Texas Administrative Code
Title 19 - EDUCATION
Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
Chapter 70 - TECHNOLOGY-BASED INSTRUCTION
Subchapter AA - COMMISSIONER'S RULES CONCERNING THE TEXAS VIRTUAL SCHOOL NETWORK (TxVSN)
Section 70.1005 - Texas Virtual School Network Course Requirements
Universal Citation: 19 TX Admin Code § 70.1005
Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) All electronic courses to be made available through the Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN) shall be reviewed and approved prior to being offered.
(1) Each
electronic course approved for inclusion in the TxVSN shall:
(A) be in a specific subject that is part of
the required curriculum;
(B) be
aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) approved for
implementation in a given school year for a grade level at or above Grade
3;
(C) be the equivalent in
instructional rigor and scope to a course that is provided in a traditional
classroom setting during:
(i) a semester of
90 instructional days; and
(ii) a
school day of at least seven hours;
(D) be led by a teacher who meets the
requirements of §
70.1027 of this title (relating to
Requirements for Educators of Electronic Courses);
(E) be designed specifically for an online
learning environment, including instructional tools, assessment features, and
collaborative communication tools as appropriate;
(F) be aligned with the current National
Standards for Quality Online Courses;
(G) meet accessibility requirements
established by the U.S. Rehabilitation Act, §508, and TxVSN accessibility
guidelines; and
(H) ensure that
each student enrolled in a TxVSN electronic course takes any applicable
assessment instrument required under the Texas Education Code (TEC),
§39.023, according to the standard administration schedule and that each
assessment is supervised by a proctor.
(2) Secondary (Grades 6-12) science courses
shall include at least 40% hands-on laboratory investigations and field work
using appropriate scientific inquiry as required by §
74.3(b)(2)(C) of
this title (relating to Description of a Required Secondary
Curriculum).
(3) An Advanced
Placement (AP) course must have documented approval from the College Board as
an AP course prior to submission for TxVSN course review.
(4) If the TEKS with which an approved course
is aligned are modified, the course provider shall be provided the same time
period to revise the course to achieve alignment with the modified TEKS as is
provided for the modification of a course provided in a traditional classroom
setting.
(5) An online dual credit
course to be offered through the TxVSN shall be submitted to the administering
authority for review and approval prior to being offered.
(6) If the administering authority does not
approve an electronic course, a course provider may appeal to the commissioner
of education.
(A) A TxVSN course provider
must obtain support from the local governing body, as applicable, in order to
appeal to the commissioner regarding the administering authority's refusal to
approve an electronic course.
(B)
If the commissioner determines that the administering authority's evaluation
did not follow the criteria or was otherwise irregular, the commissioner may
overrule the administering authority and approve the course.
(C) The commissioner's decision under this
section is final and may not be appealed.
(b) A course approved to be offered through the TxVSN shall be required to be renewed for approval under one of the following circumstances, whichever period of time is shorter:
(1) in accordance with a schedule designed to
coincide with revisions to the curriculum under the TEC, §
28.002(a);
or
(2) not later than ten years
from the anniversary of the previous approval.
(c) A Texas public school district or charter school may apply to the commissioner for a waiver of the course review requirement if the school district or charter school certifies that courses they will offer meet all of the requirements of subsection (a)(1) of this section.
(1) A school district or charter
school that receives a waiver of this requirement shall ensure that students
enrolled in online courses that have not gone through the course review process
perform at a rate at least equal to that of the district or charter as a
whole.
(2) A school district or
charter school that does not maintain student performance at least equal to
that of the district or charter as a whole may be required to submit courses
for review as a condition of continued participation in the TxVSN.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Texas may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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