Berkeley County School District’s Proficiency- based Learning System Dr. Kevin O’Gorman, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Rodney Thompson, Superintendent September 10, 2012

 New for , school districts were required to submit an application to the state department of education if online or alternative courses (“proficiency-based” courses) were being offered to students for initial credit or credit recovery.

Timeline  May 15 th - memo sent to superintendents requiring a new process for proficiency-based systems/courses (initial credit and credit recovery) to be approved  July 15 th, applications were due  August 7 th – received official word that our application was approved (all districts were notified on the same date)  August 7 th – received guidelines from the state specific to these types of courses

Guidelines Provided August 7th  Teachers of all proficiency courses must be Highly Qualified, must hold South Carolina certification, and must be appropriately certified for the proficiency subjects taught unless an State Board of Education waiver has been granted.  Proficiency-based systems which include a component where students learn computer-based content in a lab setting must have a certified teacher providing all instructional support in the lab.  The teacher of record must have direct interaction with students on a regular basis and must monitor student achievement in the subject area.  Proficiency-based courses must meet all relevant state statutes and regulations unless a State Board of Education waiver has been granted to the district.

District Assurances  Local school board approval of the Proficiency-Based System. Documentation to the local school board should include the following:  **An explanation of the needs assessment  A description of the subject area course procedure for each high school proficiency-based credit the school will implement  A complete syllabus for each course, including instructional methodologies  **Documentation that each course is aligned to state adopted standards  **Criteria used for selection students for each course  **Proposed assessment methodologies  **An explanation of how the assessments will be standardized across the district if the course is offered in multiple schools  **This information is contained in the application you have received

Online Providers  SC Virtual School  APEX  k12 (A+).  All have AdvancEd accreditation (the same accreditation we have)

A description of the subject area course procedure for each high school proficiency-based credit the school will implement  A document outlining the guidelines has been placed in your folders (BCSD Guidelines for Proficiency-Based Courses)

A complete syllabus for each course, including instructional methodologies  Curriculum committees (teachers, content coordinators, APIs, etc.) reviewed each course to align with our current curriculum.  em/ProgramOfStudies1.pdf em/ProgramOfStudies1.pdf

The Application  mpaign=share&utm_medium=copy mpaign=share&utm_medium=copy  (**The PREZI above cannot be opened in Internet Explorer)

Questions?