Diploma Program Record Keeping: How to Award Credit for Non-Academic Courses

Previously I explained how to create records for academic subjects that you put on your transcript. I suggested the following four principles for record keeping when it comes to academic subjects.

Keep it reasonable

Keep it objective

Keep it simple

Write it down

These same principles apply to courses that are experience-based and don’t fall into the academic category, courses like physical education, community service and home economics. Typically, courses that are experience-based are not graded. Credit earned is represented by the letter “P” (pass) on the transcript because there are no tests, quizzes, reports, etc., to justify a grade. However, there are exceptions to this which I will explain at the end of the article.

Credit for experience-based courses is time-based. When you think about it, if your student was taking a physical education course at a local private or public school, they would likely be in class for 30 to 45 minutes each day, five days a week. If you back out the time it takes to change in and out of PE clothes, actual class time each day is likely 30 minutes or less. Based on this rational, 3 hours a week, over 18 weeks, seems to be a reasonable amount of time to justify awarding a semester of credit. Double that amount time and a full unit (2 semesters) is justifiable.

For purposes of record keeping, the following elements should be part of the written record for each non-academic course:

• A place to indicate the quarter the activity took place
• The date the activity took place
• The activity itself
• The time spent doing the activity (rounded to the nearest 5 minutes).

Here’s one way to communicate this information for a physical education course:

Student ____________________________ Course _________________________ Grade Level _______

Quarter                Date                     Activity                Total Minutes

1st                         9/08/19               Volleyball            60

1st                         9/09/19               Weightlifting      60

1st                         9/10/19               Jogging                30

1st                         9/15/19               Volleyball            60

1st                         9/18/19               Jogging                30

1st                         10/05/19             Bicycling              90

1st                         10/08/19             Volleyball            60

Writing it down ensures your records are objective and factual. You want to keep it simple, clear, and easy to read and understand. Writing it down eliminates the need to rely on your memory to support what was done and when it was done. At the bottom of each page of your records, total the number of minutes recorded for course activities during the quarter, and sign the form. Your signature verifies the integrity of the record. This is especially important if your student is the one writing their time and activities down, which I recommend. Having them do this saves you time.

What about the possibility of earning a grade for an experience-based course? There needs be a way to justify the grade. For instance, if a student plays high school level sports and is on a junior varsity or varsity level team, I would have no trouble awarding an “A” based on the extra time required to participate in a team sport along with the recognition by the coach affirming the student’s ability level and commitment to the team.

Another way to look at justifying a grade is when a student is achieves a level of recognition that distinguishes and affirms superior achievement. This might take place in local competitions in the areas of art, fine arts, cooking, baking, 4 H, etc.

A few final thoughts. I recommend tracking time and activities over a calendar year which begins September 1 and concludes August 31. Doing so makes your record keeping consistent with the academic public and private school schools follow.  Allowing your student to log time during the summer provides them an opportunity to catch up and log more time when other course work is complete. This is especially helpful if the weather has been particularly inclement during the school year. The summer weather enables students to get outside to get PE hours in. Additionally, some experience-base courses like vacation Bible school or participating in a short-term mission only take place during the summer. Finally, I recommend you award one credit maximum per experienced based course.

In the next post I’ll explore a new subject related to diploma programs and home schooling at the high school level.

Thanks for reading!

Curt Bumcrot, MRE

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