DIGITAL BRIDGES TO SUCCESS

USING DIGITAL CURRICULUM TO PROVIDE “BEST OPTIONS” FOR ALL STUDENTS

DIGITAL CURRICULUM

REMEDIATION CONTENT RECOVERY ALTERNATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS SUMMER SCHOOL INITIATIVES DIAGNOSTIC RESOURCES FOR TRADITIONAL

CLASSROOM TEACHERS ADVANCED PLACEMENT

District Completion Summary

Regular School Year

Extended Year

Summer School

District Total

2007-2008 148Credit Recovery

282 108 538

2008-2009Apex Year 1

923Credit Recovery: 656

Initial Credit: 267

212 165* 50% decrease

in enrollment from 07-08

1300

2009-2010Apex Year

2

1189Credit Recovery: 709

Initial Credit: 480

318 216 1723

A series of cascading interventions, designed to identify students at the point of failure and implement corrective measures

“Working to insure that every child reaches their full potential.”Dorchester District Two serves over 6,500 High School students

CONTENT RECOVERY:

INDEPENDENT CREDIT RECOVERYGOAL: REMEDIATE STUDENTS WHO FAILED ONE CLASS IN THE PAST YEAR AND

RETURN THEM TO A NORMAL FOUR YEAR GRADUATION PATH

Completed outside of the scheduled school day Proctored examinations Passage requires 70% mastery of all objectives Students receive a 70% replacement grade 138 credits were earned in 2008-2009 26 credits were earned in 2009-2010

IN-SCHOOL CREDIT RECOVERY

GOAL: REMEDIATE STUDENTS FAILING MORE THAN ONE CLASS IN THE PAST YEAR AND PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR RETURN TO A NORMAL FOUR YEAR GRADUATION PATH

Serves students identified as failing more than 1 course

Scheduled during the regular school day with a Highly Qualified Teacher

Courses are assessed at 70% mastery Students with early completion are given the

opportunity to recover additional classes and/or take a course for initial credit

500 total credits were earned in 2008-2009 683 total credits were earned in 2009-2010

UNIT RECOVERYGOAL: TO PROVIDE PREEMPTIVE RECOVERY FOR STUDENTS FAILING A

SINGLE UNIT OR QUARTER OF ONE OR MORE CLASSES

Open to all students Curriculum managed by the classroom teacher Independent lessons conducted outside of regular

school hours Proctored assessments Students receive a 70% replacement grade 2,197 students completed assignments in 2008-2009 2,376 students completed assignments in 2009-2010

Digital Curriculum

One teacher cannot effectively meet the individual needs of each of 30 students — not when five are reading at a below-proficient level, three are waiting impatiently to move on, several lack learning strategies, two are in terror of looking stupid if called uponAdding to the pressure, this same teacher is expected to ensure that each of these students stays on track to graduate from high school on time and is prepared to pass high-stakes state exams.A “one-size-fits-all” model simply doesn’t meet the needs of every student. Schools challenged to find new approaches to support success for all students are implementing Apex Learning digital curriculum solutions.

Differentiated Instruction Teachers use diagnostic assessment tools to

provide digitally delivered individualized learning plans for students before summative assessments

Teachers use diagnostic assessment results to identify students who would benefit from skill remediation

Teachers use assessment data to inform instruction

Students work on individualized study plans Teachers work face to face with small groups

of 3-5 students to provide targeted instruction

ADVANCED PLACEMENT OFFERINGSGoal: Expand Advanced Placement offerings, regardless of student

demand

When classes do not “make”, interested students can be offered this option

Use internal AP certified teachers in a blended environment or Apex AP certified virtual school teachers.

ADVANCE PLACEMENT EXAM REVIEWGoal: Provide AP exam review support to all students enrolled in AP programs

Students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses can benefit from diagnostic assessment and prescriptive study plans

“Ask the Expert” online support

Alternative Learning Settings

“Reach out to traditionally underserved students and keep at-risk youth on track and moving toward timely completion of the high school curriculum.”

HOME-BOUND & HOME-BASED EDUCATION

Goal: Revitalize our home-bound and home-based offerings by enabling individualized, timely instruction

Classes taught and administered by highly-qualified, in-

school personnel within each subject area Students no longer wait for instruction to be delivered Students work and progress at their own pace Home-bound teacher answers general questions and

proctors assessments 36 Home-bound students were served via Apex Learning in

2008-2009 73 Home-bound students were served via Apex Learning in

2009-2010

CURRICULUM-BASED IN-SCHOOL SUSPENSION (ISS)GOAL: TO PROVIDE MEANINGFUL, CLASSROOM-ALIGNED INSTRUCTION TO

STUDENTS UNDER DISCIPLINARY SANCTION.

Housed in specialized, computer-enabled ISS labs

Teachers assign lessons from the Apex curriculum or the student can work on any content recovery currently in progress

EVENING SCHOOL PROGRAM Goal: Alternative program to support drop-out prevention

Highly Qualified teachers provide instruction within the content area to students whose situation may preclude normal enrollment in school.

At-risk students age 16 - 20 Credit recovery and Initial credit offered Days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Hours: 5:00pm-9:00pm 88 Students completed 258 credits in 2008-2009

Credit Recovery:147 Initial Credit: 111 114 Students completed 333 credits in 2009-2010

Credit Recovery: 111 Initial Credit: 222

SUMMER SCHOOLGOAL: REMEDIATE STUDENTS DURING SUMMER BREAK WHO FAILED

ONE OR MORE CLASSES DURING THE PREVIOUS SCHOOL YEAR  Scheduled with highly qualified teachers Supplements or replaces traditional

summer school Students may take more than one class if

time allows *no more than 2 classes at time is

recommended Summer 2009 ~165 Completions Summer 2010 ~216 Completions

SUMMER JUMP-START PROGRAMGoal: Smooth the transition to high school for rising at-risk 9th graders

  Rising Freshman identified as at-risk Students are identified based on 8th grade scores

in math and English Students are invited to participate in an intensive

math and English remediation program the summer before 9th grade

Implementation Process

Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been

planned by those whom they dislike. -Alexander Hamilton

Describe Your Vision

Imagine A school where all

student needs are met

Teachers offer one on one guidance and support

Students are at the center of the learning process

Define Measureable Goals Increase Graduation Rate Drop out prevention Decrease core course

failure Increase student

engagement Increase student

achievement on high stakes assessments

Increase student participation in Advanced Placement courses

Establish an Implementation Timeline

Define Goals

Align Curriculum Establish Procedures Produce Support Materials

Train Administrators

Train Faculty and StaffCreate ClassroomsDeliver access to

Students

Communicate with Parents + Guardians

Provide coaching and mentoring for teachers

Monitor student progress Evaluate Program

Establish Policies and Procedures Roles and

Responsibilities Student selection Student enrollment Scheduling Student contracts Grading

Develop a Communication Plan Administrative

Awareness meeting Program Guide for

teachers and administrators

Parent Information Night will showcase your program

Distribute student data to school administration

Present programs and program progress to the school board

Curriculum Alignment Curriculum

Interventionists team with classroom teachers to conduct and internal curriculum review

Digital Curriculum is aligned to district pacing

Critical teacher buy-in is achieved

Professional Development Formal workshops

Program specific Targeted audience Practical classroom

application Classroom visitation

Model best practices, offer coaching and mentoring support

User’s Groups Share best practices Solve classroom difficulties

Main issues motivation, academic

integrity, reading/skill level

Program Evaluation Qualitative

Surveys Administrators Teachers Students Parents

Quantitative Enrollment data Performance data

Create a feedback loop for continuous improvement

Strategic Resource Allocation and Online Learning Understand how high-performing schools use

resources Assess their school resource use in light of this

vision Make resource choices and tradeoffs

consistent with it Build long-term success by shifting resources

to more effective practices and structures

What are Strategic School Designs? An instructional model Strategic use of, time, money, and people Resource trade-offs and choices Ongoing assessment and adjustments

One Strategic Design Focus on the academic achievement of low-

performing students Use academic time strategically Provide for individual student attention Integrate online learning Use resources accordingly Differentiate the teaching staff and promote

staff collaboration

Time Management Maximize time, including longer blocks of

uninterrupted time that students spend on academic subjects (from 60% to 75% of school day)

Maximize the time that low-performing students spend in English/language arts and math with high quality instruction

Assign less time to non-academic and elective courses

Time Management-II Use online learning to supplement teacher

directed instruction in an extended block schedule and/or

Extend the school day with supervised online instruction

Use online instruction to provide non-academic and elective courses in both school and home settings

Provide for Individual Student Attention

Current resource use patterns Reduce class size in the core academic areas

for low-performing students- the earlier, the better

Assign teachers skilled in these classes Use formative assessments for differentiated

learning Use online learning labs with larger class sizes

for more proficient students

Provide Common Planning Time for Teachers Common planning time can be used to

evaluate instruction by analyzing formative, diagnostic and summative assessments that are provided by online programs.

Teacher collaboration is also facilitated by online instructional management systems that keep students on track, ensure academic integrity, tailor course delivery and facilitate distance learning.

Differentiate Teacher Capacity The traditional role: The teacher designs

the curriculum, manages the classroom, motivates students, delivers instruction, assesses student progress and provides remediation.

The online teacher role: The teacher facilitates the online process, monitors student online engagement, intervenes when necessary, solves problems and evaluates remediation opportunities.

References The Strategic School by Karen Hawley Miles

and Stephen Frank (2008), Corwin Press