digital learning Archives - Page 7 of 8 - NextSteps: Step Up For Students

Editor's note: "Blog stars" is our occasional roundup of thoughtful stuff from other ed blogs and sometimes a newspaper or two.

From a Shreveport Times op-ed: Nearly all of us have had an experience where we were stuck in a class in which no matter how many times the teacher explained a concept, we just couldn't grasp it. Our friends around us may have understood, but it just didn't make sense to us. The class whisked along, we fell further behind, and the frustration mounted. What if we had had the chance to take the class online, at our own pace, with concepts explained multiple ways until we grasped it?

Thanks to Act 2, a law that Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law in the spring of 2012, a student attending one of the state's lowest performing schools — those with a grade of C, D, or F — now has the right and the funding to take courses from any of the 45 state-approved high-quality course providers, so long as the student takes at least one course in her "home" district school. Students at schools graded an A or B will also have the right to take any online course that their local school does not offer, thereby expanding a student's course options, and a district could also decide to allow a student to take any online course through the program. ...

As every parent knows, every child has different learning needs at different times. If we hope to have all children succeed in school and life, then we need a system that can personalize for their different needs. While the world has changed, however, our schools have not. Instead we have an education system that mandates the amount of time students spend in class but does not expect each child to master her learning. The result is that students don't receive the support they need to master each subject before they move on to the next one. This creates gaps in every child's learning — gaps that haunt them later in their schooling. Full op-ed here.

From Jay Mathews' Class Struggle blog: Twelve years ago, I stumbled across a story that seemed too good to be true. A Catholic high school in Chicago ensured its financial survival by having students help pay their tuition by working one day a week in clerical jobs at downtown offices.

This was a new idea in U.S. secondary education. New ideas are not necessarily a good thing, because they often fail. But the creator of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School was an educational missionary named John P. Foley who had spent much of his life helping poor people in Latin America. I was not going to dump on an idea from a man like that without seeing how it worked out.

More than 90 percent of the students at the original Cristo Rey school were from low-income families. Few had been subjected to the pressures of big-city offices. But they received proper training for their clerical assignments. As the experiment proceeded, they realized the writing, reading and math skills they were learning in school were relevant to their new jobs — and their work experience would help them find jobs to pay their way through college. Full column here.

From Thomas L. Friedman at the New York Times: LORD knows there’s a lot of bad news in the world today to get you down, but there is one big thing happening that leaves me incredibly hopeful about the future, and that is the budding revolution in global online higher education. (more…)

Vouchers and testing. A new report from the Fordham Institute finds that mandated testing - and even public reporting of test results - isn't that big a concern for private schools worried about government regs tied to vouchers and tax credit scholarships. Coverage from redefinED, Choice Words, the Cato Institute's Andrew J. Coulson and Gradebook. AEI's Michael McShane says Florida's tax credit scholarship program (which, altogether now, is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog) finds the "sweet spot" with its testing and financial reporting requirements: "These regulations don’t sound too crazy to me; they seem to strike a good balance of accountability for safety, fiscal responsibility, and academic performance without being overly dictatorial in how schools must demonstrate any of those."

Shooting rockets. Senate President Don Gaetz tells the Associated Press that Florida needs to slow down on ed reforms until it rights the new teacher evaluation system and other changes in the works: "We need to quit shooting rockets into the air. We need to give schools and school districts, teachers and parents time to institutionalize the reforms that have already been made. We need about a two-year cooling off period."

School choice. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett says at a National School Choice Week event in Tampa that some Florida districts deserve credit for expanding public school options such as magnets and career academies, reports redefinED. More from Tampa Tribune.

Fox 13, a TV station in Tampa, Fla., did a nice piece this week about a unique partnership that shows how much and how fast education is changing. It’s between Khan Academy and Step Up For Students, the nonprofit that administers Florida’s tax credit scholarship program for low-income kids (and, full disclosure, co-hosts this blog). The story focused on Gateway Christian Academy, one of 10 private schools that accept scholarship students and volunteered to join the effort.

Like other partnership schools, Gateway Christian is holding “Khan Nights” to show parents how Khan Academy works, how the school is incorporating it into its curriculum and how it can make a difference for their children. As you’ll see from the clip, it’s using this technology, and reeling in a diverse group of moms and dads, all so it can maximize the academic outcomes for its kids.

As we wrote a few months back, the Khan Academy/Step Up venture is only one of a handful that Khan Academy has established with school districts nationwide, and the only one outside of California that involves a network of private schools. The way we see it, it’s a beautiful marriage between school choice and the latest learning tools, with a heavy dose of parental engagement thrown in. Thanks, Fox 13, for giving your viewers a peek at the future.

School choice is growing. DOE officials tell state lawmakers 40 percent of Florida students now attend a school other than their zoned school, reports WFSU.

School choice adds complications. Planning and zoning is a lot tougher with magnets and charters in the mix, editorializes the Palm Beach Post.

Digital learning. Lee County School Board members worry about funding for state-mandated requirements for electronic learning materials, reports the Naples Daily News.

Tony Bennett. He’s one of three finalists for the ed commish job, along with Charles Hokanson Jr. and Randy Dunn. Coverage from redefinED, Gradebook, WFSU, School Zone.

More budget questions in Manatee. The interim superintendent says he has found another $7 million in unbudgeted items, reports the Bradenton Herald.

Covering the coverage. Gradebook and StateImpact Florida note EdFly Blog’s rebuttal to Reuters’ story on Florida’s academic progress.

Teacher evals. Alachua teachers are upset with the new system, reports the Gainesville Sun.

Promise of online learning. Pinellas math and statistics teacher Rob Tarrou puts his lessons online, a la Khan Academy, and wins fans around the world, reports the Tampa Bay Times. My favorite graph: “A reporter recently asked students in that statistics class how many had other teachers post educational videos online. No one raised a hand. Next, students were asked how many wished their other teachers would post videos online. Nearly all raised their hands.” See a “Tarrou’s Chalk Talk” video here.

Rick Scott’s ed plan falls short. Especially on charter schools, editorializes the Tampa Bay Times.

Republican hubris and Amendment 8: In its roundup of election winners and losers, the Tampa Bay Times suggests Amendment 8 had a lot to do with vouchers – and that it fits into the narrative about GOP overreach.

Contracting complaints. At the Division of Blind Services, which falls under the Florida Department of Education, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Zach Bonner first made headlines in Tampa, Fla. in 2004, a plucky 7-year-old pulling a wagon through his neighborhood to collect donations for victims of Hurricane Charley.

Today, he and his mom travel the country in an RV, raising money for social causes. His nonprofit foundation, appropriately named Little Red Wagon, is widely recognized for its work with homeless youth.

Now, there’s even a movie about him playing in theaters. Not bad for a 14-year-old, but Zach, like other teenagers, still has to go to school.

Zach is enrolled in Florida Virtual School, the largest, state-funded public online education program in the nation. It offers students free courses taught by certified teachers. And, for students like Zach, who has become famous for his awareness-raising, cross-country walks, it offers flexibility.

“I have great teachers who understand what I’m doing,’’ said Zach, a freshman this year. “They know I travel around the country to help the homeless.’’

We caught up with Zach recently in Phoenix, where the film “Little Red Wagon” was premiering, and talked about how this nontraditional school setting enabled him to pursue his passion for philanthropy.

Florida Virtual, one of the state’s many school choice options, gave him the freedom to set his own schedule and take classes from home – or from any place that had a computer connection. Two years ago, he received school credits while he and his family spent six months on the road during a 2,478-mile trek that ended at the Santa Monica Pier in California.

Twelve at the time, Zach said he started the hike during winter break in December so he wouldn’t miss too much school. There were a few late nights, when Zach got back to the RV and had to fire up his computer to do homework. But because he could take courses at his own pace, Zach said he could easily take time off when he needed and make up work later. (more…)

Rick Scott’s ed plans. Charter school expansion is a plank in Gov. Scott’s education plan for the next legislative session, but this exclusive Tampa Bay Times story on it doesn’t offer much detail. Here’s the main part that touches on school choice: The plan includes “lifting enrollment caps on charter schools, removing barriers to choice options in low-performing areas and letting school districts operate their own "charter innovation schools. ‘Our local school districts are going to keep getting better if we give them the authority to do it,’ Scott said.”

School grades work. In this op-ed for The Oklahoman, former Florida education commissioner Eric J. Smith gives Oklahoma kudos for adopting a school grading system. It worked in the Sunshine State, he said, particularly for the kids who needed the most help: “The biggest winners in Florida have been low-income, minority students. Schools that had long failed these students were exposed. Parents were given options to move their children to other schools. And when that happened, poorly performing schools could no longer be ignored or tolerated.”

Op-ed got it wrong on vouchers. Lincoln Tamayo, who heads the highly regarded Academy Prep private schools in Tampa and St. Petersburg, writes in response to a recent op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times that suggested vouchers don’t come with enough accountability.

Florida Virtual School in Education Week. In a story about blended learning. You’ll need a subscription to see the whole thing, but here’s a taste: “Forty-four districts in Florida have now put in place FLVS hybrid or blended learning models, called Virtual Learning Labs, said Tania Clow, a spokeswoman for the FLVS. The virtual school launched the blended programs during the 2010-11 school year, with 152 Virtual Learning Labs across the state. The number has grown this school year to 314, Ms. Clow said. Face-to-face interaction includes the weekly teacher visits, the facilitator, and frequent visits from an FLVS specialist in blended learning who troubleshoots school issues.”

A Florida Board of Education member proposed today that the state end its textbook adoption process, saying teachers and principals are best equipped to decide which materials are needed to help students.

Roberto Martinez of Miami said the time is right for that step, given Florida’s education reforms - tough standards, a tough accountability system and big changes to the teaching profession – as well as digital learning advances that are easing access to high-quality instructional materials.

“It seems we’re now at the stage - and certainly will be at the stage in the next couple of years - where the teachers and principals working with the districts should then be able to have the freedom to do as they deem appropriate, based upon the exercise of their professional judgment, to use whatever materials they want,” Martinez said at a board meeting this morning. “If they want to use textbooks, let them use textbooks. If they want to use primary source material, fine. Digital? Fine. Whatever it is. But I think we’re at that stage where we can give them that kind of freedom to accomplish the outcomes that we want.”

Martinez said he wanted the board to add elimination of textbook adoption to its legislative priorities for next year. He did not offer a timeline for ending the process, but in a letter to board members Monday he wrote that the Department of Education needed to work with school districts to develop “an effective transition plan.”

“These changes would get rid of the expensive and unnecessary burdens that impede the ability of our teachers and students from accessing the latest, most advanced, and best educational materials, many of which are, or will become, available through digital learning,” he wrote.

Martinez’s proposal isn’t entirely new; last year, the board discussed a plan to make Florida classrooms all digital within five years. Nevertheless, Tuesday’s comments drew an enthusiastic response from fellow board members and two superintendents in attendance. (more…)

With the rapid growth of online learning - both in full-time virtual learning environments and even more often in blended learning in schools - there is an opportunity to transform the nation’s education system from its factory-model roots to a student-centric one that can customize affordably for different learning needs and thereby bolster every student’s learning and America’s competitiveness.

One of the main reasons the country’s education system fails so many students is because it was never built to help each child realize her fullest potential. Because students have different learning needs at different times - students learn at different paces, have different aptitudes, and have different levels of knowledge when they enter a classroom - harnessing the power of technology to do the positive things it has done in so many other sectors of society is vital.

Although this is an important national opportunity, it does not mean the best way to drive this innovation is from the federal government. That is one reason Digital Learning Now!, an effort led by former Governors Jeb Bush and Bob Wise to seize this transformational opportunity, focuses on the things states should do to create a student-centric education system.

That said, it is important that the federal government support the conditions for transformation - and eliminate onerous requirements for educators on the ground. To further this end, there are several steps it can and should take.

Implement backpack funding: Title I and Title II dollars should follow students down to the educational, not just school, experience of their choice. With the growth in online learning courses, it is important to allow students to access great teachers and the right learning experience for their needs regardless of their zip code.

Promote individual student growth as the measure of performance: Move away from No Child Left Behind’s AYP school site accountability model. Create transparency by having states focus on the growth in learning for each individual student. Given that a student-centric system will recognize that each student has different learning needs at different times, it only makes sense to move to a system that leverages technology and captures how each child is doing in near real time, not just on an annual basis, and can give credit to educators that help a student make meaningful progress regardless of where she started. To the end of creating transparency in the education system around student learning, as well as creating a bigger market to spur private investment in digital learning, supporting the Common Core state standards is also an appropriate role for the federal government - whereas acting as the nation’s education venture capitalist is not. (more…)

Florida Virtual School® (FLVS®) opened its virtual doors in August 1997 as the country’s first Internet-based public high school with seven teachers and 77 students. Today, the statewide, public virtual school serves more than 122,000 public, private, charter and home-schooled students in Kindergarten through 12th grade and provides e-solutions to all 67 Florida school districts, the remaining 49 states and to 57 countries.

Through FLVS and online learning solutions, curriculum and scheduling choices are no longer limited to local school offerings or a student’s zip code. Access is offered 24/7/365 from any place with Internet connection. Fast forward 10, maybe even just five years, and this paradigm shift on how to best serve students – where they are and not where we want them to be – will be almost complete.

The fundamental belief of FLVS that every student is unique and learns at a different pace is as true today as it was 15 years ago. It’s all about personalized learning and instruction.

In the future, when funding completely follows a child, he/she will be able to be zoned to one “home” school, but take courses from various schools. Students and their parents will have educational choices; they will be able to map out their own personalized learning journey.

With funding following the student, the bottom line will not be at the center of all decisions made; the student will be at the center – as he/she should be. (more…)