The ALEX website, also known as the Alabama Learning Exchange, is a website that was created for educators in the state of Alabama. This website contains all the Alabama Course of Study (ALCOS) standards that should be taught in the state of Alabama for each content area and grade level. Teachers in the state are not allowed to teach anything else to students other than what is listed in the course of study. These standards are mainly used by teachers when writing a lesson plan. The lesson must be one that is appropriate for the specific subject area and grade level.
The home page of the website has the acronomym “ALEX” at the top along with the complete title directly underneath. Also on the homepage, the are the various subject areas, such as mathematics, literature, and science listed in colorful blocks. Once the user clicks on the subject area, the user is directed to the grade level page. There are two sets of grade level standards, the 1999 version and the recently updated 2007 standards. Once the user selects the grade level, the website then directs them to a page that lists the numbered standards. In front of each standard, there is a small, blue highlighted number in front. If the user clicks on this number, they would be linked to a page that gives lesson plans from other teachers who have used that standard in a lesson. The plans are downloadable for use by anyone.