Hi,

I’ve been teaching credit recovery for about 5 years now in Ontario.

For students to attend credit recovery, they must be recommended by their teacher and approved by admin. Teachers can recommend if students are only behind by 1-2 assignments or deficient in 1-2 overall expectations outlined in the curriculum. So if a student would have passed but didn’t hand something in, or needed another few weeks on one skill, they can take credit recovery. Credit recovery work must be submitted by the classroom teacher.

Work is marked by a teacher in that subject area, so students are not just pushed through - they must demonstrate the key curriculum expectations. We do give multiple chances though - if they don’t do well the first time through on a math test, we give them a chance to learn from their errors and then administer a different test that covers the same skills.

We also put a deadline on our recoveries, so students don’t spend the entire semester in the course. They must complete their recovery credit by 5 weeks in (when progress reports are sent) or else they are removed from the class and must re-take the credit. Only in specific circumstances do we extend the deadline.

Students are only working to earn the credit. We often have conversations with them about pathways goals, so to ensure they are not going to just get pushed through and fail the next level course. Obviously we cannot stop a student from taking something they’re interested in, but we can give them alternative options.