Course Numbering & Naming Standards

For the 2015-16 School year, an entirely new Master Course Catalog (often referred to as the 'Course Deck') was created. Over time, the existing course catalog began to become clogged with duplicate, obsolete, and unnecessary courses. Very few of these courses had accurate and useful course descriptions. Also, there wasn't a clear and easy to follow method of numbering our courses. Finally, some of the course attributes (credit type, credit value, course length, etc.) were inaccurate and causing issues with students enrolled in these courses. To correct these issues, a committee was formed to audit the entire catalog and create a new, streamlined course catalog that will be used for the 15-16 school year and beyond.

Change Log

  • 2020-2021

    • the majority of year-long courses worth 1.0 HS credits have been split into two courses, each lasting one semester and worth 0.5 credits.  The expectation is that these students are scheduled as if these were year-long courses. 

  • 2022-2023

    • SPED courses (designated with an “E” suffix) are phased out in favor of a more inclusive model of instruction. Regular course numbers are used, and specific section numbers designate resource rooms and inclusion classrooms.

Basic Structure


 

  • Course numbers have a minimum 6-digit length

    • The first digit represents the Grade Level designated for the course. 0 = Kindergarten, 9 = all grades 9-12

    • The second digit represents the Content Area as shown in the chart below

    • If a course is leveled (as in the example screenshot above), the Course Level is represented by the 5th digit

    • The Course Length is represented by the 6th digit. 0 = Year-Long, 1 = Quarter, 5 = Semester

    • If the course was previously a year-long course (prior to 2020-21) and has been split into two semester course, a period (.) is added after the 6th digit, and the 8th character represents the Semester

    • A single-letter Suffix can optionally be added at the end of a course number to further clarify the intended audience (see chart below)


The table below shows how course numbers are organized based on the position of the digits in the course number 

  • Using a structure where digits have certain meaning makes it easier to sort, group, identify, and maintain courses.

  • These rules apply to the 2015 District Course Catalog in Infinite Campus (catalogID = 4)

1st Digit

Grade Level

2nd Digit

Content Area

3rd/4th/5th Digit - Sub Content Areas

6th Digit

Course Length

Days / Week

Credit

Notes

1st Digit

Grade Level

2nd Digit

Content Area

3rd/4th/5th Digit - Sub Content Areas

6th Digit

Course Length

Days / Week

Credit

Notes

0

KG

0

Mathematics

Math Sub-Content

0

Year

5

1.00

Traditional Courses - 120 Seat hours minimum, 1.0 credits

  • Courses split into semesters in 2020-21 are still considered year-long courses, as they must be scheduled together, so they still have 0 as the sixth digit

 

1

1st

1

Science

Science Sub-Content

1

Quarter

5

0.25

Traditional Courses - 30 Seat hours minimum, 0.25 credits (if applicable)

  • Quarter-length courses are mostly used 6th grade unified arts courses, and are rarely used elsewhere

College Credit Plus

  • 3 or more credit-hour courses convert to 1.0 credits (per ODE guidelines here)

2

2nd

2

English / Language Arts

ELA Sub-Content

2

 

 

 

unused

3

3rd

3

Social Studies

Social Studies Sub-Content

3

Semester

varies

0.33

College Credit Plus

  • 1 credit-hour courses convert to 0.33 credits (per ODE guidelines here)

4

4th

4

Technology

Technology Sub-Content

4

 

 

 

unused

5

5th

5

Health / Physical Education

Health/PE Sub-Content

5

Semester

5

0.50

Traditional Courses - 60 Seat hours minimum, 0.5 credits

  • An exception is Physical Education, which is 1 semester but is only 0.25 credits.

6

6th

6

Fine Arts

Fine Arts Sub-Content

6

Semester

5

 

0.66

College Credit Plus

  • 2 credit-hour courses convert to 0.66 credits (per ODE guidelines here)

7

7th

7

World Languages

World Language Sub-Content

7

 

 

 

unused

8

8th

8

Career Tech**

Career Tech Sub-Content

8

 

 

 

unused 

9

9th - 12th 

9

Other / Elective

Other

9

Varies

 

 

Non-Credit Courses

P

Pre-K

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

N

Non-Instructional 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T

 Teacher Courses 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C

CCP Courses

1-9, A-Z

Specific College - see chart below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Non-Instructional courses are not for credit. These include courses used for attendance and blocker courses used to identify where a student is physically located at that time

 - Used to identify where teachers are in the school day (TEACHER DUTY, TEACHER CONFERENCE, etc.)  These are optional.

 - College Credit Plus courses

** - All Career Tech courses must have Curriculum = VT, VN or VM (Career Tech Options)

 

Suffix Definitions 


Suffix

Course Type

Notes

Suffix

Course Type

Notes

A

Non-Attendance

6th grade courses offered at K-8 buildings that will not require period attendance.

B

Block Course

Courses that are taught for longer times during the school day (i.e. two periods instead of one) but only for a semester.  Example setup here.

D

Digital course

Online courses used for Credit Advancement or at the BlendED school

E

Exceptional Students (SPED)

Special Education courses NOTE: Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, most of these are being phased out in grades 6-12 to move to a more inclusive model.

Details here: Special Education

F

Credit Flex

Students may request credits for courses taught by unconventional methods

G

Gifted

Gifted courses ... these do not always have a 'generic' equivalent, but adding the G at the end makes them easy to identify

H

Home Instruction

Courses for students on Home Instruction

L

English Learners

English as a Second Language courses

M

Mastery

Compacted course for students who have documented readiness through approved means in programs incorporating an accelerated, mastery pacing of instruction.

R

Credit Recovery

  • Courses used for Credit Recovery through online program (APEX) for high school students

  • Also used for Saturday Super Reader  (elementary reading program)

S

Summer School

Courses offered during summer school

T

Trimester

Course is taught for 3 periods with a final grade for each of the 3 terms

V

VCAP

Virtual Credit Advancement Program

X

Exceptions / Special Cases

These are used rarely, when a new course has to be created for a correction or special purpose

Multiple suffixes may be used for courses that meet more than one criteria.

For example, a Special Education Course that is being taught as a Block course. This would have a suffix of EB

Semester Designation


Beginning in 20-21, year-long high school courses have been split into two semester courses.  With this change, there is an update to the course naming and numbering

Before

After

Notes

Before

After

Notes

920010 – ENGLISH 9

920010.1 - ENGLISH 9 (X)

920010.2 - ENGLISH 9 (Y)

  • .1 and .2 at the end of the course number indicate the semester in which the course is intended to be taken

  •  (X) and (Y) are added at the end of the course name to indicate the courses are taught in different semesters, as course numbers do not appear on report cards, schedules, or transcripts

  • suffixes as described above remain at the end of the course number, after .1 or .2

  • Courses ending in a 5 were already one semester in length, so there were no changes to the course numbers or names

  • Courses that end in .3 are trimester courses with no quarter grading tasks.

920010L - ENGLISH 9

920010.1L - ENGLISH 9 (X)

920010.2L - ENGLISH 9 (Y)

930245 - PSYCHOLOGY

930245 - PSYCHOLOGY



Specific Content Areas


The 3rd, 4th, and 5th digits are used to uniquely identify courses within a content area. Each content area is further broken into sub-content areas (i.e Music, Art, Theatre under Fine Arts). Sub content areas use digits 3 and 4 in most cases. Where applicable, the fifth digit will denote the level of a course. If there is only one version of a course in a sub-content area, it should be a 0. Leveled versions begin with a 1 and go up from there.

Each table below contains one content area an several sub-content areas 

Mathematics (0)

Mathematics (0)

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

 

 

 

90

Test Prep

01

Geometry

11

Integrated Math

99

Gifted (Columbus Gifted Academy only)

02

Algebra

12

College Prep

 

 

03

Academy

13

Intervention / ALEKS Math

 

 

04

Statistics

14

Finance

 

 

05

Pre-Calculus

15

Modeling & Reasoning

 

 

06

Calculus

16

Data Science

 

 

07

International Baccalaureate (IB)

 

 

 

 

08

Advanced Placement (AP)

 

 

 

 

09

Test Prep (old)

 

 

 

 

10

Transition

20

General Math

 

 



Science (1)

Science (1)

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

Elementary

 

 

 

 

01

 

11

Agriscience

30

Environmental

02

 

12

PLTW

40

Physical

03

 

13

Biomedical

50

Chemistry

04

 

14

Bioscience

60

Materials Science

05

 

15

 

70

Physics

06

 

16

 

90

Test Prep

07

 

17

 

 

 

08

 

18

 

 

 

09

 

19

 

 

 

10

Biology

20

Anatomy/Physiology

 

 

English / Language Arts (2)

English / Language Arts (2)

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

General English

 

 

25

Intervention / Enrichment

01

 

11

 

30

Test Prep (old)

02

 

12

 

35

Literature

03

 

13

 

40

Communication

04

 

14

 

45

International Baccalaureate (IB)

05

Speech

15

Reading

50

Advanced Placement (AP)

06

 

16

 

55

Newspaper / Yearbook

07

 

17

 

 

 

08

Spelling

18

 

 

 

09

 

19

 

90

Test Prep

10

Writing

20

Humanities

99

Gifted (Columbus Gifted Academy only)

Social Studies (3)

Social Studies (3)

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

 

 

 

25

 

01

History, Geography, Politics

11

Cultural Studies

30

 

02

Anthropology, Psychology, Law

12

 

35

 

03

International Baccalaureate (IB)

13

 

40

 

04

World Studies

14

 

45

 

05

Government

15

 

50

 

06

World History, Global Issues

16

 

55

 

07

Sociology

17

 

 

 

08

African American Studies, American History

18

 

 

 

09

Humanities

19

 

90

Test Prep

10

Civics/Citizenship

20

Economics

99

 

 

Technology (4)

Technology (4)

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

Gateway

 

 

25

 

01

Awareness

11

 

30

 

02

Word

12

 

35

 

03

Excel

13

 

40

 

04

Access

14

 

45

 

05

Powerpoint

15

 

50

 

06

Enterprise, Business & Marketing

16

 

55

 

07

CCS Tech

17

 

 

 

08

Outlook

18

 

 

 

09

 

19

 

90

 

10

PLTW Design, Modeling, Robotics

20

Arts

99

 



Health / Physical Education (5)

Health / Physical Education (5)

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd -6th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

Health

5xx0

High School Athletics - Varsity

6x

Middle School Athletics

01

Physical Education I

5xx1

High School Athletics - Junior Varsity

70

Other

02

Physical Education II

 

 

 

 

03

Sports Education

 

 

 

 

04

 

 

 

 

 

05

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Arts (6)

 

 

Fine Arts (6)

 

 

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

General Music

20

 

40

Nature

60

Film

01

Instrumental Music

21

 

41

 

61

Desktop Graphics

02

Vocal Music

22

 

42

 

62

Graphic Layout

03

Orchestra

23

 

43

 

63

Computer Graphics

04

Strings

24

 

44

 

64

 

05

Piano

25

 

45

 

65

 

06

Handbell

26

 

46

 

66

 

07

Electronic Music

27

 

47

 

67

 

08

 

28

 

48

 

68

 

09

 

29

 

49

 

69

 

10

Marching/Concert Band

30

Drama

50

General Art

70

 

11

Jazz Ensemble

31

Theatre

51

Visual Art

71

 

12

Music Theory

32

Dance

52

Art History

72

 

13

 

33

Acting

53

Art Minor

73

 

14

Mixed/Solo Ensemble

34

Stagecraft

54

Portfolio

74

 

15

Mixed Chorus I

35

Production

55

Photography

75

 

16

Mixed Chorus II

36

Broadcasting

56

Drawing

76

 

17

Choir

37

 

57

Painting

77

 

18

Tenor/Bass/Soprano/Alto Choir

38

 

58

Sculpture/Ceramics

78

 

19

 

39

 

59

Craft/Textiles (Jewelry, Leather, Weaving)

79

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



World Languages (7)

 

 

 

 

World Languages (7)

 

 

 

 

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

Spanish

20

German

40

Japanese

60

Chinese

80

Arabic

01

AP / KAP Spanish

21

 

41

 

61

AP Chinese

81

 

02

IB Spanish

22

 

42

Korean

62

Pashto

82

 

03

Heritage Spanish

23

 

43

 

63

 

83

 

04

Middle School Spanish

24

 

44

 

64

 

84

 

05

 

25

 

45

 

65

Hindi

85

Somali

06

 

26

 

46

 

66

Bengali

86

Kinyarwanda

07

 

27

 

47

 

67

 

87

 

08

 

28

 

48

 

68

Ga

88

 

09

 

29

 

49

 

69

 

89

 

10

French

30

Latin

50

Russian

70

American Sign Language

90

Italian

11

AP French

31

AP Latin

51

 

71

 

91

 

12

IB French

32

IB Latin

52

 

72

Urdu

92

 

13

 

33

 

53

 

73

 

93

 

14

Middle School French

34

 

54

 

74

Yoruba

94

 

15

 

35

Greek

55

 

75

 

95

Chin (Hakha)

16

 

36

 

56

 

76

Twi

96

 

17

 

37

 

57

 

77

 

97

 

18

 

38

 

58

 

78

Nepali

98

 

19

 

39

 

59

 

79

Swahili

99

Intro to World Languages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Career Technical (8)

Career Technical (8)

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

Construction

20

Computer Hardware/Networking

40

Web

60

Film/TV

80

Music

01

Construction/Law and Public Safety

21

Fashion/Interior Design

41

Auto Collision

61

Welding

81

Education

02

Construction/Law and Public Safety

22

 

42

 

62

Welding

82

 

03

Construction

23

Family / Consumer Science

43

 

63

 

83

 

04

Firefighting / EMS

24

Transition / Careers

44

Human Resources

64

Media Arts

84

Network Security / Cyber Security

05

 

25

 

45

 

65

 

85

 

06

 

26

Project Lead the Way (PLTW)

46

 

66

 

86

 

07

Agriculture

27

 

47

 

67

 

87

 

08

Video

28

 

48

 

68

 

88

 

09

Graphic Arts/Design

29

Information Technology (IT)

49

 

69

 

89

 

10

Landscape/Horticulture

30

Programming

50

Theater / Stage

70

Audio

90

Health

11

Photography

31

Culinary

51

Auto Tech

71

Cosmetology

91

Engineering

12

Manufacturing

32

Culinary / Food

52

Engines

72

 

92

Engineering

13

Medical

33

 

53

 

73

 

93

Medical

14

Dance

34

 

54

 

74

 

94

 

15

Business 

35

Cybersecurity

55

 

75

 

95

Robotics

16

Special Ed CTE

36

 

56

 

76

Landscape/Horticulture

96

 

17

Finance

37

 

57

 

77

 

97

 

18

Business Marketing

38

 

58

 

78

 

98

 

19

 

39

 

59

 

79

 

99

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Other / Electives (9)

Other / Electives (9)

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

3rd / 4th Digit

Sub-Content Area

00

Elementary

20

ROTC Army

40

Business (non-career tech)

60

Finance

80

IB Electives

01

 

21

ROTC - Other

41

 

61

 

81

 

02

 

22

 

42

 

62

 

82

 

03

 

23

 

43

 

63

 

83

 

04

 

24

 

44

 

64

 

84

 

05

 

25

 

45

 

65

 

85

 

06

 

26

 

46

 

66

 

86

 

07

 

27

 

47

 

67

 

87

 

08

 

28

 

48

 

68

 

88

 

09

 

29

 

49

 

69

 

89

 

10

ROTC Air Force

30

Test Prep

50

International Seminar

70

International Thesis

90

Industrial Tech Survey

11

Advanced Physical Education (elective credit only - Not for graduation)

31

 

51

 

71

 

91

Vocational Studies

12

Other

32

 

52

 

72

 

92

Health/Medical

13

 

33

 

53

 

73

 

93

Life Skills

14

 

34

 

54

 

74

 

94

 

15

Summer School Elective

35

Social/Emotional Learning (SEL)

55

Other Seminar

75

 

95

Portfolio

16

 

36

 

56

 

76

 

96

 

17

 

37

 

57

 

77

 

97

 

18

 

38

 

58

 

78

 

98

 

19

 

39

 

59

 

79

 

99

Gifted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



College Credit Plus Courses







1st/2nd Digits

Course Name Prefix

College Name

3rd Digit

Curriculum Area

4th/5th Digit - Used to uniquely identify a course within content area

6th Digit

Carnegie Unit

C1

CSCC

Columbus State Community College

0

Math

 

1

1

CH

CSCC

Columbus State Community College

 

 

 

 

 

C2

OSU

The Ohio State University

1

Science

 

2

0.16

CG

OSU

The Ohio State University

2

English

 

3

0.33

C3

OU

Ohio University

3

Social Studies

 

4

 

C4

OTT

Otterbein University

4

Technology

 

5

.50

C5

ODU

Ohio Dominican University

5

Health/Physical Education

 

6

0.66

C6

FRANKLIN (FRA)

Franklin University

6

Fine Arts

 

 

 

C7

CAPITAL (CAP)

Capital University

7

World Languages

 

 

 

C8

DEVRY (DEV)

DeVry University

8

Career Dev / Tech

 

 

 

C9

KAP

Kenyon College

9

Electives

 

 

 

CA

NCSC

North Central State College

 

 

 

 

 

CB

OCU

Ohio Christian University

 

 

 

 

 

CC

CCAD

Columbus College of Art & Design

 

 

 

 

 

CD

ASHLAND (ASH)

Ashland University

 

 

 

 

 

CE

COTC

Central Ohio Technical College

 

 

 

 

 

CF

CSU

Central State University

 

 

 

 

 

CI

SINCLAIR (SNCL)

Sinclair Community College

 

 

 

 

 

CJ

CLARK STATE (CLST)

Clark State

 

 

 

 

 



Transfer courses are still a work in progress …

Transfer Courses

Transfer Courses

1st / 2nd Digit

Transfer Course Origination

3rd Digit

Content Area

4th Digit

Specific Content Area

5th Digit

Level

6th Digit

Unused (zero for all courses)

X1

Ohio

0

Math

0

0

0

0

0

Math I

Math II

Math III

AQR

Advanced

1

2

3

4

5

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

0



X2

Non-Ohio

1

Science

1

2

3

4

Advanced

Life

Physical

Other

0

N/A

0







2

English

0

0

0

0

0

5











Other

1

2

3

4

5

5

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

0







3

Social Studies

1

2

3

4

Government

Am. History

Wld. History

Other

0

N/A

0







4

Technology

0

N/A

0

N/A

0







5

Health / PE

1

2

2

Health

Phys Ed I

Phys Ed II

0

1

2

N/A

Level 1

Level 2

0







6

Fine Arts

0

N/A

0

N/A

0







7

World Language

0

N/A

1

2

3

4

5

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

0







8

Career Tech

0

N/A

0

N/A

0







9

Electives

0

N/A

0

N/A

0





Special Education (Courses with no match to Non Special Ed Courses)

1st/2nd Digits

Grade Level

3rd/4th Digits

Curriculum Area

00

Elementary

09

Adaptive PE 9

10

Elementary

10

Adaptive PE 10

20

Elementary

11

Adaptive PE 11

30

Elementary

12

Adaptive PE 12

40

Elementary





50

Elementary





60

6th Grade





70

7th Grade





80

8th Grade





90

High School





99

Other

90-91

Non-Credit



ESL  (Courses with no match to Non ESL Courses)

1st/2nd Digits

Grade Level

3rd/4th Digits

Curriculum Area

02

Elementary

11

ESL Elective

12

Elementary

12

English as a Second Languge

22

Elementary

41

ESL

32

Elementary

42

ESL Proficiency

42

Elementary





52

Elementary





62

6th Grade





72

7th Grade





82

8th Grade





92

High School







International Baccalaureate courses

5th digit

International Baccalaureate courses

5th digit

Standard Level (SL) Grade 9

1

Standard Level (SL) Grade 10

2

Standard Level (SL) Grade 11

3

Standard Level (SL) Grade 12

4

High Level (HL) Grade 9

5

High Level (HL) Grade 10

6

High Level (HL) Grade 11

7

High Level (HL) Grade 12

8



Non-Instructional Courses

1st digit

2nd Digit

3rd digit

4th digit

5th digit

6th digit

Non-Instructional Courses

1st digit

2nd Digit

3rd digit

4th digit

5th digit

6th digit

Elementary

N



0

0

-



Student Helpers

N



1

0

-



Blockers (other locations)

N



2

-

-



Athletics

N



3

-

-



In-school courses (Lunch, Academic Assist, Tutor, etc.)

N



9

-

-





Course Names


When naming courses, make sure to follow the standards below:

  • There is a 30 character limit on course names.  

    • Courses should be named as descriptively as possible within this limit.

      • INTGALGDA                                              <-- Bad Example - Not descriptive

      • INTEGRATED ALG & DATA ANALYSIS    <-- Good Example

  • Course names must be in ALL CAPS

  • Arabic numerals are utilized at the end of the name to indicate a grade level 

    • ENGLISH 9 - 9th grade English 

    • SCIENCE 6 - 6th grade Science

  • Roman numerals are utilized to indicate course level 

    • ALGEBRA I - first level Algebra course

    • SPANISH IV  - this would be the 4th level Spanish course

  • College Credit Plus courses

    • Format should follow this structure:

      • College Name abbreviation - College Department - College Course # - Brief course name

      • For example, this course at Columbus State: BIO 1101 Fundamentals Human Anatomy & Physiology could look something like this:

        • CSCC BIO 1101 - Anatomy & Phys

Course Descriptions


  • All courses must have a well-written course description that will assist counselors, students, parents, schedulers, and administrators in understanding what the course is about

  • Some important items to add in a course description:

    • Date course was added to Course Catalog (master)

    • Seat Time Requirements (based on credit for that particular course)

    • ...

    • ...

    • ...

  • If a course is using one of the attributes as defined above, it should be clearly stated in the course description

  • College Credit Plus (CCP) Courses have a specific format; generally we try to use the same description in the college’s course catalog.

    • Also include a header (in bold) with CCP, College abbreviation, college course #, college course full name, college credit value and/or Semester hours

    • Example: CCP CSCC ENGL 1100 Composition I (3 credits)

      • this is an English Composition course at Columbus State