Treasure Coast school districts looking to launch web-based regional school

A virtual school run jointly by Treasure Coast school districts would allow students from Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties to take classes online regardless of where they live. The Okeechobee County School District also is participating in the venture.

In late July, school board members and superintendents from the four school districts first discussed exploring the creation of a regional virtual school, which officials say could save taxpayer money and provide students with more options for Web-based instruction. Nationally, virtual education has been touted as a cost-effective model because many students take online classes at home.

For the rest of the article, go to Treasure Coast school districts looking to launch web-based regional school

Monet and Me won’t reopen

The school employed four full-time teachers and four part-time teachers. Starting in sixth grade students took classes online through the Florida Virtual School. Students’ learning was supplemented with tutoring and arts classes, she said.

The building housed a church several years ago, but sat vacant before Raulerson leased it. It was also annexed from the county into Lake City limits several years ago.

The final hearing for Raulerson’s zoning and land use petition had already been submitted for approval from the state, said Larry Lee, Lake City growth management director. Lee said the school was not out of compliance as far as the city was concerned. He said the city gave and would continue to give the school extensions to pay the business tax. “We aren’t looking to put her out of business,” he said.

For the rest of the article, go to Monet and Me won’t reopen

Lead letter: Defending public schools

All the sound and fury surrounding Amendment 7, (which, if passed, threatens to undo the First Amendment protections of Florida’s longstanding Blaine Amendment) serve purposes that have nothing to do with school vouchers.

First, as Lee Fang of The Nation astutely reported in his Dec. 5 article, the anti-Blaine Amendment serves as a decoy to “thin out” the choice-and-competition movement’s political enemy.

That is, the ballot proposal was intended to keep the teachers’ unions busy so lawmakers can pass their real agenda, which Fang says is virtual charter schools

For the rest of the article, go to Lead letter: Defending public schools

Tough Times on virtual learning?

A 50 percent “churn” rate is unacceptable, and that Pennsylvania is not insisting on answers suggests that they need to improve their public policy. And while Saul’s wrong on the kinds of students who may benefit from digital learning, we would be wise to listen to disgruntled K12 Inc. staff members when they

say problems begin with intense recruitment efforts that fail to filter out students who are not suited for the program[.]

As the Massachusetts legislature thinks through this issue, it has to pay special attention to the fee structure and timing. Here the public model in Florida may provide important lessons in as much as there is no payment made to the Florida Virtual School until the student completes the course with a satisfactory grade.

For the rest of the article, go to Tough Times on virtual learning?

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.

For the rest of the article, go to Broward School District faces $66 million penalty for overloaded classes

Free Online Homeschooling For High School

Where do I start to look into high school home schooling Online. Do Public Schools offer Home Schooling for free Online colleges. Parents seeking an alternative to public education haveoften selected homeschooling. Even Branford High School has started a virtual school offering online classes to a small group of junior and senior students, first-come, first serve.

For the rest of the article, go to Free Online Homeschooling For High School

AHMS seminar focuses on motivation

The Kappa Delta Pi Teacher of the Year award is presented annually to a faculty member of The University of Scranton selected by student members of the honor society.

A resident of Archbald, Reilly joined the faculty at Scranton in 2009. Previously, he taught at Wellington Landings Middle School, Wellington, Fla. and the Florida Virtual School.

For the rest of the article, go to AHMS seminar focuses on motivation

Study of Miami-Dade’s Virtual Learning Lab Reveals Key Success Factors for “Blended Learning” Programs

As online learning programs become prevalent in U.S. schools, school and district leaders, teachers, and policy makers are looking for the best ways to use technology to enhance learning. A new SRI International report, Implementing Online Learning Labs in Schools and Districts, provides such a guide for creating successful blended learning programs that can benefit many students.

The report summarizes lessons learned from the pilot year (2010-2011) of the Virtual Learning Lab program, a collaborative effort between the Miami-Dade County public school district—one of the largest in the country—and the Florida Virtual School—a state-wide, Internet-based public high school with the highest enrollment in the country. SRI researchers collected information on 5,500 students in 38 public high schools through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and site visits to seven schools.

For the rest of the article, go to Study of Miami-Dade’s Virtual Learning Lab Reveals Key Success Factors for “Blended Learning” Programs

How Classrooms Online Work

Where it’s offered

Twenty-seven states and Washington, D.C., offer full-time virtual schooling. Florida Virtual School became the first state-funded online school in 1996.

What children learn

There is no nationwide standardized curriculum for virtual schools, and core subjects and electives vary from state to state. “It’s streaming classes in real time, live chats with teachers, group projects,” says Jeff Kwitowski, spokesman for k12, a network of online school programs serving more than 80,000 students nationwide.

For the rest of the article, go to How Classrooms Online Work

Virtual schools are in session

Thirty states plus the District of Columbia have full-time online schools. And while those schools only educate about 200,000 students nationwide, that number is growing by about 25 percent each year. Florida opened one of the first online schools in 1997 and the Florida Virtual School is now the nation’s largest. California alone has 16 virtual schools.

In 2006, Michigan became the first state to make completion of at least one online class a high school graduation requirement. Since then, Alabama and Florida have followed. Reasons for attending a virtual school include physical disabilities or medical conditions, bullying problems at school, living in remote areas, or having caretaker or financial responsibilities at home.

Virtual schools also serve students whose careers in the arts or athletics make traditional school attendance impossible.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual schools are in session