shall validate high school credit earned through testing or providing documentation, which verifies that course mastery meets State Board requirements and standards.
A high school student entering the District after the first semester of the ninth grade from a home school or other non-accredited school shall be given an opportunity, at no cost to the student or parents, to validate credit earned in the sending or home school. Mastery of the standards and benchmarks from the Michigan Curriculum Framework of the course(s) recorded as completed and passed in the home or non-accredited school shall be demonstrated by receiving a passing score on the District’s End of Course Examination (EOC) for each semester of each course.
Administration of the examination(s) shall be coordinated through the District’s Secondary Division Test Center. A student shall be scheduled for testing as soon as the school submits a request for test administration to the Test Center. Students must earn a score of 75 or above on each semester exam in order to validate the credit on their transcript and have it entered on the grade and credit evaluation form.
process cannot validate elective courses for which no EOC is available. Principals and counselors, in consultation with teachers in the subject area(s) without an EOC, should review the academic records of students, determine their proficiency level, and use their professional judgment to evaluate the course(s) in question. Students with a course(s) on their transcript for which a passing grade was not earned have the option of taking Credit by Examination.
Students who elect not to validate high school credit earned in an unaccredited setting shall be classified as entering freshmen and shall meet all requirements of their graduation plan in order to receive a diploma.
