Honors Courses and National Industry Certification Courses

Local education agencies may elect to offer honors courses and National Industry Certification (NIC) courses. Local educational agencies electing to offer honors courses will ensure that the approved honors courses substantially exceed the content standards, learning expectations, and performance indicators as approved by the State Board of Education. Further, each local education agency offering honors courses will ensure that additional rigor is being provided by implementing the framework of standards for honors courses listed below:

1. Framework of Standards for Honors Courses

Honors courses will substantially exceed the content standards, learning expectations, and performance indicators approved by the State Board of Education. Teachers of honors courses will model instructional approaches that facilitate maximum interchange of ideas among students: independent study, self-directed research and learning, and appropriate use of technology. All honors courses must include multiple assessments exemplifying coursework (such as: short answer, constructed-response prompts, performance-based tasks, open-ended questions, essays, original or creative interpretations, authentic products, portfolios, and analytical writing). Additionally, an honors course shall include a minimum of five (5) of the following components:

i. Extended reading assignments that connect with the specified curriculum

ii. Research-based writing assignments that address and extend the course curriculum

iii. Projects that apply course curriculum to relevant real-world situations. These need to include 21st century skills (critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity), or other modes of sharing findings. Connection of the project to the community is encouraged.

iv. Open-ended investigations in which the student selects the questions and designs the research

v. Writing assignments that demonstrate a variety of modes, purposes, and styles

a. Examples of mode include narrative, descriptive, persuasive, expository, and expressive

b. Examples of purpose include to inform, entertain, and persuade

c. Examples of style include formal, informal, literary, analytical, and technical

vi. Integration of appropriate technology into the course of study

vii. Deeper exploration of the culture, values, and history of the discipline

viii. Extensive opportunities for problem solving experiences through imagination, critical analysis, and application

ix. Job shadowing experiences with presentations which connect class study to the world of work

All course types which meet the above framework will be classified as honors, eligible for additional percentage point weighting