Equivalency credit is an option created by legislature and written into state statute (§ 118.33, Wis. Stats., and Chapter PI 18, Wis. Admin. Code) to expand opportunities for students to meet graduation requirements.
Chapter PI 18.02, Wis. Admin. Code, defines "equivalent graduation policy" as "a board policy which meets the credit requirements specified (§ 118.33, Wis. Stats.) for each subject area, but which permits selected equivalent courses as long as such courses contain the time allotment and substantially the same objectives to develop the knowledge, concepts, and skills of the course for which an equivalency is proposed."
In conformity with the equivalency statute, this is an option for career and technical education courses that prove to have sufficient academic content. These approved career and technical education courses have proven to contain the academic content and are taught in a technical and applied setting.
In light of CTE standards being revised between 2011-2013, with official publication tentatively set for June 2013, conversations around the equivalency process have been produced the following timeline and agreements:
| Date | Event |
| Continuing | Applications continue to be received based on current (pre-2013) process and materials/resources/crosswalks. Any current equivalency approvals continue until June 30, 2016. |
| June 30, 2014 | New resources/crosswalks are available for existing and potentially new equivalency options based on new CTE standards (2013). |
| July 1, 2014 | No further applications will be accepted utilizing the Model Academic Standards (1998). |
| September 2014 | Letter to districts with current equivalency approvals providing deadline of June 30, 2016 to complete an update/resubmission based on the new resources/crosswalks. |
| June 30, 2016 | All current equivalencies are based on CCSS/NGSS/SS-2013/CTE 2013 Standards. Any approval received prior to June 30, 2014 will need to be revised and reapply for approval. |
Equivalency Frequently Asked Questions/Answers
Equivalency Credit Areas
- Agriculture Science Equivalency - resources for applying for agriculture science equivalency credit
- Family and Consumer Sciences Science Equivalency - resources for applying for family and consumer sciences science equivalency credit
- Technology and Engineering Science Equivalency - resources for applying for technology and engineering science equivalency credit
- Technology and Engineering Mathematics Equivalency - resources for applying for technology and engineering math equivalency credit
- Business & Information Technology Equivalency Options - resources for applying for English/language arts and social studies