Digital Bridges to success

1. Digital Bridges to success Using digital Curriculum to provide “Best Options” for all students

2. Digital Curriculum • remediation • Content recovery • alternative Learning Environments • summer school initiatives • Diagnostic Resources for Traditional classroom teachers • Advanced Placement

3. District Completion Summary

4. Content Recovery: 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

5. Independent Credit Recovery Goal: 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

6. 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 initialcredit • 500 total credits were earned in 2008-2009 • 683 total credits were earned in 2009-2010

7. Unit Recovery Goal: 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

8. 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.

9. 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

12. Advanced Placement Offerings Goal: 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.

13. Advance Placement exam Review Goal: 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

14. 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.”

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Summer School Goal: 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

19. Summer Jump-Start Program Goal: 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. Establish an Implementation Timeline

24. Establish Policies and Procedures • Roles and Responsibilities • Student selection • Student enrollment • Scheduling • Student contracts • Grading

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. Program Evaluation • Qualitative • Surveys • Administrators • Teachers • Students • Parents • Quantitative • Enrollment data • Performance data • Create a feedback loop for continuous improvement

29. 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

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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. References • The Strategic School by Karen Hawley Miles and Stephen Frank (2008), Corwin Press