BAA Courses

 

Board/Authority Authorized (BAA) courses are developed to help meet local community needs while providing choice and flexibility for students. Each secondary school offers a variety of board authorized courses that provide unique opportunities for students to explore particular subject areas in greater depth.

 

Process for submitting a new BAA proposal:

  1. Identify a unique opportunity for students to explore a particular subject area.
  2. Review the Ministry of Education’s BAA Requirements & Procedures guide.
  3. Consult with your school administration.
  4. Determine the appropriate course category using the Core Course Categories guide.
  5. Download the SD79 BAA Course Template to create the new course framework.
  6. Submit the completed BAA application to your school administration for review.
  7. Upon approval, the administrator will submit the BAA application to the Director of Instruction for review with the District Learning Team.
  8. New BAA courses are presented to Education Strategic Planning Committee and to Secondary PVP for feedback.
  9. Finalized new BAA courses are presented to the District Board and Superintendent for approval and signing.
  10. The new BAA Course form is sent to the Ministry of Education.
  11. A course code is determined, entered into MyEd and schools are informed of the new course for their course calendars.
  12. The district website is updated with the new BAA course.

For a new BAA course to be approved, a teacher will need to demonstrate how the course differs from currently available options under the new curriculum. There should be minimal curricular overlap between a BAA course and a standard BC curriculum course.

For ideas and examples of BAA courses offered in other districts in the province, a searchable BAA Sharing Platform can be found here:  https://archived.bcerac.ca/services/baa/search.aspx.

 

Timeline:

The deadline for submission is April 30 prior to the September start in order to ensure the new BAA course is included on the course selection package for the following school year.