Yes, I’m serious! Student engagement equals successful completion makes total sense to those of us serving K-12 online students across the country. If a student isn’t engaged in their online course, the likelihood they will NOT complete the course successfully is a fact. Yet, there is still little documented about students’ educational experiences or online course outcomes according to researchers.

Wisconsin Virtual School’s (WVS) collaboration between Midwest Virtual Education Research Alliance and Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest provided the opportunity to build on earlier studies using the learning management system and student information system data to identify factors that could predict student success in online courses. The goal of the study was to determine whether student engagement patterns (total amount of time a student was logged in to the course each week) was associated with the percentage of possible points earned in the course and the percentage of course activities completed. We thought this would be helpful information to improve our state-led supplemental program, advocate to policymakers, state education agencies, and for school districts to support student success in online courses.

The study, An Analysis of Student Engagement Patterns and Online Course Outcomes in Wisconsin, identified patterns of student engagement in online courses and how these patterns were associated with students’ performance in their online courses. In the Fall of 2014, using anonymous data from WVS’s learning management system and student information system in 1, 512 student enrollments in 109 online Advanced Placement, core, and elective high school courses, six engagement patterns emerged. (Study Infographic)

So what did we find out? Does student engagement with the online course predict success?

Six distinct patterns emerged. The two most common patterns accounted for 40% of the student enrollments: 1) “steady” 1.5 hours per week, with a slight increase toward the end of the semester, and 2) “steady” 2.5 hours per week across the semester.

• Most students in five of the six engagement groups earned a high enough percentage of possible points to pass their online course.
• Students with low but steady engagement in their online course had better outcomes than students with low initial engagement that diminished throughout the course.
• Here’s the shocker, we knew this, but the research confirmed it! Students who engaged in their online course for two or more hours per week had better outcomes than students who engaged for fewer than two hours per week.

 

The researchers told us they couldn’t make “causal connections” between student engagement and online course outcomes, because the findings are based on “correlational data.” We respect the study and the researchers who were phenomenal to work with and have taken what we learned seriously, to continue to improve our support for students and their schools to be successful online learners.

What we (the non-researchers) have done with the study information?

We concluded the information directly points to “personalized learning.” Recently, personalized learning has been closely related to the use of blended learning strategies in the classroom. However, online learning has long given students and teachers the opportunity to personalize the learning experience for students by providing access and equity to courses often unavailable to students in any other way. Students chose their engagement pattern (time and pace) whether it was 1.5 or 4 hours a week and yet ended up in a similar position – they completed their courses successfully!

• Early engagement is critical for sustained engagement. The study was shared with our teachers at our annual teacher training and meeting. We shared ideas on how online teachers engage and can increase engagement early in the course and throughout and especially at weeks 7-10 where it appears most students’ engagement decreased.
  • Personalized welcome letters/introductions/calls/synchronous sessions in the first two weeks and continued opportunities to meet synchronously weekly throughout the course are expected.
  • By the end of the first week after a student’s start date, verify that the student has begun work.
  • Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Not just with the student, but their local school liaison/coach/mentor/local education guide and parents/guardians. Communication equals engagement.
  • Send welcome letters to the school liaison/coach/mentor/local education guide and guardians/parents. It takes a team to encourage the online student and promotes engagement!
  • Quality feedback on all assessments. Encourage high expectations for ALL students.
  • Take appropriate action for any student not engaged or ready to learn.
• The results reinforced our commitment for quality standards for online courses. (Quality Matters K-12 Secondary Rubric and iNACOL’s Quality Online Course Standards) If the course is quality, it will assist in being engaging for students!
• We’re sharing the results and strategies to engage students with schools and the local liaison/coach/mentor/education guide. We’re providing professional learning opportunities for these critical roles through webinars, onsite training, student and parent orientations, “lunch and learn” sessions, and a supportive help desk.

Seriously, if a student is engaged in their online course, meaning they are spending more than one and half hours a week engaged with the online content, they are likely to complete the online course successfully. The engaged student who spends 2 or more hours a week with their online content are likely to get better grades! And that is what the research says!

In 1986, fresh out of college, I joined a group of four other women – all computer majors – hired by a Fortune 500 company to be new programmer analysts. So much has changed in the last thirty years and the world of course is different now – no longer do we need to share computers, debug our code on dusty green-bar paper, or physically travel at 2AM to the home office to fix a system crash because we can’t work remotely. Technology is at our fingertips and accessible, in the best of cases, to everyone. We sometimes hear that women “don’t do computing”. That we don’t like STEM. That we can’t. That’s simply not true. We can, and we did, and we do. Grace Hopper popularized the term computer bug. Ada Lovelace wrote instructions for the first computer program. Adele Goldberg helped develop one of the first object-oriented computer languages. So why aren’t more girls into computing?

“The demand for computing skills far outstrips supply, plaguing U.S. employers with a talent shortage. In 2015, there were more than 500,000 open computing jobs to be filled in the U.S. but fewer than 40,000 new computer science graduates to fill them” according to research from Accenture and Girls Who Code (https://girlswhocode.com/).

Computerscience.org notes that “Even with projected growth of 15-20% between 2012 and 2022, the vast majority of computer science jobs will be pursued and filled by men. As STEM-related industries on a whole add over 1.7 million jobs in the coming years, there continues to be a notable absence of women in the field. This trend begins well before entering the job market: girls account for more than half of all Advanced Placement (AP) test-takers, yet boys outnumber girls 4:1 in computer science exams. In Mississippi, Montana and Wyoming, not a single girl took the AP Computer Science examination in 2014.”

Now, thirty years after I started in programming, I’m in a position to be able to help these statistics change. Through the White House #CSforAll initiative and CSNYC’s CSforAll Consortium I’m privileged to work with a dedicated group of people and organizations who are helping ensure all students regardless of their geography, gender, or economic circumstance, have access to Computer Science education. My early days as a programmer helped me learn to problem solve and think critically. The skills I learned then, in large part help me in my position as President & CEO of The Virtual High School today. Our non-profit organization helps students at schools nationwide develop the skills they need to be successful in careers and life. I want all students, especially the girls out there, to know they have options. Many women have paved the way, from Linda Roberts, former Director of the U.S. Department of Educational Technology who developed our nation’s first National Technology Plan, to Karen Billings, Ed Tech Digest Visionary (both members of The Virtual High School’s Board of Directors), to Megan Smith our current US Chief Technology Officer. There are many, many others, too numerous to mention. You can succeed, and we can help you. Let us show you that wonderful, exciting, career options are available to you with the push of a button – or maybe just a few keystrokes.

The Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative (WDLC) is a unique statewide partnership that gives every student in any school district access to online courses to supplement campus schedules. It also provides digital learning resources for teachers to use in their classrooms. Access to online courses, technology and resources are available to districts through the WDLC regardless of size or geography. A new report, Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative: A Review of Programs and Partners, examines the impact of the WDLC on online learning in the state, profiles many of the partner districts and provides descriptions of the digital learning pathways available to Wisconsin schools through this statewide option. What follows is a brief summary of WDLC and what you will find in the report.

The WDLC consists of three collaborating organizations. The Wisconsin Virtual School (WVS) provides supplemental online courses to a large majority of the school districts across Wisconsin. The Wisconsin eSchool Network (WEN) is a consortium of 28 district partners that provides access to online courses, technology, operational support, digital learning professional development and other services to it’s members. Together WEN and WVS form the foundation of the Collaborative. The third organization, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), provides quality assurance and helps raise awareness of WDLC. It also provides some fiscal support through the segregated universal service fund administered by the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

In addition to the WDLC representing the digital learning interests of all districts it also leverages shared knowledge and best practices to reduce costs. It offers a wide variety of resources, services and benefits that districts need in order to offer online and blended learning options to students.

WDLC Pathways to Digital Learning

Through the WDLC partnership, WEN and WVS have created three pathways to cover the broad range of digital learning needs regardless of the size of the school district or its stage of digital learning deployment.

1. The Supplemental Pathway appeals to districts that want to offer online courses to its students, but may not have the infrastructure or experience to accomplish that goal alone. The Supplemental Pathway offers nearly unlimited access to online courses and support through WVS without the need for formal membership in WEN and without the need to build online learning capacity locally. It is a pay as you go option to add online courses to existing middle and/or high school curriculum with no annual fees, contracts or memberships. WVS is the primary provider of supplemental online courses for the WDLC, making state-supported online learning opportunities available to the 396 Wisconsin school districts that are not WEN partner districts. It is a straightforward way to add quality online courses to a district’s existing grade 6–12 curriculum.
2. The Affiliate Pathway is appropriate for districts ready to take on more control and ownership of their online learning program as they become members in the WEN consortium. Affiliate Partner districts have access to WEN’s online course catalog, licensed teachers, technology tools, student orientation courses and professional learning while benefitting from lower cost, scalable enrollment fees. The Affiliate membership allows districts to retain a high degree of local control, using a combination of local instructors with online teachers from Network partners as needed. Most of WEN’s current 14 Affiliate district members are small to medium-sized school districts, ranging from less than 1,000 students to nearly 7,000 students, and most are in the process of developing cohesive and comprehensive online learning plans.
3. The Invested Pathway is designed for members with a comprehensive plan for online and blended learning
that includes an emphasis on local autonomy and use of local teachers and staff. Invested Partners make a significant one-time investment that provides the lowest operating expenses of any pathway and a voting seat on the WEN board of directors. Invested Partners are building scalable digital learning programs to support growing online enrollments, increased use of student devices on campus and greater integration of digital content and instruction in the classroom. Currently, there are 14 Invested Partners that have made significant initial investments in human capital and in financial resources to purchase online courses, license and develop technology infrastructure and build processes that are the foundation of the consortium and the WDLC.

The report provides more detail on the specifics of the WDLC partner pathways, and profiles of each of the 14 Invested Partners. It was provides data on course enrollments, the number of students taking online courses, course enrollments by grade level and subject area and satisfaction data from most WDLC partners.

The WDLC model of providing online and blended learning courses through a collaboration of partner organizations guided by school districts is unusual compared to most other digital learning models, particularly statewide. This model has proven to be sustainable and flexible, allowing districts to invest in digital learning at different levels. The full report is available at http://www.wisconsineschool.org/media/76096/wdlc_partnerprofiles.pdf.

 

 

 

The days of “sit and get” professional development are so 20th century. Educators are no longer limited to collaboration with their local peers, and now have the opportunity to form professional learning communities of practice with educators all over the world. One of the benefits of being a member of  the Virtual School Leadership Alliance (VSLA) is being able to harness the collective knowledge and expertise of the group members. There are so many unique and successful practices happening in blended and online learning within this group and everyone is eager to collaborate and share ideas. The idea that “the responsibility for knowing is sharing” permeates everything the VSLA does.

The VSLA consists of the Executive Directors of member organizations, along with several work groups including one focused on Professional Development. Last March, professional development directors from Virtual South Carolina, Idaho Digital Learning Academy, Georgia Virtual, North Carolina Virtual Public School, Indiana Online Academy, Wisconsin Virtual School, Illinois Virtual School, IDEAL-New Mexico and The Virtual High School met to plan collaborative professional development events in which teachers, administrators and other stakeholders from all member states and consortia could participate.   It was decided that they would hold an Edcamp and book study during the summer.

Edcamps are “unconferences.” Organizers set the schedule for the day but all sessions are determined by participants on the day of the event based on current trends and topics of interest. Everyone is welcome to propose and lead a session where conversation and collaboration are the focus. The day is completely participant-driven. The Edcamp was held on July 27, 2016, and consisted of sessions every hour, for a total of six hours. Participants attended a kick-off session in Unhangout to set the agenda and meet participants.  Each session was facilitated by the committee members or participants from the various states and hosted in Blackboard Collaborate rooms. Because participants were located all over the country, they used a shared Google Drive folder to post the agenda and any other materials needed.

There were 129 registered participants from ten states. The committee is already making plans for another Edcamp next summer and brainstorming ideas to market this free, collaborative event to any interested participants.

Another collaborative event hosted by the Professional Development work group was a book study featuring the book, Mindset by Carol Dweck. VSLA member staff from eight states planned and facilitated the book study which ran for eight weeks from June 12-August 12, 2016. Each week, collaboration in the Google+ Community and posted questions were facilitated by different VSLA members. During the last two weeks of the book study, two Twitter chats provided for synchronous collaboration and discussion among the 198 participants. Check out the conversation by searching our hashtag #VSLAPD!

Each state organization had the option of offering the opportunity for graduate credit, renewal hours etc. based on their state requirements. The Wisconsin Virtual School provided a sample syllabus submitted for graduate credit. Based on the evaluations submitted by the participants, the format using synchronous and asynchronous collaboration was a both informative and enjoyable.

These two events are just the tip of the iceberg, illustrating multi-state professional development collaboration. The VSLA plans to keep expanding opportunities for educators to share ideas for implementing technology and successful online learning practices.

 

An example of the Unhangout Edcamp interaction.

Getting the word out for one of the Book Study events.

In 2013, our program was contacted by a school district in our state who expressed the desire to utilize our program in a direction that had not been explored in our state before. Although VirtualSC’s supplemental courses worked well for their students, the district wanted more flexibility, control, and to expand learning opportunities. And just like that, a match was struck, a fire lit, and the VirtualSC Franchise Program was born.

After a year of planning, Aiken County School District rolled out the Aiken County Virtual Academy (ACVA) in fall 2014; VirtualSC’s pilot franchise district. The ultimate goal of ACVA is to meet the individual learning needs of their students, and to provide flexibility in scheduling through their supplemental online learning program. Through their franchise, ACVA has access to VirtualSC’s developed course content, learning management system (LMS) and student information system all while using their own instructors. Essentially, Aiken was given a turn-key solution to create their own local virtual learning option.

This all sounds quick and easy, but it took a solid year of hands-on trial and error to get the franchise program where it needed to be. We worked closely with Aiken to implement the onboarding and professional development of their new online teachers and administration. It was surely a learning curve, especially for their faculty members who had never used our LMS, and for the administration that had never executed a project on this scale. VirtualSC continues to work closely with ACVA faculty and staff on a daily basis to ensure ongoing success. This hard work and dedication has reaped a reward; ACVA has grown exponentially in the last two years. In the pilot year, the program offered 20 courses and served 486 students with a 79% pass rate. In the 2015-2016 school year, the program offered 33 different courses, serving 1,448 students with an 82% pass rate.

As the pilot year of VirtualSC’s Franchise Program came to a close, we were approached by not one, not two, but three additional districts with big ideas to fit the unique challenges of their students. The flame grew as we began to plan to work with new models and concepts.

One of the most interesting implementations we have seen, so far, has been in Dorchester District 4. When Dorchester approached VirtualSC about the franchise program, we were unsure as to what their ultimate goals were. It did not take us long to learn that their alternative school, Odyssey Learning Center, needed a change. We met with a very apprehensive alternative school principal (and faculty), and set to work. As we prepared the faculty and staff, we cautioned that there would be growing pains. After all, these teachers were brick-and-mortar only teachers, and had never even considered teaching online or using a blended model for classroom instruction. It took time, but by the mid-point of the school year, Odyssey realized they had begun their district’s first competency-based learning program.

When a student arrives as Odyssey Learning Center, they are typically frustrated, angry and maybe even confused. Students assigned to the center often have behavioral issues that result in multiple suspensions and the risk of expulsion. However, all of a sudden, Ms. Catherine Yates, Principal of the school, noticed that students were asking to visit her campus.

Each day, students at Odyssey follow their normal schedule. For example, at 9AM, a student may report to their social studies classroom. They open their laptop, login to the LMS, and begin working on any social studies course they have assigned to them. The student sitting next to them may be working in Economics, while another student may be working in US History, or Psychology. Each student works through their assignments individually, while the teacher visits each desk to offer coaching, support and motivation. Live lessons and tutoring sessions are scheduled on an as-needed basis, and all assignment feedback is provided in the online grade book.

Through this blended learning model, they noticed that students were eager to move forward, to keep going. They had not yet experienced this level of motivation from students at Odyssey. Students now have the ability to earn as many credits as they have time for during their stay at the school. At the end of the 2015-16 school year, twelve students graduated thanks to the online competency-based system at Odyssey. Students at the main high school who are behind in their credit count are now asking for the opportunity to join the Odyssey program so they can work through the courses they need to graduate. If student testimony was not enough to describe the success of this model, all you need to do is look at the improvement of their End of Course Examination scores for Algebra 1, Biology and English 1; their success rates in these areas grew leaps and bounds.

Since the single flame was lit in 2014, the VirtualSC Franchise Program has spread like wildfire. VirtualSC will serve seven franchise school districts in the 2016-17 school year, with more waiting in line to join. Each district has requested a different model to serve a different need. And as each year goes by, VirtualSC will help these districts, and others, grow, expand, evolve and build local digital learning expertise.

It is back to school time! But many schools in Illinois are starting the year off without enough teachers. A number of school districts are dealing with a shortage of teachers to fill open positions.

“Peoria Public Schools Vexed by 68 Open Teaching Spots” – Peoria Journal Star, August 24, 2016

 “Majority of Illinois school districts having trouble filling positions” – The State Journal-Register, January 9, 2016

Unfortunately, this is not just an Illinois issue. A number of states are experiencing a teacher shortage dilemma. The Education Commission of the States created a series of reports to examine the national teacher shortages (http://www.ecs.org/ec-content/uploads/Teacher-Shortages-What-We-Know.pdf).

The Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools in conjunction with Goshen Education Consulting conducted a survey among Illinois school districts in 2015 to better understand the challenges Illinois school districts were experiencing in filling teaching positions with IL-certified teachers. The challenge is due to a decrease in the number of applicants in the state as well as a perceived quality issue of current applicants.

The Executive Summary of the report indicated the following results:

• 60% of the responding districts had difficulty with staffing positions.
• 76% reported that they had fewer qualified candidates applying for positions in their districts.
• 16% had to cancel classes due to shortages of teacher with appropriate qualifications.
• 80% of high school districts and 87% of unit districts indicated that they had fewer qualified candidates applying for positions.

The complete report can be found at: http://iarss.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IllinoisTeacherShortage_12-10-15_kd-2.pdf

Illinois Virtual School (IVS) is working with its partner schools to help fill the gap. This fall, IVS is offering complete sections of Spanish and French to 14 schools that cannot find instructors. We also anticipate a Science implementation. IVS has found a number of support and training initiatives that have helped make full-class implementations of virtual courses successful. The following initiatives occur prior to the start of school:

• Planning meeting with the building principal, technology support, local support contact, and guidance counselor if available. All aspects of the program are reviewed and expectations established.
• The school and IVS coordinate a test of technology to ensure computers meet the minimum system requirements for the IVS courses. The computers will need to pass the IVS system check prior to the course start date.   This includes allowing access to all software applications and URLs to be accessed by students through the school network including Wi-Fi, networks and proxy servers.
• IVS schedules training for the local support person(s) in the classroom via web conferencing. This is an opportunity for the IVS instructor and local support person to meet virtually. Topics cover monitoring student progress, student pacing in the course, review of accessing course lessons, among others.
• A Memorandum of Understanding is put in place to ensure the role and responsibilities of each party are clearly understood.
• Teacher assignments are made to ensure all students in the class/school have the same instructor. IVS is exploring options for scheduling synchronous support during the class period.
• Schools are given the option to modify assessment settings to allow for in-class proctoring.

State Virtual Schools are not in the business of replacing teachers, and creating full course sections can create funding and operational challenges for these online programs. But IVS is very much in the business of working with partner districts to solve problems and provide students with the courses they want and need to graduate. It is challenge IVS and state virtual schools across the country are happy meet.

 

 

In our previous blog post, we discussed the importance of listening to districts to better understand their online learning needs, and process that NCVPS has established to gather information from districts large and small. Listening allows NCVPS to create the best partnership with each district.

STEP TWO: PARTNERING

In partnering with districts, we have been able to pilot all of our new programs before we bring them to scale. Our partnerships have been instrumental in creating the follow programs:

Occupational Course of Study (OCS) Program – The NCVPS OCS Learning program is our most collaborative partnership. In this program, the NCVPS teacher and the face-to-face OCS teacher work together to teach the course. In North Carolina’s public schools, the OCS program is intended to meet the needs of a group of students with learning disabilities who need a modified curriculum that focuses on post-school employment and independent living. The vast majority of students with disabilities will complete the Future-Ready Core Course of Study with the use of accommodations, modifications, supplemental aids, and services as needed. The OCS program is a modified standard course of study consisting of fifteen courses in English, mathematics, science, occupational preparation and social studies. Our OCS program has greatly exceeded our high expectations and has been nationally recognized.

Mastery Learning Program – NCVPS partnered with three schools to pilot its mastery learning program. NCVPS began using mastery learning when we launched our credit recovery program in 2008. Now the future-of-learning model points toward mastery learning, and we have taken what works so well in our credit recovery program and applied it to our standard courses. In this program, enrollment start and end dates are not time bound. This flexible program gives schools the ability help students in special, often difficult, situations. These situations seldom occur during the traditional enrollment period. Students can start the course at any time and work at their own pace to complete the course. Students who are in a course for first time credit and need another scheduling option can begin the same course in NCVPS from the start of the NCVPS and work at their own pace to complete the course. An NCVPS veteran teacher instructs the mastery course. After a successful pilot test, we were able to launch the program statewide this spring.

English 1 for English Language Learners – NCVPS piloted its new English 1 for English Language Learners course with a single North Carolina school this spring. The course is now ready to be scaled statewide in the fall of 2016. An English 2 version will be ready in the spring of 2017. In the development of this course, NCVPS revised the English 1 course to include SIOP and WIDA-based supports for English Language Learners. A subject-certified, WIDA and SIOP trained teacher instructs the EL students, who read, write, speak, and listen alongside their peers. The course fully aligns with Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Math and include language development supports for all domains of language.

Physical Education – NCVPS launched physical education online statewide last year. The need for online physical education surfaced when a number of our early college high schools reached out to us through our virtual support center. These schools are on college campuses and have a small faculty. Districts found that college physical education courses were not appropriate for high school students, but their student population was too small to hire a physical education teacher. With that in mind, we developed our Fitness–Physical Education course to meet the North Carolina high school graduation requirement for an entry-level physical education credit. Students can enroll in the stand-alone course for .5 credit or take it in conjunction with our health course for the full one credit. The addition of this course means that high school students can now meet all of their graduation requirements in online NCVPS classes.

Intervention Math 1 – This is one of our newest partnership. We have collaborated with our Department of Public Instruction to create the Intervention Math 1 course, which is a gateway for many students for success in high school. NCVPS will offer these courses as a part of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). We will pilot the courses in two high schools in the fall. The pilot will include a collaborative Math 1 teacher in the classroom and the Math 1 virtual teacher. The goal is to meet the immediate needs of struggling math students. We will monitor and adjust the course during the fall pilot.

 

Listening to districts and fostering partnerships has helped the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) achieve one of its overarching goals: to be a solution for our state’s districts and schools. Districts have similar needs, but they also have unique challenges brought about by geography and demographics. Our adaptable programming with high-quality, teacher-led online courses has allowed us to be part of the solution for all 115 school districts in North Carolina. By asking the right questions and listening to district leaders, we have been able to understand local needs and create solutions that have lasting effects. Those partnerships have helped us build solutions that also benefit charter schools, our Department of Defense schools, plus private schools and home schools.

STEP ONE: LISTENING STRATEGIES

Being part of the solution doesn’t happen by guessing what districts need and certainly not by telling them what they need. Over the past nine years, we have created a “listening network” that keeps us close to the district action. We’ve taken steps to avoid the pitfalls that initiatives face when stakeholders are not involved in the development. Only then can we identify the grit that can grind an otherwise well-working machine to a halt. Here are three programs that help connect us to our stakeholders:

NCVPS Advisory Council – Our Advisory Council works collaboratively with us to help us meet our goals and is instrumental in keeping us in touch with districts and schools. The council is comprised of district superintendents, schools counselors and teachers, along with other educational and private sector leaders. We meet with the council both virtually and face-to-face. We hear firsthand the needs of districts and how NCVPS can help. The council supports various subcommittees, to include data research, middle school development, school support, entrepreneurial, and partnerships.

E-learning Leadership Team – Each school that registers with NCVPS must identify an e-learning advisor (ELA), and each district identifies an e-learning coordinator (ELC). From this larger group of ELAs and ELCs, we have formed a smaller group called the E-learning Leadership Team. We have a member from each region in the state. The leadership team is our go-to group for immediate feedback on processes and procedures.

Virtual Support Center – We also have a one-stop Virtual Support Center where districts, schools, students, and parents can reach us for immediate help. The support center escalates stakeholder concerns to the NCVPS staff member who has the expertise to find a solution to their problem or answer their questions. The support center runs on a tracking system that allows us to track support data. This process has been helpful in managing requests that might appear to be a small, localized problem, but the data reveals a statewide need that can support new course development or a new program.

Watch for the next VSLA blog for Part 2: Partnering with NCVPS.

In many Western states and in particular Montana and Idaho, the Pulaski is well known as a valuable and highly versatile tool in fighting forest fires and constructing trails in rugged terrain. The device invented by and named after legendary forest ranger Ed Pulaski, is known for its adaptability and has been an invaluable resource to firefighters, climbers, campers and others who enjoy the wilderness.

 

 

 

 

 

Just as the Pulaski is appreciated for its versatility EdReady, a personalized mathematics intervention tool developed by The NROC Project, is proving its versatility to students and adult learners throughout Montana. It is an easy to access online assessment and personalized academic intervention tool which allows each student to receive assistance designed to meet their unique individual learning needs and goals in mathematics and in the near future in English as well.

In February of 2014 the Montana Digital Academy, with generous support from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, launched EdReady Montana a project designed to field test and roll out the tool to students and adult learners throughout the state. Over the past twenty -nine months the math assessment and remediation tool has continued to show remarkable versatility in a growing number of academic situations. EdReady was originally developed by NROC with the target of preparing students to score well enough on their college math placement test to avoid taking a developmental math course. Beginning in early 2014 MTDA, following a successful pilot with incoming freshman students at the University of Montana, started to present EdReady to the wide spectrum of educators across Montana ranging from higher education institutions, secondary schools and adult learning centers. Each presentation started with the question “When it comes to math what do you want your students to be ready for?” As the educators at the various levels began to answer that question, with the MTDA assisting them in developing the local versions or goals for their students, the use cases started to rapidly increase.

EdReady Usage Across Montana

EdReady Montana High School Usage

High schools identified student needs ranging from pre-algebra through algebra 2 readiness to college math readiness and ACT prep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

EdReady Montana Middle School Usage

At the middle school level the range of usage wasn’t quite as diverse as high school use but schools used it to assess their students’ readiness for high school courses like pre-algebra and algebra.  At each grade level teachers assessed their students’ readiness for the math concepts at the next level including as far down as fifth graders preparing for sixth grade math.

 

 

 

 

 

 

EdReady Montana Higher Education Usage

Higher Education continues to use EdReady to better prepare students for placement tests, but there is a growing use as a co-requisite tool in college level math classes.