Breaking News...CareerTech Pre-Engineering, Bio-Medical and Bio-Technology Academy courses can count for academic credit

On March 26, 2015 the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s board approved the request that selected careertech courses in the Pre-Engineering, Bio-Medical and Bio-Technology academies  count for academic credit.  This means that these academy courses that students are taking in Pre-Engineering, Bio-Med and Bio-Tech at the technology centers and at select high schools can now receive math, science or computer technology credit instead of counting as electives. See below for more detail but the math or science credit will depend upon the certification of the teacher. 

This process has been a year in the making.  Several ODCTE  and SDE staff have worked diligently in making sure all information was compiled and documented.  Special appreciation goes to Tommi Leach, Academic Coordinator from ODCTE and Melissa White, executive director of ACE/Counseling, from SDE for their leadership in this process. 

Please see the attachment for important information and details on this new action.  You can also find this attachment on our Career and Academics Connections (CAC) website at:

 https://www.okcareertech.org/educators/career-and-academic-connections/academics under CTE Academics.

CRITICAL INFORMATION FOR CTE ACADEMIC CREDITS/TRANSCRIPTING

On March 26, 2015, the Oklahoma State Board of Education approved certain math and science courses taught at technology centers and select high schools to count for academic credit on high school transcripts. It is very important that technology centers share the information contained in this document with their partner schools as soon as possible.

In order for students to receive credit for these courses, it is imperative that schools follow these guidelines:

1)         Technology Centers must submit these courses to their partner schools’ boards of education for approval to count these courses as academic credit for graduation purposes.

2)         The following chart shows which courses count for math or science credit and how the instructor of that course must be certified. At this time, Digital Electronics is the only course counting for math. In order for students to receive MATH credit, this course must be taught by a highly qualified, math certified teacher. Additional courses can count for SCIENCE if the teacher is highly qualified and certified in science. If the instructor is not certified in the listed area, then the course will count as an elective.

3)         NCAA – Partner schools will need to submit to NCAA course syllabi’s for the courses approved by the local BOEs that meet the requirements for math or science credit. Technology Centers will need to work with their partner schools to supply the information needed by NCAA. Technology Centers DO NOT submit information to NCAA.

4)         We are currently waiting to see if these math and science courses count for OKPromise. Please pay particular attention to students that need additional math and science credits to meet OKPromise regulations. We will let you know when we have additional information from OSRHE and OKPromise.

5)         It is very important that the technology centers send their partner schools the correct OCAS code when listing courses receiving academic credit. (Just as technology centers have been doing for Human Anatomy/Physiology in Health and for courses already on the OKPromise list of approved courses.) The correct OCAS codes for the science and math courses are listed in the chart below.

6)         Here is the link to the list of courses on the SDE’s website: http://www.ok.gov/sde/accreditation-standards-division scroll down to subject codes. Under Grades 9-12, click on FY2015-2016.

Courses Approved for Academic Credit OCAS Code Subject Area Math: PLTW Digital Electronics 8711 Counts for a math credit if taught by a math certified teacher Science: Survey of Biotechnology 8701 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher Biotechnology I 8702 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher Biotechnology II 8703 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher Advanced Biotechnology I 8704 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher Biotechnology Capstone 8705 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher  PLTW Principles of Biomedical Science 8706 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher PLTW Human Body Systems 8707 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher PLTW Medical Interventions 8708 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher PLTW Biotechnical Engineering 8714 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher PLTW Aerospace Engineering 8715 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher Advanced Biotechnology II 8717 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher PLTW Biomedical Innovations 8719 Counts as a science credit if taught by a science certified teacher Computer Education: PLTW Introduction to Engineering By Design 8709 Counts as Computer Technology credit *  PLTW Principles of Engineering 8710 Counts as Computer Technology credit * PLTW Computer Integrated Manufacturing 8712 Counts as a Computer Technology credit PLTW Computer Science and Software Engineering 8851 Counts as a Computer Technology credit Electives: Civil Engineering and Architecture 8713 Elective credit Engineering By Design and Development 8716 Elective credit

*Counts for OKPromise credit

Questions? Contact Tommi Leach, Academic Coordinator, ODCTE tommi.leach@careertech.ok.gov or 40