COURSE CODES
AND THE
ACTIVITY CODING
SYSTEM
Agenda
◦ General Overview ◦ Content and Codes
◦ SC Uniform Grading Policy
◦ Creating Instructional Activity Codes ◦ Credit Types
◦ Credit Weightings ◦ LBA Courses
◦ Dual Credit Courses ◦ SPED Courses
Overview
◦ The Activity Coding System includes the standardized codes for courses, instructional
activities, and non-instructional activities used in the student information systems in South Carolina public schools. The Activity Coding System is the foundation on which course codes, class scheduling, and class sections are built. The system standardizes data that are collected for federal and state funding and accountability purposes.
◦ The Activity Coding System provides the coding system for both regular instructional
activities, and special education instructional activities. This is in addition to the non-instructional activities.
Content
and
Codes
Content
◦ Course content is developed and/or
approved in the various offices within the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) responsible or curriculum and instruction. Course codes are assigned to courses by the Office of Federal and State
Accountability.
Codes
◦ The Office of Federal and State
Accountability does not create or approve course content; however, prior to the creation and assignment of a course code, the course content must exist. In order to assign a course code, the Office of Federal and State Accountability must have a course title, description, objectives,
recommended grade levels, prerequisites, course credit, and content summary.
SC Uniform Grading Policy
◦ Please note the following text from the South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy (January
9, 2007), specifically item C about Honors weighting for courses outside English, mathematics, science, and social studies and dual credit courses:
◦ School districts may designate honors courses and give the assigned weighting under
the following conditions:
◦ A. A honors course must have a published syllabus that verifies rigor sufficiently beyond the
College Preparatory (CP) requirements.
◦ B. Textbooks and other course materials must be differentiated and more rigorous than those
used in CP courses.
◦ C. Honors courses may be offered in English, mathematics, science, and social studies. Honors
weighting may be designated in other content areas for the third and fourth level of the courses, provided that the two above standards are met. Honors weighting may not be designated in any physical education courses.
Creating Instructional Activity Codes
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Each dash stands for a character that makes a
complete course code. They are eight characters
Creating Instructional Activity Codes
◦ Prekindergarten though Grade Six range
from 1000 though 1999
◦ The first digit will always be 1
◦ The second digit represents specific
instructional areas
◦ The third and fourth represent the specific
course of study
◦ The fifth and sixth are district defined ◦ The seventh is 0
◦ The eighth digit is 0, with the exception
self-contained prekindergarten,
kindergarten, and multiage-grouping classes.
Creating Instructional Activity Codes
◦ Grades Seven and Eight range from
2000 through 2999
◦ The first digit will always be 2
◦ The second digit represents specific
instructional areas
◦ The third and fourth represent the
specific course of study
◦ The fifth and sixth are district defined ◦ The seventh and eighth digits are zeros
Creating Instructional Activity Codes
◦ Grades Nine though Twelve (Gen Ed)
range from 3000 through 4999
◦ The first digit will always be 3 or 4 ◦ The second digit represents specific
instructional areas
◦ The third and fourth represent the
specific course of study
◦ The fifth and sixth are district defined
◦ The seventh and eighth characters are
letters representing the credit type and weight
Credit Types – Seventh Character
◦ Biology 1 – 322100CH
◦ The seventh character represents the academic tag associated with the course. This also
determines the grade scale:
◦ C = College Prep
◦ A = Advanced Placement (College Board official course) ◦ I = International Baccalaureate
◦ H = Honors ◦ E = Dual Credit
◦ Number that represents instructional approach to non-credit special education courses ◦ The number 0 (zero) if there is no credit
◦ NOTE: Even though the seventh character represents the academic tag, you still need to select
Credit Weightings – Eighth Character
◦ Biology 1 – 322100CH
◦ The eighth character represents the unit tag for credit-bearing courses ◦ W = Whole unit (1)
◦ H = Half unit (.5) ◦ D = Two units (2) ◦ T = Three units (3)
◦ The number 0 if no credit
◦ Number that represents the special education instructional area
◦ CAUTION – when using D or T. It is incredibly wise for you to contact me before
submitting a request with either (It boils down to seat time[Disclaimer: As the SCPCSD, we are exempt from some items like this unless otherwise outlined in your charter.])
Local Board Approved Courses
◦ No LBA course can be Honors unless it is an elective
◦ If you have concern regarding this, email me ([email protected]) and we can take this a
step further, if need be.
◦ It cannot count towards core class graduation criteria
◦ There are specific course codes for Local Board Approved course requests. All of which
Dual Credit Courses
◦ Dual credit courses—whether they are taken at the school where the student is
enrolled or at a postsecondary institution—are those courses for which the student has been granted permission by his or her home school to earn both Carnegie units and college credit for those particular courses.
◦ One quality point is added to the CP weighting for dual credit courses that are
applicable to baccalaureate degrees or to associate degreesoffered by accredited institutions (see State Board of Education Regulation 43-234, Defined Program, Grades 9–12).
◦ College orientation courses offered by postsecondary institutions carry CP weighting
Titles for Special Education Courses
◦ These course titles CANNOT have EH, LD, OH, Resource, etc. in the name ◦ Based on the title, it cannot be specific to SPED students only
◦ Recommendation from SCDE: Use same titles as general education courses even
though course activity code will be different.
◦ When you create sections in these courses, that is where you can designate that the
students are involved in SPED services
◦ We can all blame Darlene Prevatt if we get an OCR complaint based on this
◦ Suggestions for Tutorial – Academic Support, Academic Studies, or Academic Seminar ◦ 19_ _, 29_ _, and 39_ _ are all Special Education prefixes
Titles for Special Education Courses
◦ Please review the various tables for SPED courses. They encompass Self-Contained,
