The State Board of Education approved a temporary rule and to begin the APA process to revise State Board Policy Chapter 56, Rule 56.1 – Distance Learning, Blended Learning, and Online Learning.
State Board Policy Chapter 56, Rule 56.1, defines an online course as a course delivered through an interactive computer-based and internet-connected learning environment in which students are separated from their teachers by time or location or both and which a Mississippi-certified teacher is responsible for providing instruction. These courses must be approved through the Mississippi Online Course Application (MOCA) process.
The State Board Policy is being revised to give districts the flexibility to offer currently approved courses in which the content is adapted into a learning management system, delivered by a district employee/classroom teacher, and used with their students virtually or in a blended model do not require approval through the MOCA process. These online courses would be subject to local district review and would qualify for use of the face-to-face course codes found in MSIS and the Approved Courses for Secondary Schools of Mississippi.
For more information concerning Distance Learning, Blended Learning, and Online Learning, please visit https://www.mdek12.org/ESE/OCA or contact Lea Johnson at lea.johnson@mdek12.org.
Comments can be submitted at https://mdek12.org/PN/APA prior to August 10, 2020 at 5:00 PM.