C. Alternative Education Programs

I. Alternative Grade 10, 11, 12

Description

• An Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program is designed for students unable to succeed in the secondary level of the Regular Education Program through provincially-developed, Locally Developed or Locally Modified Courses of Study. Alternative 10, 11, or 12 programs are approved locally developed programs designed to meet the special needs of students who require curricula that are qualitatively different from the Regular Education Program. The Programs at each grade level consist of a minimum of eight courses and may include combinations of courses from the Regular Education and Alternative Education Programs.

• Registration in one Alternative Education course automatically registers a student in an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program.

  It is assumed that enrollment in Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs in Saskatchewan is not likely to exceed five percent (5%) of the total secondary level population. There may be schools that experience a high level of enrollment in Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs at the secondary level. These higher enrollments may be due to a number of factors. Regional Office personnel are available to discuss concerns with school divisions regarding increasing or large enrollments in Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs.

Policy

C.I.1	The Regional Director approves a request made by a school division to develop Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs and specifies the length and conditions of approval for the programs. Courses may be approved for up to a five year cycle. The initial year of approval is termed the Pilot Year.
C.I.2	Students enrolled in an Alternative Education Program must be registered with the Registrar's Unit on the Student Demographic Enrollment Form, by age 14 years, 8 months.
C.I.3	An 18, 28, 38 course may not be counted as a credit toward completion of a Regular Education Program.
C.I.4	In order to receive official recognition of an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program, a student must complete eight courses with a minimum of 820 hours of instruction at each grade level.
C.I.5	The credit requirements for an Alternative Grade 10 are as follows: two courses of Language Arts/Communication one course of each of the following Mathematics Work Experience plus four electives at the grade 10, 11, or 12 level. The credit requirements for an Alternative Grade 11 are as follows: two courses of Language Arts/Communication one course of Work Experience plus five electives at the grade 10, 11, or 12 level. The credit requirements for an Alternative Grade 12 are as follows: two courses of Language Arts/Communication one course of Work Experience plus five electives at the grade 10, 11, or 12 level students must have taken the following at one of the levels: one course of Life Skills one course of Career Education one course of Science one course of Social Science. The remaining electives may be selected from any courses within the Regular Education Program and the Alternative Education Program.
C.I.6	There are six elective areas recognized in Alternative Grade 10, 11 or 12 Programs: Arts/Aesthetic Education (these courses may include topics such as art, music, art appreciation, creative dramatics, creative writing, graphic arts, graphic design, photography) Health/Physical Education (these courses may include topics such as individual athletic/sports activities, wellness, group athletic activities, body awareness, movement education, dance, general health education, personal hygiene, sex education, first aid) Business Education (these courses may include topics such as keyboarding, computer literacy, basic accounting, budgeting, banking, basic office procedures, merchandising) Technical/Vocational Education (these courses may include topics such as mechanics, construction, electricity/electronics, welding, drafting, cosmetology, commercial cooking, industrial arts, automotive maintenance, automotive management) Family Studies (these courses may include topics such as family nutrition and food preparation, clothing and fashion, housing, design, family life, home economics, parenting, decision making, independent living, house maintenance, and residential management) Spiritual Development (these courses may include such topics as Christian ethics or other spiritual studies). Any of these courses may be developed and offered as 18, 28, or 38 courses. They do not require prerequisites.
C.I.7	An Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program may include courses from the Regular Education Program. Prerequisites that apply in the Regular Education Program also apply when those courses are used in an Alternative Education Program.
C.I.8	Students in an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program are allowed to take up to six (6) credits in any one subject area while enrolled in an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program. In the Practical and Applied Arts area, more credits may be taken, as the PAA area involves several subject disciplines.
C.I.9	Individual course grades for a student enrolled in an approved Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program must be reported to the Registrar's Unit in the form of percentage grades. The transcript indicates the completion of an Alternative Grade 10, Alternative Grade 11 or Alternative Grade 12.
C.I.10	Saskatchewan Education provides a process to facilitate a student's request to transfer from an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program to a Regular Education Program. The following principles apply: students transferring from an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program to the Regular Education Program must meet credit requirements under Core Curriculum Policy for secondary level completion (24 credits) required subjects cannot be waived a course designated 18, 28, 38 cannot be used toward the credit requirements for Regular Education Secondary Level completion. School divisions are encouraged to have well-articulated policies and procedures regarding the enrollment of students in Alternative Education Programs.
C.I.11	Parents and students should be consulted prior to the enrollment of a student in an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program.

Procedures

• The school division should contact the Regional Office to ensure that the program may be developed. When considering the development of Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 programs, the school division may contact the Regional Office of Education for samples of exemplary programs already approved in other school divisions. It may be possible to adapt or adopt a program for students with similar needs.

• The Regional Coordinator of Special Education provides consultation to school division personnel who are responsible for developing Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs. Consultation includes assistance with policy clarification and submission procedures.

1. Approval

• School divisions submit Specific Description of an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program, Form A-1 to the Regional Office by May 1.

• Alternative Grade 10, 11 or 12 Approval, Form A-2 is completed by the Regional Director and is forwarded to the Registrar's Unit to assign course codes and to enter the program approval on the Student Record System.

• Once coded, Form A-2 is returned to Regional Office where copies of Forms A-1 and A-2 are forwarded to the director of education. The director of education provides copies to each school implementing the approved program.

• For the remaining four years of the five year approval cycle, Form A-2 is updated yearly by the school division and is resubmitted by the Regional Office to the Registrar's Unit.

2. Registration

• When registering students in an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program, the school must ensure that the program selection identified on the Student Demographic/Enrollment Form for the student indicates an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program.

• If a student is already on the Student Records System, a transfer from the Regular Education Program to an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program is done through the use of the Change of Student Demographic/Enrollment Form (this form is also used for changes in a student's school, program, or address).

• The student enrollment, course registration, and student marks submissions is forwarded by the school to the Registrar's Unit following the same procedures as for students enrolled in the Regular Education Program. Course and student mark submissions for Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs may be made throughout the school year.

• If submitting by disk transfer, please refer to the Disk Transfer Guide of the Registrar's Unit to ensure the Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program selection is completed.

3. Credit Requirements and Elective Structure

• Figure 3 displays the minimum credit requirements and elective structure of Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs.

Figure 3

Credit Requirements and Electives

Alternative Education Program	Grade 10	Grade 11	Grade 12
Minimum Credits Required:	8	8	8
Required Courses: Language Arts/ Communication Work Experience Mathematics Specified Electives: Career Education Life Skills Science Social Studies	I-18 II-18 18 18 18 18 18 18	I-28 II-28 28 or 28 or 28 or 28 or 28	I-38 II-38 38 or 38 or 38 or 38 or 38
Unspecified Electives: Regular Education Program courses Alternative Education Program electives

4. Course Changes

• When a school division wishes to add or change courses to be included in an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program, a letter with a brief description must be sent to the Regional Director by the director of education. If the requested changes are approved by the Regional Director, they are attached to the original Form A-1. The Regional Office sends a revised Form A-2 to the Registrar's Unit for assignment of course codes and registration.

• The Regional Office provides a copy of the revised Form A-2 to the director of education of the school division for distribution to the schools implementing the Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program.

5.Transfer Procedures - Alternative Education Program to Regular Education Program

• When a student wishes to transfer from an Alternative Education Program to the Regular Education Program, the Principal must submit to the Regional Coordinator of Special Education a written request to transfer. A copy should be sent to the director of education. The written request should include:
  • a current transcript for the student
  • other supporting documentation or test results (i.e, work samples, teacher observations, and achievement levels) that would support the recommendation to transfer.

• The Regional Coordinator of Special Education and the Regional Coordinator of Curriculum and Instruction, in consultation with The Registrar's Unit and the school division, will identify any requirements of the Regular Education Program that are missing in the student's program, and propose a transfer plan for the student.

• The transfer plan recommended by the Regional Coordinator of Special Education and the Regional Coordinator of Curriculum and Instruction will be forwarded to the Registrar.

• Once approved and signed by the Registrar, the transfer plan will be returned to the Regional Office, with a copy retained by the Registrar's Office. The Regional office will send a signed copy of the transfer plan to the school and school division.

• Once the Registrar's approval of the transfer plan has been received by the school, the Student Demographic/Enrollment and Subject Registration Forms must be sent by the principal to the Regional Office which forwards them to the Registrar's Office for processing. The school's memo, which accompanies the Forms, should identify which Alternative Education credits will be replaced (e.g., English A11 will replace Language Arts/Communications I-18 on the transcript).

• When a student transfers from an Alternative Education Program and completes 11, 21, 31 or 10, 20, 30 courses, these courses will replace the 18, 28, 38 courses noted on the student's transcript. The highest level of achievement is recorded. A complete record of all credits will be retained on the Student Records System of Saskatchewan Education.

Guidelines

• It is recommended that school divisions have policies and procedures regarding the:
  • placement of students in Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs
  • assessment of student achievement
  • program evaluation of Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs.

  This information should be made available to parents and to students, prior to enrollment in the program and should also be on file in the Regional Office of Education.

• School divisions are encouraged to use as many provincially-developed, Locally Developed, and Locally Modified Courses of Study as possible to meet the requirements for Alternative Education Programs.

• It is very important that the school make clear to both parents and students that Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs are not the equivalent of the Regular Education Program. Students should be made aware that Alternative Education Programs do not meet admission requirements in most post-secondary education programs.

• Students will vary both in their individual program needs and in the pace at which they will be able to complete their Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program. School divisions are expected to be flexible in facilitating a student's completion of an Alternative Education Program. Students may require more than one year to complete a one year program. It is the responsibility of local school authorities to determine when course requirements have been completed and to forward that information to the Registrar's Unit.

• School divisions should have policy regarding enrollment in Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Programs. Department policy applies when students wish to re-enter the Regular Education Program.

• The decision to move a student from the Regular Education Program into an Alternative Grade 10, 11, or 12 Program should be based on:
  • an assessment of the student's academic functioning
  • the agreement and input of both student and parents/guardians.

  School divisions may want to develop a signed or formal agreement for parent/guardian signature that outlines the implications of enrolling in an Alternative Education Program.

• A transfer plan for a student wishing to move from an Alternative Education Program into the Regular Education Program must include:
  • an assessment of the student's current level of knowledge and skills attained in each course in the Alternative Education Program
  • a determination of additional requirements for that student to attain credit recognition in a course in the Regular Education Program.

  The student should receive recognition for knowledge and skills already attained that match those of the Regular Education Program and the student should be placed at the appropriate level for successful course completion in the Regular Education Program.