Seeking Course Credit or Placement for your Duke TIP Learn on Your Own Course
Product Information
If a student pursues this course for at-home study, some schools may be willing to grant credit or placement for a student's work in the Duke TIP Independent Learning Program. Duke TIP does not grant credit or issue a grade for completion of an Independent Learning course. Students and parents interested in seeking credit or placement should begin working with officials at the local school as soon as the Independent Learning course is purchased.
Another option is for parents to ask the local school or teacher if the Independent Learning course may be used as part of a differentiated instructional option during the school day. For more information, see TIP Sheet for Teachers and Mentors: Using Independent Learning Courses in the Differentiated Classroom.
If a student takes this course for at-home study, here are some suggestions to help families and/or mentors with the process.
- Contact the school counselor, vice-principal, registrar, or department chair (the person who would grant credit or placement for a student's work in the course).
- Explain that Duke TIP Independent Learning courses represent either a unit (6-8 weeks) or a semester’s worth (12-18 weeks) of gifted curriculum, with approximately 50-100 hours of coursework. Depending on which course the student has finished, he or she can apply for different amounts of credit. Contact Duke TIP if you need help determining the length of the course you have purchased. If your student has completed the course in fewer hours than the time estimate, this is typical of many gifted students who often work at a quicker pace. You will need to prove that the student’s mastery of content and skill equivalent to school and state standards has been achieved within fewer contact hours than school policies require.
- Provide the school official with
- a course description,
- a course syllabus,
- the student’s portfolio of work,
- any evaluation rubrics and answer keys used by the mentor to assess student work, and in some cases
- all course materials (if requested).
School officials will use the information provided to decide whether or not to grant course credit or placement. Many factors may influence a school's decision, including
- state and local standards and graduation requirements,
- assignments and assessments (some schools may require the student to take a school or district-approved final exam, or ask school personnel to assess the student’s work), and
- the school’s ability to match Independent Learning course content to a comparable course in the school.
If a local school grants course credit for a student's work in Duke TIP's Independent Learning Program, it means that the school is willing to accept the Independent Learning course as an equivalent to a similar course offered in the local system or school. Often a school district will require a certain number of contact hours for the course to qualify for credit. If so, establish a learning contract with the mentor that meets contact hour requirements. See Establishing a Learning Contract for more information.
If the school official asks for a grade from Duke TIP, please note that Duke TIP is not a credit-granting institution, and thus Duke TIP is unable to issue a grade or transcript for work completed.
If a local school agrees to issue placement for an Independent Learning course, this means that the local school will agree to acknowledge that a student has mastered the material covered in a particular course, and the school agrees to place the student in the next most appropriate course. This placement can allow a student to accelerate in a particular area. Such acceleration is most likely to occur with Learn on Your Own Math and Language courses.