Under pressure to raise graduation rates, some high schools are turning to online courses to help faltering students revive their academic careers and retrieve the credits they need to earn their diplomas. As alternatives to remedial lessons, summer school, and other traditional ways of getting struggling high school students back on track, technology-based options for credit recovery have been expanding. Most of the new credit-recovery options are online programs offered by virtual schools and commercial curriculum providers. With graduation day nearing in high schools across the country, students are working in such classes to cobble together the credits they need. Credit recovery, or credit retrieval, is usually defined as an in-school opportunity for students to earn academic credits that they have lost, or are about to lose, by failing a regular course. Though complete, the courses in some cases are subdivided into short "learning objects" that can be pulled out to address gaps in individual students' understanding. In many cases, the programs are billed as ways to enable students not only to salvage credit for a class, but also to develop skills and work habits that will contribute to their continued academic success.