As school districts found their footing after quickly pivoting to online learning at the start of the pandemic, many have successfully put academic interventions into action to help students pass their core courses. Yet, credit recovery continues to be a sticking point for schools, especially those that serve children from low-income districts, multilingual students, and students with special needs.
For high school students with special needs, failing a class or receiving an incomplete not only impacts them academically, but emotionally as well. As they watch their classmates move ahead as they fall behind, many experience a sense of isolation and a hit to their self-esteem.
A recent article in Slate, part of a series covering the rise of online learning, profiles the author’s experience using one vendor’s digital curriculum. He was bored and unmotivated. The author also questioned the rigor of the courses, specifically the structure and how concepts were presented.
Students in need of credit recovery are often our most vulnerable students — those in need of the greatest support and personalized instruction. It’s critical that digital curriculum used in credit recovery programs be rigorous, engaging and capable of providing a personalized learning experience for every student. Curriculum deficient in any of these areas could mean the difference between students dropping out and earning a high school diploma.
When the No Child Left Behind Act was introduced, it challenged schools and districts to raise graduation rates. In an effort to meet that challenge, schools began offering credit recovery programs — opportunities outside of the standard curriculum for at-risk students to earn course credits and get back on the road to commencement.