Intended Audience: Catalog Managers, Districts
Section 21f of the State School Act (MCL 388.1621F) is Michigan’s course access legislation, allowing students to enroll in virtual courses. It establishes the rights and responsibilities of districts offering virtual learning options.
- If a district offers virtual courses only to its own students and includes them in its board-approved catalog, listing them in the statewide catalog, Michigan’s Online Course Catalog (MiCourses), is optional.
- If virtual courses are offered to students outside the district, listing them in MiCourses is mandatory.
Michigan’s Online Course Catalog (MiCourses) is the statewide catalog of virtual courses, managed by Michigan Virtual. It provides course syllabi to help schools, parents, and students understand course content and expectations. It is important to note that enrollment in these courses occurs directly through schools, not through the MiCourses website.
Course Administration Overview
The Course Administration website is a restricted platform where districts manage and update course information for the public-facing MiCourses site. Through this site, districts can:
- Add and maintain course syllabi
- Submit course reviews
- Create course offerings by assigning a term and price to each course.
Instruction
- Define Academic Terms: Within the Course Administration site, districts will need to define academic terms.
- Set Pricing: Course pricing varies by district, and districts must assign a fee for each course offering.
- Add Courses: Districts have several options for creating courses including manual entry, duplication, bulk upload, and third-party course imports.
- Add Course Review: Districts are required to provide the results of a virtual course quality review to ensure a course is displayed in the MiCourses catalog.
- Create Course Offerings: The last step in publishing a course to MiCourses is creating a course offering. This process integrates key details, including term, price, course information, and reviews, making the course available for public viewing.