New Credit Recovery for Students
This year, a new policy has been implemented that allows students who have failed classes required for graduation to retake them for credit. The program starts first quarter for those who failed fourth quarter and then restarts again in the third quarter for those who failed second quarter. Although it sounds very similar to the High School Plus program, it is in fact quite different.
Assistant Principal Erin Mazer was chosen to be the director of Credit Recovery last year when she and other administrative members came up with plans for the future program. “[We] created some ideas and presented it back to the school leadership team,” said Mazer. After receiving a budget from the county, they officially began offering the Credit Recovery program to students.
Administrators, counselors, parents and students themselves will determine eligibility for the program “on an individual basis,” explained Mazer. “For example, if a student failed due to poor attendance they may not be eligible to take [the] class”
Once students enroll in the Credit Recovery program, they are expected to show up on time every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. for the quarter. Students must exhibit perfect attendance, and unexcused absences are not tolerated. In addition, students must complete and turn in all assignments to teachers on the given due dates or deadlines. Failure to comply with these rules will result in the student’s removal from the Credit Recovery course.
In each class, the assignments will reflect the original ones students failed, but won’t be identical in content. Students in the program will only be reassessed on the core assignments they failed to understand, complete, and turn in.
On top of the Credit Recovery program, students are also offered tutoring in the second and fourth quarter if they are at risk for failing the semester. These tutoring sessions act as a prevention program for in-danger students and allow them to pass that class.
English 9, 10, 11, Geometry and Algebra are the class opportunities offered in Credit Recovery and are taught by Liza Schad, Valerie Kunin and Deloris Martin, respectively. Although the program offers several classes, students are only permitted to take one per quarter.
Students in the program can only get a passing grade. “Credit Recovery is simply that, just for credit,” said Mazer. The highest possible grade students can earn in the program is a D. “If a student wants to earn a higher grade than that, they would need to take the course over again,” said Mazer.
The grades received in the Credit Recovery class are not put directly into the MCPS grade book. They are hand-written and then given to the registar’s office to be put into transcripts. This past quarter, there were mixed results, with students passing and failing the program. For example, 13 students chose to enroll in the English classes offered and eight successfully completed the program. “The five who did not complete the program [demonstrated] poor attendance,” said Mazer.