CTD Students Get Credit for Summer Courses

In 1993, the Center for Talent Development sought and obtained accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) as a "special-function school." A special-function school, according to NCA's published guidelines, is one that "meets the educational needs of a particular group of students under very special circumstances." This type of school can offer a partial educational program for students if the offerings are an integral part of the students' regular school program.

CTD qualifies as a special-function school because academically talented students complete some of their required and elective high school courses through its summer and correspondence programs. Many students use CTD courses to complete prerequisites for advanced courses that they wish to take in their local school (e.g., precalculus in preparation for calculus) or take advanced courses that they cannot take in their school (e.g., AP Art History). With the NCA accreditation, these courses now carry high school credit. Indeed, part of the motivation to seek NCA accreditation was so that students could get credit and other forms of recognition for coursework completed during the summer at CTD.

When a student completes a course in our summer program, CTD sends a package to the student's home school containing detailed information about the course the student took, a course syllabus, and an evaluation of the student's performance written by the teacher. These materials are designed to give the home school a complete picture of the content covered in the summer course and the student's level of mastery of that content.

CTD has investigated the results of the NCA accreditation and finds that the accreditation has provided some benefits for our students. CTD sent surveys to the schools of summer program participants in 1992, before NCA accreditation, and in 1994 and 1995, after accreditation. The surveys asked school personnel to indicate what actions they took in response to students' summer coursework, specifically, whether the student received credit for the course (and how much credit), whether the student was placed in the next course offered in sequence in the subject matter, or whether the student was placed in a special program. The survey also asked school administrators about general school policies towards courses completed at an "outside" institution and, where appropriate, reasons why students were denied credit for successfully completed courses. CTD received a significant response, with 65% to 75% of school administrators responding.

Our findings indicated that accreditation increased the percentage of students in CTD summer programs whose schools responded in meaningful ways to their summer coursework, i.e., gave them credit for the course or placed them in the next course in the sequence. However, the increase, while significant, was small; and the fact remains that, even after accreditation, only 40% to 45% of the schools took some significant action in response to students' summer coursework. Nearly 60%, a majority of schools, did not respond in a significant manner.

Of the schools that did respond to students' summer coursework, NCA accreditation resulted in an increase to between 75% and 80% of schools that awarded high school credit. Thus, it appears that if schools do respond to summer coursework, they almost always respond by giving credit to students. In addition, after NCA accreditation, students were more likely to receive credit for required rather than elective high school courses and to receive greater amounts of credit (two semesters versus one) compared to pre-accreditation summers. This is significant, because most CTD courses cover a full year's worth of material in the three-week course; so this change indicates that students are getting full rather than partial credit for their summer courses.

Our research also revealed that high schools that have special programs in place for academically talented learners are more likely to place the student in the next course in the sequence or grant credit. Specifically, schools that have Advanced Placement courses, dual-enrollment programs, or mentorship programs were more positively disposed towards summer courses.

The schools that did not respond positively to academically talented students' summer coursework indicated that they don't believe students can master a full-year high school course within a three-week period. They were especially reticent to accept credit for required high school courses completed in the CTD summer program; getting credit for enrichment types of courses (as electives) appeared to be much easier. Also, many schools indicated that they felt that summer coursework should be for the private development and enrichment of the student and that it is not related to the school curriculum. Only a small percentage of schools (1% to 6%) indicated that they did not take meaningful action because they disagree with the instructor's evaluation of the student's mastery of the material.

A sizable proportion of schools, 38%, indicated that a response to the student's summer coursework seemed unnecessary because the student was already going to be placed in an advanced class in the subject area. While this seemed encouraging, these schools did not necessarily entertain the notion that placement even within the advanced class might be unnecessary, as the student may have already covered the advanced material in the summer course.

Only a small percentage of schools, 22% to 23%, indicated that they have a specific policy of not granting credit to students for courses completed outside of the local school. However, schools do have other policies that indirectly make it impossible for students to get credit for summer courses. These include policies that prohibit students in any grade prior to the 9th from earning high school credit and policies requiring 120 hours of in-class instructions for each credit awarded. When schools were queried as to other factors that affected giving credit for summer course such as administrative issues, the difficulty of changing a student's course schedule, and issues of control over the progress of the student's education the survey revealed that considering whether the course competed with the school's curriculum was more important than weighing issues of the appropriateness of the course content, the student's mastery of it, the qualifications of the instructor, or the reputation of the institution.

It is likely that CTD will continue to see small changes over the next five to ten years in the rate that schools accept summer coursework, primarily due to increased parental demands for recognition of summer coursework. Parents and students can increase the likelihood of obtaining credit for summer courses by notifying school officials of the child's intended participation prior to the summer and by making sure that evaluation materials and course syllabi get into the hands of those school officials who will make the final decision regarding credit and placement. Also, when dealing with school officials regarding summer courses, parents should inquire about policies regarding the courses of students who transfer into the district and whether the same policies might not apply for participation in special summer gifted programs. In the meantime, CTD will continue to study the schools' responses to summer coursework so that obstacles to appropriate recognition can be identified and removed.