(a) All public school districts and public charter schools shall provide at least one (1) digital learning course to their students as either a primary or supplementary method of instruction.
(b) All digital learning courses provided by public school districts or public charter schools shall:
(1) Be of high quality;
(2) Meet or exceed the curriculum standards and requirements established by the State Board of Education; and
(3) Be made available in a blended learning, online-based, or other technology-based format tailored to meet the needs of each participating student.
(c) Digital learning courses shall be capable of being assessed and measured through standardized tests or local assessments.
(d) Beginning with the entering ninth grade class of the 2014-2015 school year, each high school student shall be required to take at least one (1) digital learning course for credit to graduate.
(e) The state board shall not limit the number of digital learning courses for which a student may receive credit through a public school or a public charter school and shall ensure that digital learning courses may be used as both primary and secondary methods of instruction.
(f) The state board may promulgate rules to implement this section.
(g) A public school district or open-enrollment public charter school that expels a student under § 6-18-507 shall offer to the expelled public school student digital learning courses or other alternative educational courses for which the student may receive academic credit that is at least equal to credit the expelled public school student may have received if he or she was still enrolled in his or her assigned public school or open-enrollment public charter school immediately before he or she was expelled.
Structure Arkansas Code