Setting the Standard for Online Curriculum

FLVS has a well-documented history of success creating courses that are used with thousands of students every day. Our Curriculum Development Team includes more than 100 staff members who maintain and grow our course offerings each year.

FLVS course offerings are vast and varied with a comprehensive course catalog that addresses the needs of students from Kindergarten to 12th grade. Standards are used as a guide to establish a clear set of goals and expectations, encouraging students to grow and learn by progressively mastering more complex content and skills. This creates a “staircase” of increasing complexity so students can develop their skills while applying them to more and more complex material.

Leading the Industry

A study published by the Journal of Online Learning Research documents how Florida Virtual School helped pave the way for standard-setting for Kindergarten-12 online learning:

In 2010, Quality Matters partnered with Florida Virtual School to develop and begin testing the reliability and validity of a K-12 version of their standards and rubric (QM, 2016), which included its relationship to K-12 research (Shattuck, 2015b) and the existing iNACOL standards (QM, 2015).

Building Better Courses: Examining the Content Validity of the iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses

Our curriculum is aligned to iNACOL/Quality Matters Standards.

As a leader in the online education industry, FLVS is committed to meeting both state and national standards that ensure parents, teachers, and students have a clear understanding of expectations in core subject areas. FLVS courses include Common Core State Standards for Language Arts and Math, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Standards for World Languages, Next Generation Science Standards for Science, and National Council for the Social Studies standards for Social Studies.

Starting with Students

FLVS course design includes several modern pedagogical philosophies, and critical thinking and real-world application of skills are at the core. As part of the scope and sequencing work conducted by our expert Curriculum Specialists, cognitive complexity for each learning target are identified using Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Guide (DoK) and carried into the learning activities and assessments. Engagement is also part of our core design strategy.

Real-world connections capture student attention and keep it, preventing kids from asking, “When am I going to use this, anyway?”

Personalizing their Path

Courses are offered by segment (semester) and divided into modules, allowing students and teachers to focus on specific learning material or topics without going through the entire course.

Each lesson is organized to provide the student with an introduction, practice, and an assessment of the content. The focus is on mastery learning, and students determine when they are comfortable enough with the concept to move forward.

Students can view all content and resubmit assessments throughout their progress in the course. Test banks include items to provide each student a separate group of questions each time they access the test.

Making it Stick

Glossaries, roll-over features, audio, and interactive games are tied to vocabulary to help students understand complex texts.

The instructional design approach at FLVS is to effectively use media, interactives, simulations, and other innovative technologies to deliver content and assessment using sound principles of teaching, learning, usability, and accessibility.

Videos, interactives with narration, and recordings that can be reviewed at the student’s own pace, add to the support features for English Language learners.

Our goal is to activate students’ thinking in a variety of ways, using the media best suited to the student and content while providing that content in multiple forms. Addressing all modalities in lessons is critical to support the variety of learners engaging with FLVS courses.

Thinking, decision making, and recalling long-term memories require cognitive focus. A distraction to the student during these activities may result in overload, causing the information to be lost from memory. To prevent such obstacles to learning, we are purposeful in our use of multimedia.

Focusing on Success

All FLVS courses employ design elements to challenge and engage students at all levels. Our products and services are offered nationally and around the world by FlexPoint Education Cloud for schools and districts who are interested in implementing online programs. Our course offerings are the result of developing customized solutions to meet the specific needs of students, schools, and districts around the country.

Preview our courses to experience what it’s like to take an online course with Florida Virtual School.


Florida Virtual SchoolFlorida Virtual School (FLVS) has been leading the way in Kindergarten-12 online education for 25 years. FLVS provides a robust, award-winning curriculum to public, private, charter, and homeschool families and school districts nationwide. Learn more at flvs.net.



31 comments on “Setting the Standard for Online Curriculum

  1. Barbara McCraney

    I am looking for a structured virtual classes following a full day of school. Virtual Live teacher’s and students. For my 8th grader,who is currently in private school. Is this system for us? That would be entering in mid October.

    Reply
    1. Blanca

      Buenos días porfavor necesito información. Acabamos de llegar de Perú. Mi hijo acaba de terminar el año escolar .tiene 15 años a terminado su año escolar tercero de secundaria así se llama en Perú.
      Quisiera conversar con un orientador .

      Reply
    1. FLVSFLVS

      Hi Mariya, If you’re looking for a homeschool options where your student can learn year-round, we recommend FLVS Flex. You can learn more about homeschooling with FLVS at flvs.net/homeschool

      Reply
  2. Shana

    Is FLVS involved in state testing such as the FSA. If so, exactly how are the students tested? Are there physical sites for students to attend, or are they tested in their home?

    Reply
      1. Shana

        Thank you. Is there another option to students going in to the school building for testing, or an option where students are tested in small groups?

        Reply
        1. FLVSFLVS

          Hi Shane. We recommend reaching out to your school counselor for more information about your student’s test schedule, options, and requirements.

          Reply
  3. Amy Anderson

    My son is going to be a Junior in HS this fall of 2021. He is interested in FLVS but wondered if he could take 1-2 classes at a time until he finished them, then take 1-2 more, ending the semester with a total of 4 classes, for example. Or does he need to take all 4 classes at one time? He’d like to finish school earlier than if he were to attend traditional HS. THX

    Reply
    1. FLVSFLVS

      Hi Amy! Yes, He can take 1-2 courses at a time with FLVS Flex. We recommend reaching out to one of his school counselors or an FLVS counselor to dicuss his progress and options. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  4. Shonda Hrant

    Good Afternoon, If I am.enrolled with FLVS can I transfer back to a public school with no problem. If I am returning just returning to FL what is the cost?

    Reply
    1. FLVSFLVS

      Hi Shonda – FLVS is free for Kindergarten-12 grade students in Florida. And you would be able to transfer back to public school when you are ready. Feel free to reach out to one of our counselors to discuss the transition process. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Lauren

    How does schedules work? Im considering doing online and one of the reasons is because im tired of school starting at 7:30 am. Is there a time we have to start our online class?

    Reply
    1. Elizabeth JonesElizabeth Jones

      Hi Lauren, teachers host live lessons but students do have the flexibility to watch the recordings if they would like. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  6. Michelle

    Hi, my daughter is a senior in high school. She is interested in finishing her last 3 credits on FLVS. I wanted to know if she would be able to enroll and take these classes and be unenrolled from her high school entirely. Additionally, I wanted to know if she would be able to enroll back into school once she finishes her three credits or if FLVS offers a diploma. Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Elizabeth JonesElizabeth Jones

      Hi Michelle, She can earn a diploma from Florida Virtual School through our FLVS Full Time program. But, keep in mind, FLVS Full Time students enroll in 6 courses per semester. Check out our options page to learn more at http://www.flvs.net/options

      Reply
  7. Daniela

    Hi, are students required to join live sessions at certain times or are they able to make their own schedule. Also for work are students able to work at their own pace. Thank you.

    Reply
    1. Elizabeth JonesElizabeth Jones

      Hi Daniela, Yes! FLVS Full Time enrollment is still open. The last chance to submit an application for the spring semester is March 3, 2023.

      Reply
  8. Lorelei McGarry

    I am a 7th grader looking to earn high school credit in ASL. Is it possible to take a flex class for high school when I’m only in middle school?

    Reply

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