Course Numbering Standards - OLD

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Last updated: Dec 05, 2022
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Course Numbering Guidelines

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.

For the 2020-2021 school year, 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. 


Course Numbers

  • Course numbers are generally six digits in length. 
    • 920010 – ENGLISH 9
  • The exception to this rule is when a course has a specific attribute (i.e. taught using a block schedule) as defined below.  In this case, a designated letter is used at the end of the standard 6-digit course number.
    • 920010E– ENGLISH 9

Course Number Suffix Definitions 

SuffixCourse TypeNotes
ANon-Attendance6th grade courses offered at K-8 buildings that will not require period attendance.
BBlock CourseCourses 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.
DDigital courseOnline courses used for Credit Advancement or at the BlendED school
EExceptional Students (SPED)Special Education courses
FCredit FlexStudents may request credits for courses taught by unconventional methods
GGiftedGifted courses ... these do not always have a 'generic' equivalent, but adding the G at the end makes them easy to identify
HHome InstructionCourses for students on Home Instruction
LEnglish LearnersEnglish as a Second Language courses
MMasteryCompacted 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 SchoolCourses offered during summer school
VVCAPVirtual Credit Advancement Program
XExceptions / Special CasesThese are used rarely, when a new course has to be created for a correction or special purpose

(warning) 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

As noted above, 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


BeforeAfterNotes

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, and 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
920010E - ENGLISH 9920010.1E - ENGLISH 9 (X)920010.2E - ENGLISH 9 (Y)
930245 - PSYCHOLOGY930245 - PSYCHOLOGY



Course Number Structure

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

Digit position

Purpose0123456789NCPT
1stDesignates Grade Level for the courseKG1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8thAll High School CreditsNon-InstructionalCollege Credit PlusPre-KTeacher
2ndContent AreaMATHSCIENCEENGLISHSOCIAL STUDIESTECHNOLOGYHealth / Phys Ed.Fine ArtsWorld LanguageCareer TechnicalOther



3rdSub-Content Area













4thSub-Content Area













5thSub-Content Area / Course level
Level ILevel IILevel IIILevel IVLevel V







6th

Course Length /

Credit Value (CCP Courses)

Year Long / 1.0Quarter
0.33
Semester0.66






7th*optional suffix (see above)













  • Using the example above (902040E)
    • 9 - High School Course (grade 9-12)
    • 0 - Math Content Area
    • 20 - General math sub-content area
    • 4 - 4th level in General math
    • 0 - 1-credit course
    • E - Special Education version of this course
  • Using a structure where digits have certain meaning makes it easier to sort, group, identify, and maintain courses.
  • In this first table, the structure applies to ALL courses in the master catalog


1st Digit

Grade Level

2nd DigitContent Area3rd/4th/5th Digit - Sub Content Areas6th DigitCourse LengthDays / WeekCreditNotes
0KG0Mathematics

Math Sub-Content

0Year51.00

120 Seat hours minimum

College Credit Plus - 3 or more credit-hour courses convert to 1.0 credits

(per ODE guidelines here)

111ScienceScience Sub-Content1Quarter50.2530 Seat hours minimum (0.25 credit course meeting 5 days/week for one quarter)
222English / Language ArtsELA Sub-Content2Year10.20MS Unified Arts Courses meeting 1 day/week 
333Social StudiesSocial Studies Sub-Content3Semestervaries0.33College Credit Plus - 1 credit-hour courses convert to 0.33 credits 
444TechnologyTechnology Sub-Content4Year20.40MS Unified Arts Courses meeting 2 days/week 
555Health / Physical EducationHealth/PE Sub-Content5Semester50.50

60 Seat hours minimum.

(warning) An exception is PE, which is one semester but is only worth 0.25 credits.

666Fine ArtsFine Arts Sub-Content6

Year

Semester

3

varies

0.60

0.66

MS Unified Arts Courses meeting 3 days/week 

College Credit Plus - 2 credit-hour courses convert to 0.66 credits

777World LanguagesWorld Language Sub-Content7


unused
888Career Tech**Career Tech Sub-Content8


MS Unified Arts Courses meeting 3 days/week 
9(star)9-12 9Other / ElectiveOther9


Non-Credit Courses
PPre-K









N(red star)Non-Instructional 









T(green star) Teacher Courses 









C(blue star)CCP Courses1-9, A-ZCollege







(star) - All HS Credit courses use 9 for grade level

(red star) - Non-Instructional courses are not for credit.

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

(blue star) - College Credit Plus courses

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


3rd, 4th & 5th digit in course numbers

These three 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)

3rd / 4thSub-Content Area
01Geometry
02Algebra
03Academy
04Statistics
05Pre-Calculus
06Calculus
07International Baccalaureate (IB)
08Advanced Placement (AP)
09Test Prep (old)
10Transition
11Integrated Math
12College Prep
13Intervention / ALEKS Math
14Finance
15Modeling & Reasoning
16Data Science
20General Math
90Test Prep
99Gifted (Beck Gifted Program only)

Science (1)

3rd/4th DigitsSub-Content Area
00Elementary
10Biology
11Agriscience
20Anatomy/Physiology
30Environmental
40Physical
50Chemistry
60Materials Science
70Physics
90Test Prep
11PTLW Medical (Bio Medical)
12PLTW
13Biomedical
14Bioscience

English / Language Arts (2)

3rd / 4thSub-Content Area
00General English
05Speech
08Spelling
10Writing
15Reading
20Humanities
25Intervention / Enrichment
30Test Prep (old)
35Literature
40Communication
45

International Baccalaureate (IB)

50Advanced Placement (AP)
55Newspaper / Yearbook
90Test Prep
99Gifted (Beck Gifted Program only)

Social Studies (3)

3rd / 4thSub-Content Area
01History, Geography, Politics
02Anthropology, Psychology, Law
03International Baccalaureate (IB)
04World Studies
05Government
06World History, Global Issues
07Sociology
08African American Studies, American History
09Humanities
10Civics/Citizenship
11Cultural Studies
20Economics
90Test Prep

Technology (4)

3rd / 4thSub-Content Area
00Gateway
01Awareness
02Word
03Excel
04Access
05Powerpoint
06Enterprise, Business & Marketing
07CCS Tech
08Outlook
10PLTW Design, Modeling, Robotics
20Arts


Health / Physical Education

3rd/4th/5th/6thSub Content Area (5)
00Health
01Physical Education I
02Physical Education II
03

Sports Education

5xx0HS Athletics - Varsity
5xx1HS Athletics - Junior Varsity

6x


MS Athletics
70Other


Fine Arts (6)

3rd / 4thSub-Content Area3rd / 4thSub-Content Area
00General Music30Drama
01Instrumental Music31Theatre
02Vocal Music32Dance
03Orchestra33Acting
04Strings34Stagecraft
05Piano35Production


36Broadcasting
06Handbell40Nature
07Electronic Music50General Art
08
51Visual Art
09
52Art History
10Marching/Concert Band53Art Minor
11Jazz Ensemble54Portfolio
12Music Theory55Photography
13
56Drawing
14Mixed/Solo Ensemble57Painting
15Mixed Chorus I58Sculpture/Ceramics
16Mixed Chorus II59Craft/Textiles (Jewelry, Leather, Weaving)
17Choir60Film
18Tenor/Bass/Soprano/Alto Choir61Desktop Graphics
19
62Graphic Layout
20
63Computer Graphics

World Languages (7)

3rd / 4thLanguage
00Spanish
01AP / KAP Spanish
02IB Spanish
03Heritage Spanish
04Middle School Spanish
10French
11AP French
12IB French
14Middle School French
20German
30Latin
31AP Latin
32IB Latin
35Greek
40Japanese
50Russian
60Chinese
61AP Chinese
65Hindi
66Bengali
70ASL
72Urdu
74Yoruba
76Twi
78Nepali
80Arabic
85Somali
90Italian
95Chin (Hakha)
99Intro to World Languages

Career Technical (8)

3rd/4th DigitsSub-Content Area3rd/4th DigitsSub-Content Area
00Construction50Theater / Stage
01Construction/Law and Public Safety51Auto Tech
02Construction/Law and Public Safety52Engines
03
53
04Firefighting / EMS54
05
55
06
56
07Agriculture57
08Video58
09Graphic Arts/Design59
10Landscape/Horticulture60Film/TV
11Photography61Welding
12Manufacturing62
13,93Medical63
14Dance64
15Business 65
16Special Ed CTE66
17Finance67
18Business Marketing68
19
69
20Computer Hardware/Networking70Audio
21Fashion/Interior Design71Cosmetology
22
72
23Family / Consumer Science73
24Transition / Careers74
25
75
26
76
27
77
28
78
29
79
30Programming80Music
31Culinary81Education
32Culinary / Food82
33
83
34
84
35
85
36
86
37
87
38
88
39
89
40Web90Health
41Auto Collision91Engineering
42
92Engineering
43
93Medical
44
94
45
95Robotics
46
96
47
97
48
98
49
99

Other / Electives

3rd/4th DigitsSub-Content Area
00Elementary
10ROTC Air Force
11Advanced Physical Education (elective credit only. Not for graduation)
12Other
15Summer School Elective
20ROTC Army
21ROTC - Other
30Test Prep
35Social/Emotional Learning (SEL)
40Business (non-career tech)
50International Seminar
55Other Seminar
60Finance
70International Thesis
80IB Electives
90Industrial Tech Survey
91Vocational Studies
92Health/Medical
93Life Skills
95Portfolio
99Gifted

CCP Courses




1st/2nd DigitsCourse Name PrefixCollege Name3rd DigitCurriculum Area4th/5th Digit 6th DigitCarnegie Unit
C1CSCCColumbus State Community College0MathUsed to uniquely identify a course within content area

11
C2OSUThe Ohio State University1Science20.16
CGOSUThe Ohio State University



C3OUOhio University2English30.33
C4OTTOtterbein University3Social Studies60.66
C5ODUOhio Dominican University4Technology

C6FRANKLIN (FRA)Franklin University5

Health/Physical

Education



C7CAPITAL (CAP)Capital University6Fine Arts

C8DEVRY (DEV)DeVry University7World Languages

C9KAPKenyon College8Career Dev / Tech

CANCSCNorth Central State College9Electives

CBOCUOhio Christian University



CCCCADColumbus College of Art & Design



CDASHLAND Ashland University



CECOTCCentral Ohio Technical College



CFCSUCentral State University



Transfer Courses
1st / 2nd DigitTransfer Course Origination3rd DigitContent Area4th DigitSpecific Content Area5th DigitLevel

6th Digit

Unused (zero for all courses)
X1Ohio0Math

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
X2Non-Ohio1Science

1

2

3

4

Advanced

Life

Physical

Other

0

N/A

0


2English

0

0

0

0

0

5






Other

1

2

3

4

5

5

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

0


3Social Studies

1

2

3

4

Government

Am. History

Wld. History

Other

0

N/A

0


4

Technology

0N/A0N/A0


5Health / PE

1

2

2

Health

Phys Ed I

Phys Ed II

0

1

2

N/A

Level 1

Level 2

0


6Fine Arts0N/A0N/A0


7World Language0N/A

1

2

3

4

5

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

0


8Career Tech0N/A0N/A0


9Electives0N/A0N/A0



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

1st/2nd DigitsGrade Level3rd/4th DigitsCurriculum Area
00Elementary09Adaptive PE 9
10Elementary10Adaptive PE 10
20Elementary11Adaptive PE 11
30Elementary12Adaptive PE 12
40Elementary

50Elementary

606th Grade

707th Grade

808th Grade

90High School

99Other90-91Non-Credit

ESL  (Courses with no match to Non ESL Courses)

1st/2nd DigitsGrade Level3rd/4th DigitsCurriculum Area
02Elementary11ESL Elective
12Elementary12English as a Second Languge
22Elementary41ESL
32Elementary42ESL Proficiency
42Elementary

52Elementary

626th Grade

727th Grade

828th Grade

92High School

International Baccalaureate courses

5th digit
Standard Level (SL) Grade 91
Standard Level (SL) Grade 102
Standard Level (SL) Grade 113
Standard Level (SL) Grade 124
High Level (HL) Grade 95
High Level (HL) Grade 106
High Level (HL) Grade 117
High Level (HL) Grade 128

Non-Instructional Courses

1st digit2nd Digit3rd digit4th digit5th digit6th digit
ElementaryN
00-
Student HelpersN
10-
Blockers (other locations)N
2--
AthleticsN
3--
In-school courses (Lunch, Academic Assist, Tutor, etc.)N
9--


Course Names


  • 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 should be in ALL CAPS. 
  • Arabic numerals are utilized at the end of the name to indicate a grade level 
    • COMMON CORE MATH 6 
  • Roman numerals are utilized to indicate course level 
    • SPANISH IV 

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
    CCPCollegeCollege Course #College Course nameCreditsDescription
    Designates this as a PSEO courseCollege abbreviationCourse number used by the collegeName used by the collegecollege credit valuetaken from the college course catalog
    Example:


    CCP CSCC ENGL 1100 Composition I (A, SP, SU) - 3 credits

     English 1100 is a beginning composition course which develops processes for critically reading, writing, and responding to a variety of texts in order to compose clear, concise, expository essays. The course facilitates an awareness of purpose, audience, content, structure and style, while also introducing research and documentation methods. Course reading and writing assignments may be thematically organized. - Lecture: 3 hours - Prerequisite: ENGL 0190, minimum grade of "C" or COMPASS writing score of  Lab fee: $5.00