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POLICY STATEMENT

The partial course credit policy permits specified courses to be divided into smaller units or modules. School districts and/or schools may choose whether or not to implement the partial course credit policy and for which courses they provide partial course credit.

RATIONALE

This policy provides both students and educators with flexibility to design, organize, and schedule learning activities.

Other purposes of this policy:

provide for more flexibility in recognizing successful student learning; allow students to alter the direction of the Student Learning Plan by changing courses, if necessary, while receiving credit for specific portions of courses where successful learning has occurred; and, permit students to earn credit where learning outcomes have been achieved, independent of instructional time.

LEGISLATION/ REGULATIONS

Under the authority of the School Act, Section 168 (2) (b):

168 (2) The minister may make orders for the purpose of carrying out any of the minister's powers, duties or functions under this Act and, without restriction, may make orders…

(b) subject to subsection (5) determining the general requirements for graduation from an educational program

Ministerial Order 205/95, the Graduation Requirements Order, should be referenced in conjunction with this policy.

POLICY

Schools are encouraged to use the policy on Independent Directed Study to grant credits for students who demonstrate successful achievement for a portion of the outcomes of a course.

The partial course credit policy permits specified courses to be divided into smaller units or modules. School districts and/or schools may choose whether or not to implement the partial course credit policy and for which courses they provide partial course credit.

Partial course credit is only available for courses at the Grade 11 and 12 levels for students who began Grade 10 before July 1, 2004, and who are working toward the 1995 Graduation Program requirements.

The Ministry determines which provincial courses will be available for partial course credit. School districts and/or schools determine which locally developed courses will be available for partial course credit.

Courses available for partial credit will be divided into units or modules, each with an assigned credit value.

The Ministry will define any units or modules for provincial courses. School districts and/or schools are responsible for defining units or modules for locally developed courses.

Partial course credits will not be eligible to satisfy the graduation requirements for Foundation Studies; the credits will count towards Selected Studies. (For information concerning Foundation Studies and Selected Studies, see Ministerial Order 205/95, the Graduation Requirements Order.)

Assigning, recording, and reporting credits, percentages and letter grades is the responsibility of the school.

Partial course credits for provincial courses will be designated by "p" on the student's transcript to indicate that the student has received partial course credit. There will be no similar designation for locally developed courses.

This policy does not apply to courses that are taught by institutions outside of the school system but which are recognized for credit towards graduation.

PROCEDURES

General

School districts that choose to make partial course credit available should develop appropriate procedures to ensure consistency of approach in their schools. It is anticipated that principals will be delegated responsibility to implement partial course credit at the school level. Teachers should award partial course credit under the direction of the principal.

Credits may only be assigned as whole numbers; fractional credits will not be used.

What is a Credit?

A credit represents the smallest unit of learning that can be earned and recorded towards satisfying the provincial graduation requirements.

A credit can be thought of as consisting of a cohesive body of learning outcomes approximately equal to one quarter of the curriculum of a traditional provincially approved course at the Grade 11 or 12 level (e.g., Biology 11, Law 12). A credit can also be thought of as the amount of learning students can successfully complete in about 25 to 30 hours.

Dividing Courses into Units or Modules The Ministry will indicate which provincial courses are available for partial course credit and how they may be divided into smaller units or modules.

Units will be linked to curriculum organizers or modules as defined by the Ministry. A list of provincial courses, their associated units or modules, and the credit values for each unit or module will be issued by the Achievement Department of the Ministry.

School districts are responsible for implementing partial course credit for their locally developed courses.

Awarding Partial Course Credit

Students are eligible to earn partial course credit for specified courses when they successfully complete a unit or module. They are then awarded the appropriate credit value.

Students should be clearly informed how partial course credit is awarded and how it impacts their graduation requirements.

Partial course credit will not be eligible to satisfy Foundation Studies; however, if the student later chooses to complete the course for full course credit, then the course will be eligible to satisfy Foundation Studies. Students must record their partial course credits in their Student Learning Plan. This will assist teachers and educators to understand which units or modules students need to complete if the students wish to finish the course at a later date.

Students may receive partial course credit for provincially examinable courses. However, if they wish to gain full course credit, they must first complete the remaining units or modules and then write the provincial examination. (Note: partial course credit for provincially examinable courses is limited to a maximum of two credits.)

Assigning and Rerporting Partial Course Credits

Partial course credits for provincial courses will be distinguished on students' transcripts by the following code: "p." This code will be printed next to the number of credits students have earned for the course. The "p" code indicates that only a part of the course has been completed, not the full course. There will be no similar designation for locally developed courses. (Note: this code is not a letter grade.)

Where students have received partial course credit and later complete the course, the school will submit the final letter grade, percentage and full course credit value. This new information will over-write the Ministry's existing course information for record-keeping purposes.

New course codes will be used to designate partial course credits awarded for provincially examinable courses. This will highlight that there is no exam associated with the course and allows schools to report it as a non-examinable course.