The way that we have used transfer grades before is to use that average for any assignments that were done prior to the student's arrival during that grading period. We also include the grades earned on the assessments the students have taken in our class. That way, the final grade is an average of both. You could possibly give the student some assessments over skills that she should have learned in that class at her other school to incorporate into the average.

I have always felt that the problem with using transfer grades is that the teacher at the new school has no idea what that "grade" is comprised of. In other words, how many tests, homework assignments, and formative assessments factor into that overall grade. Additionally, every school is not the same, assessing in the same manner. I feel that you should use the grades the student has earned on your own assessments. You could also consider allowing the student to take any benchmark assessments your other students took prior to his/her enrollment in order to provide you with some comparative data to inform you as to whether or not the 98% reported from the previous school is on target or somehow grossly inflated.

You cannot correct the wrongs that have been done against the learning of that student in such a short time. I believe you should not affect his grade, but you should offer times before and school to remediate the student and try to supplement their skills as well as you can. There is no sense in hurting their GPA this late in their high school career when they've come from another school.

Depending on when the student came, the situation should be treated differently. At my school, if a student comes too late, they often get to audit. However, if they are there for most of the semester, what I have done is put a 98% for everything in my grade book before they came and note that it is a transfer grade. Then everything the student has been present for, is the grade they earned. Depending on the set up of the grade book, it should "even out" somewhat. However, if the student has been struggling all semester, it is likely you have already contacted the parents and spoken about you concerns.

I think that you take the transfer grade and put it into the grade book. You give them credit for the work that they are doing inside of your classroom, too. If you see areas of deficits you give them a refresher or a form of assessing their prior knowledge and then fill in the gaps.

There has to be some sort of mixture of the two. You want the final grade to reflect the learning the child has done, but you have to be careful if you completely ignore the transfer grade. Legally that could present an issue if the parent were to call you out on it.