Naperville area homeschoolers negotiated with school authorities, and common sense prevailed. A potential district policy revision demanding that a “district-approved external accrediting agency” certified any homeschool credits and grades transferred onto a public high school transcript was dropped.
The Naperville Sun reports this news from Indian Prairie School District 204′s school board meeting:

D204 compromises on home-school policy June 23, 2009 By TIM WALDORF

“The difference that you’re going to see in this new version versus the old is that in the old we indicated that we were not going to accept any credits from a no-accredited school toward graduation. So they would all have to be accredited or else we weren’t going to issue a diploma,” said Mike Popp, District 204′s school improvement and planning director.

“In this version, we’re saying, ‘You know what? That’s not appropriate.’ We’re going ahead and saying we are going to accept those credits, but we put in what you talked about last time: is there a way for us to sit down with an individual student and talk about those individual courses to go ahead and honor the credit that he or she earned?”

The old version (and other pertinent details) was pointed out on News & Commentary here: Educational Rigor

It appears that Mike Popp was reasonable, and kept the dialogue open with local homeschoolers. If homeschoolers did choose to enroll in the public high school, then their previous hard work at home should not have been disregarded because of lack of accreditation.

I don’t see a pass/fail on a transcript as a problem. Our particular family does not do grades. Learning materials are either mastered or not:

However, honoring those credits is one thing. Honoring the grades attached to them is another.

District 204′s transcripts would separately list the unaccredited coursework, and not assign a letter grade to any of it. They would only note whether students passed or failed these unaccredited classes.

Consequently, home school students would have to turn in two transcripts — one from District 204 and one of their own making — when applying to colleges.

Universities and colleges seem to be scrambling and recruiting for that “homemade”/home education transcript. Our local IL community college admissions counselor said that he’s seen (and accepted) homeschool transcripts of various forms. He was part of a homeschool workshop at the college to recruit homeschoolers. Continuing in the article:

The policy will also require these students to complete two credits in a District 204 high school in each of two consecutive semesters prior to graduation. So, in their senior year, these home school students seeking District 204 diplomas — District 204 estimates there are roughly 15 of them a year — will have to attend a District 204 high school on nearly a full-time basis, and pass four senior-level classes in order to graduate.

That seems like a fair policy.

I was a little puzzled that homeschoolers would be entering the public high school just to get a public school diploma? That piece of paper didn’t seem as useful as a homeschool diploma, or as many Illinois homeschoolers do, just entering ‘higher education’ with transcript in hand. That’s my biased homeschool opinion, of course.

“The example, by way of analogy that’s in my head, is that it’s what a university would tell you,” said board member Mark Metzger. “You can’t accumulate credits at Eastern and Western and Southern, and then call up U of I and say, ‘I’m going to take a class there, and I want my diploma from you.’ It doesn’t work that way.”

Mr. Metzger’s thoughts are right on. If a public school diploma is sought, that public school should be attended.

But again, I don’t see the advantage of seeking a public school diploma, if homeschooled teens can finish out their education at home before college. Mark Metzger mentioned the University of Illinois, which is ranked 25th in this Graduate School of Education World University Rankings. It is a very competitive school, but yet “30-40 home school students are admitted each year“.

Home Schooled Applicants FAQ

Does the University of Illinois admit home school graduates?

Yes, we encourage home schooled students to apply to the University.

We are very interested in having talented, well-qualified applicants from a variety of settings. Home schoolers would provide a diversity of academic experiences to the campus.

From a homeschool advocate stance, I’m pleased to see that homeschooling credit was given (in more ways than one).

It’s getting to be that time of the year when homeschoolers’ fancies turn to thoughts of diplomas In the case of homeschooling, the parents probably put more thought into the diplomas than the kids do. To help with what may be the final act of ‘official’ homeschooling, Judy Aron has blogged about documenting the home ed adventure.

Consent of the Governed, 7 April 2007, Homeschoolers — Things You Should Know About Diplomas

There are some points to remember regarding high school diplomas.
1) Not all colleges request that you have one in order to apply for admission.
2) Job applications may ask if you have one, although most do not ask whether you have an accredited diploma.
3) Not all public or private high schools are accredited, and they provide diplomas upon graduation.

Judy includes pointers for coping with different situations, and tells how she handled her own children’s transcripts.

A final caveat (for those starting the ‘documented years’ rather than those finishing) addresses the situation in states with laws prohibiting homeschooling by parents without diplomas from an accredited institution.

A final point, from a legislative point of view. Please be mindful of any laws that are proposed, or put in place, requiring homeschooling parents to have an accredited high school diploma themselves. If your child graduates without one, then they will not be able to homeschool their own children! This is done by intention in some states. It is a way to put the brakes on homeschooling.

posted by Valerie

Valley News Network, Temecula, California, 17 March 2007, UCR begins program to welcome home schooled students

UCR will now accept portfolios from home schooled students explaining how they have prepared for the university. They will be required to fill out the same applications and take the same tests as other applicants.So far, the program is turning out some of the university’s most promising students, said Campos. “We are finding home schooled students are by and large exceptionally well-prepared for college,” she said.

I was a bit confused by a paragraph at the end about charter schools, as it appeared by this inclusion that what was being discussed wasn’t homeschool grad applications to UCR, but rather a feeder program for the college.

Charter schools present a combination of home schooling and public schooling, said Cauzza. “Before [UCR's program] the kids would do all the work but get no transcripts,” she said. Charter schools, such as Julian, allow students to work from home but still get the transcripts they need for college admission.

But a look at UCR’s admissions page for homeschoolers doesn’t match that concept.

University of California Riverside, Future Students, Nontraditional Admission

Examples of nontraditional educational settings include those where the high school education was:

- primarily home-based

- completed as home-based after leaving a traditional high school during the last year or two

- based on courses from various sources such as high school, community college, and online program, with or without extensive home-based education

- completed early by taking the California High-School Proficiency Exam AND performing additional studies outside of class or participating in significant educational life experiences such as charity work or experience in another country

- taken at a charter school emphasizing an innovative educational approach that doesn’t have a UC-approved “a-g” course list

taken at a high school with a UC-approved “a-g” course list, but the student graduated without fulfilling the “a-g” course work because the student emphasized homeschooling or another novel educational approach instead

posted by Valerie