Courses Denoted as “requires ADE approval”

In an effort to clarify and support intended uses, course codes that require approval from DESE will now be titled “(requires ADE approval).”  Therefore, courses that could be used toward the 22 units of credit required for graduation with approval through the ADE Course Approval System (CAS) will reflect the updated titles [e.g., 513020 “English 12 (requires ADE approval)”].

Courses Denoted as “Weighted - requires ADE approval”

In an effort to clarify and support intended uses, course codes that require approval from DESE to award weighted credit will now be titled “(Weighted - requires ADE approval).” This means that courses that may be used to award weighted credit without DESE approval will not change (e.g., 491490 “Animal and Plant Biotechnology (CASE) Weighted Credit”). Courses that may be used to award weighted credit with approval through the ADE Course Approval System (CAS) will reflect the updated titles [e.g., 534020 “Calculus (Weighted - requires ADE approval)”].  

Locally-Designated Honors Courses

As noted above, course codes intended to be used with approval for awarding weighted credit are now denoted as “(Weighted - requires ADE approval).” These were previously denoted as “Honors,” which caused them to be used in ways that were not intended. Districts may still locally designate a course as “honors;” they should do so by locally adjusting the 6th digit in the course code (e.g., districts who wish to locally designate an English 9 course as an honors course may use the 410000 course code and choose to adjust the 6th digit to reflect 41000H).

AP Capstone

While course code 596110 for AP Capstone will be deleted for the 2021-22 school year, AP Capstone is still  available.  The AP Capstone "course" is comprised of two separate courses: 517070 AP Research and 517060 AP Seminar. These are the course codes that should be used for districts that wish to utilize AP Capstone.

Courses for Physical Education (PE) Credit

The 485000 Physical Education course should no longer be used for 2021-22 and beyond.  There are four courses available for awarding PE credit: 485010 Personal Fitness for Life (0.5 credit), 485020 Recreational Sports (0.5 credit), 485030 Outdoor Pursuits (0.5 credit), and 485040 Athletics (0.5 credit).  Districts must offer at least two of these courses to reach the one full credit for the required 38.  Per § A.C.A. 6-16-137(c), a student may have no more than 0.5 unit of physical education credit toward graduation for a single organized physical activity course. In keeping with prior practices, students will be allowed up to one full credit to be counted towards the 22 units required for graduation. One full credit requires successfully completing two of the four PE courses listed above. 

New Science Courses

Two new International Baccalaureate courses are available beginning in the 2021-22 school year.  In 529050 IB: Environmental Systems and Societies (ES&S), students will be provided with a coherent perspective of the interrelationships between environmental systems and societies, one that enables them to adopt an informed personal response to the wide range of pressing environmental issues that they will inevitably come to face.  In 529040 IB: Sports, Exercise, and Health Science (SEHS), students develop their understanding of the scientific method through exploration of the concepts, theories, models, and techniques that underpin each subject area.

Computer Science

Computer Science and Computing (CSC) courses are transitioning from single semester course codes, as found in the current high school courses, to year long courses. Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, all CSC courses will be assigned one course code that represents one year (one full credit). This change will align the CSC courses with the precedent found within the majority of other subject areas and also allow for clearer communications.

Arkansas Department of Education: Division of Career and Technical Education (ADE: CTE) Course Code Changes with Crosswalk

In an effort to clarify and support intended uses of ADE: CTE courses for 2021-22, a crosswalk was developed to assist with implementation of the changes. The crosswalk clearly outlines the streamlined CTE course codes arranged by career clusters and programs of study, including course levels with direct alignment to concurrent credit course codes. The crosswalk, course code modifications, and deletions can be viewed at the following link to assist districts and secondary technical centers: 

ADE: CTE Course Code Changes with Crosswalk

ADE: CTE Course Code Selection Instructions