Course Updates Webinar

April 29, 2025, 3:30-4:30

Assistant Commissioner Dr. Kiffany Pride, DCTE Director Ross White, & Director of Curriculum Projects Amy Counts

Link: https://zoom.us/j/99697544744?pwd=UF3ptLva86jL2qEVdSoKE5HjTfWLfh.1 

Course Code Management Changes 2025-2026

The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and Division of Career and Technical Education (DCTE) course code changes have been identified for the 2025-2026 school year. The SY25-26 Course Code Updates spreadsheet capturing the changes to be made to the Course Code Management System (CCMS) may be found on the Course Approvals web page under “Related Links.” Districts/schools should compare their master schedules with the changes found in the spreadsheet. Courses will be updated in the CCMS by June 2025.  

Course Catalog 2025-2026 (see attachment)

The DESE annually releases the DESE Course Catalog as an official publication by the Office of Learning Services to inform all stakeholders of approved courses. Local communities, school districts, and open-enrollment public charter schools are encouraged to use the catalog in consultation with students and families to select challenging academic courses and to make informed decisions. DESE Course Catalog updates may include newly introduced courses, modifications to existing courses, or other adjustments.

The DESE Course Catalog is designed to inform stakeholders of the options available to students with regards to graduation pathways. Districts are encouraged to reference the catalog when developing Student Success Plans in partnership with parents and/or guardians and students. Please refer to the DCTE Programs of Study for additional information around career and technical pathways. 

Summary of Course Code Changes

There are many changes in the CCMS and course code listings this year. There are course deletions, additions, and multiple courses with changes such as corrections made to the name, licensure codes, grade band, state graduation requirement, AQT, credit, and/or class size. Changes are detailed below for your convenience: 

English Language Arts

Updates to English courses and codes are as follows:

The course names for English 9, 10, 11, and 12 are changing to English I, II, III, and IV. Additionally, four new courses will integrate Oral Communication into English I-IV, allowing students to earn both their ELA credit and 0.5 Oral Communication credit automatically.

The English I–IV courses are intended to be taken in sequential order (English I through English IV). However, alternative courses may fulfill the same requirements. For a full list of approved options, please consult the CCMS or the Arkansas Graduation Course Code List for 2025–2026.

Acceleration opportunities are expanding, with AP Seminar now available at the 8th-grade level for high school credit; additionally, English I and English II will be available for credit for students in grades 7 and 8.  Concurrent credit course 9 -12 titles are being replaced with Concurrent Credit English I and II. Courses formerly designated as English 11/12 have been retitled based on the integration of the content area and are now available to students in grades 9-12.

International Baccalaureate

Changes have been made to course codes and titles for SY25-26 International Baccalaureate (IB) courses to enhance alignment with the official IB Diploma Programme courses and requirements. These updates aim to ensure greater consistency and clarity across IB offerings, facilitating a more cohesive and standardized experience for students and educators. The revised course titles reflect IB’s curriculum framework and provide a more accurate representation of the courses.

Cambridge 

Cambridge English General Paper (AS) (517010) was added to the CCMS. This course provides an introduction to Cambridge Advanced coursework that may lead to a Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Diploma. This course is designed to support learners in developing arguments, building knowledge of current issues, developing independent reasoning, and reflecting upon the viewpoint of others.

Additional information about the Cambridge Advanced English General Paper (517010) can be found here. 

AR Required High School Courses

Districts are required to offer distinct courses to students in grades 9-12. The DESE and the State Board of Education (SBE) have provided flexibility in the AR Required High School Courses to ensure that districts are able to offer and teach viable courses to their students. Courses that can be used to fulfill AR graduation requirements can be found here in the Arkansas Graduation Course Code List.

Districts are to offer accelerated course offerings in the four content areas of math, science, ELA, and social studies. Accelerated courses could include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge AICE, and/or concurrent credit courses.

Reminder: The math course Quantitative Reasoning (439120) will be required to be offered in the 2026-27 school year as an option for the third math requirement. Offering the Quantitative Reasoning course prepares students for non-STEM careers and supports success in postsecondary Concurrent Quantitative Reasoning courses. The prerequisite for Quantitative Reasoning is Algebra I (430000) or Pre-AP Algebra I (430300).  

Honors Courses (Accelerated Standards)

Course codes for Honors Courses will be available for SY25-26 in Mathematics, English Language Arts, and Science for grades 5-8. These courses will be considered honors level courses as the standards are accelerated. Previously, districts were able to assign honors level courses. Moving forward, the DESE will provide guidance on what is considered to be an Honors Course. Guiding documents for course standards will be available on the DESE’s content standards web pages in the near future. Further guidance about Honors Courses will be provided in upcoming training opportunities. 

Computer Science

 All Computer Science pathways are being updated for the 2025-2026 school year. Refer to page 7 of the CTE Pathways to Success to see the updated pathways. Notable changes include the creation of Introduction to Computer Science (465070) as a shared Level 1 for all pathways and the merging of similar pathways. A crosswalk of current pathways and courses to new pathways and courses can be viewed here.

Beginning the 2026-2027 school year, Year 1 Computer Science courses will no longer count towards a 4th math credit. Students who have received credit for a Year 1 computer science course prior to the 2026-2027 school year will receive a 4th math credit for their computer science course. Year 2 and Year 3 computer science courses will continue to count towards a 4th math credit. All current computer science courses will continue to count towards a 3rd science credit. View a complete list of Year 1 Computer Science on the course grid here.

CTE Courses

Please refer to the corresponding document regarding the CTE Pathway Revisions over the next four years. The CTE Pathways to Success: Pathway Revision Guide is linked here. 

Informational Sessions will be provided at each education service cooperative during March to review the CTE Pathway Revisions. More information will be released by each Education Service Cooperative CTE Coordinator in the coming weeks regarding meeting dates and times.

All CTE Level 1 course grade bands are changing from 9-12 to 8-12. 

Student Success Pathways

The course catalog and corresponding descriptions are essential tools as students develop meaningful Student Success Plans. Beginning with the entering ninth-grade class of 2024-25, all students will have the benefit of flexible college and career readiness pathways to guide high school course selection and progress toward high school graduation. The success-ready pathways in this Course Catalog are encouraged to be used to guide the purposeful selection of courses toward a student’s postsecondary aspirations and career goals - as part of their career focused electives and student success planning.

Weighted Credit

The DESE is currently reviewing courses to determine eligibility for weighted credit. Further guidance will be shared in an upcoming webinar and made available in the CCMS.

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