South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) Approval
State Board Regulation 43-259 II(C) states that “No credit toward a state high school diploma shall be granted to any adult education student unless the program has been officially approved in writing by the South Carolina Department of Education Office of Federal and State Accountability.” The Office of Federal and State Accountability approval is provided via the school districts’ Five-Year Strategic Plans.
Additionally, approval and monitoring of the Adult Education High School Diploma Program occurs as part of the Compliance Monitoring Review (CMR) process of the Office of Adult Education. The district’s Five-Year Strategic Plan is reviewed during the CMR to ensure that the adult education program is following both the district plan and the state regulations.
Course Content and Approval
Adult education high school diploma programs may offer proficiency-based, Carnegie unit, or a combination of proficiency-based and Carnegie unit courses, All courses receiving high school credit must be legitimate high school courses from the state Activity Coding System manual and must reflect full coverage of the standards associated with the high school course. (SCDE Uniform Grading Policy, page 3) In addition, the course content and curriculum must be aligned with the approved curriculum of the local school district(s) and high school(s) under which the program is issuing graduation units of credit.
Consideration 5.2 of the 2022-2023 Adult Education Compliance Monitoring Tool outlines the requirements for the course content for adult education high school diploma courses:
Program has an approved proficiency-based and/or Carnegie unit high school diploma program that:
a. Uses curriculum that is aligned with the South Carolina College and Career Ready Standards.
b. Adheres to all policies and guidelines for high school diploma programs as outlined in South Carolina State Board Regulation 43-234 and South Carolina State Board Regulation 43-259, II.C.
In order to be approved to provide Carnegie unit courses, the following must be submitted to the OAE Curriculum and Instruction Lead for approval prior to providing the courses. Courses will also be reviewed during the Compliance Monitoring Review: a. Documentation that grants approval from the Local School Board or designee for locally designed courses (examples: CRC Preparation, career skills, physical education, or other elective courses), and b. Complete pacing guides, lesson plans, and curriculum used for all Carnegie unit high school diploma courses (district-provided and locally designed).