i Zone

1. … challenging longstanding assumptions around “business as usual” in K-12 education… in areas of school time, teacher roles and instructional delivery… iZone Online Learning Pilots: Key Assumptions/Theory of Action May 2010

2. 2010 -11 Online Learning Pilot Schools Profile 42 schools across 17 networks; 30 high schools, 6 transfer schools, 6 schools serving middle grades; 4 ELL focused schools, 3 selective schools, 2 new schools Online Credit Recovery (10 schools) and Online Advanced Placement (20 schools) Blended school models (12 schools) Targeted cohort of students – at least one entire grade, typically 6th or 9th – will serve approximately 1300 students Each student experiences about one third of their learning online in a blended environment Licensed district certified teachers will facilitate the online courses, while not necessarily physically present in the school building Schools in the pilot will share teachers across schools in several content areas All teachers in the school will utilize the pilot Comprehensive Learning Environment (CLE) for all classes and will participate in professional development around online teaching techniques and authoring digital learning objects/courses Schools in pilot will use SBO process to set alternate schedules that create flexibility in the day and staffing plans that support increased use of online facilitation • Targeted sub-set of students – credit recovery for core Regents subjects or AP enrichment – will serve approximately 2500 students • 64 students per school will complete a course online for credit recovery; 12 students per school will take an online AP course in one of six content areas • Licensed district certified teachers will facilitate online courses, while not necessarily physically present in the school building • Online teacher facilitation across pilot schools will be promoted • All teachers participating in subgroups will utilize the pilot Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) aka iLearnNYC platform for online courses and will participate in professional development around online teaching techniques and authoring digital learning objects/courses

3. Online Learning: Theory of Action Increased personalization & greater access to quality instruction Increased student achievement & better post-secondary alignment

4. Scalable Outcomes

5. Research Assumptions by Pilot Blended Models • A blend of online and face to face instruction maximizes students opportunity to self-pace content and teachers ability to group students in ways that maximize differentiation • Increases access to quality content and/or multi-modal learning objects increase engagement especially with less reliance on teacher centered instructional strategies • A blend of online and face-to-face scheduling through a students day maximizes flexibility to engage in opportunities that explore student interest and hence increases student ownership, including outside classroom experiences • Online learning increases teacher transparency and leads to increased planning; also opens opportunities for collaboration among teachers across schools AP Online CR online Allows for more rapid accumulation of credit as only portions of courses are completed for credit Engages students in more multi-modal content and less reliance on teacher centered classroom Increases rigor of credit recovery programs through purchased content rather than teacher designed make-up activities Creates more personalized pathways for credit repair if online settings are flexibly scheduled Increases opportunities for teachers to learn online course facilitation skills Mostly being implemented in large or transfer schools where population of students needing credit recovery is large and so impact of online success may impact other areas of the school • Provides access to courses that students could not have taken otherwise • Provides a quality course that increases preparedness for the AP test • The skill of learning online aligns to a growing college readiness metric • Cross school enrollment may provide increased peer support and access to richer dialogue • Provides opportunity for teachers across schools to collaborate • Increases opportunities for teachers to learn online course facilitation skills

6. Research Assumptions for iLearnNYC platform aka Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) For administration • VLE promotes flexible scheduling through easy enrollment in online and face to face courses, within and across schools • VLE increases transparency of teacher planning and course content and thus greater ability for administration to make data driven organizational decisions • VLE increases the opportunity for triangulation of data across reporting and operating systems • VLE increases opportunity for teacher collaboration through easy of ability to share lesson plans, courses and student work • VLE contains ability to archive planning to build bank of courses and learning objects by school, rather than by teacher For students For teachers VLE provides easy ability to differentiate instruction by disaggregating content VLE promotes online and blended instruction through ease of use VLE increases ease of communication to students and data reporting of data Online course delivery through the VLE increases the opportunity for cross school collaboration VLE promotes transparency in planning and learning activities and thus supports sharper instructional delivery VLE captures rigorous high quality instruction within school and across schools and provides teachers with increased access to content expertise • VLE provides easy access to a range of multi-media content that is part of coursework and supplemental learning objects. This content would not be as readily available to students without VLE • VLE provides increased opportunities for communication among peers and with teachers • VLE is tool for organizing learning that can increase this crucial academic skill • VLE promotes flexibility in accessing information and opportunity for learning at an individual pace • VLE promotes e-portfolios and other performance based and meta-cognitive assessment tools

7. Implementation Milestones Teachers Principals Central tasks