The 4 Keys to a Successful Online School

For Broward Virtual School’s Evelyn Weaver, building a successful virtual learning environment begins with four key components.

  1. The acquisition of mission-critical tools that foster collaboration and enable effective communication;
  2. The implementation of a flexible, focused curriculum that can be tailored to the individual student;
  3. The relevant, timely, and in-depth training of all stakeholders, including administrators, teachers, and parents; and,
  4. The development of an immediate, effective technical and academic support system.

Ultimately, Weaver told attendees at the FETC 2012 National Conference Wednesday, true success requires “a partnership between the curriculum provider and the local virtual school,” focused on delivering high-quality, individualized learning.

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School choice deadline nears

MANATEE – Manatee County parents have until Feb. 3 to participate in school choice, an option that already is appealing to more than 30 percent of the district’s 45,000 students.

With magnet programs at 10 elementary and middle schools, 20 career academies among the county’s six high schools, and increased choices among charter schools, dual enrollment and virtual schools, district officials expect even more families to exercise their right of choice this coming year.

The Feb. 3 deadline is only for families participating in open enrollment, which allows parents to send their children to a school other than their assigned “go-to” school based on geography.

“It’s very important to Manatee County to empower families with choice,” says School Board Chair Harry Kinnan. “We’ve made marvelous strides with it.”

They also expect the myriad choices may be overwhelming to some parents.

“There really is a chance that parents may get a little confused because you’ve got so many magnet schools, schools operated by the school board, and charter schools that run more independently,” says Danny Lundeen, the district’s supervisor of student demographics, projections and assignment.

“The opportunities out there have expanded so greatly, I could see there could be some opportunity for confusion.”

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Pasco school district mulls a charter school

State law allows school districts to start a charter school from scratch or convert an existing school into a charter school. Fiorentino said it’s too early in the planning stages for the district to decide which direction it would take.

A charter school is just one of the options the district is exploring to provide more choices for parents at a time when traditional public schools are drawing increasing competition from charter schools, private schools and virtual schools.

The school district also is considering creating magnet programs that would allow some elementary schools to focus on a specific academic area. Students zoned for other schools then could apply to attend.

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Success of Florida Virtual School is difficult to measure

The fastest growing public school district in Florida doesn’t have football, school lunches or busing. It doesn’t get a grade from the state, and it operates free of the rules and scrutiny that dog most public schools. • Students in this district conduct frog dissections without ever stepping in a science lab, take PE without ever going into a gym and learn how to drive without ever getting in a car. • They do all of it online.

In less than 15 years, Florida Virtual School has become the largest state-funded online K-12 school in the nation, an enterprise with a $166.3 million budget and close to 1,500 employees and 130,000 students. It offers more than 110 courses, from core subjects like algebra to electives such as Chinese and guitar.

Florida education leaders have turned to Florida Virtual as a solution to overcrowded classes, limited course offerings and budget cuts. It is the darling of politicians enamored of its price tag; Florida Virtual bills itself as a bargain, educating for $2,100 less per pupil than traditional schools.

And it makes millions. How many public schools can say that?

“I think we have already made a huge impact in Florida, and that’s only going to continue to grow,” says Florida Virtual board chairman Bob Muni.

But in a state that puts a premium on standardized testing, there is no clear, across-the-board measure to compare the performance of Florida Virtual students to those in brick-and-mortar schools.

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Broward School District faces $66 million penalty for overloaded classes

The Broward School District is the state’s worst offender for class-size compliance and could face a whopping $66.1 million penalty, state officials said Thursday.

Half of Broward’s classes were over the limits when the state counted students in October. In contrast, Palm Beach County, which was the state’s worst offender last year, had every class in compliance and faces no penalty at all, according to the state Department of Education.

Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie acknowledged that the district “should have done a better job” and promised to pursue “more aggressive strategies” next year. Those could include co-teaching, virtual education, and standardized high school schedules, he said.

“We’re going to really work hard to ensure that this isn’t a huge issue going forward,” he said.

Broward could see its fine reduced substantially – possibly down to $16 million – if it submits a plan to improve. Runcie said he also planned to ask for a one-time waiver from the fine.

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Two Families, Two Takes on Virtual Schooling

With all the talk about online education lately, it’s clear that the vision evoked by the words “home schooling” is changing. The image of Mom and kids sitting at the kitchen table has given way to a child logging onto a virtual class from the home office.

The number of students in kindergarten through 12th grade enrolled in virtual schools nationwide has grown to 225,000 from 50,000 a decade ago—and 30% year over year since 2001, says Susan Patrick, chief executive of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a nonprofit advocacy group. Some parents choose virtual schooling to accommodate a heavy schedule of extracurricular classes or interests; others feel their children’s needs are better served outside a traditional classroom. Here are two families’ experiences.

Elana Whitehead, a stay-at-home mother in Cape Canaveral, Fla., enrolled her fourth- and sixth-grade boys in Brevard Virtual Instruction Program, the virtual arm of the Brevard County public school system, last year. “The kids’ friends were doing it and they were curious,” she says.

The Whiteheads received a box of books in August, and were given weekly course work. Adam, age 10, and Noah, 12, would log on for each subject. BVIP would present a slideshow about the day’s lesson, then direct them to read a chapter in a textbook and complete some worksheets. They would log back on later to do an assessment.

“Adam was online for less than an hour each day,” says Ms. Whitehead, “but Noah had more work online than offline.” No credentials were required for Ms. Whitehead, who sat with her sons as they logged hours playing with snap circuits, taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and sitting in a virtual classroom with 60 other students.

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Charter school Q&A

Q: What is a charter school?

A charter school is an independent school operating under a “charter,” or contract, usually with the local school district.

Q: Who can start a charter school, and how are the schools funded?

Nonprofit groups, colleges and municipalities can create their own charter schools, which must be approved by the local school board. School districts then provide tax dollars to charter schools on a per-student basis, making up the bulk of their revenue. Unlike traditional school districts, charter schools cannot levy taxes.

Q: What is next for charter schools?

This year, Florida school districts received almost 400 applications for new charter schools. Miami-Dade alone received 93 applications. Some are applications for virtual charter schools, which are allowed after the most recent legislative session. There are also a handful of applications for charter colleges, a new concept that could take off in South Florida.

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Virtual School

There are a growing number of students in the U.S.  who’s “going to school” now means logging into computers anywhere they are located.

Virtual schools are now entrusted with the education of children as young as kindergarten as an estimated 1.5 million students participate in online education today. Florida, as well as many other states, has started to follow along with this trend.

Starting with the 2011-2012 school year, ninth graders will need to take an online class to be able to graduate. This new law comes after years of planning. In 1997, the state created Florida Virtual School as an Internet-based public high school. Now it is a state-wide school district, and offers classes from K-12. The Digital Learning Now Law was created to prepare children for a technology-based future, freeing them from classrooms.

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Virtual School

There are a growing number of students in the U.S.  who’s “going to school” now means logging into computers anywhere they are located.

 

Virtual schools are now entrusted with the education of children as young as kindergarten as an estimated 1.5 million students participate in online education today. Florida, as well as many other states, has started to follow along with this trend.

Starting with the 2011-2012 school year, ninth graders will need to take an online class to be able to graduate. This new law comes after years of planning. In 1997, the state created Florida Virtual School as an Internet-based public high school. Now it is a state-wide school district, and offers classes from K-12. The Digital Learning Now Law was created to prepare children for a technology-based future, freeing them from classrooms.

Not everyone thinks this new law is such a great idea, but the Legislature did approve it.

“Many students who start off ninth grade already struggle enough trying to adjust to a new school and harder classes. Now they have to worry about getting home and taking another class, said Maria Movilla, a concerned mother. “I mean, they go to school for a reason.”

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My Teacher Is an App

The growth of cybereducation is likely to affect school staffing, which accounts for about 80% of school budgets. A teacher in a traditional high school might handle 150 students. An online teacher can supervise more than 250, since he or she doesn’t have to write lesson plans and most grading is done by computer.

In Idaho, Alan Dunn, superintendent of the Sugar-Salem School District, says that he may cut entire departments and outsource their courses to online providers. “It’s not ideal,” he says. “But Idaho is in a budget crisis, and this is a creative solution.”

Other states see potential savings as well. In Georgia, state and local taxpayers spend $7,650 a year to educate the average student in a traditional public school. They spend nearly 60% less—$3,200 a year—to educate a student in the statewide online Georgia Cyber Academy, saving state and local tax dollars. Florida saves $1,500 a year on every student enrolled online full time.

For individual school districts, though, competition from online schools can cause financial strain. The tiny Spring Cove School District in rural Pennsylvania lost 43 of its 1,850 students this year to online charter schools. By law, the district must send those students’ share of local and state tax dollars—in this case $340,000—to the cyberschool. Superintendent Rodney Green, already struggling to balance the budget, cut nine teaching jobs, eliminated middle-school Spanish and French and canceled the high-school musical, “Aida.”

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