More course options for students will be available next school year if the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation Board of School Trustees approves new courses and proposed modifications to courses suggested at tonight’s regular meeting.
Currently 152 unique courses are offered in EVSC high schools for dual credit, 77 Advanced Placement (AP) courses and 14 International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. Among the proposals for new courses are five new courses offering International Baccalaureate credit, 15 more courses offering dual credit with one of our college partners, and nine new courses offering Advanced Placement credit.
Chief Academic Officer Velinda Stubbs told the board that high school teachers and administrators propose new courses or recommend modifications in order to meet the needs of EVSC students. The proposed recommendations are then reviewed by the Office of Academic Affairs to ensure alignment with Indiana State Department of Education course titles and to meet Core 40 requirements.
Offering additional dual credit, International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement courses increases the academic rigor for EVSC students and additional opportunities for college credits while in high school, Stubbs said. Last year, Harrison High School posted a 4.15 score on a 5.0 scale for an AP calculus exam – the highest AP mean score for any calculus course in the area.
Stubbs indicated that many of the proposed courses are for one of the EVSC’s innovative model programs, which allow area students to attend their home high school for half of a day, and the innovative program half day.
High School innovative model programs include the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Bosse, the Medical Professionals Academy at Central, the Randall T. Shepard Academy for Law and Social Justice at Harrison, Early College High School at IVY Tech, the Center for Family and Community Outreach at Harrison, and Career and Vocational Education at the Southern Indiana Career and Technical Center.
A vote on the proposed course additions and modifications will take place at the next school board meeting on November 18.
