Background
In the last decade, the Department of Education and Culture has implemented many of the recommendations of the 1989 report of the Minister's Advisory Committee on the Public School Program. In 1995, the Department published its strategic plan, Toward a Learning Culture... The Vision for Education and Training in Nova Scotia. Goal One of the plan is "to achieve excellence in programming," demonstrated partly through the provision of "appropriate" and "challenging" opportunities accessible to all students.
The Department included the issue of advanced courses in the Public School Program Discussion Paper distributed to education partners in January 1996. Responses indicated broad support for the preservation of advanced courses. The preponderance of opinion on the possible actions proposed was that further study of advanced courses be undertaken. Since that time, the Department has continued to monitor other provinces' policies and positions on advanced courses, to consider ways to strengthen advanced course offerings, and to consult with education partners.
The Department recognizes the importance of providing a wide range of learning experiences to accommodate the diverse needs of senior high students, and of promoting equitable access to educational experiences. At the grade 10 level, courses have been developed to provide all learners with access to a strong foundation of common educational experiences. These courses engage students in a variety of groupings and interactions as contexts for learning, and offer a range of experiences which provide both challenge and support.
To prepare students for a range of post-secondary destinations, grade 1l and grade 12 programs include course offerings that are increasingly specialized; as such, these grades are referred to as the specialization years. English public school programs currently include provincially developed grade 11 and grade 12 advanced courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. In collaboration with the other Atlantic provinces, the Department is developing advanced courses in mathematics for grades 11 and 12. In addition, a second advanced mathematics course in grade 12 is being developed for students who will be studying calculus in college or university.
International Baccalaureate (IB) courses are recognized as advanced courses and may be credited towards graduation requirements whether taken as part of a complete IB program or as discrete courses.
Requests for approval of locally developed courses as advanced credits will be evaluated with reference to the following policy guidelines and to the framework provided by the principles of learning, the essential graduation learnings, and the general and specific curriculum outcomes of related public school programs and courses.
Policy for Implementation in September 1999
1. Consistent with the philosophy of common educational experiences at the grade 10 level, and increased opportunities for specialization at grades 11 and 12, the public school program will include advanced course offerings at grades 11 and 12.
2. Locally developed grade 10 advanced courses may not be offered after 1998-1999
3. With school board approval, schools may continue to offer for 1999-2000 previously existing, locally developed grades 11 and 12 advanced courses that have written approval from the Department.
4. Requests to offer locally developed grades 11 and 12 advanced courses after 1999- 2000 must be submitted by September 30, 1999, for approval. Thereafter, requests to offer locally developed grades 11 and 12 advanced courses must be submitted by February 28 in any year for approval of a course to be offered the following September and by September 30 for approval of a course to be offered from February of the following year.
5. Approval is required for learning resources and teaching materials not included in the authorized lists to be used in locally developed and public school program advanced courses.
6. The school board and consultants from the Department of Education and Culture will monitor and evaluate approved locally developed advanced courses and the use of related learning resources.
7. Students enrolled at the grade 12 level in public school program advanced courses and approved locally developed advanced courses will be expected to participate in provincial assessments and regionally developed examinations if they take a course that is offered instead of a provincial course for which such an assessment is used.
Guidelines
1. The implementation of all advanced courses will be consistent with the framework provided by the principles of learning, the essential graduation learnings, and, where applicable, the vision and foundation for the curriculum of related public school programs.
2. The principal of schools which offer advanced courses is responsible for promoting and ensuring equitable access to such courses. Every effort should be made to ensure a diversity of students so that the enrolment in advanced courses reflects the gender balance and the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the school population. Equitable access to and enrolment in advanced courses will be monitored by the school board and reported on annually to the Department.
3. Advanced courses will be characterized by additional content and by curriculum outcomes different from those of related courses offered in that subject area as academic credits. Advanced courses will offer expanded and extended learning outcomes in both the theoretical and applied aspects of the subject area. Advanced courses will balance learning experiences in three required areas:
(c ) extended research projects/case studies and related activities.
4. Provincially developed advanced courses and approved locally developed advanced courses will be categorized as one of the following:
(a) a course offered instead of the related public school program academic course or related approved locally developed academic course
Students will be expected to demonstrate achievement of both the curriculum outcomes designated for the related academic course and specific curriculum outcomes designated for the advanced course. These specific curriculum outcomes will reflect the additional content; in-depth treatment of selected topics; independent learning and reflection; and extended research projects, case studies, and related activities which collectively characterize the course as advanced. For example, a student may enroll in Advanced Physics 11 instead of Physics 11; a student may be awarded credit for one but not both of these courses.
(b) a course offered in addition to related public school program courses and designed to extend student learning in a particular field of study.
For example, Advanced Physics 12 would be taken after a student had completed grade 11 and 12 Physics. This course would consist of specific curriculum outcomes clustered into topics such as Quantum Mechanics, Astrophysics and Cosmology, Elementary Particles, or Biophysics. This course would emphasize mathematics and engineering applications. As in provincially developed and approved locally developed advanced courses described above, this course would require in-depth treatment of selected topics; independent learning and reflection; and extended research projects and related activities.
Advanced Music 12 would be taken after a student had completed Music 10, Music 11, and Music 12. This course would consist of specific curriculum outcomes clustered into such topics as Digital Composition, Orchestration, Twentieth Century Harmonic Techniques or Conducting (Choral or Instrumental). As in provincially developed and approved locally developed advanced courses described above, this course would require in-depth treatment of selected topics; independent learning and reflection; and extended composition projects and performance.
5. Assessment and evaluation of student learning will include a portfolio of student work, performance tasks and projects, and any applicable provincial assessment for courses offered under 4(a).
International Baccalaureate Courses
International Baccalaureate grade 11 and 12 courses are recognized as advanced courses.