Credit Recovery Practices in Tennessee High Schools
September 2015
Author: Kim Potts
Credit recovery is a strategy that permits high school students who have failed courses to recover course credits, allowing them to graduate. Successfully providing credit recovery options for students may also help schools, districts, and states improve their graduation rates. Little is known nationally or in Tennessee about how many students are enrolled in credit recovery courses during their high school careers, how effective the approach is at increasing high school graduation rates, or how students taking credit recovery courses fare after high school. Data is not available at the state level because credit recovery is generally a locally-determined strategy, and there are no reporting requirements. This report includes results from a 2015 survey of Tennessee school districts with high schools. It provides background information on the practice of credit recovery, describes the state’s involvement with credit recovery, provides an inventory of current district practices using survey results, and considers other states’ credit recovery policies and practices.