Lake Weir principal Cynthia Saunders said the program had a huge impact. She was worried about students since other programs, such as GED Exit Option, were changed by the state in 2009-10.

“We offered (credit recovery labs) all day and after school all year,” said Saunders, stating that many of her students did not have Internet access that was fast enough to take courses at home through virtual school.

She said the credit recovery at school helped students get those last few credits. They even walked with their class at graduation.

And officials say if that alone is not reason enough to continue the programs, hundreds of middle school students also participated in unit recovery and elementary school children attended summer school to get prepared for FCAT.

For the rest of the article, go to Special school tax would fund after-school and summer programs

Another solution to the class-size restriction under consideration in Okaloosa County is to have more secondary students enrolled in virtual enrollment programs.

Tibbetts said it wasn’t clear yet how students would be selected for taking their courses online, but it could be students who are strong in reading and working independently, or students who simply enroll in the courses after classes have already met their limit.

Even with all the steps schools are taking now to try to lessen the amendment’s impact, school officials all said they can’t anticipate everything.

“Our goal is to be in compliance with the law, and we’ll continue to work in that direction,” Wyrosdick said. “It (enrollment) will change throughout the year, and it’s like trying to hit a moving target without even seeing it.”

For the rest of the article, go to Stricter class-size rules a juggling act for school districts

There’s a new course-management system in town.

Most Summer B online courses and all fall online courses will be hosted on Sakai, UF’s new course-management system.

Blackboard, the company that owns the software, will stop supporting WebCT Vista 8, the e-Learning system UF has used, in December 2011.

Fedro Zazueta headed up a UF committee that searched for a replacement.

The committee narrowed it down to three platforms: ANGEL, Moodle and Sakai. Sakai was chosen unanimously.

Sakai is an open-source platform, which means UF can customize it to better suit its students’ needs. It also means that although UF doesn’t need to pay for licenses, like it did with WebCT, it has to spend more money on a programming team, Zazueta said.

For the rest of the article, go to UF’s debuts new e-Learning platform

 The College Board and Florida Virtual School (FLVS) have collaborated to create online study aids for students preparing to take the Advanced Placement U.S. History and Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition exams. Florida students will participate in a pilot program to test these two AP^® Exam review services this spring.

Florida Lieutenant Governor Frank Brogan and College Board President Gaston Caperton will announce the collaboration tomorrow to more than 400 high school and college educators, administrators, and counselors from 10 southern states, gathered here for the Board’s Southern Regional Meeting.

“This easy-to-use online instrument is one more way the College Board’s partnership with the state of Florida can help Florida students improve their academic performance and prepare for a college education,” said Caperton.

The two new online aids each consist of modules designed to provide students with multiple-choice and essay writing practice to help them to prepare for the rigorous college-level AP Exams. Both provide an overview of the course and the exam, including important strategies for answering exam questions, practice exams, and links to other helpful Web sites.

Students currently enrolled in FLVS online AP courses will have the opportunity to try these new aids in March, and an even broader range of Florida students in traditional AP classrooms will have the chance to use the service in April.

“Florida Virtual School is very pleased to partner with the College Board on this important endeavor,” commented Julie Young, FLVS executive director. “FLVS’s mission is to provide options for student success, and these new exam reviews are dynamic resources for facilitating AP student success.”

In 2002, more than 59,000 Florida students took one or more AP Exams, including 12,800 students who took AP U.S. History, and 12,500 who took AP English Literature and Composition.

“This is another example of a good partnership with the College Board for fostering student academic achievement,” said Brogan. “Since we began collaborating with the College Board, Florida’s public schools have seen a 20 percent growth in the number of AP Exams that receive grades of 3 or higher, compared to a 16 percent growth in public schools nationwide. This partnership with Florida Virtual School should lead to even greater student learning and performance.”

The Advanced Placement Program^® (AP^®) is a cooperative educational endeavor between secondary schools and colleges and universities. Since its inception in 1955, the AP Program has provided motivated high school students with the opportunity to take college-level courses in a high school setting. Students who participate in the Program not only gain college-level skills, but in many cases they also earn college credit while they are still in high school.

Florida Virtual School is an Internet-based, public high school offering online high school curriculum. The Florida Legislature initially funded FLVS as a pilot project in 1997 to begin course development with limited student enrollment. In 2000, the Florida Legislature enacted 228.082, FL Statute, establishing FLVS as an independent education entity with a gubernatorially appointed governing board. FLVS is affiliated with all 67 school districts in Florida, as well as with numerous charter and non-public schools. It has an 80 percent completion rate and its students have exceeded both the course grade point average and Advanced Placement Exam grades of the average Florida student.

The College Board and the Florida Department of Education, following the educational goals outlined by Governor Jeb Bush, have forged a partnership to help children from middle school through senior high school improve their academic performance and prepare for a college education or a rewarding career. Using many successful models already in place at the state and national levels, the partnership works with teachers, schools, districts, and colleges throughout Florida to improve curriculum and teaching methods. Children throughout Florida will benefit from the Florida Partnership and its commitment to educational excellence and equity for all.

Florida Virtual Academy

Florida Virtual Academy

Welcome to yet another state-specific website for online high schools. Brought to you by Best Online High Schools, this gives you information on all that is going on in your state with online high schools.