About Course Sequences

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Course sequencing sets up relationships between courses, such as prerequisites. Sequencing can also be used to identify courses that should be scheduled in the same marking periods or, conversely, courses that should not be scheduled in the same marking periods.

District and Building Course Sequences

Course sequences can be set up using courses from either the District Course Catalog (if used) or your Building Course Catalog. District-level sequences are created with the District Course Sequencing option (Scheduling > Courses > District Courses > District Course Sequencing), while building-level sequences are created with the Building Course Sequencing option (Scheduling > Courses > Building Courses > Building Course Sequencing).

District sequences only use district-level courses, while building sequences can use courses defined at both the district and building levels. However, if you use the District Course Catalog, you only need to define building-specific sequences for courses that are only available in your building's catalog.

Course Groups

Sequencing records can include course groups, as well as individual courses. If a group is defined as a prerequisite and a student successfully completes one course within the group, then the prerequisite is met. Similarly, a prerequisite (course or group) can be defined for qualifying for taking a course within a group. If the prerequisite is met, the student can be scheduled for any of the group's courses. For additional information, refer to District Course Group Page and Building Course Group Page.

Example: If seniors must have at least one of several Social Studies courses before they can take a particular Political Science elective, set up a group for the Social Studies courses in the Course Groups option. You can then create a sequence that establishes the Social Studies group as a prerequisite for the Political Science course. If a student requests the Political Science course but has not had any of the Social Studies courses in the group, the system issues a warning.

Course Requests and Prerequisite Checking

In Requests and Career Plan, the system checks each course you enter to see whether it is included in any sequences. If so, the system determines whether the request complies with the Prerequisite For sequence type, where the student must take the first course in the sequence before being able to request the second.

Your building's Scheduling Building Configuration determines the system's response when the prerequisite for a course has not been fulfilled, both in Requests and Career Plan:

The system can issue an error, thus preventing the course from being requested or scheduled. However, users with the proper security can choose to override prerequisite requirements.
The system can issue a warning, which allows a user to save or delete the requested course.
The system can be set to not check prerequisites.

These settings also apply to course requests entered by guardians and students in Home Access Center's Course Requests and Career Plan options, as determined by the HAC Building Configuration in eSchoolPlus.

Scheduling and Sequence Types

Sequencing is also used by the scheduler (Schedule Students option). The scheduler attempts to follow Prerequisite For, Scheduled With, and Not Scheduled With sequences when two courses in a sequence are requested.

With Prerequisite For and Scheduled With, if only one of the two courses can be scheduled, the scheduler will schedule that course regardless of the restriction.
The scheduler cannot determine whether a student passed a prerequisite. As a result, if a student is enrolled in the prerequisite in one marking period and the second course is requested for a subsequent marking period, the scheduler will schedule the requested course.
Prerequisites are also checked when courses are added in other schedule entry options.

Mark Types, Minimum Marks, and Credits Earned

Prerequisite sequences also depend on credits. If the credits earned for a prerequisite course equal or exceed the credits attempted, then the system considers the prerequisite fulfilled.

In addition to defining the courses in a sequence and their relationship, sequence records for prerequisites can include the minimum mark a student must earn for a selected mark type to fulfill requirements for the next course in the sequence. For example, a sequence might require that the student earn a final grade of at least 80 in Algebra II to qualify for Calculus.