Additional Credit Opportunities
GISD students who need additional opportunities to earn credit toward graduation beyond the class periods during the regular school day/year may need to consider the following:
Credit Recovery - When a student does not receive credit for a course the first time the student takes the course, the student will need to take the course again to “recover” the necessary credit, especially if the course is required for graduation.
Original Credit - When a student enrolls in a course for the first time, this is often called “original” credit.
Garland ISD offers a variety of programs and opportunities for student to earn high school credit beyond the traditional school program.
High School Credits in Middle School
Students have the opportunity to get a jump start on their high school credits needed for graduation by taking some courses while in middle school.
These courses are offered during the regular school year. See below for currently available courses. Contact your middle school counselor for more details.
High school Credit Courses Offered to Middle School Students
Summer School
GISD offers summer school every summer with high school courses available for both credit recovery and original credit. Summer school is offered on each of the regular high school campuses for approximately 4 weeks (4 days per week) for approximately 6 hours per day. To create the most productive environment for students in this limited time frame, online diagnostic assessments and online course content will be facilitated by content area teachers. Summer school students must pay a fee for each course. For credit recovery, almost all of the core courses required for graduation are normally offered in summer school. For original credit, courses required for graduation that are NOT aligned with TAKS or END-OF-COURSE exams are normally offered in summer school.
Learn more about the High School Summer School Program
Online Courses
GISD is exploring several ways that students may earn credit for selected courses online. Students who wish to pursue online courses need to have good reading comprehension skills and good computer skills.
Academic Intervention
For identified students who are not on track to graduate on time, online courses may be offered during regular class periods during the school day. In these situations, students are not required to pay a fee for each course, and most of the instruction is delivered through a computer with a teacher available for assistance in the classroom.
Students who are in critical need of credits or at risk of not graduating on time. Priority will be given to seniors, juniors and over aged students regardless of their grade level. Specific criteria must be met in order to be eligible for the Academic Intervention Program. Please contact a high school campus counselor for additional details. Principal and counselor approval required.
Online/Correspondence Courses
Online courses may also be offered outside the school day or in conjunction with summer school. These types of online courses outside the school day are designed to be more flexible by relaxing certain attendance requirements, allowing students to start and finish at different times, and allowing students to receive instruction and complete some of the assignments on computers at home or in locations outside the school building. When students take an online course outside the school day, students must pay a fee for each course, and most of the instruction (assignments and tests) is delivered through the computer instead of by a teacher. Typically courses offered this way are not currently available in a tradtional classroom setting.
A student who needs to earn additional credits for graduation (either credit recovery or original credit) may do so by taking online/correspondence courses; however, no more than three (3) credits may be earned by online/correspondence. These courses do not receive grade points and do not affect a student’s GPA. Students enrolling in online/correspondence courses must pay a fee for each course. The school counselor has information about these programs.
Texas Virtual School Network (www.TxVSN.org)
Funded by recent legislation, a new service called the Texas Virtual School Network is now available to meet the needs of individual students who (1) need an additional course to meet specific graduation requirements which are not available to them in Garland ISD, and (2) are willing and capable of pursuing an online course.
Questions about courses available through this new network should be directed to the school counselor.
Exams for Acceleration
(original credit) Students desiring to obtain credit without having had prior instruction in a course may take an examination for acceleration. To receive course credit, a score of 90 or higher is required on the comprehensive test. No grade points will be awarded. Students wishing to pursue this option should contact their counselor. There is normally no fee required for students to take an exam for acceleration.
Credit by Exam
(credit recovery) If students have had instruction in a course but did not receive credit, students can obtain credit by taking an examination for credit. To receive course credit, a score of 70 or higher is required on the comprehensive test. No grade points will be awarded. Students who are native speakers in a language other than English can often receive credit for Spanish I & II or Vietnamese I & II using this process. Students wishing to pursue this option should contact their counselor. There is normally no fee required for students to take a credit by exam.