Online Courses & the University of California’s A-G Subject Area Requirements Hannah Frankel High School Articulation Analyst University of California | Office of the President California Consortium for Independent Study (CCIS) Conference January 31, 2014

Today’s Session Overview and key online policy definitions New “a-g” review process for online courses Next steps for institutions with existing online courses Additional policy highlights

Overview and Definitions California Consortium for Independent Study (CCIS) Conference January 31, 2014

A-G Course List UC and CSU admissions requirements include satisfying a 15-course pattern of “a-g” college-preparatory courses. May only use courses that appear on a “a-g” course list. Submit “a-g” courses and revisions via the A-G Online Update website: https://doorways.ucop.edu/update. Approve courses for “a-g” purposes based on criteria established by UC faculty. Course list accuracy is important! Course lists available at https://doorways.ucop.edu/list.

A-G Course Submission Timeline New update cycle opens on February 1 PHASE 1 February 1-May 31 New courses submitted have up to 2* resubmission opportunities PHASE 2 June 1- July 31 New courses submitted have 1 resubmission opportunity PHASE 3 August 1-September 15 New courses submitted have no resubmission opportunity Update cycle closes on September 15 *Phase 1: 1st resubmission due by July 31 2nd resubmission due by September 15

Big Changes for 2015-16! NEW A-G Course Management System or A-G CMP. Replace the Online Update website. Part of UC’s initiative to improve overall “a-g” course submission and review process. Major highlights: Clarifying and updating the “a-g” subject area course criteria. Developing and distributing new “a-g” course evaluation rubrics. Streamlining the course submission form to align with the “a-g” course criteria. Increasing “a-g” resources and Articulation staff.

Key Definitions What is an online course? More than 50% of instruction is through Internet-based methods with time and/or distance separating teacher and student. What is a commercial online course? Courses that are sold or licensed to individual schools or district for delivery by the high school or online school. What is a non-commercial online course? Teacher-created, home-grown online courses offered by the local high school or district only to their students.

More Definitions What is an online course publisher? Develops their own online curriculum and sells or licenses their courses for delivery by a teacher at a local high school. What is an online school? Diploma-granting institution offering all or the majority of their courses through Internet-based methods, with time and/or distance separating the teacher and student.

NEW A-G Review Process for Online Courses California Consortium for Independent Study (CCIS) Conference January 31, 2014

Home-Grown / Non-Commercial Courses NEW Online Course Review Process: Assessment against iNACOL course standards. CLRN course certification, OR Self-assessment conducted by institution Review by UC for final “a-g” approval. Effective for new courses in the 2014-15 update cycle. Effective for online institutions for 2013-14 update cycle. Online courses approved for 3-year term.

Type of Institution / Online Educational Program Step #1: CLRN Certification vs. Self-Assessment Type of Institution / Online Educational Program CLRN Certification Self-Assessment Online course publishers serving public schools  Online course publishers serving only private institutions Public high schools opening home-grown online courses to students outside of their district Public high schools opening home-grown online courses only to students within their district Private high schools

Step #1A: CLRN Certification A CLRN-certified course must: Meet at least 80% of CA Content or Common Core Standards. Fulfill all 15 “power standards” from the iNACOL course standards. Satisfy at least 27 of the remaining iNACOL course standards. CLRN certifies only courses that align with a set of standards. Courses not aligned with standards are self-assessed (Step #1B). To submit a course to CLRN: http://clrn.org/elr/index.cfm?event=publisher.login

Step #1B: Self-Assessment Institution conducts self-assessment against iNACOL course standards. Self-assessment form completed online as part of the new course submission for UC “a-g” review. Paper version of self-assessment form available on “a-g” Guide.

Online Course Self-Assessment Form URL: https://doorways.ucop.edu/update

Step #2: UC A-G Course Review Submit courses to UC for final “a-g” review. Courses submitted via Online Update website. May only submit CLRN-certified or self-assessed courses. Single submission if online & classroom curricula are the same. Separate submissions if online & classroom curricula are different. Online courses reviewed using same criteria and process as non-online courses.

Commercial / Purchased Online Courses Responsibility of online course publisher to undergo 2-step “a-g” course review process every 3 years. Adding UC-approved online courses from a publisher to an “a-g” course list: Courses are submitted as “previously approved” courses. Not required to re-add courses every 3 years. Courses from publishers must be on your “a-g” course list! Why? So students can use the courses to satisfy “a-g” subject requirements. Do not put courses from online schools on your “a-g” course list. Publishers’ “a-g” course lists available on Course List website.

Next Steps: Existing Online Courses California Consortium for Independent Study (CCIS) Conference January 31, 2014

Commercial / Purchased Online Courses 2013-14 update cycle: Online publishers completing re-review process through January 31. 2014-15 update cycle: NO actions required for publisher courses that were re-approved under new policy. Re-approved courses will remain on 2014-15 “a-g” course lists. What if a publisher’s online course was not re-approved? Course will be removed from 2014-15 “a-g” course lists on Feb 1. NOT affect students that completed the course during or before the 2013-14 academic year. Course could earn re-approval during 2014-15 update cycle. Institutions will need to re-add course to 2014-15 “a-g” course lists.

Home-Grown / Non-Commercial Online Courses Identified home-grown online courses in demographic information submission during 2013-14 update cycle. On “a-g” course list, home-grown online courses marked with the note: “A version of this course may be offered online.” To maintain course approval for 2014-15 year and beyond: Conduct self-assessment against iNACOL course standards. Use “Revise Course” section to submit assessment. Begins online course’s 3-year approval term. Deadline to complete assessment: May 31, 2014. UC will remove all non-assessed online courses on June 1.

Additional Policy Highlights California Consortium for Independent Study (CCIS) Conference January 31, 2014

Additional Policy Highlights Principal certification for non-UC-approved online courses Not acceptable for online courses completed in 2013-14 year and beyond. Acceptable for summer 2013 courses completed by students entering 11th and 12th grades. Non-online institutions offering online courses required to meet UC’s institutional expectations.

Lab Science & VPA Online Courses Online courses in the laboratory sciences. OK if it has required, supervised, on-site wet labs. NEW process for lab science courses from online publishers Online publishers may submit courses to UC without the lab component. Schools intending to add UC-approved online lab science courses from an online publisher are required to submit the lab component. Online courses in the visual & performing arts. NOT currently accepted. Online college-level laboratory science and visual & performing arts courses ok!

Resources California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) http://clrn.org International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) http://inacol.org University of California “a-g” subject requirements: A-G Course Lists – https://doorways.ucop.edu/list A-G Online Update – https://doorways.ucop.edu/update A-G Guide – http://www.ucop.edu/agguide/ UC High School Articulation unit E-mail: hsupdate@ucop.edu Phone: (510) 987-9570