REVISED 01/24/2012

Assigning Carnegie Units to Students under Typical High School Age

Given the unique nature of independent study, a student can work at the grade level most appropriate for their ability. Students are always placed in the grade appropriate for their age, but can work at whatever level suits their educational needs. At times, there may be a student that is below the typical high school age that is working at a high school level and should be receiving Carnegie units based on our “Assigning Carnegie Units” policy.

Read "Students under typical high school age, how does this affect your student's admission into a university?"

In order to receive carnegie units in this manner, the ES must confirm the following:

1. The parent has completed a required annual consultation with the school guidance counselor guidancecounselor@connectingwaters.org
2. All core subjects are a-g
3. The student must be at least proficient on STAR. Use the following most current STAR scores:
   STAR ELA scores for English, Social Studies, Earth Science, Biology and Anat/Phys
   STAR Math scores for Math, Chemistry and Physics
4. The courses are taught by an HQT. See HQT overview for more information.
5. If an underage student is only taking Algebra One, and no other high school level courses, this cannot be counted on the transcript. If the student is taking a-g Algebra One it must be accompanied by another a-g level core course OR a high school level Life Skills elective or Special Interest elective (excluding Health, PE and Education and Career Planning which must be taken in grades 9 through 12) to be counted on their transcript for high school credits. Note: Life Skills electives and Special Interest electives may be allowed for high school credit, however, Health, PE, and Education and Career Planning 1A must be taken in grades 9 through 12. These students have the option to take the following courses for math credit in High School:  Geometry and Algebra 2. Since these are advanced students, they are expected to complete Geometry and Algebra 2 in high school. These students are expected to complete at least Geometry and Algebra 2, and should be encouraged to continue taking higher math courses such as PreCalculus, Calculus, and Statistics. Consumer Math is NOT appropriate for these advanced math students.

As a precaution, keep in mind that students (once they reach high school age) are STAR tested in English, Math, Science, and History at the high school level. Students who enroll in out of grade level courses, such as 10th grade World History or 11th grade U.S. History, may be at a disadvantage if they have not been currently enrolled in that course when it comes time for testing during their 10th and 11th grade year. Students who are not truly working above grade level, yet enroll in high school courses early may also be at a disadvantage when taking the CAHSEE, as the English standards build upon each other from 7-10th grades; if students "skip" 7th or 8th grade Language Arts to take high school English, they will be missing the building block standards needed.  

An underage student may not take PE for high school credit. Any high school course completed as an underage student must be aligned to the CA content standards.

To assign Carnegie units for underage students, the ES should create a high school report card for only those courses that are high school level, and a regular grade school report card for any other courses that the student takes that may not be high school level. (If the student’s name does not appear in your high school report card drop down list, contact your ES advisor for assistance.)

When assigning the high school units, the appropriate grade level of the course should be indicated on the report card. This grade level is indicated after the course mark. Remember, the grade placement should be based on age and this is the grade level that you should put on the student agreement. Students will be tested with STAR and CAHSEE based on their grade level on the student agreement.

When creating the first high school report card for these underage students each year, the student must be assigned to their correct grade on both the report card and student agreement based on their birth date. Please note: remedial students will still be assigned grade level according to the credits they have earned. Consult your advisor for assistance and make sure to email your Advisor the names of your under age students who have High School courses on their transcript. (Please note, unless approved by your advisor and assessment is notified, grade level changes after the first student agreement of the year can not be made.)