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Staff: Configure a Sequence

This article explains how to design course sequences for students to make course selection straightforward and help ensure that specific student groups enroll in the appropriate courses.

Janelle Safford avatar
Written by Janelle Safford
Updated this week

Overview of Sequence Pickers

Sequences allow districts to offer pre-designed sets of courses to students. You can create sequences under the requirement builder in the Primary Grad Plan and in Programs. Sequences are a powerful way to provide students with guided progressions of courses to fulfill a requirement. For example, instead of presenting students with a long list of courses, sequences provide them with pre-built selections of course sets. Sequences can be based on grade level or building level offerings, student tags, or even previously taken courses.

There are two types of course sequence pickers: Free Picker and Sequence Picker.

Advantages of Using a Sequence

  • Provide pre-built progressions of courses, like English I → English II → English III → English IV

  • Offer students a choice between multiple sequences, like Standard English or Honors English

  • Automatically add courses that are always required

  • Allow students to choose between a specific set of courses when appropriate

  • Build sequences that are school-specific to handle situations where the progression of courses or courses that should be taken varies between buildings

  • Create sequences that are only available to students who have fulfilled a certain prerequisite. For example, placing students who took Algebra I in middle school on an advanced Math track that starts with Geometry in 9th grade

  • Use student tags to make certain sequences only available to students with that tag. For example, offer a SPED set of courses to students with a SPED tag, or offer an AP track to students with an AP tag

  • Allow sequences to be automatically selected and applied for students to streamline course selection

    *Note: Control which sequence gets applied by using student tags, prerequisites, and custom sequence application ordering

  • Enable or restrict the ability for students to edit their sequence selection or remove required courses added by a sequence

  • Create a more efficient workflow by reducing errors on student course plans

Create a Sequence

  1. Click Choose Picker, Sequence Picker or Free Picker from the Grad Plan or Program Details window.

  2. Complete the following three sections to configure a requirement course picker.

Choose a Course Picker Type

  1. Select one of the two course picker types, then click Next Step.

    *Note: You can also change this option later

Free Picker

The Free Picker is the most flexible option, ideal for situations where you only wish to offer minimal guidance to students regarding the minimum and/or maximum credit amounts for each grade level. This option enables students to select any course from the list that fits the requirement while providing alerts if they have not fulfilled the overall credit criteria established for a specific grade. It’s an excellent choice for scenarios where there are no progression pathways for certain subjects, such as Fine Arts or Physical Education, yet you want to specify the number of courses that should be completed at a particular grade level.

  1. Click Free Picker

  2. Set a minimum and maximum credit amount for each grade, then click Save and Continue

Sequence Picker

The Sequence Picker option offers a more guided and personalized experience for students. It streamlines their decision-making process by enabling you to create a preset sequence of courses for them to choose from or have automatically applied to their plan. With this feature, you can specify the exact courses available for each grade level. Please review the instructions below on how to create a sequence.

  1. Click Sequence Picker

  2. To create a new sequence, follow the instructions to Configure and order the Sequence Picker.

Configure & Order a Sequence Picker

Settings to Consider when Configuring a Sequence Picker

After choosing a course picker type, consider the following two additional setting options BEFORE configuring a sequences picker

  • Allow students to switch auto-applied sequences: When this option is enabled, students will have the ability to switch to a different sequence they qualify for, regardless of the auto-applied rules.

    • If checked: Students will be auto-applied to a sequence if applicable and will see the following message: “Choose sequence”

    • If not checked: Students will be auto-applied to a sequence if applicable and will see the following message: “To edit your sequence selection, reach out to your counselor.”

  • Require students to select a sequence: When this setting is checked, students will be able to, but not forced, to select a sequence. If a student is not eligible for any sequence, they will be able to add courses with a free picker. If checked, you will see the option to “Automatically update sequences if student eligibility changes."

    • If checked: Students will be prompted to select a sequence once they get to the specific requirement.

    • If not checked: Students will be able to choose a sequence OR add courses without a sequence.

  1. Click +Add sequence

  2. Create a new sequence by completing the following information.

    1. Add basic information

    2. Define requirements for each grade

    3. Choose courses for each grade

Add basic information

  • Sequence name: This name should clearly represent the courses it includes, as this is the name students see when choosing a sequence picker.

  • Sequence description: Provide an overview of the sequence and/or guidance on when to choose this sequence if applicable.

  • Eligible grades: Select which grades students must be in for this sequence to be applicable or available. If the sequence is an option for all grades, you can leave this blank.

  • Eligible schools: Select which schools will be included for this sequence to be applicable or available. If the sequence is an option for all schools, you can leave this blank.

  • Eligible tags: Select which assigned student tags will be applicable or available. If the sequence is an option for all students, you can leave this blank.

Settings to consider after adding basic information

  • Allow students to remove required courses:

    • If checked, students can remove courses that were automatically added by this sequence and make a new selection.

    • If not checked, students cannot remove required courses, but staff can. This enables the locking of courses added to the sequence marked as All Required, but still allows students to add and remove courses that are marked as Student Choice in the sequence.

  • Auto-apply this sequence if eligible:

    • If checked, this sequence will be automatically selected and applied for students if this is the first auto-apply sequence in the list that the student is eligible for. See Automatic Sequence Selection below for more information.

    • If not checked: When unchecked, no sequence will be auto-applied if you have created more than one sequence. However, if there is only one sequence available and “Require students to select a sequence” is enabled, then the one existing sequence will be applied.

  • Students can only plan courses in this sequence:

    • If checked, students can only choose courses that are part of the sequence.

    • If not checked, students can remove the sequence filter and select courses outside of the sequence that has been applied to their plan.

☝️Review these settings in our Course Planner Sequence Settings Review document

Define requirements for each grade

The requirements specify the courses that are offered in this sequence for each grade, and any prerequisites that must be met for the student to see the sequence as an option.

Grade Requirements

For each grade, you will select the courses that a student is required to take, has the option to take, or a combination of both.

Select one of the following:

  • Student Choice: When Student Choice is selected, students may choose from the listed courses (no courses will be automatically added). You will specify the minimum number of credits and maximum number of credits that a student can select. To require one (and only one) course, you would set both Min and Max to 1. To allow students to select at least one course, but no more than 2, you’d set Min to 1 and Max to 2.

  • All Required: When All Required is selected, students must take all the courses added for this grade. All courses will be automatically added when the sequence is selected.

  • Required & Choice: This will give you both options above, allowing you to specify required courses from that grade in addition to a list of courses that students can choose a minimum and or maximum number of credits from

Pre-reqs

The Pre-reqs section allows you to define the prerequisites that students must take to be eligible to select the sequence. The courses added as prerequisites must show up as historically taken courses on the student's plan to be eligible for the sequence.

You can configure General Pre-reqs and Grade-specific Pre-reqs:

  • General Prerequisites: These are courses the student needs to take in order to be eligible for the sequence. It does not matter which grade the course was completed in. You will define the requirement by choosing between All Required or Student Choice (see definitions above) for the course bank.

  • Grade Specific Prerequisites: These are courses the student needs to take to be eligible for the sequence. However, the student must have taken the course in the specific grade(s) selected here. This option is great for defining the previous progression of courses needed in past grades to determine if the sequence applies to the student. You will define the requirement by choosing between All Required or Student Choice (see definitions above) for the course bank.

Choose courses for each grade

Once the requirements are defined for each grade, you can add the courses to each Course Bank.

  1. Click on the Course Bank under the grade, and then in the third column, you will see the option to select courses.

  2. The courses listed are the courses added to the requirement that this sequence applies to.

    *Note: If you don’t see a course in this list, you will need to go back to the Grad plan requirements section and add the course to the appropriate course bucket.

  3. Search by course name or ID to narrow the list down

  4. Click the courses to add to the sequence for the selected grade

  5. Click the minus sign icon to remove a course from the sequence list.

  6. Once all changes have been made to the sequence, click Save Sequence.

Edit, Duplicate, or Delete a Sequence

  • To edit a sequence, click anywhere on the sequence to reopen the configuration window. Click Save Sequence once new changes are made.

  • To duplicate a sequence, click the duplicate icon.

  • To delete a sequence, click on the trashcan icon.

Reorder Sequences

When students begin course planning, SchooLinks will automatically assign the first sequence for which students are eligible, which is also enabled for auto-selection. Eligibility is determined by the auto-apply settings and the student’s qualifications for each sequence. If multiple sequences apply, SchooLinks selects based on the order of the sequences in the sequence picker list, from top to bottom.

To reorder a sequence, click the 6-dot icon to the left of a sequence name and drag it up or down to your preferred placement

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