What if your teen fails a class that generated a paper trail? Prior public or private high school attendance, dual enrollment or others? If your teen earned an “F” you might be tempted just to leave it off their homeschool transcript, but here is how to carefully record it so it won’t come back and cause them any trouble.
First, determine if the course created a record somewhere. I call this a paper trail. If the course generated a paper trail, you should disclose the grade by reporting it on their high school transcript.
| Course type | Disclosure Required YES | Disclosure Required NO |
|---|---|---|
| College course: dual enrollment, dual credit, concurrent enrollment, PSEO, etc. | YES | |
| Arizona State University not-transcripted ULC | NO | |
| Arizona State University transcripted ULC | YES | |
| CLEP exam | NO | |
| AP exam | NO | |
| DSST exam | NO | |
| ACE Course (Study.com, Sophia, Straighterline, ALEKS, any others) | NO | |
| Homeschool course | NO | |
| Unaccredited high school course (homeschool co-op, support group, Classical Conversations, etc.) | NO | |
| Accredited high school course at a public or private school where the student IS an enrolled student | N/A parent does not create the transcript | N/A parent does not create the transcript |
| Accredited high school course at a public or private where the student was NOT an enrolled student (a la carte) | Optional | |
| Prior enrollment in an accredited high school when transferring to a homeschool. | Optional but suggested |
If your student took and failed or withdrew from a class that did not leave a paper trail, the decision to report is yours. If you intend to give them high school credit, any passing grade can be reported and should be part of the GPA. If you do not intend to give them high school credit, then leaving it off is fine as long as it has not created a paper trail elsewhere (see chart above). For instance, if a student fails a CLEP exam, that has no bearing on their high school credits or grade, so it not only unnecessary to report it – doing so creates a negative impression for no reason. You are hurting their transcript in that case.
If, on the other hand, your teen was enrolled as a student at a public or accredited private high school before homeschooling and you intend to give them high school credit for those courses, you may decide to have them redo a course for a higher grade. To do this, you should create a policy that you will use, write it down, and keep it with homeschool records in the event that you are asked to defend a grade.
A. On how to list the recovery courses
- Use standard course titles whenever possible
- “Algebra I A,” “Algebra I B,” etc.
- If the platform calls it “Algebra I Credit Recovery A,” you can still list it as “Algebra I A (Credit Recovery)” on your transcript if the content and standards are equivalent.
- Add a clear note/legend instead of cluttering titles. For example:
- Mark the repeated course with
Ror a footnote. - Transcript legend: “R = Course repeated for credit recovery; only the repeated course grade is used in GPA.”
- Mark the repeated course with
- If you like the transparency of the exact vendor title, you could do:
- Course Title: Algebra I A (Credit Recovery)
- Subject Area: Math
- That preserves what the student actually took without implying it was lighter content.
B. On what happens to the first attempt
I would adopt a grade-replacement policy with full visibility:
- Leave the original attempt on the transcript with its original grade.
- Flag the repeated course as credit recovery.
- In your records, calculate GPA such that only the best attempt counts.
- Write a short formal policy statement for your School Profile or handbook, such as:
“When a student repeats a course for credit recovery, all attempts remain on the transcript to maintain an accurate academic history. However, only the highest grade earned for that specific course is included in GPA calculations and counts toward graduation requirements.”
This gives you:
- Honesty – nothing is hidden.
- Redemption – students can fix early missteps.
- Clarity for colleges – your policy is transparent and consistent.
For college courses, you can handle this the same way if a retake is allowed. Not all colleges allow you to redo a course while in high school, so whether or not the student has access to repeat a course will inform your plan. In the case of college courses, you will still have to send the college transcript, even if they didn’t complete a course, so honesty is the best policy.
