<p>Thank you Firefly Scout, I thought I had read an article over the summer that said it applied to the incoming freshman class but I am delighted to know that isn't correct. It could have made for one extremely frustrating intro to HS.</p>
<p>I've started sending info to some of the 8th grade pre-AP teachers....they are the ones who can activate and inform the parents whose kids will be affected.</p>
<p>My eighth-grader will leave middle school with four HS credits. It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.</p>
<p>I was always told that the HS credits don't factor into the GPA. However, they are listed on my son's transcript, so colleges that recalculate GPAs according to their own standards will use them. I guess maybe they just haven't figured into the GPA for class rank purposes.</p>
<p>I'm still waiting for the final final final final answer on whether Daugher's 8th grade IPC class counts as one of the 4 years of science. (We've received about three different definite final answers on this issue.)</p>
<p>My son is in that, too. Were we separated at birth, girl? My understanding is it counts as a science elective but not as one of the 4x4s. So, yes, HS credit, but no, not as a core. We knew that was the case going in, but it helped my older son so much with his HS science that younger son said he wanted to do it just for the leg up.</p>
<p>My 10th grader took IPC right before the 4X4 rule went into effect. They were all told when they took it that it would "count."</p>
<p>Definitive answer #1: 8th grade IPC won't count at all.
Definitive answer #2: It will count as an elective.
Definitive answer #3A: It will count as one of the 4 years, but a student doing that can't get the "distiguished" diploma.
Definitive answer #3B: It will count as one of the 4 years, and a student CAN get the distinguished diploma.</p>
<p>I categorize answer #3 as A and B, because one version of the answer was in the Course of Studies book they passed out at school, and the other version was in the online version of the same book.</p>
<p>This will be one of my issues for next school year. Daughter is only a sophomore, so we know she'll have to take science next year. It's when those kids are signing up for senior year classes that we will have to get the final final final final final answer.</p>
<p>(Just FYI, they also told my senior son, who also had IPC, last year that HE was required to take science his senior year. That was just a flat out lie, to try to get more seniors to take science.)</p>
<p>September 18, 2008</p>
<p>Committee Delays Adoption of GPA Rules</p>
<p>After hearing public comments for approximately one hour, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Boards Committee on Participation and Success delayed adopting the proposed rules for calculating a uniform grade point average. Several witnesses advocated for weight to be given to pre-AP, pre-IB, and career and technology courses. The current rules exclude giving those courses any weight.During the hearing, audience members clapped when witnesses encouraged the committee and the coordinating board to slow down the rules adoption process because school districts across Texas will be impacted.</p>
<p>I get phone calls saying this is the worst idea that anybody ever came up with, Joe Hinton, a member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, told the El Paso Times. </p>
<p>The committee members agreed to reconvene at a specially called meeting on October 22 to consider adopting the rules. The full board will meet the following day and may adopt the rules. The rules have been published in the Texas Register, and the coordinating board has prepared a summary sheet explaining what the rules do. (Uniform GPA Key Updates attached)</p>
<p>It is important to note that seniors currently enrolled in high school will not have their grade point averages recalculated for admission to college next fall.</p>
<p>The last day to submit comments to the coordinating board is October 5. All comments should be submitted to Natalie Coffey, Senior Program Director, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, P.O. Box 12788, Austin, Texas 78711 or to <a href="mailto:natalie.coffey@thecb.state.tx.us">natalie.coffey@thecb.state.tx.us</a></p>
<p>Texas never ceases to amaze me.</p>
<p>To quote Amy Poeller, "Jealous?"</p>
<p>I was able to locate the summary by googling "Texas Register, proposed rules uniform gpa calculation". In case there is any confusion about which students are affected the following is pasted from document that I think Missypie is referring to:</p>
<ol>
<li>IMPLEMENTATION DATE:
The recent opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General made clear that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (CB) has the latitude to phase in the UGPAC to ensurethat no high school student currently in the education pipeline is adversely affected by its implementation.
The current recommendation from the Commissioner of Higher Education, Raymund Paredes, is that the implementation for the new Uniform GPA Calculation takes effect no sooner than with the incoming high school freshman class of 2009.
Current high school students (9-12th grade) will not be affected by any future implementation.</li>
</ol>
<p>On reasons for not weighting Pre-AP, Pre IB the document states: </p>
<p> The reasoning for excluding Pre-AP/Pre-IB is:
o Not recognized by the College Board
o No standardization and no uniform standard of rigor
o No other public institution of higher education in the nation weights Pre-
AP/Pre-IB courses for admittance purposes. Weighting those courses
would not apply to admittance to out-of-state institutions either
o Schools and their districts might begin to create a series of new courses
without College Board oversight or standardization, in order to give their
students an advantage in the calculation. This would create an uneven
playing field for those who continue to play by the rules.</p>
<p>I am trying to make some sense of why anyone would have a problem with weighting the pre/AP or IB courses. It is true that different schools do things differently but that shouldn't make any difference within one school where all students have the opportunity to take these classes. The concept of standardizing doesn't seem altogether bad to me. Some schools rank AP and dual credit classes differently some weight them the same, some schools count middle school classes in the GPA while others don't, some schools weight the MS classes because they are advanced in MS others don't because they are the same as the HS class. I am sure there are also differences about which classes some schools count in the GPA and which they do not. It does make sense for there to be some guidelines for standardization on these matters. It however makes no sense for the standardization not to acknowledge that kids taking advanced classes are likely to get a lower grade in these classes than they would in a regular class and the weight evens the playing field for this discrepancy. It is also important for kids to know the rules from the start.</p>