Memo: Updated June 10, 2025
Course Updates Webinar Recording
https://adesandbox.arkansas.gov/iframe?v=NzczYjI4MTE0MjBkYzAzM2FjMjU5NmU5Y2NiNWQ4ZjE&share=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 can be found HERE.
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.
School districts and open-enrollment charter schools will
need to refer to the CCMS prior to scheduling students to ensure the most
recent course codes are being used in eSchool.
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.
Marching Band - Updated
New 0.5 credit Marching Band courses have been created which
fulfills Rule 13: Fine Arts or Rule 19: Physical Education.
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 required 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.
- What's Coming: A Guide to Honors Courses and Accelerated Learning In
English Language Arts, Math, and Science will be available HERE.
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 - Updated
All concurrent credit courses are now automatically approved
for weighted credit - no district submission required. This will begin in
SY25-26 for all students taking accelerated courses.
Please contact Amy Counts, at amy.counts@ade.arkansas.gov or
Sarah Goodwin, at Sarah.Goodwin@ade.arkansas.gov with any questions
regarding course codes.