Academic Continuity
- Christine Lusk
- 18 hours ago
- 5 min read
It's Guest Blog Time!
Navigating the ups and downs of any move require patience and planning. If you're lucky, your future post has clear and up to date guidance as well as someone working in the CLO office to share it with you. Part of why we collaborate with Guest Bloggers is because by crowd sourcing information and expertise, we all get the resources and shared wisdom we need. We rely on our cohesiveness to get through the ups and downs of a PCS. We have varying comfort levels with moving and play unique roles during a transition.
We invited Dr. Lauren Steed of Nomad Educational Services to share with you some tips to help navigate the challenges of transitions from an educational perspective. Her suggestions are most relevant for Middle and High School students. You may recognize Lauren as part of the Available Worldwide Podcast duo as well. Lauren and Stephanie have been sharing the stories of family members from the diplomatic corps on this thoughtful and inspiring podcast. When you finish reading Lauren's blog, we encourage you to give Available Worldwide a listen.
Guest Blog by Dr. Lauren Steed
Making the most of what’s available to you: Parent edition
Whether domestic or abroad, being a parent means trying to do what will be best for your child. In past newsletters and guest blogs, contributors have talked about how to approach the social-emotional side of your child’s transitions. This month I’m exploring the challenges of academic continuity, especially for students in middle and high school, and how you as a parent can overcome them.
Whatever activities they enjoy, tutors they’ve learned best from, languages they’ve practiced, or foods they’ve loved, moving every few years means having to find new hobbies, sports, foods, tutors, doctors, language skills, safety awareness, etc. It’s exhausting, and losing a favorite makes these transitions even harder.
While DiploDash can help you source the ingredients for beloved foods or move from here to there, you and your student are going to have to navigate their educational and extracurricular transitions through advocacy.
In early elementary, my oldest daughter studied French, then had to switch to Mandarin at our next post before taking up French again in middle school. If our newest school had not offered French in middle school, or if her proficiency level didn’t match up well with the language levels offered to those in her grade, she would likely have had to start a third language. In the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program, this would have set her up for some significant language learning challenges in high school, as she’d be unable to achieve the level of fluency required to study this third language at the IB level. Or she would have needed to start a 4th language in the ab initio sequence (which requires the student have no previous exposure to the language before 11th grade).
We lucked out with French so far, but I have had several college planning students who I met too late in their high school career to help them out of a similar quagmire. Language study isn’t the only subject that can suffer from academic transitions. Schools may have students repeat or skip content in math, science, social studies, arts and more.
How can this be avoided without homeschooling or enrolling in an online high school?
Consider some of the approaches outlines below:
Tutorial For Credit aka the“School-Supported Self-Taught” solution
“Self-taught” is a euphemism for any form of learning that isn’t the standard in-classroom curriculum. Work with your school to get private 1:1 instruction brought to campus, and have it recorded on the transcript as a course.
Transfer In Credit for an online, middle school, 9th or 10th grade course
Persuade the school to accept approved online International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB DP) or International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP), via an American-accredited (or UK-accredited if your student attends a British school) provider for 9th or 10th grade credit, and then either continue that online through 11th and 12th grade or move back to the classroom for an "ab initio" language course or the grade-level math, science, etc., course on offer. Schools may arrange supervision for an online class from a student support teacher or a language teacher, and can provide the student a place to take the class.
Enroll in an online IB diploma course as one of the 6 subjects chosen in 11th or 12th grade
If a preferred IB subject is otherwise available at their high school, students can still take language, science, math, computer science, art, film, or many other IB subjects via Pamoja or one of the IB’s new online diploma providers. Schools may need significant persuasion from the parent and school board representative if taking an online IB course is not already an approved means of earning course credit.
AP or dual enrollment solution
If you’ll transition back to the US, or into another American curriculum school, you’ve got a lot more options for online language or other subjects unavailable on campus. Virtual schools, like Hemisphere’s Academy, provide US accredited individual courses (including Advanced Placement (AP)) in addition to full-time schooling. Advanced students can enroll in college courses via dual enrollment. Some universities offer this to homeschoolers or to students from any high school, you’ll only need to get the high school to approve high school credit, and it will be granted for the dual enrollment course from this provider.
Summer school solution
Negotiate transcripting a summer language, science, arts, or math course in lieu of a school-year class, or use the summer course as a “boot camp” to reach the level required to place your student on a more standard path. These courses could be taken in-person in the US or anywhere at an immersion camp.
Fees for private or supplemental courses may be covered for FS families under the Supplemental Instruction allowance or by allowances for Special Needs (including Gifted and Talented acceleration), particularly if your child is enrolling in lessons to catch up to the level expected of all students at their grade level.
You and your student will need to navigate their educational and extracurricular
transitions through advocacy
Like most things in this globally mobile lifestyle, pursuing your dreams and interests can require a bit of “out of the box” thinking. Before resigning yourself or your child to abandoning something either of you love, talk to the school counselors, outside experts, and other EFMs and experienced expat parents who’ve probably navigated similar situations with your school in the past.
Lauren's Bio
Dr. Lauren Steed is the founder and owner of Nomad Educational Services, an independent educational consulting service that helps expat and TCK teens plan for, apply to and transition to college and university study. She is an expert in executive functioning, student advising and project management. With over 20 years of experience preparing students for their college and professional life, she helps your family find the calm and confidence you’re looking for on the journey to college.
Students typically start working with Dr. Steed at the end of their sophomore year of high school. She also offers workshops for schools and post communities on various educational topics including: financial aid, athletic recruitment, learning differences, authenticity and motivation. You can read more about her approach at nomad-ed.com.
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