Stars Suite™: Content and Course Delivery Modes
Our curriculum is divided into two main components: credit courses and preparatory courses. The credit courses are found under Novel, our library of middle and high school courses. Beyond the for-credit courses of the Novel curriculum, Educational Options has developed a series of preparatory courses that will assist schools with the review and remediation needed to prepare students for a particular test or educational prerequisite. Despite a realignment of curriculum to more rigorous academic standards, No Child Left Behind mandates for end-of-course or comprehensive exit exams are proving very difficult for students, teachers, and administrators. Our Prep Courses, High School Prep, TestPak, and GED Duo offer solutions to many of the resulting problems. These components of Stars Suite complement the Novel curriculum and offer a full spectrum of educational options.
To learn about the standards and measures our curriculum department uses while developing Stars Suite courseware, visit Curriculum and Educational Design. EdOptions provides Lexile reading level measures for all Stars Suite content. For an in-depth description of the curriculum and content, visit our main site.
Stars Suite content can be delivered to your students in the mode that best suites their educational goal. Novel offers two main course delivery modes: Standard, for generating original credit, and Pre-Assessment Standard, for credit recovery. The Prep Courses can be delivered in either the Standard format or the Adaptive Assessment format, which tailors the course to the student’s specific educational needs. A one page summary chart of the course delivery methods is available for your convenience.
Novel™
Novel is our grade 6-12 curriculum, designed to be taken for credit. Intended for the middle school, high school, and adult learner, topics include over 40 courses covering language arts, math, science, social studies, and beginning Spanish. Novel can provide a solution for credit recovery, dropout reduction, original credit generation, summer schools, alternative programs, homebound learners, supplementary courseware, credit acceleration, and more. Almost all our curriculum is available fully online. However, there are a few courses that do require a textbook; see the Book List. For a full listing of the Novel courses and descriptions, visit our main site. - Back to Top
High School Prep™
All too often, administrators and teachers find middle school students entering high school lacking the foundational knowledge required to be successful. Educational Options’ High School Prep represents a remedial program that will fill in a student’s gaps in learning. Its review of key middle school level concepts in language arts, math, and science can be implemented easily in after-school programs, eight-grade assessments, high school orientation summer sessions, early in the ninth grade year, or at any time it becomes evident students are faltering as a result of basic academic skill deficiencies. Written on a sixth to seventh grade reading level, High School Prep enables even students who read at a low level to master the concepts covered. Emphasis in this course is placed on teaching students how to apply the knowledge gained through the lessons to other problems and situations. Course exercises foster increased critical thinking. High School Prep is designed to bring the student to grade 8.9 proficiency. - Back to Top
TestPak™
In many cases, a student’s ultimate high school success depends on passing a state exit exam. TestPak is an excellent resource and program of study for districts that administer comprehensive exams in reading, writing, and math. Like Novel courses, TestPak was developed based on a review of state standards with a focus on the testable objectives. Each subsection of TestPak was designed to highlight and clarify essential knowledge and skills students are expected to have learned upon completion of their coursework. The most common uses for TestPak are state test preparation, college prep, remediation, ability assessment, and extra practice material for other courses. Comprehensive English is divided into three component subjects: reading comprehension, language usage, and writing. Comprehensive Math comprises four subjects: basic math, geometry, algebraic thinking, and data analysis. - Back to Top
GED Duo™
The motivation is there, but is your student really ready for the GED exam? Designed in consultation with nationally recognized GED experts, GED Duo’s structure and content mirror the GED exam, making this prep program an ideal solution for older teens and adult learners alike. Students are introduced to the concepts evaluated by the GED test in language arts (writing and reading), social studies, science, and math. Lessons offer strategies for increasing comprehension of the different subject areas along with building test-taking skills. Students are given frequent opportunities to apply their new skills to tasks found on the GED. Accompanying assessments have been formulated to mirror GED test questions, adding to the students’ confidence on the official exam.
GED Duo consists of a two-tiered program: Pre-GED and GED Prep. For those students who do not possess the basic skills needed to begin GED preparation, as determined by the TABE test or equivalent assessment, schools may assign them to Pre-GED, which will provide remediation to build skills in language arts, math, and science. When students have mastered the fundamental concepts, they are ready to transition to GED Prep. GED Duo content can also be used to provide supplementary material for other courses. - Back to Top
Course Delivery Methods
Novel
Standard Course
Designed for students requiring original credit, Standard courses include all the material for the course; typically 18 lessons and accompanying submissions, and a randomly generated midterm and final exam. This course type can also be used for “spot-remediation”: if the student needs additional help or practice in specific areas within the subject, the teacher can assign the students only to those lessons and submissions that meet the requirements. - Back to Top
Pre-Assessment Standard
Typically used in credit recovery situations, this course type provides a randomly generated initial assessment based on the Novel curriculum for the selected course. The assessment identifies areas in which the student shows competency, as well as deficiency. The administrator for the site sets the parameters of the initial assessment test: the percentage of material to assess and what is accepted as “mastery” for a particular section. Students receive an individualized course of study based on the results of the initial assessment. This prescriptive syllabus consists of the lessons and corresponding submissions in which the student did not meet the mastery level set by the school. Once the student has completed the assigned courseware, the teacher releases a randomly generated final exam, which tests the material covered on the student’s individualized syllabus. Students enrolled in this mode generally have some experience in the subject area – whether they failed a class, have fallen behind, or are transferring from another school. - Back to Top
Credit Recovery Acceleration Method
This delivery method provides a randomly generated initial assessment based on the Novel™ curriculum for the selected course. The system generates a prescriptive course of study based on the results of the initial assessment. The individualized course of study consists of lessons (without submissions) in which the student did not meet the mastery level set by the school. After reading these lessons, students take a follow-up test that generates a new course of study. This process is repeated until all lessons are mastered. NOTE: This course type is meant for supplemental review or self-study course for students. It is completely self-paced, including the follow-up tests, which can be accessed at any time by the student. It is not meant to be taken for original credit or credit recovery. For credit, students should be tested on the material via another method. - Back to Top
Prep Courses
Standard Course
When offering a prep course, the Standard delivery option signifies that all of the material relating to the specific subject area is available. The teacher can assign everything or specific lessons and submissions. The teacher also has the option of offering a comprehensive exam. For all of the prep courses, both the submissions and the final test are randomized. This course type is most often used to offer supplementary coursework; if the student needs additional help or practice in specific topic areas, the teacher can assign the particular lessons and submissions that meet the need. - Back to Top
Adaptive Assessment
The Adaptive Assessment course type is a review and remediation delivery mode to help prepare students for a particular test or educational pre-requisite. In this course type, students take a randomly generated initial assessment and receive a prescribed course of study. Items which the student has mastered are marked as “Complete,” while non-mastered topics are marked as “New.” Students work through the new concepts and then take a comprehensive follow-up assessment, covering both new and completed topics to ensure they have truly mastered the content. Based on the follow-up assessment, the program will then regenerate a course of study, with new randomized submissions. Students can continue cycling through the program until all concepts are mastered. In this course type, the mastery level for topics within the assessments is preset at 80%. - Back to Top