NCAA Eligibility Center's Nontraditonal Coursework Questionnaire
CIS of Georgia's responses based on the PLC Model
Content and Delivery:
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Are the nontraditional courses used for original credit, credit recovery or both? If used for
both, please describe in detail the differences between the two.
There are five options on the approved list of curriculum software for Georgia PLCs for original credit
and credit recovery – NovaNet, Apex, Plato, E ducation2020, and OdysseyWare. Our students complete
lessons in core and business elective courses that are aligned with the Georgia GPS standards. Students
in both the original credit and credit recovery courses are able to work at their own pace but are held to
a very high standard (scoring 80% or above prior to moving on to the next lesson). A student may test
out of a lesson only if he is repeating the course and he scores 80% or above on all objectives within an
online lesson.
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Are the nontraditional courses at your school part of the published college preparatory course
sequence?
Yes, PLC (nontraditional) students take the same courses as the traditional high school students. PLC
students are held to a higher standard than the traditional high school students, as they are required to
score 80% or above on each lesson before moving on.
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Are the nontraditional courses taught at or above your school’s regular academic level?
The nontraditional courses taught at the Performance Learning Center are on grade level with the same
requirements for graduation. One difference is that PLC students are able to spend more time on
concepts that are difficult for them and work quickly through ones that come more easily.
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Who designed the curriculum in the nontraditional courses? If the curriculum was purchased
from a content provider, please name the provider(s).
There are five vendors on an approved list from which districts with Performance Learning Centers may
choose for their online curriculum: Education2020, NovaNet, Plato, Apex, and OdysseyWare, all of which
are aligned to the Georgia Performance Standards. The coursework also includes activities such as
direct instruction by certified teachers, vocabulary study, interactive lab simulations, essay writing,
projects, online or offline content reading and homework/practice.
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Are the nontraditional courses delivered (1) online, (b) via computer software, (c) through a
blended model or (d) via other means?
A PLC’s nontraditional courses are delivered through a blended model that includes online instruction,
offline assignments guided by the teacher, project based learning, research papers, and other on hands
assignments, like labs. All PLC students must also participate in at least one academic service learning
project and meet weekly with an advisor that works on career and college readiness. Quizzes, topic
tests and cumulative exam reviews serve as formative assessments prior to students taking summative
Updated June 2013
assessments. PLC students also must take the same Georgia End of Course tests and High School
Graduation Tests (as applicable) to graduate with an official high school diploma.
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Are nontraditional courses delivered through a learning management system? If so, please
explain.
The curriculum providers each have their own proprietary learning management systems embedded
with the curriculum. In addition, the PLC teacher-facilitators have developed syllabi and pacing guides
for each course, and they work with the students to track progress through the courses. The pacing
guides are aligned with the Georgia Performance Standards and the high school curriculum. Courses are
taken in a sequential manner rather than taking two courses in the same content area at the same time.
7. Are nontraditional courses delivered synchronously or asynchronously?
PLC students report to a brick-and-mortar school daily and are given a class schedule of courses. Within
each course, students may work at their own pace online, so students within the same class may be at
different points within the online lessons. The students must do the lessons in order rather than
skipping around. Projects and offline assignments are led by the teacher-facilitator in a synchronous
fashion.
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Are the lessons, modules and assignments within a given course the same for all students? If
not, please explain.
Yes. There is no customization for individual students within the online curriculum in a given course,
except to provide additional scaffolding, such as paper-and-pencil study guides, peer tutoring or one-onone teacher instruction, to help them be successful with the online content. All students are responsible
for the same course material as outlined in the syllabi/pacing guide and are held to the same high
standard as the traditional high school.
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Can a student be exempted from or test out of certain portions of a course? If so please
explain.
With the blended learning used at the Performance Learning Centers, nontraditional students not only
have to complete online lessons at an 80%-pass-rate, but they must complete offline assignments,
projects and other activities determined by the teacher/learning facilitator. A student may test out of a
lesson only if he is repeating the course and he scores 80% or above on all objectives within an online
lesson. All other assignments, projects, cumulative and summative exams must be taken.
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Excluding students with an IEP or 504 Plan, can the lessons, modules or assignments within a
given course be customized or tailored on a student-by student basis? If so, how, by whom
and to what extent?
The assignments can be customized by teachers/ learning facilitator by assigning other offline work, but
it must satisfy the standards prescribed for the lessons. It is the policy of the Performance Learning
Centers to require all students to complete the same assignments per each specified subject, except in
extreme circumstance.
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For students with an IEP or 504 plan, can the lessons, modules or assignments within a given
course be customized or tailored on a student-by-student basis? If so, how, by whom and to
what extent?
The assignments can be customized by teachers, but it is the policy of the Performance Learning
Centers to require all students to complete the same assignments per each specified subject area.
PLC students take an achievement test in Reading and Math and score on a 8th grade level to be
selected into the Performance Learning Center. If there is proper support, students with IEP or 504
plans may be selected into the program.
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Is student-specific completed coursework (e.g., exams, papers, assignments) available for
evaluation and validation? If so, what student-specific information can be captured, and how
long does your program keep such information?
Student-specific completed coursework is available for evaluation and validation while the student is
enrolled in the program. It is recommended that student work be kept for 1-2 years after the student
graduates.
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Under what circumstance may a student be permitted to repeat a lesson, module or
assignment? Please be detailed in your response.
Students repeat lessons when they have not successfully achieved an 80% performance level on their
assignments. The online instruction will indicate which lessons need to be repeated, and the student
must work through the lesson and achieve 80%. Then the student is re-tested. Once 80% mastery is
achieved, students may advance to the next module in their course.
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Are students permitted to work at their own pace to complete a course? If so, please explain.
Yes, students are permitted to work at their own pace, yet they must meet specific deadlines specified
in the pacing guides. Performance Learning Center courses are designed to last nine weeks, one
semester or a full year. Depending on the program's schedule, students in the program are assigned
either two, four or eight courses at a time.
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NCAA legislation states that nontraditional courses must include a defined time period for
completion. What is the shortest period of time a student is permitted to complete a course?
If no minimum timeframe exists, please explain.
Performance Learning Center courses are designed as nine weeks, one semester or a full year depending
on the program's schedule, though full-year schedules are the exception rather than the rule as most
programs are on some form of a block schedule. Because the academic ability and motivation of
students enrolled in the Performance Learning Centers vary, students complete courses within 9-18
weeks on average. Some higher level classes may take longer to complete than some electives. All
students are on an individualized plan in terms of support and remediation needed, but they must all
complete all the assignments of the course to get credit.
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NCAA legislation states that nontraditional courses must include a defined time period for
completion. What is the longest period of time a student is permitted to complete a course?
If not minimum timeframe exist, please explain.
Performance Learning Center courses are designed as nine weeks, one semester or a full year depending
on the program's schedule, though full-year schedules are the exception rather than the rule as most
programs are on some form of a block schedule. Because the academic ability and motivation of
students enrolled at the Performance Learning Centers vary, most students, on average, complete
courses within 9-18 weeks, because they can work at an accelerated pace by not waiting on the rest of
the students to "catch-up" if they are able to master the content easily. Some higher level courses may
take longer to complete than some electives.
Student/Instructor Interaction: (NOTE: for following questions, “instructor” is defined as the
individual responsible for delivery of course content and assessment of student work.)
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Are the nontraditional courses at your school completed in a computer lab? If coursework is
completed (in whole or in part) in a computer lab at your school, are students scheduled or
grouped by subject area?
All courses at the Performance Learning Centers are completed in classrooms with no more than 15
students per period. Students are grouped by subject area, but they all may be in different courses at
different levels within that subject area. Each instructor is certified and highly qualified in the field in
which they teach.
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Is there an instructor of record for the course? If so, what are the minimum credentials
required of the instructor?
Each course has an instructor, certified and qualified, of record. All Performance Learning Center
teachers/learning facilitators are certified and highly qualified in their respective subject areas.
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Is the instructor of record affiliated with your school or an outside entity? If an outside entity,
please explain.
All instructors at the Performance Learning Centers are certified employees of the high school of record
in the school district. Each instructor is highly qualified and state certified in their core subject area.
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Does the instructor of record deliver synchronous instruction during the course? If so, what
methods are used?
Even though the curriculum is a self-paced computerized program, the instructors do deliver
synchronous instruction as a part of a differentiated curriculum that meets all the required standards.
This includes "warm-ups" at the beginning of class or other periodic whole-group instruction, small
group instruction for students in the same course or for groups needing similar skills remediation, and
one-on-one assistance provided face-to-face by the instructor of record.
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Please describe (1) the frequency and (2) the nature of the instructor-initiated interaction that
takes place with students throughout the course.
Student and teacher interaction occurs daily, or every other day for programs following an A/B schedule.
As students work on their assignments, their instructors monitor progress by walking around and via the
computer. Students ask questions, work on computerized assignments, complete projects, read, take
notes, work in groups, tutor each other, and write reports while under the supervision of the teacher.
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Please describe the nature of the assignments and assessments (types of assessments,
frequency of assessments, etc.)
Students complete daily assignments, chapter quizzes, topic tests, cumulative exams and summative
assessments for each module or chapter. Frequency is determined by rate of advancement in each
subject.
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How are assessments graded and by whom?
Computer-generated tests are graded by the software system. However, instructors grade written
assignments and projects, and an overall grade is given for each module or chapter. End-of-course test
grades are also averaged in with the final grade.
Transcripts:
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How do these nontraditional courses appear on your school’s transcript? (Please share the
specific designation, if applicable.)
Unless the student is in credit recovery, the grades appear the same as the main school because the
students have fulfilled the requirements for the course.
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Is the above noted designation exclusive to the courses in the nontraditional program or may
this designation also indicate a different type of course?
There is no special designation in most instances, because the students have fulfilled all requirements
for the course, as noted above.
CLOSING STATEMENT
The Performance Learning Center is a specialized program of the local traditional high school
designed to provide a small, safe, nontraditional setting where at-risk or under-achieving
students can build healthy relationships, work at their own pace and receive wrap-around
services to address the non-academic issues they face. PLC students are held to the same high
standards of the traditional setting. In addition, PLC students receive college and career
preparation, and many complete dual enrollment courses through the local technical or fouryear colleges. The mission is to empower students to stay in school and achieve in life, meaning
that students are prepared for a career or post-secondary education upon graduation.
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