Stevensville School District                                                                                                        

INSTRUCTION

Credit Transfer and Assessment for Placement

Grades 9-12

Requests for transfer of credit or grade placement from any non-accredited, nonpublic school will be subject to examination and approval before being accepted by the District.  This will be done by the school counselor or principal or, in the case of home schools, by a credit evaluation committee consisting of a counselor, a staff member from each subject area in which credit is being requested, and a school principal.

The credit evaluation committee will:

  1. Document that a student has spent approximately the same number of classroom hours in home school as would have been spent in a regular class in the District;
  2. Document that a student followed a curriculum essentially similar to that of a course for which credit is requested;
  3. Document that in the event of a credit request in a lab, industrial arts, or music course, equipment and facilities were sufficient to meet required learning activities of the course;
  4. Require that a student has satisfactorily passed, in all courses in which a final exam normally is given, a final exam prepared and administered by a staff member in the District.

The District will give credit only for home schools which have met all requirements as specified in Montana law.  Credit from home schools will be accepted only when a like course is offered in the District.

The school transcripts will record courses taken in home schools or non-accredited schools by indicating title of the course, school where the course was taken, and grade.

For the purpose of calculation of class rank, only those courses taken in an accredited school will be used.

Grades 1-8

Requests from parents of students in non-accredited, nonpublic schools for placement in the District school system will be evaluated by an assessment-for-placement team.  That team will include:

  1. A school principal;
  2. One (1) teacher of the grade in which the student is being considered for enrollment; and
  3. One (1) counselor (grades 6-8 only) (OPTIONAL).

The assessment-for-placement team will cause the District-adopted norm-referenced test and/or the end-of-the-year subject-matter test to be administered and scored.  The assessment-for-placement team will take into account the following in its recommendation for grade placement:

  1. Documentation that the non-accredited, nonpublic school has provided a comparable number of hours as the child would have attended in a public or private school;
  2. That the child followed a similar curriculum as would have been provided in an accredited public or private school;
  3. That the result of the end-of-the-year test indicates the student has mastered most prerequisite skills; and
  4. That the child achieved an NCE score of forty (40) or above on the Standard Achievement Test.

Parents of students in home schools are encouraged to maintain a log documenting dates of instruction, content of instruction, amount of time spent on that instruction, scores on tests, and grades in all activities.

The District is not obligated to provide instructional materials for other public or private schools.

If a parent or guardian is not in agreement with the placement of the child, he/she may request a hearing before the Board.

Legal Reference:
§ 20-5-110, MCA School district assessment for placement of a child who enrolls from a non-accredited, nonpublic school

Policy History:
Adopted on: February 2002
Revised on: June 2011