Alternative Means to Earn High School Credit: Organizational Manual, 2015

The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) is committed to offering alternative educational opportunities to ensure student success, decrease the dropout rate and increase the graduation rate. Each of these opportunities includes a blend of Career Technical Education (CTE) and traditional core academic opportunities or a WVDE approved high school equivalency assessment (HSEA). These opportunities are intended to provide options to youth experiencing dramatic risks of dropping out of school. This manual begins by detailing the three Option Pathways. Option Pathway 1 allows students to stay in school, complete a concentration correlated to the student's Personalized Education Plan (PEP) per policy 2510 guidance, pass the HSEA, and receive a high school diploma. Option Pathway 2, Credit Recovery, allows seniors needing to pass only one subject (or several subjects in the same content area) in order to graduate to take that one content area of the HSEA. Option Pathway 3, High School Equivalency Diploma, allows students dropping out of school to take the HSEA prior to leaving school. Next, guidelines related to the Option Pathway in juvenile centers and guidelines related to the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy are provided. This is followed by a discussion of virtual alternatives (career technical concentrations, "onTargetWV" credit recovery, registration, local co-teacher/facilitator/mentor, and WVVS grade transcripts and drop policy). Lastly, the manual reviews important information related to the Individualized Work Readiness Credential (IWRC), which provides students with moderate learning deficits the opportunity to gain valuable work readiness and occupation specific skills through a CTE career concentration cluster. [This publication was produced by the West Virginia Department of Education Division of Career and Technical Education.]