DC: Lesson Approval and Certification

For information on Focused Topic certification and approval, please see the Focused topic subsection below.

Direct Care users require a Training & Curriculum Specialist (TC) or Program Manager (PM) to certify approval of each lesson and course.

Before a TCS/PM can approve or disapprove a lesson, DC users must be enrolled in the respective track and course by a TCS/PM before progress is recorded; and the DC user must follow these steps:

  • Learn: Read the entire lesson and watch the videos
  • Explore & Apply: Complete the exercises marked ‘required’ for the lesson and review with the trainer, coach, or supervisor.
  • Demonstrate: Correctly answer all demonstrate quiz questions.
  • Request Review: Click the Request Review button that will be located at the bottom of the lesson or in the user’s progress details in their dashboard. Request Review only appears after completing the above requirements. Note: Some lessons do not have required activities and will be auto-certified upon correctly answering all demonstrate questions.

Once the DC user requests review, the TCS/PM users at the program will receive a notification, after which they can review all material submitted by the DC user.

Completed activity sheets should be turned in to your supervisor for approval. In order for your lesson to be approved, you must complete and review all activities marked as required.

There are two ways of requesting lesson approval. You may either do so from your Progress page or from your lesson page.

Requesting approval from your lesson page

  1. Complete the Demonstrate quiz at the end of your lesson.
  2. Scroll down and select the 'Request Review' button in the lower right corner.
  3. Wait for your supervisor to review your completed materials and approve or disapprove your lesson completion.

Requesting approval from your Progress page

  1. Navigate to your Progress page.
    1. Select your name in the top right corner of the page to see a drop down menu.
  2. Expand the course you are working on by selecting the plus icon next to 'Lessons'.
  3. Select the arrow next to 'Request Review' for the appropriate lesson.
    1. You will only see the option to request review if you have completed the lesson's Demonstrate quiz.
    2. After succesfully requesting for review of your lesson, you will see a 'Cancel Review' option next to your lesson.
  4. Wait for your supervisor to review your completed materials and approve or disapprove your lesson completion.

In order to obtain a course certificate, all lessons within a course must be successfully completed. Once all lessons are completed, the End of Course Assessment as well as Competency Reflection must be successfully completed and administered by a trainer or coach. The trainer or coach is responsible for the final approval and certification of a course. A track certificate will be automatically generated once all courses within a track are completed.

You can find the Focused Topics courses in the Focused Topics tab at the top of your Progress section. After a trainer has enrolled you in one of these courses, your progress through the course will be reflected in your Progress page

After completing each Focused Topic lesson and correctly answering the Demonstrate questions, you are able to immediately move on to the next lesson. You are not required to Request Review of each separate lesson as with our Foundational courses.

In order to obtain a certificate for most Focused Topic courses, you will have to complete an End of Course Assessment. The EOCAs will be available for you to take immediately after completing all of the course lessons, including each lesson’s Demonstrate questions. You can find the EOCA in the Demonstrate section after completing all of your lessons, or in your Progress page

Focused Topics courses are either VLS Assessed, with an End of Course Assessment (EOCA) containing only multiple-choice questions that are automatically evaluated by the Virtual Lab School system, TCS Assessed, with an EOCA containing a combination of multiple-choice and short answer questions that must be reviewed and certified by your program’s Training & Curriculum Specialist or Program Manager, or Self-Certified. When the EOCA is VLS Assessed, the course is automatically certified after successful completion of the EOCA.

Within the Focused Topics courses, all EOCAs for Direct Care users are VLS Assessed, except for the Supporting Children with Challenging Behaviors course which is TCS Assessed and the Social Emotional Learning for Teachers (SELF-T) course, which is Self-Certified. The EOCA for the Supporting Children with Challenging Behaviors course includes both multiple-choice and short answers questions. This EOCA will need to be submitted to your trainer for review and approval.

The EOCAs for other Focused Topic courses are multiple-choice only. If completed successfully, your course will be automatically certified. You have three attempts at demonstrating Mastery of the course before the EOCA is locked. If your EOCA is locked, please ask your trainer to review your previous attempts and unlock your EOCA.