Texas Virtual School Network

The Texas Virtual School Network (TXVSN) provides Texas students and schools with equitable access to quality online courses and instructors. It is a valuable resource for interactive, collaborative, instructor-led online courses taught by state-certified and appropriately credentialed teachers trained in effective online instruction.

TEA administers the TXVSN, sets standards for and approves TXVSN courses and professional development for online teachers and has fiscal responsibility for the network. The TXVSN is made up of two components—the TXVSN statewide catalog of supplemental high school courses and the full-time TXVSN online schools program.

Statewide Supplemental Course Catalog

The TXVSN statewide course catalog provides supplemental online courses for high school graduation to public school age students. The catalog offers students across the state opportunities to enroll in high school, Advanced Placement, and dual-credit courses offered through the network by approved providers. The TXVSN catalog works in partnership with public schools to meet the needs of their students. To view available courses, visit the TXVSN online course catalog. To learn more, visit the TXVSN website. 

Full-Time Online Schools Program

The TXVSN Online Schools (OLS) program offers free, full-time virtual instruction to eligible Texas public school students in grades 3–12 who enroll in one of the TEA-accredited public schools approved to participate in the program. Instruction provided through the TXVSN OLS is 100 percent virtual. Students in the program are not required to be physically present on campus during instruction.

Courses and Instruction

All courses offered through the TXVSN must meet the state curriculum requirements, known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills or TEKS by their breakouts; the Texas Content Quality Measures; the NSQ National Standards of Quality for Online Courses (outside source), and accessibility requirements listed in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. TXVSN courses are taught by teachers who are Texas-certified in the content area and grade level of the course or meet the credentialing requirements of the associated institution of higher education. TXVSN teachers are trained in best practices in delivering online instruction. Students do not need to be physically present at school during instruction of TXVSN courses.

Approved TXVSN Online Course and Professional Development Reviews Information

TXVSN catalog course providers and full-time TXVSN online schools may use the following approved organizations to review an online student course or professional development course or program to demonstrate course alignment with TXVSN standards and readiness for inclusion in the TXVSN course catalog or online school curriculum. Please note the following organizations check accessibility standards as part of the national standards rubric and do not evaluate each requirement established in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Each course provider is responsible for ensuring compliance with current accessibility laws and, on request by TEA, must provide a written copy of a compliance assessment to the agency on or before the date specified by TEA.

State Law and Rule for the TXVSN

See the following links for the law and rule about TXVSN:

Law—Texas Education Code (TEC), Chapter 30A

Rule—19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Chapter 70, Technology-Based Instruction, Subchapter AA