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virtual schools

CustomizationEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedNewsParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceVirtual Education

New Florida Virtual School board member brings special education experience to role

Lisa Buie February 11, 2021
Lisa Buie

Editor’s note: Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a new slate of trustees to the board of the Florida Virtual School. Vice chairperson Linda Reiter is one of those appointees and the first in redefinED’s occasional series of profiles of leaders and advocates in the education choice movement.  

Linda Reiter has spent more than three decades teaching thousands of students. Though the names, faces and teaching methods change, her motivation has remained the same.

“Anything I do in education is in honor of my sister,” said Reiter, who at 67 continues to work with hearing-impaired students at Miami-Dade charter schools after retiring as one of the school district’s first itinerant teachers.

When Reiter was invited last year to become a member of the Florida Virtual School’s board of trustees, she considered it yet another way to pay tribute to her late sister, Shira, who was born deaf and who found the best educational fit because of school choice.

Reiter’s parents wanted Shira to be able to fully function in a hearing world. In their view, that meant learning to communicate orally. They sent her to a school that did not allow sign language. After the school’s methods proved too harsh, they tried a district school in their hometown of Philadelphia. That lasted six months. Finally, they sent her the Model Secondary School at Gallaudet University, the world’s only university in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students.

“She came home in three weeks a full signer, because everybody in that school was a signer,” recalled Reiter, who took a sign language class when she was 16 so she could communicate with her sister. In teaching and mentoring Shira, she found the passion that ultimately became her life’s work.

It is mainly because of her sister’s experience that Reiter supports customized education, including the virtual education provided by the Florida Virtual School, a statewide public school district offering more than 190 courses for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

“I’m hoping my expertise in special education is a good mix for this board,” Reiter said.

Not that FLVS has ever been lacking in its ability to serve hearing-impaired students.

“They’ve got a lot in place; they have worked with the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine for many years,” she said. “They make accommodations for every student. They have two interpreters on their staff, exceptional student education managers and teachers.”

Since July, 611 students with hearing impairments have taken classes through FLVS, she said.

However, accommodating other special needs can be challenging for online education providers. While FLVS accepts students on individualized education plans and 504 service plans, it tells families whose students are taking classes through its part-time flex program to access services it can’t provide through their school districts.

Reiter said she thinks FLVS, which expanded its capacity during the pandemic, will continue to be a popular option even after the threat of COVID has passed, just like other innovative forms of education such as learning pods and hybrids, which sprang up as grass-roots pandemic solutions.

“Everything changed from the way it was last year, and it’s not going to go back to the way it was” she said. “Parents have never seen this before en masse, and some of them like it very much. This is the future.”

One high school senior Reiter works with loves virtual learning and wants to finish his high school career that way, while another can’t wait to get back to brick-and-mortar school. Both should be allowed to do what works best for them, Reiter said, just like her sister was able to do so many years ago.

“That’s the problem with big district decisions. They don’t always work, and you’re stuck in a little box you can’t get out of,” Reiter said.

She thinks her sister would agree.

February 11, 2021 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionCoronavirus / COVID-19CustomizationEducation ChoiceFeaturedParental ChoicePodcastSchool ChoiceVirtual Education

revisitED: SUFS president Doug Tuthill follows up with Pasco County Principal of the Year JoAnne Glenn

redefinED staff December 31, 2020
redefinED staff

On this episode, Tuthill touches base with one of the nation’s top online learning leaders. Glenn earned one of three “Digital Principal of the Year” nods from the National Association of Secondary School Principals. A founder of Pasco eSchool, which offers full- and part-time K-12 digital instruction, Glenn has led the expansion of mastery-based learning over the past 12 years and has been instrumental in creating a model for digital learning.  

https://www.redefinedonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/JoanneGlennUPDATE_EDIT.mp3

The two discuss Glenn’s experience during the summer and fall of 2020 as enrollment for Pasco’s digital school increased 500% to serve nearly 3,200 full-time students. While she doesn’t anticipate many students shifting to full-time online instruction post-pandemic, she does think families will continue to look for online options to create more flexible schedules.

“We still have ongoing needs in areas that we’re continuing to collaborate around, but overall, I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

·       The massive increase in online student enrollment and the challenges of forecasting enrollment and staffing

·       Helping teachers develop within new learning modalities

·       Long-term changes Glenn anticipates as the result of the pandemic

·       Intentional development of digital content and the hope that districts become savvier consumers of it

To listen to Tuthill’s earlier podcast with Glenn, click HERE.

December 31, 2020 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionCoronavirus / COVID-19CustomizationEducation ChoiceFeaturedParental ChoicePodcastSchool ChoiceVirtual Education

revisitED: SUFS president Doug Tuthill follows up with public education pioneer Julie Young

redefinED staff December 29, 2020
redefinED staff

On this episode, Tuthill touches back with the vice president of education outreach and student services at Arizona State University, who also serves as managing director of Arizona State University’s Prep Academy and ASU Prep Digital.

https://www.redefinedonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/JulieYoungUPDATE_EDIT.mp3

Young, who has been celebrated as an education disruptor for nearly three decades, was founding CEO and president of Florida Virtual School, the world’s first statewide virtual school and one of the nation’s largest K-12 online educator providers.

The two discuss Young’s experience during the last few months of the COVID-19 pandemic that upended public education and accelerated massive education change. Young talks about the 700% increase in full-time students at ASU Prep Digital, which now serves more than 300,000 worldwide. Both Tuthill and Young believe new models of hybrid education will remain a part of public education post-pandemic.

“People swimming with (the changes in public education) are beginning to realize there are new and different ways of learning, that one size does not fit all.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

·       What Young has learned during the pandemic, what has worked, and improvement opportunities for the future

·       The creation of the Arizona Virtual Teacher Institute and Arizona’s support in empowering teachers’ evolution and skill development

·       How public school districts can ride the wave of emerging learning modes such as pods and micro-schools

·       Content development changes and new strategies that have emerged during the last school year

To listen to Tuthill’s earlier podcast with Young, click HERE.

December 29, 2020 0 comment
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Coronavirus / COVID-19Course ChoiceCustomizationEducation ChoiceFeaturedNewsParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceTechnology and InnovationVirtual Education

COVID-19 sparks virtual school growth in Florida, elsewhere

redefinED staff September 10, 2020
redefinED staff

Online learning providers nationwide are enjoying unprecedented enrollment increases as families seek more education choice for their children amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a story published today in Education Week.

Virtual school providers cite a variety of reasons for the success they experienced even before COVID-19: comprehensive learning management systems, experienced teachers, and an emphasis on live teaching.

An additional reason for their success at this particular time, according to EdWeek, is longevity. The article points to Florida Virtual School, the nation’s first statewide online public school, as an example. Founded in 1997, FLVS’ enrollment is up 54% year over year for its individual online course offerings and 64% for full-time programs.

The creative vision of founding president Julie Young and her team, who grew FLVS from an Internet high school with 77 enrollments, has grown into a diversified, worldwide organization serving more than 2 million students in 50 states and more than 100 countries worldwide. Today, FLVS offers more than 190 courses, from core subjects such as English and algebra to electives such as guitar and photography. Available to both full- and part-time students, FLVS welcomes students from public, private, charter and homeschool backgrounds.

Like other virtual providers, FLVS ramped up to meet expected demand, hiring 320 new instructors and upgrading its servers over the summer. The expansion was made possible following Florida Board of Education approval in April of FLVS’ request to spend $4.3 million to boost capacity.

You can read the full Education Week story here.

September 10, 2020 0 comment
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Catholic SchoolsCoronavirus / COVID-19Course ChoiceEducation ChoiceFaith-based EducationFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipNewsParental ChoicePrivate SchoolsSchool ChoiceTechnology and Innovation

Catholic virtual school offers options to families seeking online faith-based education

Lisa Buie September 10, 2020
Lisa Buie

Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Virtual School curriculum includes core subjects including reading language arts and math, religion and theology, Advanced Placement and dual enrollment courses as well as electives.

When Susana Moro was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia nearly four years ago, a faith-based virtual school in South Florida allowed her daughter to stay home with her mom while keeping up with her schoolwork.

“She felt very comfortable and loved the classes,” said Moro, who underwent a successful bone marrow transplant and is now healthy. Her daughter, who had been a sophomore at Immaculata-LaSalle High School, did so well at Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Virtual School that she opted to stay and graduate, Moro said.

Since then, Moro’s younger daughter enrolled in the Catholic virtual school as an eighth grader to take a high-school level Spanish class.

And now, during the coronavirus pandemic, the school is helping families in Florida and beyond who want an online Catholic education for their children, although school leaders stress their goal is to complement in-person Catholic schools rather than compete with them.

“We expect most of these students to return to their brick and mortar schools,” principal Rebeca Bautista said. 

Founded in 2013 when it served only a handful of students, the Catholic virtual school was created to support traditional Catholic schools by allowing high school students to take courses that were not available on campus, get remedial instruction and bank extra credits, as well as serve those whose participation in sports or other activities required frequent travel.

Earlier this year, the school added kindergarten through fifth grade, bringing its enrollment this year to about 800. Most students attend part time.

“Our mission is to ensure that Catholic education is not only on the cutting edge but setting the pace and establishing new educational models to inspire students to maximize their God-given gifts resulting in transformation,” Thomas Wenski, Archbishop of Miami, wrote in an announcement letter to families when the school opened. The letter stressed it was important that “all Catholic schools keep pace with the demands of the 21sth century.”

The Catholic virtual school is fully accredited by the global non-profit accreditation organization Cognia and uses only teachers who are certified to work in Catholic schools. Powered by Florida Virtual School, the state’s 23-year-old online public school, it has infused Florida Virtual School content with Catholic faith and values perspectives, such as prayers before classes and references to God and church teachings. The virtual platform also includes theology courses that school leaders developed from scratch.

“We have ability to edit the content and enrich it,” said Marcey Ayers, director of special programs in the Office of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Miami. “They know that it’s a Catholic course they are taking.”

Like other virtual schools across the country, Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Virtual School has received more attention as families flocked to online education after COVID-19 forced campus shutdowns. Over the summer, the school got 10 to 12 calls a day from families seeking options. As the pandemic continued into August, the Catholic virtual school stepped up for traditional Catholic schools.

It offered them the use of their courses, taught by fully certified Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Virtual School teachers, as an online option for students not ready to return in person. It also offered its online curriculum to traditional schools’ faculty so they could deliver customized online lessons.

“Being able to offer this virtual school was really a blessing to us,” said Todd Orlando, principal of Bishop Kenny Catholic High School in Jacksonville. The school pivoted to distance learning in the spring, but when it became apparent the pandemic would continue into the new school year, leaders decided it would be more efficient to let a virtual school handle the virtual option than to require its faculty to teach both formats simultaneously.

“We are a brick-and-mortar school. We are not a virtual school,” Orlando said. “These people know what they’re doing.”

He added that school leaders also were attracted to the fact that Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Virtual School courses reflect the church’s teachings.

“We wanted a Catholic option for our families,” he said. “We realized their curriculum mirrored ours in each and every way. It’s been a positive and smooth transition for us.”

Of the 1,264 students enrolled this year at Bishop Kenny, 44 chose the virtual option.

Families with students who receive state scholarships including the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship can take classes through the Catholic virtual school during the pandemic as long as they are enrolled in a brick-and-mortar Catholic school, thanks to the waiving of a state rule that had required scholarship recipients to be taught primarily in person.

(Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, is the state’s largest administrator of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for lower-income students.)

“It’s been an odd year,” Bautista said, explaining that most of the inquires she received over the summer came from families who had children with underlying health conditions or who lived with elderly relatives. Other calls came from international families planning to move to the United States but whose visas got delayed due to the pandemic. Other families wanted the chance to watch how campus re-openings went before committing to sending their children back.

“Some families made it very clear their intention was to only enroll for the first semester,” Bautista said. “They are hoping by January or the end of the first quarter they can go back to campus. Some said they might do a whole year and have a virtual year.”

That’s fine with her. The virtual school operates on a semester system, has a pool of part-time certified teachers, and is used to being nimble. They also see their primary purpose as supporting traditional Catholic schools.

“If a school calls and says, ‘This is an issue that we have, can you help us,’ 99.9 percent of the time, we say, ‘Yes, we can,’” Bautista said. “We don’t have a minimum enrollment. If one student from one school needs Algebra I, we can offer it.”

 Virtual school leaders want to ensure continued growth by raising awareness and offering new programs, such as recently launched theology classes for adults. COVID-19 has provided an opportunity for Catholic schools to extend their reach, especially as people become more comfortable learning online, Bautista said.

“We’re expanding our marketing for the school to reach everyone,” said Ayers, the special program director for the archdiocese. “We are going to meet the needs of all students – not just gifted or special needs students, but all students.”

September 10, 2020 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionCoronavirus / COVID-19CustomizationEducation ChoiceEducation EquityFeaturedPodcastPublic School ChoiceSchool ChoiceTechnology and InnovationVirtual Education

podcastED: SUFS president Doug Tuthill interviews Pasco County Principal of the Year

redefinED staff August 5, 2020
redefinED staff

On this episode, Tuthill speaks with JoAnne Glenn, one of the nation’s top online learning leaders. In addition to being Pasco’s 2020 Principal of the Year, Glenn earned one of three Digital Principal of the Year awards from the National Association of Secondary School Principals. She is one of the founders of Pasco eSchool, which offers full- and part-time K-12 digital instruction. Over the past 12 years, the school’s mastery-based model has become a model for digital learning.

https://www.redefinedonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Joanne-Glenn_EDIT.mp3

 Tuthill and Glenn discuss Pasco eSchool’s advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the platform will allow for flexibility of blended learning when school resumes in a few weeks. They also discuss issues of inequity and the “digital divide,” noting there are areas of Pasco County still lacking access to high speed internet.

 “When families are looking outside the school district for their core instruction, it does not mean we don’t have things they may like, we just have to figure out ways to make that available.”

 EPISODE DETAILS:

What the Pasco County School District is likely to look like in five years

Lessons learned in the spring and Pasco’s reopening models

Pasco’s “franchise” relationship with Florida Virtual School – using its content and platform with district teachers

How Pasco can unbundle its services and offer flexibility to families within the district and beyond

 LINKS MENTIONED:

Pasco eSchool leader named top national ‘digital principal’

Pasco eSchool leader named county Principal of the Year

 

August 5, 2020 0 comment
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CustomizationFeaturedNewsSchool ChoiceTechnology and InnovationVirtual Education

The future of virtual education is here courtesy of Arizona State University

Lisa Buie June 18, 2020
Lisa Buie

BioBeyond offers students a 3-dimensional, immersive experience where learning happens by doing and every action provides feedback.

Apparently, Bill and Ted were onto something.

The two teenage slackers facing academic failure in the 1989 sci-fi film “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” turned from apathetic to excited about their world history project when given the chance to meet the likes of Socrates, Napoleon and Abraham Lincoln by traveling back through time in a phone booth.

Fast forward three decades, and the concept of experiencing lessons firsthand not only is possible, but eventually will play a key role in the next generation of education.

While students connected with their teachers via videoconferencing and online collaboration tools from home during the coronavirus pandemic, they didn’t get the direct, continual instruction they were familiar with in a traditional classroom. Integrating immersive technology and virtual learning experiences offers teachers the potential of providing the best of both  worlds, sparking student curiosity and creativity even if teacher and student aren’t in the same physical space.

One example: BioBeyond, a course that allows high school students to have 3-dimensional, immersive experiences and master concepts while on an adventure that prompts them to answer the age old question, “Are we alone in the universe?”

“We know from research that we learn best by doing, by exploring, by engaging the material,” said Ariel Anbar, a professor at the School of Earth & Space Exploration at Arizona State University.

Anbar’s team developed the course, which originally was designed for college students. A geologist and chemist, Anbar narrates the course introduction.

The high school version of BioBeyond, which debuted at the start of the 2019-20 school year, is the flagship course at Arizona State University’s Prep Digital, an accredited online high school that allows students to take a single course or enroll in a full-time, diploma-granting program. Students also get the opportunity to earn concurrent college credit at ASU.

The $1 million course was funded through a grant from the Gates Foundation and NASA and is available for licensing by schools around the world.

“The university designed BioBeyond to capitalize on the natural curiosity that human beings have,” said Julie Young, vice president of education outreach at the university and managing director of ASU Prep Digital and ASU Prep Academy, a charter school network. “It’s beautifully done in terms of the look and feel of the course. We’re getting very good feedback. Students are excited about the content, and teachers are excited about teaching the content, and parents like how much they are learning from the content.”

(For more on Young and the future of education, listen to her podcast with Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up For Students, the nonprofit K-12 scholarship administration organization that hosts this blog.)

Instead of lectures and tests, BioBeyond brings lessons to life by taking students on a journey that feels like a video game. The adventure begins with virtual visits to five diverse locations around the world, including the ocean floor, to examine and classify species. Then students go on a virtual field trip to the Galapagos Islands to find out how species change over time. The course teaches cellular biology through a simulation that includes the inside of volleyball player’s nerve cell and asks students to make the cell fire so the player can hit the ball.  

The reason behind all the earthbound travel? In order to effectively contemplate the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the course creators reason, we must first gain a firm grasp of life on our own planet.

In addition to being interactive, BioBeyond is also adaptive, meaning it interacts with students to offer lessons based on particular interests and progress. If a student is struggling in an area, extra time is offered for problem solving or material mastery. If a student is making rapid progress in an area, he or she will have additional opportunities to dig deeper.

“The course acts like Google Maps,” said Amy McGrath, chief operations officer for ASU Digital Prep and an associate vice president for educational outreach and student services at the university.

For example, drivers, like students, are heading toward the same destination, but they may be starting their trip from different locations. Those who make a wrong turn or need to take a detour are simply rerouted to the same end point. The course also generates analytics that teachers can use to see each student’s strengths and interests and where extra help is needed.

“It’s high tech, but it’s also high touch,” McGrath said. “It allows for meaningful conversations.”

Grades are formative, meaning they reflect the student’s mastery at their own pace. Classroom teachers, however, are free to add summative assessments, evaluating student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

ASU offers other courses that employ scenario-based learning, though none are as sophisticated as BioBeyond. In an online course, for example, students help treat a patient named Hero who has been diagnosed with cancer.

“As Hero goes through the journey and works through the treatments, the students are learning chemistry through that relevance,” Young said, adding: “This is who we want to be and how we want to design learning.”

Besides making lessons more engaging, the experiential content also creates equity. Students who can’t afford to travel can now “see” the world and get exposed to concepts and careers they might never have been able to consider.

“They can be under water with the sea lions, see coral and understand what a marine scientist does for a living,” said Young, a former Florida third-grade teacher who noted that many of her students had never visited the beach, despite living minutes away.

Though BioBeyond is currently the only course of its kind at ASU, Young reports that a U.S. history course is on the horizon and will be a reality in the next six to 12 months.

“We would like to see the kids have the opportunity to interact with Abraham Lincoln or George Washington or be on the battlefield in the Civil War,” she said. “It takes the student into the moment by utilizing the technology we have available.”

Bill and Ted undoubtedly would rate such a course “excellent.”

June 18, 2020 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionCoronavirus / COVID-19Course ChoiceEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityFeaturedPodcastSchool ChoiceVirtual Education

How K-12 schools can meet the current moment and move beyond it

Special to redefinED May 6, 2020
Special to redefinED

In this video special to redefinED, author and education reformer Michael Horn talks with education pioneer Julie Young, the founder of Florida Virtual School, a student-centered online-learning provider that focuses on competency based education rather than traditional seat time. Julie is now the CEO of Arizona State University Prep Digital, an online high school that offers an accelerated path toward college admission and the chance to earn concurrent high school and university credit. 

Horn and Young discuss the ways in which COVID-19 is a moment for teachers and families to transform learning. They also discuss a new online learning case study Young co-authored that has been published by the Pioneer Institute.

“Right now, it’s about the fundamentals. Anything that is remotely filler needs to go away. What are the standards we need to meet to feel as if we have accomplished what we need for this school year? Let’s look closely at that and focus our plans around it.”

EPISODE DETAILS:

·       How Arizona State University moved to full remote learning within 48 hours and the active role the university has taken in lending support to other schools

·       What states and school districts should be doing to move from the crisis of shifting to distance learning toward a more stable, sustained distance learning future

·       Preparing for a variety of fall schooling scenarios based on the virus’ effect, including continuing full-time remote learning for those who want it

·       The benefits of mastery-based education models for students with unique abilities

·       Incorporating social and emotional learning into the distance-learning model

LINKS MENTIONED:

ASU for You: Resources for every learner, at any age

Pioneer Institute – Case Study for Transition to Online Learning

May 6, 2020 0 comment
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