I have a question for you. Last year, Katie's sophomore year, she spent only 28 hours on Spanish. This summer she added about 15 more, for a total of 43. What can I do with these hours, since they don't add up to a half credit? Would it be alright to assign no credit for the sophomore year, and use these credits toward the junior year? We could even try to achieve an entire credit for the junior year, using these 43 hours toward that goal. Does that work?
~Jan in Washington
How to Calculate Partial Credit
When you don't have quite enough hours for even a partial credit and you are counting credits based on hours, then the answer is "wait." Just keep adding up those hours until you DO have enough hours for a credit. Then write "Spanish 1, 1 credit" on the transcript. It's OK if that happens in December, June, or October - whenever they get to the 120 -180 hour mark, give the credit. Then you can keep working on Spanish throughout the year, and when your child arrives at the next 120 hours, record a second high school Spanish credit.
There are some exceptions. If you are using a curriculum that is designed as a one year or one semester credit, then you can give credit based on how much curriculum your child has finished. In other words, if your child completes level one of Bob Jones, Rosetta Stone or Power Glide, you can give a whole credit regardless of hours.
If your child is good at Spanish, and didn't do much bookwork, then you can measure the level of Spanish achievement with a SAT 2 Subject test. If your child passes the exam, even with just a sample test at home, you know they have learned two years' worth of Spanish. That only works if your child has become relatively fluent. Here is a link to the SAT 2 Subject Test.
If your child is a junior, the time is getting just a bit short to cover enough foreign language credits. To finish in time, it would help to make sure they do Spanish FIRST each day, before everything else. That will help your child be consistent and complete two credits by graduation.
Please note: This post was originally published in September 2009 and has been revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
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