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Links to graduation requirements: General Diploma Academic Diploma Honors Requirements Honors English Vocational-technical Vocational-technical Business Courses Transfers/Other exceptions Diplomas & Transcripts |
Graduation Requirements for all Diploma OptionsAccording to Pennsylvania’s homeschooling law (Act 1988-169), the following courses are required for graduation from a home education program:
Art, Bible, Dance, Foreign Language, Home-economics, Music, Philosophy, Practical living, and Shop. The law further requires that the following areas must be covered in some way at the secondary level: Geography, Civics, World History, History of the United States and Pennsylvania, General Mathematics, Algebra, Geometry, Safety Education including fire safety, Health and Physiology, Physical Education, Music, and Art. Since the law does not specify how much of each subject must be covered, there are two options. (1) Students can study some or all of these subjects as credit toward graduation requirements. These would be listed for credit on the ECHSDA Diploma Transcript, e.g., Social Studies – United States History (including geography). (2) Subjects may also be taught in either the seventh or eighth grades with the evaluator signing to verify that they actually were taught. Standards for the General DiplomaAfter meeting the graduation requirements of fifteen credits as outlined above, there are no additional requirements for a General Diploma.Follow this link for a General Diploma Checklist: General Checklist Standards for the Academic DiplomaTwenty credits are required for a student to receive the Academic Diploma. These credits must be roughly equivalent to the other credits required by law. (Examples: languages, vo-tech courses, etc.) Quarter credit courses such as Physical Education are not counted toward the twenty credits.To receive the Academic Diploma, the following guidelines must be used to determine if credits will be issued. English: The four years of English must each include literature, composition, language, and speech. Requirements for each area follow: 1. Literature - Each year, the student will read at least fifteen books in any subject area, fiction or non-fiction, including one classic. A list of titles of at least fifteen books will demonstrate that a student has met this requirement. An anthology that is considered by the publishers to be one year's course of study may count for ten of the required books. At the discretion of the evaluator the quality and length of books can be taken into consideration in order to accept credit for a student who has not met the quantity requirement. The Bible will be treated as an anthology and considered as a classic. These books should be written at a high school level. While such books as the "Little House" books are classics, they are clearly written at an elementary reading level. 2. Composition and Language - Each year the student must demonstrate improvement in composition and language skills by writing three compositions, one of which is a long report using a minimum of three sources. The long report must be at least three pages (typed double spaced or hand written single spaced) in the ninth grade, five pages in the tenth grade, seven pages in the eleventh grade, and eight pages in the twelfth grade. The reports must also include a bibliography page. While use of quotes gives authority to a work, overuse of quotes takes away from the quality of the work. Most papers should be non-fiction; however one long paper can be fiction if there are sources cited which indicate research on the subject. In order to meet the language requirement, rough drafts that show that punctuation, usage, and/or grammatical errors were corrected in the process of writing these compositions will be accepted. If you choose not to keep rough drafts to show that grammar was covered, the language requirement can be met through completion of over one fourth of a language or grammar textbook or at least forty-five daily logged entries of work in language or grammar study. 3. Speech - The student must give at least one speech during the year to a group outside of the immediate family. A speech is any student prepared public speaking or teaching (Sunday School, Boy Scouts, etc.). A recitation is not a speech. The speech need not be more than five to seven minutes, but improvement should be noted over the high school years. Any one of the following will be accepted as proof that the student has met this requirement: (1) notes which the student used when giving the speech (2) recognition from the organizers of the event where the speech was given, or (3) a description of the event and speech, written by the student or parent. For a student to receive more than one credit in English, the basic requirements noted above AND supplemental course specific materials must be completed. Examples include completion of supplemental materials for speech, creative writing, journalism, or business English. For additional credit to be accepted, these courses must be designated as specific courses on the ECHSDA Diploma Transcript. Other subject areas (excluding mathematics): Any one of the following alternatives will be accepted as evidence of completion of one year of credit for courses in other subject areas (excluding mathematics). 1. Completion of over three-fourths of a textbook ** For any course which uses more than one textbook to equal one credit, the student must complete the course as designed by the provider, using the number of textbooks specified. e.g. A Beka Literature/Grammar for twelfth grade; Bob Jones American Government and Economics (each of these textbooks equals one-half credit.) Programs such as ACE, which have clearly defined numbers of paces, are excluded from this alternative and must be completed in their entirety. 2. Any combination of textbook pages and daily logged entries (equal to 120 days) describing the activities related to the course content. 3. Logged entries describing at least 120 hours of study and/or activities related to the course content. 4. Completion of a research paper. ** The paper must be at least ten pages in length (typed double-spaced or handwritten single-spaced), use at least three non-encyclopedic references, demonstrate learning of a subject, and include the student’s own conclusions based upon his research. There must be a thesis statement in the introduction which will be followed through to the conclusion. A standard format must be used, correctly citing quotes and including a bibliography. 5. Presentation of a speech of at least thirty minutes duration. ** The speech, presented to a group outside of the immediate family, should demonstrate an understanding of the subject and conclusions drawn by the student from his study. 6. Completion of a college course. 7. Passing test score on an Advance Placement exam (i.e. three points out of the possible five). Mathematics: This is such a subject that all of the above options are not appropriate. Options four and five would not adequately demonstrate understanding. Therefore, only options one through three and options six and seven would be considered in issuing credit for mathematics coursework. The student must take either algebra or geometry as one of the three mathematics courses required to receive an academic diploma. Follow this link for an Academic Diploma Checklist: Academic Checklist Honors RequirementsThese requirements must be met to receive honors credit for each subject. It is understood that only very good students will be able to receive Honors. The student should master each honors course well enough that he could major in that subject in college.English - In addition to the previously listed English requirements, the student will also read ten more books each year, including two classics. The long reports should be five, seven, eight, and ten pages (typed double-spaced or handwritten single-spaced), for grades nine through twelve, respectively. See “Additional Recommendations for Honors English” after this section. Mathematics – Student must complete Algebra I & II, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus. Four math credits including a full year of calculus must be earned during the four years of high school. Science - Student will take four science credits and write at least two science research papers based on student experiments. These experiments must be original research, not that which is already published. Students must be exploring their own hypotheses and defending them. Computer Science / Programming - Student will take four computer science credits and write at least two original computer programs with explanations for how they are to work. The papers should be written so that anyone could use the programs. If the courses deal primarily with computer building and repair, they would be considered for vocational specialization. Social Studies - Student will take four social studies credits and will write at least two research papers. These papers must also be exploring original hypotheses and defending them. See point four in “Other courses excluding mathematics” for research paper guidelines. Language - Student will take four credits in one foreign language. Student will write a paper in that language and read a novel or other non-textbook in the language in each of the last two years. Student will also demonstrate fluency in speaking the language. For those who are taking sign language the requirements change to writing a paper on deafness, adventitious deafness, etc., watching five videos about deaf people (fiction or non-fiction), and twenty hours of interpreting to cassette tapes. Humanities - At the discretion of the evaluator and with documentation adequate for the evaluator, including two research papers, four years of concentrated study in one field of humanities (e.g. philosophy) will be accepted. Fine Arts - At the discretion of the evaluator and with documentation adequate for the evaluator, four years of concentrated study in any fine arts area (e.g. art, music, design, dance) will be accepted. It is assumed that the theory and history of the subject will be studied each year. Two papers shall be written in any fine arts area such as history or theory, in addition to performance or exhibition of work. Additional Recommendations for Honors EnglishEarning honors in English means a student’s work is exceptional and distinctive. Not only the quantity, but the quality of his work is excellent, beyond the work one would expect of a high school student. In order to encourage this higher standard, ECHSDA compiled recommendations for Honors English students in four areas that must be covered each year of high school at home.Below are suggested ideas for designing a distinctive Honors English program. 1. Literature Each student’s Honors English program should be based heavily on literature, including both fiction and non-fiction works from various genres such as novels, short stories, poetry, drama, essays, and periodicals. It is recommended that each year’s study be concentrated on a style of literature to include American Literature, English Literature, and World Literature. As mentioned in the “Standards for the Academic Diploma” section of this guide, classics must be written at a high school level. A variety of appropriate level classics can be found on websites, at the local library, or through an evaluator. It is vital to remember that the quality of literature read by an honor student is as important as the quantity of literature. Literary analysis is a second quality of Honors English Literature. The honor student should understand literary terms (plot, setting, characterization, etc.) and devices (refrain, parallel structure, simile, metaphor, foreshadowing, etc.) as well as recognizing logical fallacies and ad homily attacks. 2. Composition While the minimum honors requirement is three written papers, an honor student should write significantly more, with an emphasis on quality. Writing, proof reading, and revising papers are integral aspects of a composition course and should be clearly demonstrated. The honor student’s compositions should show continual improvement in purpose, organization, language mastery, and effective elaboration of selected topics. An honor student’s composition portfolio should include character analyses, narratives, persuasive papers, short essays, critical reviews, expository writings, and research papers. The research paper should include a title page, an outline, a body with a clear introduction and conclusion, correct use of parenthetical citations, a bibliography, a thesis statement which is followed throughout the paper, and evidence that the student’s research was thorough and comprehensive. (Be sure the paper is proofread and revised.) Follow MLA guidelines (or another standard format) to ensure a properly formatted research paper. *Anything in the paper that is not common knowledge should be cited with the source of the information. 3. Language It is recommended that an honor student acquire a thorough knowledge of high school grammar. The goal of language/grammar studies is to write without mechanical errors. Not only should an honor student be able to recognize the eight parts of speech, he should also be able to analyze and or diagram sentences. 4. Speech In addition to the stated requirements for speech, an honor student should deliver persuasive, argumentative, informative, impromptu, humorous, and extemporaneous speeches. All require different preparation and are beneficial to the student’s development as a public speaker. In order for Honors to be specified on the diploma for English, an honor student should complete a distinctive quality of work in literature, composition, language/grammar, and speech/public speaking. Follow this link for an Academic Diploma with Honors Checklist: Honors Checklist Vocational-technical CoursesStudents studying vocational-technical courses will be able to receive credit for such courses. They must be listed on the ECHSDA Diploma Transcript under "Other Electives" and documented in a manner acceptable to the evaluator for a General Diploma or one of the alternatives listed previously for the other diplomas.Those who would like to receive an Academic Diploma and complete nine credits of vocational courses (three each year from grades ten to twelve, equal to one-half school day for 180 days or 360 hours) could have their vocational training recognized on their diploma, e.g. “Academic Diploma with a Specialization in…”. Business CoursesStudents studying business courses may be eligible to receive an "Academic Diploma with a Specialization in Business." Successful completion of at least nine credits of business courses is necessary for this recognition.Transfer Students & Other ExceptionsTransfer credits will be accepted. If a student transfers to home education from a public, private, or nonpublic high school, credit for school courses completed with passing grades will be accepted by Erie County Home Schoolers Diploma Association upon receipt of the school transcript.Where homeschoolers have not kept good documentation, the evaluators, at their discretion, may choose to accept credits for previous years of homeschooling based upon interviews with the parent and student. Diplomas & TranscriptsErie County Home Schoolers Diploma Association (ECHSDA) offers a standard diploma certificate in a presentation case. The certificate is printed with the type of diploma earned and should be signed by the senior year evaluator and the supervisor of the home education program. Transcripts with attached evaluation letters will be kept on file by ECHSDA. Copies of these will be sent out to institutions of higher learning or prospective employers at the written request of the student. |