Over time, confusion has arisen regarding the course approval process. As a consequence of this confusion, school districts may be teaching courses which have never been approved by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). After discussions with many school districts, ADE is authorizing a temporary two-year conditional course approval process, based on the belief that quality curriculum development is always in the best interest of children and that school districts need extended time to accomplish this task.
This year, all school districts should give priority to seeking approval for those courses which are used to meet the minimum graduation requirements (21 units) and/or are used to meet state curriculum requirements of 38 units. None of the courses specified in the 38-unit requirement in the Standards for Accreditation should be submitted for approval (e.g., Oral Communications, World History, etc.). Courses outside the 21 units required for graduation and outside the 38-unit requirement in the Standards for Accreditation comprise the second priority level. Such courses should be submitted for approval no later than June 1, 2005, for the 2005-06 school year, although earlier submissions will be processed.
Schools seeking the two-year conditional course approval status initially must submit each course approval request based on the attachment to this Director’s Memo by June 1, 2003. Failure on the part of a school district to comply with requirements outlined in the attachment shall result in disapproval. Schools shall be asked to provide additional follow-up review information regarding the course instructional strategies, assessments and samples of student work during the two-year conditional course approval period. All of the current requirements of the course approval process shall be fulfilled during the two-year conditional course approval period leading up to final approval or disapproval.
Attached is a form for use in submitting the request for conditional first-year approval. Please do not exceed two pages in this submission.