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 suites 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. Please remember that this is for high school level coursework only.

If an underage student is only taking Algebra One, and not any other high school level courses, this cannot be counted on the transcript. If the student is taking Algebra 1 along with other high school level core courses, it can be counted on their transcript for high school credits.

To assign Carnegie units in this situation, 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 (indicated after the course mark) should be based on the student’s number of credits earned. (Remember, their grade placement should be based on their age and this is the grade that you should put on their student agreement. Students will be tested with STAR and CAHSEE based on their grade level on the student agreement. The grade level guideline below is only for assigning a level to the Carnegie units earned.)

When creating the first high school report card for these underage students each year, the ES should look at the below guideline and choose the grade level that matches the number of credits that their student has earned. This will be the grade level for all of the high school credits that this student earns for that entire school year. The following year, the ES should refer to the chart again and make another assessment. One student may receive 9th grade credits for four or more semesters if only doing a couple of courses each semester. Another student may be in 11th grade by the time that they reach the age to officially enter high school. Consult your advisor for assistance. 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.

0-50 credits = 9th grade
51-100 credits = 10th grade
101-150 credits = 11th grade
151+ credits = 12th grade

Revised 1/2006