Security 

General Tab 

Other Tab 

NCLB Specific Fields 

California Specific Fields 

Correspondence Language Tab 

MST Classes Tab 

SMS Classes Tab 

Standards Tab 

Career Pathways Tab 

College Articulations 

Course Fees 

Course Documents 

Course Composites New 

Characteristics 

Maintaining Courses 

References 


Overview

Navigate to Scheduling Process > Courses


The Courses page is used to add, edit and delete Courses and Course information used across the District.  The information about each Course  impacts numerous other functions/processes:

  • Scheduling
  • Grade Reporting/Standards Based Grade Reporting
  • Transcripts/Graduation Status
  • Career Pathways
  • State Reporting
  • Academic Plan


Note: Based on the significant impact of Course data, it is critical that it be accurately maintained. Aeries strongly recommends Districts limit the Course maintenance (adding, updating, deleting Courses and information) to just a few people at the District level.


Courses page

Courses page


Security


TablePermissionDescription
Courses (CRS)Read
Insert
Update
Delete
View Course Information
Add Courses
Edit Course Information
Delete Courses
Update Code Table (COD)

Add codes to populate certain fields on the Courses page.
Read
Insert
Update
Delete
View Codes
Add Codes
Edit Codes
Delete Codes
In addition to the above, appropriate permissions need to be granted to the following tables to manage the information on those tabs:
Standards (SBR)
Career Pathways (CCP)
College Articulations (CCC)
Course Fees (CRF)
Course Documents (CDC)
Course Composites (CMP)
Course Characteristics (CCH)



General Tab

There are multiple tabs on the Course view. The first is the General tab:



  • Course ID (CRS.CN) - The Course ID is determined by the User and is a 6-character alphanumeric field. The Course ID is used extensively in the Student Scheduling process as well as Grade Reporting, Transcripts, and College Eligibility. Course ID is also required for State Reporting - see your State Reporting documentation for details.

Aeries recommends that Districts maintain a unique Course ID for all Courses taught. Although Course ID is an arbitrary number - '100A' or 'AB98-J' would be acceptable ID's - It is recommended that each District use a logical numbering system.

Here is an example: 

  • 1000-7999 - High School Courses 
    • 1000-1999 - English Department
    • 2000-2999 - Math Department 
    • 3000-3999 - Social Studies
    • 4000-4999 - Science
    • 5000-5999 - Visual/Performing Arts/CTE
    • 6000-6999 - World Languages
    • 7000-7999 - SpEd/All Others
    • TR100-TR999 - Transfer Courses
  • 8000-8999 - Middle School Courses 
  • 9000-9999 - Elementary Courses 
  • Course Title (CRS.CO)- The name of the Course, and can be up to 15 characters in length. This field is required for State Reporting and is used throughout Aeries.
  • Long Title (CRS.DE) - Course Description. Allows for a longer version of the Course Title up to 30 characters.
  • N/H Non-Academic/Honors Tag (CRS.NA) - A blank indicates this Course is an Academic Course, 'N' indicates this is a Non-Academic course, and 'H' indicates this is an Honors course. This field must be populated correctly for accurate Student GPA calculation.  When populated, the Transcript shows an * (asterisk) next to the Course, unless hidden in the Transcript Definitions. The values for this field are hard-coded.
  • College Prep (CRS.CP)- Identifies the Course as a College Prep course by entering a 'P'.  A blank in this field identifies the course as “Not College Prep”.  Populating this field correctly is important for accurate Course History calculation functions.  When populated, the Transcript shows a 'P' next to the Course, unless hidden in the Transcript Definitions. The values for this field are hard-coded.
  • Academic Weight (CRS.AC)- Available for use in 4 x 4 Block Scheduling.  Valid values are 0-4. By assigning a value to each course, the Scheduler attempts to balance the Student’s work load for each Semester.  The values for this field are hard-coded.
  • Low Grd (CRS.LO) - The lowest Grade level that would take this Course. This field is used during Scheduling and prevents Students outside the grade level from being Scheduled into the Class.
  • High Grd (CRS.HI) – The highest Grade level that would take this course.
  • Default Credit (CRS.CR)The default credit value per term for this Course the Student receives by passing the Course - e.g. 5 credits per semester.  The value entered also automatically populates on the Master Schedule or Scheduling Master Schedule when creating a new Section.  
  • Max Credit (CRS.MC) –  The Students With Repeated Courses report uses this field to determine the maximum number of Credits the Student can have.

  • Status (CRS.TG) – A value entered into this field identifies this course as Inactive and prevents any new Sections from being added for this Course to the Master Schedule or Scheduling Master Schedule.

  • Subject Area Codes (CRS.S1 - CRS.S5) – The Subject Area of the Graduation Requirements the Course counts toward.  The codes for these field are the same codes set on the Graduation Requirements page for this School.  The five Subject Areas can roll over from one to the other.  Initially, when the Credits are awarded for Course completion, the Default Credit are counted toward the Subject Area 1 (S1). If the Graduation Requirement for S1 has been completed, Credits are counted toward the Subject Area 2 (S2). If that requirement has been met, they roll over to Subject Area 3, then Subject Area 4, then Subject Area 5, if necessary.  If S2 - S5 are left blank, Credits are counted toward Electives. Subject Area 1 is required, but it is not required to add additional Subject Areas, and not all Subject Areas have to be populated. Many Schools just use Subject Areas 1 and 2


Note:  It is not necessary to populate CRS.S2 through CRS.S5 with the code for Electives. Additional Credits automatically go towards the Elective Graduation Requirement as long as the Electives Subject Area is code Z.  If used, CRS.S2 through CRS.S5 must be populated with a different Subject Area Code than CRS.S1 or left blank.


  • Dept (CRS.DC) – The code entered in this field is the Department that the Course is part of.  For example, an English course would be part of the English Department.  The values for this field are user-defined and can be added on the Update Code Table page. Various reports within Aeries have an option to allow sorting of the report by Department Codes.

  • Term (CRS.TM) – The code entered in this field indicates the length of the Course. The Term is used in Scheduling and for the Academic Plan. This field is particularly important for Schools that offer Quarter classes.  If the field is populated as a Quarter Term, the grades for the Quarter courses can be copied to the Transcript separately.  The values for this field are hard-coded.
  • Content Group (CRS.CCG)– The Course Content Group field is used to link courses together that have the same content.  
    • The field is primarily used to link Math Courses together that combined meet the Algebra 1 Requirement in California.  These combinations of Courses must be tagged with the same Course Content Group code.  Please see the Algebra 1 Requirements document for more details.
    • The Repeated Courses report evaluates courses with matching Course Content Group values as sharing the same overall Course Max Credit.
  • NCES Code (CRS.US) – This field is used to classify the content of the Course for the National Center for Education Statistics.
  • CIP Code (CRS.CIP) - Classification of Instructional Programs code from the National Center for Education Statistics for use with Adult Education courses.
  • Next Course (CRS.NC) – This field is used to identify the next course in a Multi-Course sequence. An example would be Spanish II as the next course for a Spanish I course.  This field must be correctly populated in order to use the Create Sections for Next Term form. The form looks at the Next Course field to correctly create Sections.
  • Trm Seq (CRS.TS) – The Term Sequence field is used to identify the Term Sequence for a Multi-Course sequence of courses. Using a sequence of Spanish courses as an example, Spanish I would be identified as '1' since it is the first in the sequence, Spanish II as '2' since it is the second course in the sequence, etc.
  • Yr Seq (CRS.YS) – The Year Sequence field is used to identify the Year Sequence for a Multi-Course sequence of courses. Using English as an example, English I would be identified as '1' since it is the first in the sequence, English II would be identified as '2' since it is the second course in the sequence, etc.
  • Exc (CRS.EX) – Populating the Exclude field excludes this Course from calculating towards the Teacher Load. The  Option 'I' in School Settings needs to be set to “Monitor Teacher Load”.
  • PE (CRS.PE) – Checking this field identifies the Course as a Physical Education course.  Courses identified as PE are available for data entry by Teachers on the Physical Fitness page and is an important part of the Physical Education Testing setup.
  • T/A (CRS.TA) – Checking this field identifies the Course as a Teacher’s Aide course. If flagged, various Reports within Aeries offer an option to Skip Teacher Aide courses when printing the Report.
  • Next Yr Status (CRS.NTG) – The Next Year Status field allows you to identify a Course that is available for the next school year.  Various pages within Aeries that look for Next Course or Courses Next Year include the Scheduling Master, SMS Board, Course Requests and Mass Change Course Requests. These do not allow a Course to be used if the Next Year Status code is set to inactive.
  • User1 – User8 (CRS.UC1 – CRS.UC8) – These fields are customizable for each District’s needs.  Codes can be added using the Update Code Table form to create a drop down menu for each field. Captions can be customized on the Define Custom Captions page.
  • Course Description (CRS.CD) – This could be a description of the Course and its content. Course descriptions are optional. When a Course Description exists, Students and Parents can view the Course Description in the Student Portal on the Course Request Entry page. 
  • Course Notes (CRS.CM) – This field is used to enter any applicable notes or additional information for the Course. An example could be referring to a School Board policy, or which Standards it meets.


Other Tab


  • Alternate Crs (CRS.AL) – The Alternate Course field is used as a reference for an optional Course that a Student can take if all classes of the Primary Course Request are full.
  • Prerequisite Crs (CRS.PR) – The Prerequisite Course field is used as a reference for a required Course that a Student must successfully complete prior to being enrolled in this Course.  An example of how this field comes into play during the Scheduling process would be if Course '100' is a prerequisite of Course '101'.  A Student who requests both Course '100' and Course '101' is scheduled into Course '100' in the Fall and Course '101' in the Spring. If not used correctly it may cause Scheduling errors.
  • Content Standard Area (CRS.CS) – This field can be populated with the Content Standard Thread that this Course focuses on.  The codes are stored in the CSN table.
  • Trad Gender (CRS.TGN) – This Traditional Gender field is used in Carl Perkins reporting regarding High Quality CTE courses.  If the CTE course is “not traditionally” for one gender, the non-traditional gender would be entered into this field.  The values for this field are hard-coded and are for informational purposes. See your State Reporting documentation for its use.
  • Voc Subj (CRS.E2) – The Vocational Education Subject Area field identifies the Subject Area the Course falls within.
  • Crs Lvl (CRS.CL) – The Course Level field identifies the Academic Level of the course. The values for this field are hard coded. NOTE:  Courses designated as College Credit Only (CRS.CL=23) are excluded from all GPA calculations.
  • Type (CRS.TY)– This field is normally populated only if it is a Course Type that is reported to the State.  The values for this field are hard coded.
  • Service ID - State assigned code for State Reporting. See C022 table.
  • Service ID Description Suffix - Used to distinguish multiple courses that have the same Service ID (e.g., Fall and Spring semesters of the same course). Example: CRS.SDS = "A" and CRS.SVC = "PES00052" would result in a Course title on the Transcript of "PEFOUND A". 
  • Population Served - The population that is targeted by the Course.  Generally it is regular Students, but it could be Career-Tech, or Special Ed, etc.
  • Class Type - Regular or Non-Regular. See TWEDS Code C179.
  • Crs Seq - Identifies the unique part(s) of a Course when a Course is taught during a single grading period or semester or across multiple grading periods or semesters. The code for the first semester of a two semester course is reported as "1", no matter if the Course is taken in the fall semester or the spring semester.
  • Non-Campus Inst - indicates that a Course was offered for class credit or Student achievement, but 1) was not taught by a School District/Charter School employee or a contracted Teacher , or 2) was taught by a School District/Charter School employee or a contracted Teacher at a facility other than the campus where the Student is enrolled. Examples include, but are not limited to, College-based instruction, non-district Teacher, non-campus Teacher, internet-based instruction, electronic Course Pilot (eCP), and Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN). 
  • OnRamps Dual Enr - No longer used.
  • Board Adoption (CRS.BD) – The date the Course was adopted (approved) by the District Board of Education.  This field is for informational purposes.
  • Last Revision Date (CRS.RD) – The date the framework of the Course was last revised.  This field is for informational purposes.
  • Revision Type (CRS.RT) – The type of revision that was made when the course framework was last revised.  This field is for informational purposes.
  • Inactive Date (CRS.ID) – The date this Course was inactivated. This field is for informational purposes.
  • Include for Extracurricular Activity Elig - Used to indicate inclusion in UIL calculations 
  • Seats (CRS.MX) – The default maximum seats available for this Course.
  • Meets Alg I Reqmnt (CRS.ALR) – Indicates that this Course counts towards the Algebra I Requirement. Please see the Algebra 1 Requirements document for more details. This field is specific to California and can be ignored by Texas users.
  • Alg I Crd Required (CRS.ALC) – The number of credits required to meet the Algebra I requirement. This field is specific to Caifornia and can be ignored by Texas users.
  • Hrs for Completion - Can be used to set hours for certain Courses/Requirements. Informational only.
  • Cost of Course - Informational only. Use the Course Fees tab.
  • (Core/Prof) (CRS.E3) – This field is no longer used. It was previously used for Summer School Attendance Reporting.


NCLB Specific Fields


The NCLB Specific Fields tab is optional: 


NCLB Specific fields tab - california

NCLB Specific fields tab


California Specific Fields


The California Specific Fields tab has key fields that need to be populated for CALPADS reporting: 



  • CSU Entrance Subject Area (CRS.E1) – This field identifies the Subject Area that this Course satisfies based on the CSU A-G requirements.  The values for this field are hard-coded.
  • CSU Entrance Elective? (CRS.CSE) – Flagging this field with a “G” means the credits can roll into the CSU Elective requirement when the assigned Subject Area credit requirement has been met. The value for this field is hard-coded.  If CRS.E1 is flagged with a “G” for elective, it is not necessary to flag this field also.
  • CSU Entrance Honors? (CRS.CSH) – Flagging this field with an “H” indicates this Course is counted as an Honors course for purposes of CSU Eligibility.  The value for this field is hard-coded.
  • CSU Validation (CSU.VL) – Course Validation Level is allowed by CSU for certain flexibilities when evaluating whether or not a Student has completed a particular subject and gained requirements necessary to enter college.  Please check the CSU website for detailed instructions on populating this field.
  • UC Entrance Subject Area (CRS.U1) – This field identifies the Subject Area that this Course satisfies based on the UC A-G requirements.  The values for this field are hard-coded.
  • UC Entrance Elective? (CRS.U2) – Flagging this field with a “G” means the credits can roll into the UC Elective requirement when the assigned Subject Area credit requirement has been met. The value for this field is hard coded.  If CRS.U1 is flagged with a “G” for elective, it is not necessary to flag this field also.
  • UC Entrance Honors? (CRS.U3) – Flagging this field with an “H” indicates this Course is counted as an Honors course for purposes of UC Eligibility.  The value for this field is hard-coded.
  • UC Validation (CRS.VLU) – Course Validation Level is allowed by UC for certain flexibilities when evaluating whether or not a Student has completed a particular subject and gained requirements necessary to enter college.  Please check the UC website for detailed instructions on populating this field.
Note: None of the above California Specific fields are directly reported to CALPADS but it is critical they be populated accurately. Their values are part of the calculation that determines if the Student has met the UC/CSU requirements.
  • New State Course Code (CRS.NC3) – Used when State Course Codes are transitioning from one School to the next. During the Rollover process, the value in the CRS.NC3 field is moved into the CRS.C3 field.
  • College State Course Code (CRS.CC3) – This field is only available if the Course Level is "24".  If it is populated, it is used in lieu of the regular State Course Code when extracting to CALPADS for Transcript records that earn College credit.  This new field only allows codes for CTE and specific College Credit Course codes.
  • CSF List (CRS.C1) - If the Course has been approved by the California Scholarship Federation, indicate if the course is a List I, II or III CSF course. 
  • Content Subcategory (CRS.CSC) - Identifies the Course with more detailed Subject matter within an area of Course content. For example, "Piano" is a subcategory of a "Music - Instrumental" course.
  • Standards Grade Range (CRS.SGR) - Identifies the range of Grade-level standards that are covered in the content of the Course:  Elementary K-4, Middle Grades 5-8, Secondary 9-12 or Not Applicable.
Note: When populating this field, the value should be based on the Standards Grade Level of the Course content and not the Grade levels of the Students enrolled in the Course. For example, if a Class of 4th and 5th graders is taught based on an Elementary curriculum, then the "ELM" code should be used.
  • Content Standards Alignment (CRS.CSA) - Identifies the coded value representing the currency of the Standards that were used to develop the content of the Course:  Current Content Standards, Prior Content Standards or Not Content Standards - Aligned or Not Applicable.
  • AP/IB Crs Code Cross Reference (CRS.ACC) - Identifies the four-digit cross reference to the actual AP or IB State Course Code for AP or IB courses that a local educational agency has mapped to a Career Technical Education (CTE) State Course Code (7000-8999) because that course is part of a CTE pathway. This allows districts to map to the CTE State Course Code in the State Course Code field, while providing the cross-reference to the actual AP or IB Course code.
  • Middle School Core (CRS.MSC) - Indicates if the Course is being taught as part of a Middle School core setting. For example, a two-period block of Math and Science in Grades 5-8 could be considered a Middle school core setting. This field is only visible if the Low Grd (CRS.LO) is set between Grades 5-8.
  • Charter Non-Core (CRS.CNC) - Indicates if a Charter School has identified the Course as non-core, non-College preparation. Typically, non-Core, non-College prep courses are not required for graduation.


Correspondence Language Tab

The Correspondence Language tab is the final tab for the Course data section: 


Correspondence Language tab

Correspondence language tab


This tab should be used to input translations for the Course Title of the Course. The translated version of the Title is used when Report Cards are printed to a Correspondence Language other than English. Up to 6 translations of each Course Title can be included. 

  • Language (CRS.CL1 through CRS.CL6) – The language of the translation.
  • Course Title (CRS.CO1 through CRS.CO6) – The translated Course Title.


The bottom portion of the Courses page lists Section information for any Sections of the Course, as well as additional tabs related to Career Pathways, College Articulations, Course Fees, Course Documents, Course Composites and Characteristics.


MST Classes Tab

This tab shows all Sections of the Course in the current Master Schedule (MST), including the Period, Section number, Teacher, Room, and Class size. The display can be filtered to Hide Inactive Classes or View Only Current Term Sections using the check boxes at the bottom. 


If a record is edited here, the changes sync to the SMS record with the same Section number.

Master Schedule Classes tab


SMS Classes Tab

The second tab displays the same information for Sections in the Scheduling Master Schedule (SMS)


Scheduling master schedule tab



When scheduling for the current year, an SMS record cannot be edited if the Section number also exists in MST

SMS sections are not editable if they exist in the MST



Standards Tab

The Standards (SBR) tab is used by Schools that run a Master Schedule and use Standards Based Grade Reporting. This tab is used to identify each Standard that should be associated with the Course. The checkbox to the right of each Standard indicates whether the Standard should be included on the SBG Report Card. See the Secondary Standards Based Grade Setup documentation.


standards tab


Career Pathways Tab

The Career Pathways (CCP) tab can be used to link a Course to a Career Pathway.  If the Course is part of a Career Pathway at one or more Schools in the District, the School, Pathway, Level and Year of the Course in the Career Pathway should be indicated here. See the Career Pathways Tab on the Courses Page documentation.


career pathways tab


The Career Pathways (CCP) tab can also be used to link a Career Pathway Course to an Internship on the Internship page. See the Internship documentation.


College Articulations

The College Articulations (CCC) tab can be used to define credits awarded by Colleges for completion of Course work in High School.  If a School or District has an articulation agreement with a Community College that a High School Course articulates to College credit when the Student enrolls at the College, the details of the Articulation agreement for the Course should be listed here.


This information is now available to be included on Transcripts. Use the Transcript Definitions > Things to Prinsection to configure including College Articulations.  See the Transcript Definitions documentation.


college articulations tab



  • School – When a College Articulation agreement is added at the School level, the current School automatically populates in the School dropdown. When the agreement is added at the District level, the School must be selected.
  • College – Select the college that the articulation agreement is with. The Colleges are added on the Colleges page.
  • Years Active – enter the School year(s) that the Articulation agreement is active. Enter the 4-digit Fall Term year when the agreement begins through the 4-digit Fall Term year that it ends. If the Articulation agreement is only valid for a single year, then the same 4-digit year is entered in both fields
  • College Course Title – Enter the title of the College course that the High School coursework satisfies. The College Course Title displays on the Transcript under College Articulations when the Student has satisfied the criteria in the Articulation agreement.
  • College Course ID – Enter the College Course number.
  • Required Mark Points – Enter the minimum mark points necessary to receive College credit for the Course.
  • Req’d on Final Grade Only – When checked, only the last Mark in a multi-term Course is used to determine if the Student received a qualifying grade in the Course. When not checked all Marks for this Course need to meet the Required Mark Points in order to qualify.
  • Required Credit Comp – Enter the minimum number of credits needed to receive College credit for this Course.
  • College Credit – Enter the number of College credits awarded for successful completion of this Course per the Articulation agreement. The credits display on the Transcript under College Articulations when the Student has satisfied the criteria in the Articulation agreement.
  • Local Credit – For informational purposes at this time.


NOTE: Once the College Articulation record has been saved the School, College and Years Active fields cannot be changed. If these fields are incorrect the record needs to be deleted and re-added. College Articulation records added to a Course must have a unique combination of School, College ID, Course ID and Years Active and cannot be duplicated in an additional record. 


Course Fees

The Course Fees (CRF) tab can be entered for Courses that require the collection of Registration fees, Tuition, Supply fees, etc., See Manage a Student's Financial Transactions for more information.


Course fees tab


Course Documents

The Course Documents (CDC) tab is used to associate common documents with the Course, such as Syllabi, Applications, etc.  The documents display and are accessible for each course on the Student Class Schedules page.  An option is available to Display to Parent in the Parent Portal.


Course documents tab


Course Composites New

The Course Composites New (CMP) tab allows for multiple "Child" Courses to be associated with a "Parent" Course.  

Multiple teachers can be assigned to the Master Schedule Section and when Grading is initialized, records are created for all the "Child" courses.  This allows multiple Teachers to assign grades for the multiple Courses.  The "Parent" Course is not included when initializing Grading.



Characteristics

The Course Characteristics (CCH) tab can be used to record more granular, detailed information about Courses. Characteristics are added on the Update Code Table page, for the CCH.CD field. These Characteristics also show up in the 'More' section of a Student's Transcript. Course Characteristics added to a Course cannot be deleted from a Student's Transcript record. A user with UPDATE permissions to CRS will have the ability to edit the Characteristics records.


On the Courses page Click on Add Characteristics to add a new Character:

Course characteristics tab


The Add Course Characteristic(s) popup is displayed. A Search field is available if needed. Click the checkbox beside any Characteristics that should be attached to the Course and click OK.


course characteristics popup


Characteristics added to a course


Maintaining Courses

To update a Course, search for and select the Course, click the Change button, edit the information, and click Save. 


Course information edit mode


Because Course data is related to numerous tables in Aeries, especially the Transcript (HIS) table which stores Course completion data for Students, it is important to use caution before deleting any course from the Course table. If a Course is still in use in the HIS or other table, the Course should be Inactivated so that it can not be used for new Sections in a Master Schedule, but the data is still in the table to correctly populate Transcripts. 


To Inactivate a Course, search for and select the course, click Change to open the record and select I - Inactive from the drop-down. Click the Save button. The section is highlighted yellow to indicate the inactive Status. 


inactive course

inactive course


References

The basic information that defines a Course (e.g., Title, N/A, Subject Area, etc.) should never be changed unless the Course is not referenced anywhere in the database. If Course information is altered and the Course is still being used such as in the History table, the changes are reflected on those referenced tables, such as Student Transcripts. Use the References button to find all tables where this Course is in use.


References button


In this example, course 0505 is referenced in 11 different tables for a total of 361 references.


related table references