Credit Recovery Programs, A Major Intervention in Need of Research

Practice Outpacing Policy?  Credit Recovery in American School Districts. Traditionally, students who failed classes could get credit by taking the class over during summer school.  In a relatively brief period of time, most high schools have a undergone a complete and rapid transformation in this area, shifting to “credit recovery” programs to help at-risk students earn credits towards graduation for classes they have failed.  These programs typically offer online alternatives to students rather than having them retake the failed class.  In the 2015-16 school year approximately three out of four high schools offered credit recovery programs with about 6% of all students participating.  This growth in credit recovery programs, rapid expansion of new online models, and numerous cases of misuse to inflate graduation rates highlight the need for research into the implementation and effectiveness of this intervention.

This study examined the policies and practices of a representative sample of high schools to identify how they structure their credit recovery programs.  It found:  Over 95% of the credit recovery program had online components (58% online with some in-person instruction, 37% were exclusively online).  Seventy-eight percent used just one online credit recovery provider to manage their system.  Eighty-seven percent of districts offer credit recovery programs year-round.   Forty percent of the districts limited credit recovery to courses

Traditionally, students who failed classes could get credit by taking the course over during summer school. In a relatively brief time, most high schools have undergone a complete and rapid transformation in this area, shifting to “credit recovery” programs to help at-risk students earn credits towards graduation for classes they have failed. These programs typically offer online alternatives to students rather than having them retake the failed class. In the 2015-16 school year, approximately three out of four high schools offered credit recovery programs with, about 6% of all students participating. This growth in credit recovery programs, a rapid expansion of new online models, and numerous cases of misuse to inflate graduation rates highlight the need for research into the implementation and effectiveness of this intervention
This study examined the policies and practices of a representative sample of high schools to identify how they structure their credit recovery programs. It found: Over 95% of the credit recovery program had online components (58% online with some in-person instruction, 37% were exclusively online). Seventy-eight percent used just one online credit recovery provider to manage their system. Eighty-seven percent of districts offer credit recovery programs year-round. Forty percent of the districts limited credit recovery to courses required for graduation. Only 16% limited the option to twelfth graders, allowing students from all high school grades to avail themselves of the option. The study concluded that “many districts’ policies allow lots of flexibility for student access and assessment with relatively little constraint. Taken individually, these policies could be justifiable but taken together, and they leave credit recovery programs ripe for abuse.”

Citation:  Malkus, N. (2019). Practice Outpacing Policy?  Credit Recovery in American School Districts.  American Enterprise Institute.

Web Address: https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Practice-Outpacing-Policy.pdf