Many of our English Language Learners arrive to our schools with transcripts from their home countries. Schools are often called upon to evaluate those transcripts to help determine equivalency with New York State Learning Standards.

Reminder: A transcript translation is not the same as a transcript evaluation. Translations merely converts the documents from their original language into English. A translation will not state what those educational documents are equivalent to in the United States. A proper evaluation will state what the education is equivalent to in the United States.

Finding reliable transcript evaluators:

• Consider seeking assistance from the “International Students Office” at the local college/university. They will often have a list of acceptable evaluations companies that they rely on for international students seeking admissions to their school. 
• Find an evaluation service that is a member of one of the two foreign education evaluation organizations (i.e., NACES or AICE) recommended by the U.S. Department of State.
• Consider using NYSED’s Office of Teaching Initiatives’ list of (NACES or AICE approved) “Acceptable Credential Evaluation Services Organizations” which it uses for teacher applicants with foreign credentials.

Caution: Be careful about using self-proclaimed “official” evaluation services which may not be reliable. Or, they are merely a service that translates the transcripts (which is not an evaluation).

Other Resources: 

• Evaluation Foreign Transcripts: A Resource Guide for School Districts, Pennsylvania Department of Education (April 2017). 
• Evaluation Foreign Transcripts: A Resource Guide for School Districts, Rhode Island Department of Education (February 27, 2012). 
• Evaluating Foreign Transcripts: The A-Z Manual, New York City Department of Education (2004).