new learning models: providing a customized education for...

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New Learning Models:

Providing a Customized

Education for All Students

Matthew Wicks

iNACOL, Chief Operating Officer

International Association for K-12 Online

Learning (iNACOL)

• iNACOL is the leading, international, non-profit association in K-12 online learning.

• Based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (Vienna, VA)

• 4000+ members in K-12 districts, states, universities, researchers & online learning providers

• Provides leadership, advocacy, research, training and networking with experts in K-12 online learning.

• “Ensure every student has access to the best education available regardless of geography, income or background.”

• Conference - Virtual School Symposium (VSS) in Orlando (October 27-30, 2013) www.inacol.org/events/symposium/

• www.inacol.org

Providing Opportunities to All Students

Credit Recovery

Aspiring athletes and performers

Medically Fragile

Home Schoolers

Accelerated Students

Need to work and/or support family

Traditional Public/Private

Special Education and ELL

Rural Students

What Does Opportunity Look Like?

Students who need or want supplemental online courses have access to them without barriers of cost, scheduling, transferability of credit, etc.

Students who need or want a full-time online program have access to one or more without restrictions based on prior school setting, district permissions, caps, etc.

Schools implement blended learning

Opportunities will be of high quality

Definitions

Online learning is teacher-led education that takes place over the Internet,

with the teacher and student separated geographically, using a web-based

educational delivery system that includes software to provide a structured

learning environment. It may be synchronous (communication in which

participants interact in real-time, such as online video) or asynchronous

(communication separated by time, such as email or online discussion

forums). It may be accessed from multiple-settings (in school and/or out of

school buildings). Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at

least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some

element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace, and at least in

part at a supervised brick-and-mortar located away from home.

Definitions

Supplemental online programs provide a small number of courses to

students who are enrolled in a school separate from the online program.

Fully online schools also called cyberschools, work with students who are

enrolled primarily (often only) in the online school. Cyberschools typically are

responsible for their students’ scores on state assessments. In some states,

most full-time online schools are charter schools.

These definitions come from 2012 Keeping Pace in K-12 Online and Blended

Learning, Evergreen Education Group and Classifying K-12 Blended Learning,

Clayton Christensen Institute (formerly Innosight Institute).

A more complete set of definitions are contacted in iNACOL’s, The Online Learning

Definitions Project.

Total Online/Blended Students

“The total number of students taking part in

all of these programs is unknown, but is

likely several million, or slightly more than

5% of the total K-12 student population

across the United States. We stress,

however, that we estimate this by

triangulating from close to a dozen sources.

No single source is comprehensive.”

2012 Keeping Pace

Numbers: state virtual schools

• 620,000 course enrollments in state

virtual schools

• 16% annual increase (19% last year)

• FLVS is (still) about 50% of the SVS

enrollments across the country

Numbers: fully online schools

• Available in 31 states and Washington

DC

• Estimated 275,000 full-time online

students

• States with established online schools

growing at ~15% annually (with outliers)

www.inacol.org

Competency-Based Education

Competency-Based Pathways

Design Principles

1. Students Advance Upon Mastery

2. Explicit and Measurable Learning

Objectives That Empower Students

3. Assessment is Meaningful and a Positive

Learning Experience for Students

www.competencyworks.org

National Standards for Quality Online Programs,

Online Teaching & Online Courses

We view iNACOL’s role as doing what it takes to ensure that the field reaches its full potential

Where we are today

Where we seek to be

Where we could well arrive

• All students have access to

online and blended models

• But many or most of these

models are no more effective

than traditional classroom

instruction

• Some students have access to online

and blended models

• The effectiveness of these models in

developing college- and career-

readiness is largely unknown and likely

varies widely

• All students have access to

online and blended models

• The models are effective in

developing their college- and

career-readiness

Achieving the destination we seek is likely to be a multi-stage process, with

progress made one step at a time

Quality 1.0

Quality 2.0

Where we seek to be

Where we are today

• Some students have access

to online and blended models

• Models may meet

programmatic, input

guidelines (e.g., teacher-

student ratios)

• A growing number of students

have access to online and

blended models

• Models meet programmatic

guidelines, output standards

(e.g., completion), and/or

outcome standards based on

current generation state

assessments

• The majority of students have

access to online and blended

models

• Models are effective in

developing college-ready

knowledge and skills

• Models are aligned to the

Common Core or other

college- and career-ready

standards and develop student

competency, as demonstrated

by proficiency on benchmark

assessments

• All students have access to

online and blended models

• Models enable them to become

college-ready, including

students who require significant

competency gain in order to

progress

• Models are aligned to the

Common Core or other college-

and career-ready standards and

support significant gains in

competency, as demonstrated

by growth on benchmark

assessments

Quality: Moving Beyond Inputs iNACOL released a publication in October, 2012, funded by Gates Foundation, “Measuring Quality from Inputs to Outcomes: Creating Student Learning Performance Metrics and Quality Assurance for Online Schools”

– Proficiency

– Individual Student Growth

– Graduation Rate

– College and Career Readiness

– Closing the Achievement Gap

http://www.inacol.org/resources/publications/national-quality-standards/

Performance Based Funding

• Having accepted outcomes based quality

measures will facilitate performance based funding

• Performance Based Funding already exists in

limited cases, primarily with a focus on

completion as opposed to more sophisticated

performance measures

• Individual course choice will help drive

performance based funding

Funding of Online Learning

• How much does/should online learning cost?

• Funding should follow the student. This is much

more likely to happen for full-time online

learning, although this doesn’t necessarily

mean funding of online learning is handled the

same as for brick-and-mortar schools.

• Some states divide FTE funding to the course

level which is helpful for funding following the

student for supplemental programs.

Questions

Matthew Wicks

mwicks@inacol.org

http://www.inacol.org

http://www.competencyworks.org