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Course Proposal Planning and Review

Middle Schools

Only those courses that are included in the APS Middle School Curriculum are to be offered or scheduled by any school. Any middle school may propose a new course.

The course numbers, titles, descriptions, and other parts of the course outlines included in the APS Middle School Curriculum will be followed by schools in preparing content for courses or for instituting courses.

Procedure

  1. New courses will be developed according to the Middle School Course Proposal Process. Teachers and administrators, in a collaborative process, should be involved in the decision to develop a new course.
  2. The proposal form will be reviewed by the appropriate school committee (SRC, schedule committee, or assistant principal). The committee chairperson will sign the completed form in the space provided. This signature indicates that the person or committee responsible for the school’s curriculum agrees that the course will be in the best interests of students who will enroll in it.
  3. The proposal form will be sent to the appropriate middle school principal for review and signature. This signature indicates that the school is prepared to offer the course if approved.
  4. The proposal form will be sent to District Coordinator of Middle School Curriculum who will prepare and schedule it for review by the Middle School Curriculum Board.
  5. The Middle School Curriculum Board will approve or disapprove the proposal. If approved, a date will be set for evaluation after the first offering of the course has been completed.
  6. After a course has been approved, the course will be assigned a course number.
  7. The course description will be prepared for inclusion in APS Middle School Curriculum book and distributed to all book holders.

High Schools

Only those courses that are included in the APS High School Curriculum -- District Essentials And Guidelines or those approved on a waiver for a single school are to be offered or scheduled by any school. There is no provision made for offering credit which does not fall into one of these two categories.

 The course numbers, titles, descriptions, and other parts of the course outlines included in the APS High School Curriculum -- District Essentials And Guidelines will be used by schools in preparing content for a course or for instituting courses. The course description section of course outlines will be used in the school course description booklets given to students for preregistration or registration purposes. However, course titles and course descriptions may appear with additional words or sentences to indicate a special emphasis or enrollment limitation at a school site.

Procedure

  1. New courses to be considered will be shaped by student needs, community needs, and/or national trends. Courses not authorized to meet graduation requirements must conform with provisions of the procedural directive on High School Elective Credit.
  2. New courses will be developed by teachers, department chairpersons, and/or curriculum assistants, in consultation with the District Coordinator of High School Curriculum using High School Course Proposal Planning Forms.
  3. A proposed new course will be reviewed by teachers in the department. Chairperson will sign the completed form in the space provided.
  4. After department review, the course proposal will be sent to the high school assistant principal for curriculum for review and signature indicating that the proposed course has been reviewed by all appropriate curriculum committees at the school.
  5. The high school principal will review the proposed course. The principal's signature indicates that the school as a whole supports the course and is prepared to offer it.
  6. The principal will send the proposed course to the District Coordinator for High School Curriculum for approval.
  7. The Course Proposal Planning Form for the new course will be returned to the District Coordinator for Curriculum Development who will publish the course outline and distribute to the appropriate personnel for inclusion in the APS High School Curriculum -- District Essentials And Guidelines

Cross Ref.: Board Policy I.13

NSBA/NEPN Classification: IGD

Revised: May 1995

Revised: April 1996

Revised: May 1997