+ operating a high quality online program: a focus on standards and accreditation allison powell,...
TRANSCRIPT
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Operating a High Quality Online Program: A Focus on Standards and AccreditationAllison Powell, iNACOLLiz Pape, VHSRay Lindley, Northwest Association of Accredited SchoolsJoe Pope, Northwest Association of Accredited SchoolsDan Whitford, Northwest Association of Accredited Schools
+iNACOL Standards
The standards selected are based on the results of a research review and survey of online course, teaching and program quality criteria. These quality standards were evaluated and assembled into easy to use documents for evaluating online courses, teachers and programs with common benchmarks.
National Standards of Quality for Online Courses (2007)
National Standards for Quality Online Teaching (2008)
National Standards for Quality Online Programs (2009)
+iNACOL National Quality Standards
National Standards of Quality for Online Courses – September, 2007 Fully endorsed SREB Quality Online Course Standards Added one standard to address 21st Century Skills
National Standards for Quality Online Teaching – February, 2008 Endorsed SREB Standards for Quality Online Teaching & Online Teaching
Evaluation for State Virtual Schools Included two standards from the Ohio Standards for the Teaching
Profession and ECOT’s Teacher Evaluation Rubric
+iNACOL National Quality Standards National Standards for Quality Online Programs – October, 2009
Does not endorse any single existing standards Based on ideas and concepts from approximately 20 documents along
with contributions from experienced online learning practitioners
All iNACOL national standards are voluntary
Complete assessment of online program quality requires all three iNACOL national standards
All available for download at: http://www.inacol.org/research/nationalstandards/
Quality Online Programs
NACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses
NACOL National Standards for Quality Online Teaching
iNACOL National Quality Standards for Online Programs
+Structure of Program Standards
Institutional Standards – 9 standards
Teaching and Learning Standards – 3 standards
Support Standards – 5 standards
Evaluation Standards – 2 standards
Utilizes rubric from The Exemplary Course Project – Scoring Project to evaluate all standards. This rubric was used to evaluate submissions to WebCT’s 2001 Exemplary Course Project
+Rubric 5 – Exemplary: a model of best practice as related to this criterion
4 – Accomplished: excellent implementation; comparable to other examples
3 – Promising: good implementation; however, somewhat lacking in depth or detail
2 – Incomplete: partial implementation of this criterion; additional work needed; good start
1 – Confusing: not obvious; more work needed; not a good example
N/A – Not Applicable
+Institutional Standards
A. Mission Statement A mission statement of a quality online program clearly
conveys its purpose and goals. It serves as the basis for the program’s day-to-day operations, as well as a guide for its strategic plans for the future. Communication between and buy-in from stakeholders is a critical component of a mission statement.
B. Governance Governance is typically provided by a Board of Directors, an
Advisory Board or a School Board. In a quality online program, governance and leadership work hand-in-hand, developing the operational policies for the program and its leadership staff.
+Institutional StandardsC. Leadership
The leadership of a quality online program is accountable to the program’s governance body, and is responsible for setting and meeting the operational and strategic goals in support of the program’s mission and vision statements.
D. Planning A quality online program makes planning, managed by the
leadership and staff of the organization, a regular part of the program. There are several types of planning activities, including strategic planning, long-range and operational planning, which defines annual goals. Effective planning is not a one-time activity, but instead should provide opportunities for reflection on how to improve the organization’s performance.
+Institutional Standards
E. Organizational Staffing A quality online program recognizes appropriate levels of
staffing are critical to the success of an online program. Staff should be well trained in order to successfully meet their performance goals, and are provided with appropriate levels of support, resources, feedback, and management.
F. Organizational Commitment In quality online programs , governance, leadership, and
staff are responsible for creating an organization that demonstrates a commitment to attaining the program’s goals and mission statement. Everyone within the organization understands the mission statement and works to achieve it.
+Institutional StandardsG. Financial and Material Resources
A quality online program has adequate financial and material resources to accomplish the mission of the organization. These resources are appropriately planned for and expended using sound business practices.
H. Equity and Access A quality online program’s policies and practice support students’ ability
to access the program. Accommodations are available to meet a variety of student needs.
I. Integrity and Accountability In a quality online program, leadership is transparent in its management
of the program, providing regular and timely information on progress towards attainment of goals, alignment with policies and standards, and achievement of student learning outcomes.
+Teaching and Learning Standards
J. Curriculum and Course Design A quality online program will have a well thought-out
approach to its curriculum and course design whether it develops its own courses and/or licenses curriculum from other educational providers.
K. Instruction A quality online program takes a comprehensive and
integrated approach to ensuring excellent online teaching for its students. This process begins with promising practices but is equally committed to continuous improvement and adaptation to student learning needs through professional development.
+Teaching and Learning Standards
L. Assessment of Student Performance A quality online learning program values student
academic performance and takes a comprehensive, integrated approach to measuring student achievement. This includes use of multiple assessment measures and strategies that align closely to both program and learner objectives, with timely, relevant feedback to all stakeholders.
+Support Standards
M. Faculty A quality online program supports the faculty by
providing opportunities for them to develop their professional skills through mentoring, professional development, and technical assistance.
N. Students A quality online program has student support services to
address the various needs of students at different levels within the organization. The levels of support are appropriate and adequate for student’s success.
+Support Standards
O. Guidance Services
• A quality online program has guidance services to support students and parents to ensure success of the online program. Depending on the program, these services are either directly provided by the program or a service provider, or in the case of supplemental programs, these services may be provided by the local school.
P. Organizational Support A quality online program has organizational support to oversee
the instructional learning environment as it is conveyed through the technology. Some organizational support services may be distributed between the program and other entities, depending on the physical location where the students are taking their online courses.
+Support Standards
Q. Parents/Guardians In a quality online program, parents and guardians play
an integral part in their students’ educational life. They work as a team with faculty, administrators, guidance services, and organizational support to ensure a quality educational experience for their students.
+Evaluation Standards
R. Program Evaluation A quality online program recognizes the value of
program evaluation. Program evaluation is both internal and external and informs all processes that effect teaching and learning. Internal evaluations often are more informal in nature and may provide immediate feedback on a targeted area of inquiry. External program evaluations typically look at the entire program from an objective perspective that will bring additional credibility to the results.
+Evaluation Standards
S. Program Improvement A quality online program established a culture of
continual program improvement. Improvement planning focuses on using program evaluations, research, and promising practices to improve student performance and organizational effectiveness. It fosters continuous improvement across all aspects of the organization and ensures the program is focused on accomplishing its mission and vision.
+Committee Liz Pape –Virtual High School Global
Consortium Matthew Wicks – Matthew Wicks &
Associates Sandi Atols - Chicago Public Schools Kim Bonniksen – Insight Schools John Bourne – Sloan Consortium David Brown – Western Association of
Schools and Colleges Craig Butz – Connections Academy Allison Cleveland – K-12, Inc. Jacque Dewey – Virginia Beach City
Public Schools Jed Friedrichsen – BlendedSchools.net Vicki Jensen – Florida Virtual School Karen Johnson – Minnesota
Department of Education
Ken Kastle – Middle States Association of Accredited Schools
Ron Legon – Quality Matters, University of Maryland
Ray Lindley – Northwest Association of Accredited Schools
Janet Moore – Sloan Consortium Julia Parra – New Mexico State
University Susan Patrick – iNACOL Allison Powell – iNACOL Connie Radtke – Appleton E-School Chris Rapp – Idaho Digital Learning
Academy Mickey Revenaugh – Connections
Academy Sue Sullivan – New Jersey Department
of Education Bill Tucker – Education Sector Janna Vega – Idaho Digital Learning
Academy
+NAAS Standards for Accreditation NAAS accreditation provides benefits at all levels of the
educational system:
1. For the public, accreditation verifies that schools are doing what they say they are doing.
2. For parents, accreditation assures them that their children are receiving a quality education that will be recognized across state lines, between schools, and by colleges and universities across the world.
3. For the school, accreditation engages the entire school staff in meeting rigorous standards and in continual improvement.
4. For the students, accreditation provides an environment of quality and a commitment to helping all students achieve.
+NAAS Standards for AccreditationTEACHING AND LEARNING STANDARDS
1. Mission, Beliefs, and Expectations for Student Learning
2. Curriculum
3. Instruction
4. Assessment
+NAAS Standards for AccreditationSUPPORT STANDARDS
5. Leadership and Organization
6. School Services Student Support Services Guidance Services Library Information Services Family and Community Services
7. Facilities and Finance
+NAAS Standards for Accreditation
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT STANDARD
8. Culture of Continual Improvement School Improvement Plan
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Multi-district Online Providers Public or Non-profit
School District Created Online Programs
Private Online Schools
Online Courses Comprehensive High Schools Alternative Schools
Online Education Programs
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Senate Substitute Bill 5410
Regulates Online Education in Washington
Online programs must be accredited
Online programs must be approved by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Washington State Requirements
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Building a partnership between regional accreditation and online providers – iNACOL
Creation of standards by online community with involvement of regional accreditation system
iNACOL/NAAS Standards
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Institutional Standards
Teaching and Learning Standards
Support Standards
Evaluation Standards
Online Standard Categories
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1. Mission Statement
2. Governance
3. Leadership
4. Organizational Staffing
5. Organizational Commitment
6. Financial and Material Resources
7. Equity and Access
8. Integrity and Accountability
Institutional Standards
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9. Curriculum
10. Instruction
11. Assessment of Student Performance
Teaching and Learning Standards
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12. Faculty
13. Students
14. Guidance Services
15. Organizational Support
16. Parental/Guardians
Support Standards
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17. Program Evaluation
18. Program Improvement
Evaluation Standards
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Distance learning StandardsThree Categories of Standards8 Standards124 Indicators
iNACOL Pilot StandardsFour Categories of Standards 18 Standards84 Indicators
Comparison of Standards
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Schools and programs must conduct a self-study and site visit
Self-study is a four step processCreate a school/program profileReview their mission statementMeet the NAAS StandardsCreate a school/program improvement
plan
Accreditation Process
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Conduct a survey of the standards 4 3 2 1 Scale Have a plan to address standards rated
below 3.0
Identify areas of strength and areas of growth for each category of standards Institutional Teaching and Learning Support Evaluation
Use results to create guiding questions for site visitation team
Review of the Standards
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Professional Peer Review
Team of six educators conduct site reviewIdentify commendations for each
category of standardsIdentify recommendations for each
category of standards
Site Visitation
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NAAS Accreditation Consultant reports site visit findings to the Washington State Commission
State Commissioners report to NAAS Regional Commission who makes final determination regarding accreditation
Final Steps
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“We huddled this morning to see what we might recommend as improvements to the process. Frankly, we could not come up with a single recommendation. We re-read the standards and they all seem to be a good fit. Jack Babani, Apex Learning
Apex Learning Site Visit
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The self-evaluation was very beneficial – we did not feel that we were going through the motions or jumping through hoops. The bottom line is – run with this for a year before tweaking anything.
Jack Babani, Apex Learning
Apex Learning Site Visit
Questions
+Contact Information
Dr. Ray Lindley, [email protected]
Dr. Liz Pape, [email protected]
Joe Pope, [email protected]
Allison Powell, [email protected]
Dan Whitford, [email protected]
Standards can be found at http://www.inacol.org/research/nationalstandards/