Handy Tools and Resources

By law, all school districts in the state of Oklahoma are participants in the program.

Yes. Students may not be denied the opportunity to enroll in educationally appropriate online courses. Check with your school counselor or principal or contact our office for more information.

All courses certified by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board have undergone a review by educators to ensure alignment with state standards.

Online course providers coordinate with districts regarding students’ IEP guidelines. The local school district retains the responsibility to provide for students’ special needs.

Yes. Students who participate in Horizon are still considered full-time students in the district and may participate fully in fine arts, sports or any other extracurricular activity.

Yes. Students must participate in the Oklahoma School Testing Program.

Students participating in online courses from a remote site will be responsible for providing their own equipment and Internet access unless the district chooses to provide equipment.

Instructor Embedded courses are taught by a certified teacher who serves officially as the teacher-of-record and regularly interacts with the student. The responsibilities of an online instructor mirror those of a traditional teacher—they deliver instruction, assign and grade homework, answer questions and provide feedback on students’ work.

Content Only courses offer instruction in an automated way. Students are led through a variety of learning experiences (i.e. video presentations, interactive educational games) with assignments and tests generated and graded through computer software. Content Only courses do not include an instructor for students to contact with questions. When students are enrolled in a Content Only course, the school provides a course liaison that monitors student progress in the course.

Horizon includes courses in all subject areas across all grade levels. Districts may use any online course provider whose materials meet the needs of the students they serve. The Oklahoma Online Course Catalog contains a list of courses currently provided by state-approved vendors.

Course providers who have been granted a state contract submit basic course information for inclusion in the OOCC. Once a course is submitted to the catalog, it is scheduled for course review according to the timeline adopted by the SVCSB. Newly submitted courses that have not yet been reviewed are noted in the OOCC as “pending certification.” Once the course review is complete, results of the evaluation are presented to the SVCSB who considers the evidence and votes whether to certify or not certify the course. Courses they vote to certify have their designation changed from “pending certification” to “state-certified.” If the SVCSB votes to not certify a course, the course is removed from the OOCC.

Course reviews are conducted by content experts and pedagogical experts selected by the SVCSB. Each course is evaluated by at least two course reviewers who evaluate the course to determine how well aligned it is to the current academic standards approved by the State of Oklahoma (or nationally/internationally accepted content standards set for courses whose content is not included in state standards). Additionally, course reviewers examine each course to determine the presence of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning National Standards for Quality Online Courses. The evaluation criteria and aggregate score earned for each criterion can be accessed by clicking on review score in the OOCC. Advanced Placement courses undergo rigorous review by the College Board. No other course evaluation is done on AP courses. If a course is authorized by the College Board as an AP course, it is automatically listed as “state-certified” in the OOCC.

If you are an educator with expertise in one or more subject areas and would like to serve as a course reviewer, please contact info@horizon.ok.gov. To learn more about the course review process, watch this video from one experienced Horizon Course Reviewer.

There are factors that may impact a student’s successful performance in an online setting. You may wish to review the Online Learner Readiness Rubric, published by Michigan Virtual University. Additionally, you may want to experience the Online Learning Orientation Tool also developed by MVU. This self-paced module acquaints students with common elements of online learning.

Edgenuity, one of the state approved course providers, has a student experience demo.You can access that video here.

No. Districts are not required to use any specific course providers, and it is at the district’s discretion to determine which online courses are most appropriate for the students they serve. However, if a student wants to take a course that is not offered by the school’s chosen provider, the school will need to contract with another provider for that one course.

Students are allowed to take up to the academic equivalent of five (5) hours of supplemental online instruction per day at no cost, with the payment coming from the district. Students wishing to take additional online courses may do so, but the cost to the district for such additional courses cannot exceed the pro-rated portion of the general fund per pupil expenditure for the student. The school is not responsible for providing Internet or computers for courses taken off site.

Students may take courses from a location inside or outside of the school site location, and may take supplemental online courses outside the normal school hours of operation.

If the course is specified as “instructor-embedded,” the online vendor provides the instructor. The instructor does not have to be certified in Oklahoma, but must be certified to teach the content in another state(s) or must be a college-level faculty member with expertise in the content. If the course is specified as “content only,” then the district is responsible for providing a certified staff member to serve as a liaison to the online provider(s).

Attendance/participation in a supplemental online course shall be monitored in accordance with local district policy and determined by documented student/teacher/course interaction that may include, but is not limited to, online chats, emails, posting/submission of lessons, etc. The supplemental online course provider must provide evidence that the student is making appropriate progress weekly.

Supplemental online courses shall employ the appropriate course codes, names, and numbers as established by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. All public school districts in Oklahoma shall recognize course credit issued for courses authorized through Horizon.

Students who are enrolled in one or more supplemental online courses may participate in extracurricular activities sponsored by the district in which they are enrolled in accordance with state law and regulations governing participation as set forth in 70 O.S.§ 1-111(C)(8).