Arkansas Department of Education

Course Approvals

 

When does a school need a course approval from the Arkansas Department of Education?

• When schools wish to offer a course that is not included in the approved Arkansas Curriculum Frameworks, the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Program, or the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum.*
• When schools want to give weighted credit for an honors course and/or concurrent credit course.
• When schools have a course approval on file with ADE, and the Arkansas Content Frameworks are revised for that content area.
• When schools wish to teach high school courses for credit at the middle school level. 

 *Approval is required whether the course will be used to satisfy the 38 courses required by Standards for Accreditation or high school graduation credit only.

What are the steps a school needs to take to get a course approved?

1. Discuss your course needs with your district’s curriculum specialist and/or your principal.
2. Obtain any paperwork or regulations required by your district when creating new courses. 
3. Download or print the High School Course Approval Request Form or Course Approval Form to Teach a High School Course in Grades 5-8.
4. Note that there are seven important items listed on the form that should be included with the approval request.  These include the course outline; a list of instructional materials; and descriptions of the targeted student population, instructional strategies, assessments, and hands-on activities.
5. Assistance with the applications can be provided by the content area specialists at ADE by calling 501-682-7442.
6. When the course approval request is ready to submit, it can be mailed to Dr. Tracy Tucker.
7. After the review by the course approval committee, requests receive one of three possible responses: approval, disapproval, or request for further information.
8. Schools will be notified in writing of committee findings, but often other communications occur before, during, and after the committee review.
9. June 1 is the deadline for submission of requests for the following school year.

What laws and rules does our school need to be aware of regarding course approvals?

• Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools
• ADE Rules Governing Uniform Grading Scales for Public Secondary Schools and for Optimal use in Public Elementary Schools

 

For more information, please contact: