Honors courses framework

AP AND HONORS COURSES

William Blount High School offers academic courses that are designated as honors or AP (Advanced Placement.) These courses offer our academically talented students opportunities to expand and excel in various core areas as they prepare for the rigors of university work. AP courses also prepare students to take the Advanced Placement examinations in the spring, which will provide them with the opportunity to earn college credit in those subjects. We strongly urge students with outstanding abilities to enroll in these courses.

HONORS FRAMEWORK

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, i.e. independent study, self-directed research and learning, and the appropriate use of technology that facilitate maximum interchange of ideas among students. 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 5 of the following components:

1. Extended reading assignments that connect with specified curriculum.

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

3. Projects that apply course curriculum to relevant or real-world situations. These may include oral presentations, power point, or other modes of sharing findings. Connection of the project to the community is encouraged.

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

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

   1. • Examples of mode include narrative, descriptive, persuasive, expository, and argumentative.

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

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

6. Integration of appropriate technology into the course of study.

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

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

9. Job-shadowing experiences with presentation, which connect class study to the world of work.

All course types that meet the above framework will be classified as honors, thereby constituting eligibility for additional percentage point weighting (pending annual board approval). Technical courses that offer a national Industry Certification through a nationally recognized examination may be weighted by adding 3 points to all grades used to calculate the semester average (pending annual board approval).

Students transferring to Blount County Schools must show documentation of course weighting on the official transcript from the previous school. Weighted course credit is accepted (with documentation from previous system) for courses in grades 9-12 only. Students transferring from other systems do not automatically receive weighted credit based on the local district list, nor do students automatically receive weighted credit for courses taken elsewhere that are not available to district students unless the weighted points are documented on the transcript. When transfer records show only letter grades, GPAs are calculated using the Blount County scale.