Louisiana § RS 17:5025 - High school core curriculum requirements; Opportunity, Performance, Honors, Excellence Awards

§ RS 17:5025. High school core curriculum requirements; Opportunity, Performance, Honors, Excellence Awards

            To be eligible for an Opportunity, Performance, Honors, or Excellence Award pursuant to this Chapter, a student shall have successfully completed a core curriculum which consists of twenty units of high school course work as follows:

            (1) English - Four Units

            (a) English I.

            (b) English II.

            (c) One unit chosen from the following: English III, AP English Language Arts and Composition, or English III IB (Language A or Literature and Performance).

            (d) One unit chosen from the following: English IV, AP English Literature and Composition, or English IV IB (Language A or Literature and Performance).

            (2) Mathematics - Four Units

            (a) Algebra I (one unit), Geometry (one unit), and Algebra II (one unit). Integrated Mathematics I, Integrated Mathematics II, and Integrated Mathematics III may be substituted for the Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II sequence.

            (b) One unit chosen from the following: Algebra III; Advanced Math Functions and Statistics, Advanced Math-Pre-Calculus, Pre-Calculus, or Math Methods I IB (Mathematical Studies SL); Calculus, AP Calculus AB, or Math Methods II IB (Mathematics SL); AP Calculus BC; Probability and Statistics or AP Statistics; IB Further Mathematics HL; IB Mathematics HL; Computer Science.

            (3) Science - Four Units

            (a) Biology I.

            (b) Chemistry I.

            (c) Two units chosen from the following: Earth Science; Environmental Science; Physical Science; Agriscience I and Agriscience II (one unit combined); Chemistry II, AP Chemistry, or IB Chemistry II; AP Environmental Science, or IB Environmental Systems; Physics I, AP Physics I, AP Physics B, or IB Physics I; AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, AP Physics C: Mechanics, IB Physics II, or AP Physics II; Biology II, AP Biology, or IB Biology II; Computer Science.

            (4) Social Studies - Four Units

            (a) One unit chosen from the following: U.S. History, AP US History, or IB US History.

            (b) One unit chosen from the following: Civics, Government, AP US Government and Politics: Comparative, AP US Government and Politics: United States.

            (c) Two units chosen from the following: Western Civilization, European History, or AP European History; World Geography, AP Human Geography, or IB Geography; World History, AP World History, or World History IB; History of Religion; IB Economics, Economics, AP Macroeconomics, or AP Microeconomics; African American History.

            (5) Foreign Language or Computer Science - two units

            (a) Foreign Language - the two units shall be in the same language, which may include the following: AP Chinese Language and Culture, AP French Language and Culture, AP German Language and Culture, AP Italian Language and Culture, AP Japanese Language and Culture, AP Latin, AP Spanish Language and Culture, French IV IB, French V IB, Spanish IV IB, and Spanish V IB.

            (b) Computer Science - two units.

            (6) Art - one unit chosen from the following: Performance course in Music, Dance, or Theatre; Fine Arts Survey; Art I, II, III, and IV; Talented Art I, II, III, and IV; Talented Music I, II, III, and IV; Talented Theater Arts I, II, III, and IV; Speech III and Speech IV (one unit combined); AP Art History; AP Studio Art: 2-D Design; AP Studio Art: 3-D Design; AP Studio Art: Drawing; AP Music Theory; Film Study I IB; Film Study II IB; Music I IB; Music II IB; Art Design III IB; Art Design IV IB; Theatre I IB; or Drafting.

            (7) Financial Literacy - one unit.

            (8) Computer Science - one unit. This requirement shall be satisfied as provided in Paragraph (2), (3), or (5) of this Section.

            (9) For the purposes of this Section, any core curriculum course that is taken by a student who has been identified as gifted pursuant to State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education policy and that is taken in fulfillment of the student's Individualized Education Program shall be considered a gifted course and shall fulfill the core curriculum requirement in its given subject area.

            Acts 2015, No. 227, §1; Acts 2017, No. 97, §1; Acts 2018, No. 671, §1, eff. June 1, 2018; Acts 2021, No. 334, §1; Acts 2022, No. 502, §1, eff. June 16, 2022; Acts 2023, No. 267, §1; Acts 2024, No. 211, §2; Acts 2025, No. 347, §1.