Course Description Template Instructions

SCHOOL INFORMATION
1. School Information. Enter the name of the school, the high school district, and the city where the school resides.
2. School Course List Contact Information. Enter the contact information for the school course list contact of the course.
3. Teacher Contact Information. Enter the contact information for the teacher of the course.
PREVIOUSLY APPROVED COURSES
Exact course titles must be used for all previously approved course submissions. During the submission process, you will be asked to enter the course name; a drop-down box will self-populate the exact course title after you enter the first three letters of the previously approved course.
1. Complete outlines are not needed for courses that were previously approved by UC. If course was previously approved, indicate in which category it falls. UC requires a complete course description (i.e., objectives, course outline, key assignments, text information, etc.) for most courses. However, if the course has been previously approved by UC, then the University only requires the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template, and no additional documentation. Courses may have been previously approved in the below cases:
  1. Is this course modeled after an UC-approved course from another school outside of your district? It is acceptable to model a course after a similar course at another school outside of your district. If this is the case, please indicate the school and the course title after which the course is modeled. It is not acceptable, however, to copy verbatim and submit the other school's course. The course description should be modified to reflect the curriculum as it is/would be taught in your district. Knowing whether the course is modeled after another UC-approved course helps UC reviewers to be more consistent in their judgments. However, it does not guarantee course approval, as sometimes faculty policies have been modified or clarified since the earlier approval. If your response is "yes", the update site will redirect you to the section where you will be able to submit a complete course description.
  2. Courses reinstated after removal within 3 years. Some schools are unable to offer every course every year. If the course was removed from the school's UC approved course list in the past three years, it can be reinstated by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template. However, if the course was removed from the course list more than three years ago, a complete course description/outline is required. In completing this field, indicate the year the course was removed from the list and the previous course title, if different than that of the current submission. From the drop-down menu, select the school year when the course was removed from the course list.
  3. Approved A.V.I.D. courses. If your school participates in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program and the AVID teacher follows the standardized AVID Junior/Senior Seminar curriculum, that course can be added to your school's "a-g" course list by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template
  4. Approved Advanced Placement Course. UC accepts for honors credit Advanced Placement courses, assuming that they follow the standardized curriculum established by The College Board. These courses can be added by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template. The University is interested in knowing if this course has been submitted to College Board for the AP audit and if so, was it authorized. From the drop-down menu, select the AP course your school wishes to add to the school's course list.
  5. Approved CDE Agricultural Education courses. Several CDE Agricultural Education courses have been pre-approved by UC. If your school participates in the CDE Agricultural Education program and the Ag teachers follow the standardized CDE AgEd curriculum, courses can be added to your school's "a-g" course list by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template. For a list of pre-approved CDE AgEd courses, visit https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/ and search on "CDE." To add to your list, from the drop down menu select the CDE Ag Ed course your school wishes to add to the school's course list.
  6. CSU Early Assessment Program (EAP). A standardized course description has been approved by UC faculty and satisfies the "b" English requirement. In June 2006, UC faculty granted "program status" for EAP, which allows any school that offers the EAP "Expository Reading and Writing" curriculum to add the course to their own "a-g" course list.
  7. Approved C.A.R.T. courses. Several courses offered at the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (Clovis, CA) have been pre-approved by UC. If your school is in either Fresno or Clovis Unified School Districts and some of your students attend CART, those courses can be added to your school's "a-g" course list by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template. For a list of pre-approved CART courses, visit https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/ and search on "CART."
  8. Approved International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. UC accepts for honors credit most International Baccalaureate courses, assuming that they follow the standardized curriculum established by The College Board or the International Baccalaureate Organization, respectively. These courses can be added by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template. Course titles used should be consistent with those that appear on the IB program course lists, found at https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/ by searching on "IB," respectively. Exception: In order for schools with IB programs to receive honors credit for Theory of Knowledge, a complete course description must be submitted and approved by faculty/staff. In order to submit the complete course description for Theory of Knowledge, a school must respond "no" to the question about the course being previously approved.
  9. Approved Project Lead the Way courses. Project Lead the Way is an engineering education program utilized in dozens of schools in California. The PLTW courses have been pre-approved and thus can be added to your school's course list by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template. For a list of pre-approved courses, visit https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/ and search on "Project."
  10. Approved ROP/C courses. UC has approved many courses offered by Regional Occupation Centers/Programs. To determine if a ROP/C course has been pre-approved, visit https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/ and search on the name of the specific ROP/C that serves your school. UC will approve a course for any/all schools whose students attend the ROP/C, but each school must individually request that the course be added to their own course list by submitting the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template.
  11. Approved P.A.S.S./Cyber High courses. The Portable Assisted Study Sequence (P.A.S.S.) program is a migrant education program coordinated by the Fresno County Office of Education. Cyber High is the online version of these P.A.S.S. courses. Certain P.A.S.S./Cyber High courses have been pre-approved and thus can be added to your school's course list by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template. For a list of pre-approved courses, visit https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/ and search on "PASS" or "Cyber."
  12. Is this course provided by a UC approved online curriculum provider listed below? Have you signed the appropriate partnership agreement with the provider regarding methods of delivery and instruction? Currently, UC accepts for "a-g" credit designated online courses offered through the online providers' programs listed. For a list of pre-approved courses offered by these programs, go to the Doorways course list web site, at https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/, and search the appropriate online providers' course list. If the course you are submitting is Internet-based, please check the appropriate box for the provider with whom you have an signed agreement.
  13. Identical courses already approved at another school in same district. If the identical course (i.e., same course content, text, student expectations) has already been approved at another school in your district, then the course can be added by submitting only the information on the Cover Page of the Course Description Template. When a school checks this box, UC assumes that the district has developed and approved the standardized curriculum and monitors that it is being taught consistently from school site to school site. Charter schools are expected to submit all course descriptions even if similar courses have been approved at other schools in the district, as the district does not have the same level of oversight and curricular control over charter schools as it does over other schools in the district.
  14. Is this course a resubmission? In this field, please indicate if the school has previously submitted this course for UC approval. Knowing this information helps UC reviewers to be consistent in their judgments because they can review the previous submission and UC's feedback to the school to determine if the newer submission adequately addresses the concerns/reasons for non-approval. Please indicate the date of the previous submission, as well as the course title, if different from the current submission.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
1. Course Title. List the course title as you wish it to appear on the school's UC-certified "a-g" course list. If the course is an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) course, UC expects the course title to be consistent with the titles designated by The College Board and the International Baccalaureate Organization, respectively. The list of these designated titles can be found on the Doorways course list web site, at https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/. Search for "AP" or "IB," respectively. Also, if the school uses a variety of course titles for the same curriculum (i.e., US History, US History SDAIE, US History/Media Academy), UC prefers that the school list the course title only once on the "a-g" course list, but list several transcript abbreviations.
2. Transcript Title(s) / Abbreviation(s). Enter the abbreviation(s) of the course title that will appear on the official student transcript. You may list several transcript abbreviations for each course. For example, if there are multiple sections/versions of the same curriculum/course (i.e., US History, US History SDAIE, US History/Media Academy), list them all.
3. Transcript Course Code(s) / Number(s). If the school assigns a course number/code for all courses, list the number(s)/code(s) here. You may list several course codes/numbers for each course, perhaps associated to different versions of the same course/curriculum (see the example under #2 above).
4. Seeking Honors Distinction? There will be separate subject specific templates for school-designed honor courses. In order for a high school course to meet the UC criteria for UC honors level work, it must meet the following criteria, all described fully in the "Honors" section:
  1. Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or offered at a level comparable to a AP, IB or collegiate level courses
  2. Designed for 11th/12th grade levels
  3. School offers a non-honors equivalent. For exceptions to this criteria, refer to the "Honors" section.
  4. Course includes a comprehensive written final exam
  5. Course has appropriate pre-requisites
  6. School does not exceed the maximum number of honors courses per subject area. For further explanation of this criterion, refer to the "Honors" section.
  7. Course meets the subject-specific criteria for UC honors status described fully in the "Honors" section.
5. Subject Area. All courses submitted for approval must meet one of the "a-g" subject area requirements. Indicate the proposed subject area requirement that will be satisfied by this course.
6. Category. Select the appropriate subject category from the pull-down menu.
7. Grade Level(s). Check the grade level(s) for which the course was intended/designed. Check all that apply. If a course is intended primarily for 11th and 12th graders but some advanced 10th graders take the course, please indicate that the course is intended for 11th and 12th graders.
8. Unit Value. Although UC recognizes that schools utilize a variety of schedules, please indicate whether the course is equivalent to ½ year or full year of coursework. Please check the closest equivalency. Note that UC does not approve courses that do not meet at least ½ year equivalency. Two trimesters are the equivalent to one semester.
COURSE ATTRIBUTES
1. Is this course classified as a Career Technical Education and/or ROP course? UC is interested in knowing if the course is CTE or ROP or a combination of the both. If the course is a CTE course then the career pathway and sector is also a required field. UC will use this data to compile a report at the end of each update cycle to know how many CTE courses are approved and at which schools the courses are offered.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
1. Brief Course Description. Briefly (in a short paragraph) describe the course, focusing on content, rather than instructional strategies, assessments, or rationale.
2. Prerequisites. Some courses, particularly mathematics and laboratory science, require appropriate prerequisites. List any/all prerequisites in this field. Note that lab science courses require a prerequisite of Algebra I. Be sure to list it in this field.
3. Co-requisites. List any/all co-requisites.
Optional Background Information. The following sections are OPTIONAL. They may or may not be appropriate for any given course. This information is mandatory for CTE course submissions to assist UC in assessing the CTE course submission.
1. Context for Course. (This is an optional section.) In order to understand the context for a new course, sometimes it is helpful for UC to understand the broader educational program and/or reform efforts of the school. As such, you may want to provide additional information. How does this course fit into broader departmental and/or pathway structure? How does it fit into the overall school restructuring plans? Is the course intended to be a core course or supplemental? What are the student/school/community needs met by this course?
2. History of Course Development. (This is an optional section.) Likewise, it is sometimes helpful for UC to know the origins of a course and who was involved in its development. Who was involved in the course development? Did you consult with UC Admissions personnel or UC professors? If so, what was the nature of such consultation and what was the result? Was this course modeled after another course at another school? If so, is that course UC approved? How does the course being submitted differ from the course after which it was modeled? Has this course received any special recognitions, designations or awards? Has it been articulated to local community colleges or universities?
Texts & Supplemental Instructional Materials. First, list district-adopted core textbooks and core literature. Enter also the edition, publication date, author and the usage for the book. Additional books may also be listed by clicking on the "Additional textbooks" button. Following all major textbooks then list the use of supplemental readings, articles, reports, etc., indicating if materials will be used in part or in their entirety. Feel free to also list additional reference/resource materials, including books, periodicals, web sites, etc.