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Review of 2008-09 Online Courses and Programs (as requested in SSB 5410). Karl Nelson karl.nelson@k12.wa.us. Process and Context. Process. Student-level data from programs Surveys/interviews of districts and programs Digital Learning Commons data OSPI data Existing reports Future:
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Review of 2008-09 Online Courses and Programs(as requested in SSB 5410) Karl Nelson karl.nelson@k12.wa.us
Process • Student-level data from programs • Surveys/interviews of districts and programs • Digital Learning Commons data • OSPI data • Existing reports • Future: • CEDARS • Monthly enrollment reporting
Courses and Programs • Content – blended to fully-online • Instruction – blended to fully-online • Sequence – individual courses to full programs • Duration – short-term to full-year
2008-09 Totals • 15,805 total students (headcount) estimated to be in online courses • 13,130 in 33 online school programs • 998 in Digital Learning Commons (DLC) courses • 1,677 in courses offered by districts • 18 course, content, and program providers
Poverty • Free and Reduced-Price Meal rates aren’t a proxy for poverty for online school programs. • No access to the USDA Child Nutrition program = no data
Special Education • 3.7% in online school programs • 12.7% in state • Some issues around how special education services are delivered
Interdistrict Transfers • 64% of students (headcount) transferred districts to attend an online program • 97% of transfers were to the 7 districts operating the largest online programs • 248 districts lost students to online programs • Of these 248, 17 districts lost more than 100 FTE
Financial Impacts • 8 districts had basic education costs greater than basic education revenue • Districts that saw increased enrollment saw increased I-728 revenue • Even with additional I-728 revenue, half had costs exceeding revenue • Average net excess cost over revenue represents about 1% of the total BEA revenue (State average is 10%)
NERC, Facilities, and Staffing • Hard to assess NERC when districts contract with 3rd party providers • Districts estimate higher NERC than with traditional programs • Minimal facilities requirements • Business managers report 43.87 certificated instructional staff per 1000 students (state average: 47.49)
Levy Bases and Levy Equalization: Districts with increasing enrollment • Creates potential for increased levy revenue • May see increases in LEA funding
Levy Bases and Levy Equalization: Districts with declining enrollment • Lowers levy authority which could result in lower levy collections • May see lower LEA funding
Contract Types • Online School Programs • Online Content • Individual Online Courses
Contracts • 21 of 30 programs contracted for content, instruction, or administration • 14 programs used third-party teachers • 16 programs used district teachers • 8 districts contracted for administration • 16 entirely contracted for content; 5 used both district and third-party content
Teachers • All online school programs indicated the teachers had WA certifications • Rates vary for WA certification for teachers of individual online courses
Course Completion Rates • A “completed” course is defined as a semester-long course where the student received a final grade and did not drop the course • 84% of courses taken in online school programs were completed
Course Pass Rates • A “passing grade” is when a student earned an A, B, C, or a Pass grade in a completed course (dropped courses are not counted) • Students earned a passing grade in 50.3% of completed courses in online programs
Program Completion • Half to two-thirds of students complete a program’s course of study • Lack of reliable, consistent data from programs • Variation in program model – some students may be successful without staying a full year
WASL Results • Across all grades and subjects tested, none of the online school programs reporting WASL scores met the state average for students meeting standard
Student/Teacher Ratios • Student-to-teacher ratios (FTE) range from 11.4 to 61.2 • Teachers per 1000 students (FTE) range from 16.3 to 88.1 • On average, online programs are staffed with slightly fewer certificated teachers per student than the overall state teacher-to-student ratio