On April 9, 2015, the Arkansas State Board of Education approved an update to the Standards for Accreditation that created the computer science credit. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) references this credit option as the “Computer Science Flex Credit.” Students may receive a Computer Science Flex Credit for successful completion of any of the ADE/ARCareerED Approved HS Computer Science courses, which are currently listed at https://goo.gl/SXciCv.
As a result of this update, a student receiving a Computer Science Flex Credit can substitute that credit in place of the 4th math credit requirement or the 3rd science credit requirement for either Smart Core or Core graduation paths. A student receiving two Computer Science Flex Credits can substitute those credits in place of the 4th math credit requirement and the 3rd science credit requirement for either Smart Core or Core graduation paths.
When calculating a student’s graduation eligibility, Triand automatically considers a student’s earned credits and makes any appropriate substitutions as necessary. Once a student has met all math and science requirements, any additional non-used computer science credits will be recognized as a career focus credit. Triand business rules have been updated to correctly calculate credits earned for students using Computer Science Flex Credits for math/ science requirements. Schools should notice the update in Triand within the next few weeks.
As the student is receiving a computer science credit in lieu of the math and/or science credit, teachers of record for approved Computer Science courses do not have to hold a mathematics or science certification. The teacher must hold either the 528 Computer Science Endorsement or one of the temporary approval codes. More information on the endorsement and approval codes can be found at https://goo.gl/pUc9Zk.
All students must earn one credit in Biology, IB Biology, ADE Biology, ADE Approved Biology Honors, or Concurrent Credit Biology. A student may not use the Computer Science Flex Credit to replace the Biology requirement.
ADE encourages all schools to clearly present the school’s computer science offerings on both the school’s course catalog and all student course selection worksheets. The school’s course catalog and all student course selection worksheets should also clearly indicate that under the ADE Standards for Accreditation that a student may use earned computer science units as Computer Science Flex Credits as outlined above.