HOW INDEPENDENT & DISTANCE LEARNING WORKS
COURSE INFORMATION
TEXTBOOKS
HOW TO ACCESS YOUR STUDENT’S COURSE RECORD
SUGGESTIONS TO HELP YOUR STUDENT SUCCEED IN LSU IDL
INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP YOU AVOID COMMON PROBLEMS
IMPORTANT NOTE TO PARENTS OF PROSPECTIVE GRADUATING SENIORS
RESOURCES

Welcome! Thank you for considering LSU for your student’s distance learning experience. As a parent, you need information about our program, and may have questions or concerns. We will be glad to provide you with what you need to know.

For 83 years, LSU Independent and Distance Learning (LSU IDL) has helped students achieve their educational goals. Each year, thousands of parents, school counselors, and school principals trust us to provide or supplement their students’ high school curriculum. Our program is accredited, approved by the Louisiana Department of Education, and NCAA-approved. Our courses are written and taught by certified high school teachers. All of our high school courses are available through traditional print-based correspondence study, and some are also available online.

LSU Independent and Distance Learning allows students to work toward high school completion while studying, at their own pace, in the convenience and privacy of their home—or any other place! Independent learning courses are only for those who are serious about education, and who can study independently.

Your student may enroll in one or more courses, with the advice and consent of his or her school. Upon enrolling, your student will be mailed a course guide that contains the lessons that must be completed and returned for grading. The course enrollment period is nine months, so students may work at their own pace in terms of lesson submission. The only rule with regard to the pace of submission is that our office can accept a maximum of two lessons in any seven day-period. If the student has a school deadline, he or she must plan for course completion with great care.

Each course consists of lessons and exams. Some lessons are graded by a teacher, some are graded by computer, and some courses consist of both teacher-graded and computer-graded lessons. After they are graded, the lessons are mailed back to the student. Most teacher–graded lessons will include constructive comments and suggestions. A mid-course and final examination are administered for each course. It is a requirement for every course that the student pass the final exam in order to pass the course, regardless of lesson grades. After all lessons and exams are successfully completed, the student receives a grade for the course. Grade reports are sent to the student’s home and school. Your student’s school will add the course to his or her official transcript.

If you are a home school family, you as the parent may authorize the enrollment of your child in our courses. For completed courses, you may use the official grade sheets for the courses as transcripts, or we will gladly provide a listing of all courses taken, with our official seal on it.

Please read the High School Bulletin and Student Handbook by going to HS_bulletin.pdf.

You must read our policies and procedures carefully before you sign the application statement that you are familiar with our policies. For your convenience, below is the link to important policies and procedures.

Below you will find a link to a complete list of LSU IDL high school courses. Each course consists of one semester’s work, for example, English II, Second Semester, or Chemistry, First Semester. Once completed, a course will be counted as .5 (½) Carnegie Unit of high school credit. The fee for each .5 Carnegie Unit course is $90.00 plus a $10 course processing fee, for a total of $100.00. Some courses also have an additional fee for required media. Textbooks are not included in the course fee, and must be purchased separately.

Each course has required textbook(s). Our courses use Louisiana-approved textbooks; however, the textbook used for the course in which your student enrolls may not be the same textbook used for the same course at your student’s high school. This is because the state usually approves multiple textbooks for the same course. If the textbook for the course is not available from your student’s school, the book may be purchased from various sources. You may wish to purchase textbooks from one of our LSU-area bookstores, since they stock the correct textbook editions for all of our courses. For a listing of the bookstores, with contact information, please go to bookvendorsonline.asp

Textbooks may also be purchased from a local source, or from internet sites. If you choose not to buy the books from an LSU-area store, please purchase the edition of the textbook required for the course. This information, including the ISBN, must be obtained from the course factsheet. Go to courselist.asp for the course factsheets.

It’s easy to keep up with the lessons your student has turned in and his or her grades using the Check Lessons/Grades feature of our Web site. Use your student’s six-digit enrollment number as the User ID. The password is the first two letters of your student’s last name (ex. Smith), with the first letter capitalized, and the last four digits of his or her social security number (ex. Sm8888).

• Set aside a designated time slot for LSU IDL coursework
  In traditional high school, students are used to having a structured learning environment to complete class assignments. Treat IDL courses like any other courses and designate a specific time for your student to work on assigned lessons. This will help keep your child focused on the task at hand.



• Read, Read, Read
  The packet your student received contains a wealth of information. It is imperative that you and your student read all the material provided in order to fully understand what is required to successfully complete the course.



• Provide assistance as your student requires it
  IDL teaches the subject matter through a written course guide and textbook. There is no teacher to consult as lessons are being done. You may be called upon to provide assistance, guidance, or clarification for your student. After reading and re-reading the assignment, if your student has trouble understanding what to do, please have him or her contact our office for assistance. Also, students may enclose notes in their lesson submissions asking their teachers questions they may have. Occasionally, a student may require the guidance of a tutor in completing his or her course. If you hire a tutor, please make it very clear to the tutor that he or she should help the student learn the material, but that the student must do the lesson himself or herself. This is critical to being successful—if the student can’t do the lessons himself or herself, the chance of being prepared well-enough to pass the exams is small.



• Double check your student’s work
  Make sure your student completes all assignments in their entirety, and that they are prepared for submission according to the instructions. Ensuring this is done will decrease the chance of a lesson being returned because it is incomplete. Students do not receive grades for incomplete lessons. Incomplete lessons must be redone and resubmitted.



• Construct a master calendar to plan course completion within the required timeframe
  A visible schedule may serve as a constant reminder of what has to be done, and within what timeframe. LSU IDL’s course enrollment period is nine months, but your student’s school may require completion in a shorter amount of time. Work with your student to make sure he or she stays on track in terms of lesson submission.
  
  Your student should work at a pace appropriate to his or her abilities, difficulty of the material, and the amount of other schoolwork he or she has. The maximum number of lessons we will accept in any seven day period is two, but it is not required that two lessons be submitted every seven days—in fact, a pace considerably slower that that is more effective and produces a higher probability of success. If lessons are submitted at or near the maximum in order to meet a deadline, please be mindful of mailing time.

By far, most students who enroll in LSU IDL perform quite well. They enroll, complete their lessons, take their exams, and get a passing grade report, all with no problems. However, there are some students who do have problems—problems that can be very easily avoided. Here is information for parents about LSU IDL that will help you direct your student’s work and help avoid serious problems.

GETTING STARTED
• Handbook – Before enrolling, your student should have received the High School Bulletin and Student Handbook. The Bulletin includes the program’s policies and procedures and an application form. Students must read the handbook very carefully. The rules apply to every student and exceptions will not be made.



• Application tips – The application is divided into four main sections and must be completed in its entirety.
  • Section 1 is Student Information (to be completed by the student or parent).
  • Section 2 is Course Enrollment (to be completed by the guidance counselor/principal and parent).
  • Section 3 is Official School Approval (to be completed by the guidance counselor or principal).
  • Section 4 is Method of Payment (to be completed by parent and/or student). The student’s and parent’s signatures must be on the application at the time of submission. Having the application correctly filled out decreases the chance of processing delays.



• Packet - Your student will be provided with an enrollment packet consisting of the course guide, some informational inserts, and lesson envelopes/barcode labels/cover sheets or scantron sheets, as appropriate for the course. The directions for each lesson are clearly written and should be followed carefully. Please contact our office if your packet is not received within 10 business days from the time the application was mailed or faxed to our office.



• Student Progress - Your student is responsible for the progress he or she makes in the course, and for completing the course by the school’s and IDL’s deadline. It could be useful for your student if you help him or her create a schedule for lesson submission, and if you monitor the mailing of lessons.



• Grading Criteria - Every course guide includes grading criteria unique to the course—your student must be familiar with this. For every course, the student must pass the final exam to be eligible to pass the course.



• Honesty - Students must be honest in every aspect of their course. LSU and LSU IDL maintain high academic honesty policies which will be fully enforced.

LESSONS
• In General - Course lessons consist of two types: computer-graded (scantron) and teacher-graded. A course may contain all teacher-graded lessons, all computer-graded lessons, or a combination of both. Computer-graded lessons and teacher-graded lessons have different completion and submission methods. Have the student carefully follow the directions in the course study guide to ensure complete and accurate submission of assignments. This will help avoid incomplete lessons and processing delays.



• Deadlines - Students must plan their course completion carefully if they have deadlines to meet. Under no circumstances will our program accept more than two lessons per course in a seven day period. No exceptions.



• Instruction - The lesson assignments in the course guide comprise the instruction for the course—they are not just “homework”. They are the equivalent of class work and homework combined. The material covered in one lesson is approximately equivalent to that covered in a week and a half in a traditional classroom. No lesson assignment can be adequately studied and completed in only a couple of hours.



• Check Lessons - Lessons will be posted on our system when they are received in our office. We can’t be responsible for mailing delays, or items lost in the mail. Keep up with lessons submitted by using the Check Lessons/Grades feature of our Web site.



• Copies - Students must make a copy of every lesson they send. If a lesson is not received in our office, the student can use the copy to send a duplicate of the lesson. If a lesson is re-submitted, make sure the student retains a copy.



• Incompletes - If a lesson is determined to be incomplete by the instructor, the student must complete the lesson for resubmission in its entirety. The student will not be allowed to take an exam if his record shows an incomplete lesson. No course with an incomplete lesson can be given a course grade.



• Blank Paper - Occasionally a student will panic due to time pressures, and put blank paper or non-course papers into the lesson envelope as if it is a lesson. If you think your student may not be keeping up with his or her lessons, you may want to ask to see the lesson before it is sealed into the envelope.



• Non-submitted Lessons - Occasionally a student will panic and tell his parents and counselor that he or she has turned in more lessons than is actually the case. To avoid the serious problems caused by failure to submit lessons as needed, you should track lesson submissions at least on a weekly basis—use the Check Lessons/Grades feature.

EXAMS
• Exam Prep - Students should prepare very carefully for their exams. Students should refer to their course study guide for specific information regarding exam content. Remember that lessons are completed as “open book” assignments, but exams are not. No outside materials will be allowed during testing. It may be easy to do lessons with an open book, but your student should study very thoroughly for the exams so that the material is well-learned.



• Disabilities – If your student has a disability and/or requires accommodation(s) for completing a course, you must first verify that his/her school has the documentation required to allow for the accommodation before your student enrolls in an IDL course. If he/she takes the exams at his/her school, inform the guidance counselor that the same accommodations provided for in-school coursework must be provided for the exam. If the student takes his/her exams at LSU, contact our office to inform us that your student needs a testing accommodation. We will obtain the required testing accommodation from the student’s guidance counselor.



• No Exam Retakes - Each exam may only be taken one time.



• Final Course Grade - Course grades are determined by lesson grades and exam grades, if the student passes the final exam. If the student fails the final exam, the course grade is F, regardless of having passing lesson grades. No exceptions.

High school graduation is a very important event in your student’s life, and yours—and helping students graduate is a matter of great satisfaction for our office as well.

If your student is a prospective graduate, please be mindful of the fact that he or she will have many things competing for his or her time and attention during senior year. Unfortunately, some students procrastinate until it is too late to finish their IDL courses by their school deadlines, and they do not graduate with their classes. This happens several times every May, and when it does, it is heartbreaking for the parents, your student, and our staff. Keep these tips in mind:

• Along with your application, you must attach a completed Graduating Senior Checklist Form. Applications for prospective graduates will not be processed without the completed checklist.
  
  
• Failure to turn in lessons as needed to meet a deadline can have devastating consequences.
  
  
• Our program allows a maximum of two lessons per seven days to be accepted and sent for grading and exceptions will not be made.
  
  
• Our program relies on the mail for lesson transportation. Take mailing time into consideration when planning the amount of time it will take to complete a course. It may take several days for graded lessons to get back to your student.
  
  
• Most schools do not allow students to take part in graduation ceremonies if they do not have all their course grades.
  
  

Don’t let poor planning, poor use of time, poor study habits, and poor choices cause your student to miss out on his or her graduation ceremony!

If your student does not finish on time, in most cases he or she can still finish the course, and receive a diploma from his/her school upon course completion, or for summer graduation. If you find your student is rushing to finish a course and making poor grades, the chance of passing the final exam may be in jeopardy. In such a case, it is probably better to slow down the pace of lesson submission so that the student masters the material and completes the course successfully, even if it means missing the graduation ceremony.

Websites that may be of use to you:

• LSU Independent and Distance Learning
  
  
• LA Department of Education
  
  
• TOPS
  
  
• LSU Continuing Education Youth Programs
  
  
• Louisiana State University
  
  

If you or your student need more information, or have questions or concerns, please contact us at your convenience.