To:
School Administrators and APEX Site Coordinators
From:
Mr. Rudy Ruiz, Executive Director for Secondary Education Services
Dr. Nakia Hardy, Executive Director for Teaching and Learning
Date:
December 8, 2014
Re:
APEX Learning Updates
The Office of Secondary Education Services and the Office of Teaching and Learning would like to thank you for your
continued patience and resilience regarding the recent changes to APEX Learning. In an effort to streamline processes,
below you will find a summary of such changes and information regarding upcoming training opportunities.
Credit Recovery Overview
1. All high schools are required to offer a credit recovery option to students who need sustainable credit before
the end of the year with priority enrollment extended to 12th grade students.
2. High schools may elect to offer credit recovery during or outside the school day (i.e. Twilight, Saturday School)
however all proposals must be accepted by the schools network Executive Director and the Office of Teaching
and Learning.
APEX Blended Credit Recovery Model:
All APEX courses will be offered using the Blended Credit Recovery Model which requires 20% of all instruction must be
directly taught by the teacher of record.
1. Students can only recover two APEX courses at a time during the regular school day
2. Students may recover up to four courses, two per semester, via Twilight/Saturday School per year.
3. Students are permitted to take a diagnostic assessment for prescriptive courses only. Prescriptive courses
required a test out level of at least 80% to move to the next unit level.
APEX Teacher Requirements & Certifications
1. The APEX teacher must be an employee at the school site
2. The APEX teacher must be highly qualified and certified in the content area of the class for which they are listed
3. The APEX teacher must provide 20% of all instruction as outlined in the blended learning model above.
APEX Grading, Completion Time, & Attendance
1. Students must complete every unit and test assigned in each semester of a course. Students who are successful
in the prescriptive courses must complete every unit and test assigned after achieving the appropriate test out
level.
2. When a student completes an online course, his/her final grade must be recorded for that term and in SMS as
the final course grade by the teacher of record. If a student is not receiving quarter grades, the grades for each
term must be marked with an “I” (incomplete) until the student completes the course.
3. APEX course completion will vary by course. 5 weeks is the minimum and a semester is the maximum for all nonAdvanced Placement classes.
4. Grades are given and attendance is taken by the teacher of record who is certified in the content area.
5. Each Apex course needs to be attendance-bearing.
6. All other standard grading and attendance policies apply.
APEX Courses Offered:
Course Code
11700
11703
Course Title
APEX Algebra 1 Common Core
APEX Geometry Common Core
Course Code
10700
10701
11704
11705
08701
08702
08703
08704
13704
13705
13706
APEX Algebra II Common Core
APEX Probability and Statistics
APEX English I Common Core
APEX English II Common Core
APEX English III Common Core
APEX English IV Common Core
APEX Biology
APEX Physics
APEX Chemistry
06128
06129
06228
06229
15324
07112
Course Title
APEX U.S. History
APEX World History since the
Renaissance
APEX French I
APEX French II
APEX Spanish I
APEX Spanish II
APEX Music Appreciation
APEX Skills for Health
Note: APEX may be used for original credit for all AP courses that aren’t otherwise available at a school. AP APEX courses
must be offered for a full year. All requests for original credit via APEX must approved by the Coordinator of Advanced
Learning in the Office of Teaching and learning
APEX Scheduling
1. During the regular school year, all students who are engaged in online courses must be enrolled in the regular,
credit bearing course at the start of the term. This includes students who are engaging in credit recovery
through online courses during and after school hours.
2. Schools must create courses in their master schedule that reflect the online courses that their students are
taking using the course codes provided below. Courses can be scheduled during the school day or scheduled
outside of the regular school day.
3. Attendance must be taken for all courses, whether they occur during or outside of the regular school day.
4. All other standard scheduling and policies apply.
APEX Training and Assessment
1. Online training via Blackboard is required for all APEX staff members prior to accessing the program. To access
the training, log into TSS and access the course from either the Global Navigation or from Staff Training Apps on
the landing page.
2. APEX teachers must pass with a score of 75% and site coordinators with a score of 90% on the 15 item quiz.
3. Access will be granted for the new classes once each staff member has passed the training at your respective
schools.
Original/Traditional Credit Model
1. Upon request, APEX is available for original credit. Such request must be approved using the Original Credit
Request Form and can take up to two weeks for approval.
2. Students can only recover two APEX courses at a time during the regular school day
3. Students may recover up to four courses, two per semester, via Twilight/Saturday School per year.
Contact Information:
Mr. Jonathan E. Turner, Educational Specialist – School Counseling, Office of Secondary Educational Services
Phone Number: 443-642-3928
Contact Email: [email protected]
Mr. Glenn Starnes II, Educational Specialist- Extended Learning Programs, Office of Teaching and Learning
Phone Number: 443-642-3990
Contact Email: [email protected]