Credit Where Credit Is Due: Interpreting Newcomers' Foreign Transcripts

• In Event: 53.039 - Achieving the Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity for Subgroups of English Learners in Washington State

Abstract

Objectives
Clear and consistent transcript evaluations are critical for newcomers at the secondary level, who have limited time to master English and demonstrate proficiency in the academic subjects required for a high school diploma. This project examined the intake process for newcomer English learner students at the secondary level, focusing on how schools and districts interpret foreign transcripts. The project culminated in a set of guidelines and resources for schools and districts to inform foreign transcript evaluation policies and processes.

Theoretical Framework
A systematic review of newcomers’ prior schooling is necessary to ensure they are placed at the appropriate level when they enroll. However, such reviews often do not occur because evaluating foreign transcripts presents a challenge to schools and districts. Not only is there the issue of understanding the course names, but it also may be unclear, even when translated, what the content of the course was, what the grades mean, and how this should be interpreted for U.S. credits and course placements. This can result in students not receiving credit for coursework they have completed, and being required to repeat courses, which prolongs their time to and likelihood of high school graduation.

Data and Methods
We facilitated a series of structured conversations on the current policies and processes Road Map districts have in place to obtain, review, and evaluate foreign transcripts. These data were used to construct a matrix of practices throughout the region and to identify school- and district-based recommendations for improving the process.

Results
Foreign transcript interpretation is handled in different ways across Road Map districts. In Washington State, decisions to accept credits are locally determined per state policy. The majority of districts studied employ a school-based approach to foreign transcript evaluation, in which a designated staff person, typically a counselor or registrar, is responsible for reviewing transcripts and making determinations about credit transfer. One district in the region has a centralized approach, wherein one district staff person oversees the evaluation of all foreign transcripts.

Policies regarding whether coursework completed outside of the United States transfers and applies toward graduation requirements also vary considerably in the region. For example, credits may transfer in a core subject in some districts, and as elective credit in others. In some cases, credit transfer core content areas depends on the students’ levels of English proficiency; those who are proficient in English are able to transfer more credits than their peers with lower levels of English proficiency, regardless of the subject.

Significance
Variations in foreign transcript evaluation policies and practices can result in uneven opportunities to learn for newcomer English learners, depending on their school and district context. The tools and resources developed through this project provide district and school staff with information to facilitate consistent decisions about prior schooling data. This effort increased the districts’ capacity to determine students’ needs and the appropriate course placements using an important data source: their prior schooling records.

Authors

• Mary Martinez-Wenzl, Education Northwest

• Manuel Vazquez, Education Northwest