Policy and Procedure

New Hampshire requirements for ELO policies

All school districts in New Hampshire are required to have a policy regarding ELOs.  Section 306.27 (b) of the Minimum Standards for Public School Approval specifies minimum policy contents.

Technical Advisory #12, Competency Assessment of Student Mastery, May 6, 2006, from the NH Department of Education provides further guidance on ELOs.

A Best Practices Checklist was developed by NH Transition Community of Practice, ELO Practice Group to assist schools to align NH Minimum Standards with recommendations from experts and practitioners in the field of ELO development.

Policies and procedures are particular to schools and should support ELOs and support the student. Determining which students can access ELOs and which disciplines will be available must happen at the beginning of the process.

Procedures should include:

  • managing teacher responsibilities to coach ELOs
  • making sure adequate insurance is in place
  • assigning and awarding credit
  • obtaining Department of Labor approval for community partner sites
  • transportation
  • scheduling
  • tracking and monitoring ELOs
  • disclosing IEP information
  • obtaining parental approval

The ELO policy is often coded IHBH in School Board Policy listings.

Guidelines for awarding ELO credit

ELOs can provide credit in any discipline.  Flexible NH rules give school boards and districts permission to:

  • award quarter, half,  and/or full credit
  • have interdisciplinary ELOs that provide multiple credits in multiple content areas
  • introduce ELOs as a way of expanding electives, and later shift into offering core credit as well
  • link duration of ELOs to mastery of competencies rather that semester or quarter end dates

The NH DOE Competency Validation Rubric (PDF, 3 pages) can guide planning for required competency mastery and corresponding credit(s) to be awarded. Credit for ELOs should be agreed upon before the work begins.

How colleges view competency-based transcripts

College admissions staff already know how to understand and compare varied transcripts from around the country and the world. The task of high schools is to present what the student has learned and accomplished in the most clear and helpful way possible. The New England Secondary School Consortium has developed two resources on this topic:

Agreement and planning forms

Agreement and planning forms help maintain a clear process for approvals and documentation, e.g., ELO project proposals and community partner agreements.

The NH ELO Design Template is a foundational tool for developing quality ELOs.

Sample agreement and planning forms

These are actual forms from various schools. Feel free to customize for your use.

Resources on this website

Internet resources