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Career and Technical Education Equivalency Credit

Equivalency Credit

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.

Please use the following link to apply for any future equivalency approvals. This process was revised as of February 1, 2016.

CTE Step-by-Step Equivalency Process

  1. Establish a committee to review the Career & Technical Education course(s) for English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, or Social Studies equivalent status.
  2. Review the knowledge and skills of the course the district is seeking for equivalency.
  3. Perform a crosswalk of current standards for Career & Technical Education and the equivalent course. Use the sample crosswalk template on the Career & Technical Education content area equivalency website. For a limited number of programs, a task force has already crosswalked courses that can be found on the content area equivalency website. The final process is for the local teacher/committee to review the local curriculum to the crosswalk and include the number of days/hours and knowledge and skills.
  4. Request school board approval for the equivalent course.
  5. Submit all documentation to dpiequivalency@dpi.wi.gov:
    • List of committee members and their titles
    • PI 1803 form
    • Documentation of the equivalent course content/syllabus with instruction time
    • Completion of the crosswalk
  6. The equivalent course will be documented on the student’s transcripts by the school district using a standard identification system.
    • This designation will be listed next to the course title on the student transcript.
      (ES) = equivalent for science
      (EM) = equivalent for mathematics
      (ESS) = equivalent for social studies
      (EE)= equivalent for English
      For example, a veterinary science course taught by an agriculture instructor for a science equivalent credit would be listed on the student’s transcript as Veterinary Science (ES).
    • The Career & Technical Education equivalent course is to be listed under the Career & Technical Education department. It is a Career & Technical Education teacher teaching a Career & Technical Education course. It is the district’s decision to allow this course for the equivalent option.
  7. The equivalent course documents will be reviewed, and the school districts will be notified within 60 days of receipt
  8. If the equivalent course is accepted, the information will be entered into a database, which will be shared with the UW-System for their reference. The database will be updated annually and shared with the UW-System each year.

Equivalency committees may reference resources and a step-by-step process document within each content area website that provides content specific links to the application forms and crosswalk templates.

School districts must use the new crosswalk templates, which will be updated to provide flexibility for districts to document standards that have been locally approved.

Equivalency Credit Areas