Apex Learning
Academic Curriculum
Grades 6-12
The Apex
Learning® Academic
Curriculum provides
standards-based
courses in math,
science, English,
social studies,
world languages,
electives, and
Advanced Placement*
for grades 7 through
12. With the Apex
Learning Academic
Curriculum, schools
are able to take
advantage of a range
of online learning
approaches to
address critical
education challenges
and raise
achievement for all
students — from
those who are not
succeeding in
traditional programs
to students capable
of accelerating
their learning.
Apex
Learning®
AP Courses
Starting with the
2007-2008 school
year, for a course
to be authorized to
use the AP*
designation it must
have been approved
via the College
Board AP course
audit. Apex Learning
submitted all 14 of
our online AP
courses to the
course audit. We are
pleased to announce
that all 14 courses
have been approved
to use the AP
designation. This
includes approval
for our AP science
courses (AP Biology,
AP Chemistry, and AP
Physics) with the
existing virtual
labs for the
2007-2008 academic
year.
Authorization
The authorization of
a course is an
official recognition
by the College Board
that the course
meets or exceeds the
expectations
colleges and
universities have
for the AP subject.
The syllabus is
reviewed by
experienced college
and university
faculty, who have
confirmed that it
outlines how the
course provides a
college-level
learning opportunity
to students. This
authorization grants
a school permission
to use the “AP”
designation on
students’
transcripts in
association with the
authorized course.
In addition, the
course will appear
in a publicly
available,
Internet-based
ledger to be
published in
November 2007.
Virtual Labs
The College Board
has recently
established new
guidelines for
virtual labs that
must be satisfied to
continue to use the
AP designation
starting with the
2008-2009 school
year. Apex Learning
has already
initiated
development of new
virtual labs meeting
those requirements
to submit to the
College Board to
receive
authorization for
the 2008-2009 school
year.
*
AP is a registered
trademark of the
College Entrance
Examination Board.
Comprehensive
Courses
Designed to fully
meet college
preparatory
requirements,
Comprehensive
Courses from Apex
Learning deliver a
broad curriculum to
support teachers in
creating rich,
in-depth learning
experiences for
their students. Each
course provides a
complete scope and
sequence with
original
instructional
content that not
only guides students
in mastering
critical skills and
developing an
understanding of key
concepts but
encourages them to
go as far as they
can with their
learning.
Multimedia
tutorials provide
students with
opportunities to
explore and discover
new concepts.
Images, sound
tracks, short
movies, animations,
charts, and graphs
integrated
throughout the text
provide alternative
representations and
address different
learning styles.
Comprehensive
Courses include
varied activity
types that challenge
students to explore
further, extend
their understanding,
think critically,
apply skills and
concepts to new
situations, and
develop and express
their points of
view. Students are
actively engaged in
learning as they
read, watch, listen,
inquire, write,
discuss, explore,
and manipulate
objects and data.
Formative and
diagnostic
assessments
integrated
throughout the
curriculum provide
frequent
opportunities to
gauge student
progress on an
ongoing basis.
Students are
required to
demonstrate what
they have learned
with summative
assessments at the
end of each unit and
semester. Objective,
computer-graded
assessments such as
multiple-choice,
fill-in-the-blank,
and true-false give
immediate feedback
to students and
teachers. In
addition,
Comprehensive
Courses make
extensive use of
more subjective
open-ended,
*teacher-graded
testing tools to
evaluate higher
order and critical
thinking skills.
*Teacher-graded
assessments include
essay questions,
research
assignments,
mathematical proofs,
scientific inquiry,
and application of
skills and concepts.
Essentials
Courses
Incorporating
instructional
content and
assessments from
Comprehensive
Courses, Essentials
Courses from Apex
Learning offer a
streamlined
curriculum to meet
high school
graduation
requirements and
support remediation,
intervention, and
credit recovery
programs. Essentials
Courses provide a
complete scope and
sequence with
original
instructional
content that focuses
student attention on
mastering critical
skills and
developing an
understanding of key
concepts.
Information is
presented in small,
manageable "chunks"
that require
students to make
decisions as they
navigate through it.
Strict attention is
given to keeping
sentence and
paragraph length
short in accordance
with online reading
habits and
readability
principles. Images,
sound tracks, short
movies, animations,
charts, and graphs
integrated
throughout the text
provide alternative
representations and
address different
learning styles.
Prompts and
interactive
exercises give
students frequent
opportunities to
check their
understanding and
apply what they
learn as they
progress through a
subject. Rollover
vocabulary provides
important assistance
to students who may
otherwise be held
back in their
learning due to
their reading level.
Digital
Manipulatives provide
hands-on
opportunities for
students to master
difficult concepts.
Extensive use of
audio and video that
is controllable by
the student brings
learning to life in
a way that no
text-based
curriculum can.
As with
Comprehensive
Courses, assessment
is embedded
throughout. In
Essentials Courses,
the emphasis is on
computer-graded
assessments.
Diagnostic
assessments included
for each unit can be
used as a pre- or a
post-test to gauge a
student’s level of
knowledge and
understanding.
Individual study
plans generated
based on performance
on the diagnostics
outline a
personalized
learning path for
every student.
Computer-graded
quizzes integrated
throughout the
instructional
content give
students and
teachers immediate
feedback on an
ongoing basis.
Students are
required to
demonstrate what
they have learned
through
computer-graded unit
tests and semester
exams.
Essentials
Courses include
optional
*teacher-graded
summative
assessments that can
be used to evaluate
higher-order and
critical thinking
skills. Essentials
Courses in English
include multiple
*teacher-graded
writing assignments
as well as
*teacher-graded
semester exams that
are important
components in the
evaluation of a
student’s writing
ability.
Meeting
Educational
Priorities With
Online Learning
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