What Should Be Done In Wisconsin?

I was reading through all of the news items that the administration of NACOL have been posting in their forums last night, and I came across an interesting reply to one of them from a NACOL member. This member wrote:

Thanks for the post. What I would like to see, now, is the response which NACOL is going to file with both the newspaper and the government of WI NACOL has all the statistics and back up information to support the virtual schools in WI. Alert via the list is important, but the organizational muscle is what is needed at this moment.

This got me thinking and wondering the same thing, what is NACOL’s position. The mission of the organization reads:

The mission of the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) is to increase educational opportunities and enhance learning by providing collegial expertise and leadership in K-12 online teaching and learning.

Would this not be a situation where “expertise and leadership” could be provided “to increase educational opportunities” of students in Wisconsin through “K-12 online teaching and learning”.

Anyway, my response to this individual in the forum read:

I’m less concerned with NACOL response to the newspaper, what I’d like to see is NACOL’s brief to the legislators on how they think the legislation should be re-written to allow for a logical solution. To date, the solutions that I’ve seen put forward that “save Wisconsin cyber charters” are largely spinless attempts to pander to those parents who have their children enrolled in these schools.

The court case in question raised legitimate questions, how much can a public school (and charters are public schools too) expect and/or demand of a parent in terms of instructional responsibilities? I wonder what parents would say if a traditional public school expected them to maintain the majority of the instructional burden? This is a legitimate issue that needs to be address with more than a piece of legislation that says that a teacher should be consider the person who assigns the grade, regardless of how much work the parent is REQUIRED to do by the school. That is simply skirting their responsibility as legislators!!!

The teaching issue is just one, another legitimate one is the geographic location issue - both in terms of where a student residents and where a school is located. A third the funding that follows a student when the online teacher and school clearly do a different (and many, including myself, would argue an easier) job than the brick-and-mortar teacher and school.

These are issues that need to be considered and resolved, not just ignored. And I’d be interested in seeing NACOL’s position on the appeals court decision and how the legislative issues should be addressed.

I wonder if NACOL would post their legislative brief or their letters that they wrote to the various legislators and governor in their lobbying effort?

GOP Proposes New WI Virtual School Bill

Another news item about the Wisconsin situation posted in the NACOL forums. Again notice how the teachers union, and by extension the Governor are blamed for upholding the law (good thing Republicans are tough on crime!).

GOP offers virtual school deal; Assembly taking it up Thursday

By TODD RICHMOND
Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:46 AM CST

MADISON, Wis. - Republican lawmakers offered Gov. Jim Doyle a compromise Wednesday on a bill that would keep virtual schools open in Wisconsin, agreeing to cap enrollment and study the Internet learning option.

Lawmakers have been trying to come up with legislation that would keep virtual schools open after a court ruling invalidated them. Doyle, a Democrat backed by the state’s largest teachers’ union, has demanded any bill include an enrollment cap and an audit of the schools to gauge their effectiveness.

Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, sent a letter to Doyle late Wednesday afternoon saying they’ll agree to cap enrollment at 1 percent of all students in K-12 public schools, or about 8,700 kids. Siblings would be exempt from the cap. They also agreed to an audit.

The deal will be included in a virtual schools rescue bill the state Assembly was scheduled to consider Thursday, Davis said. He said he doesn’t believe enrollment should be capped, but he knows Doyle won’t sign anything into law until he gets what he wants.

“I’m a realist,” Davis said. “I want to make sure these schools stay open.”

Doyle spokeswoman Jessica Erickson said the governor likes virtual school legislation the state Senate passed last week. That bill would freeze enrollment at current levels for two years while the schools were studied.

“The governor believes the bill already amended by the Senate protects these kids and their siblings and insures they can remain in their schools while we study the system,” Erickson said.

Virtual schools are online classrooms children attend from home. Students from kindergarten through high school can attend. Supporters hail the system as a difference-maker for kids who don’t learn well in traditional schools.

A state appeals court in December ruled virtual schools violate state laws on teacher licensing, open enrollment and charter schools. If lawmakers don’t pass a bill changing state law before they adjourn next month, a dozen virtual schools enrolling 3,500 children could begin closing by fall.

Legislators reached a bipartisan deal earlier this year that would have allowed the schools to remain open under new rules meant to ensure quality. But Doyle blew it apart last week, threatening to veto any legislation that doesn’t cap enrollment and call for study.

The Senate, controlled by Democrats, passed a bill the same day giving Doyle what he wanted. That legislation would freeze enrollment at current levels for two years before allowing it to gradually increase to 4,500 by 2014 and sets up a state audit.

Davis and Huebsch said in their letter to Doyle that Republicans can’t abide a two-year lockout

Republicans have accused Doyle of being too close to the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union. That group contends virtual schools pull too much money from traditional public schools and brought the lawsuit that has thrown the schools’ future into doubt.

“We believe our offer is a reasonable solution whereby we can save the virtual charter schools, provide an audit of the program and implement a less restrictive cap,” Davis and Huebsch wrote in their letter to Doyle.

The Assembly bill would have to get through the Senate before landing on Doyle’s desk.

Rose Fernandez, president of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families, said in a written statement that Davis and Hubert’s deal is better than the two-year freeze Doyle wants.

“You got your cap. You got your audit,” Fernandez said. “Accept bipartisanship and compromise.”

Carrie Lynch, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said Decker hadn’t seen Davis and Huebsch’s proposal.

The Assembly bill is AB 870.

I’ll try and track down AB870 and the Senate bill that was passed too, and if I do I’ll analyze what I see like I did the last time (see
Examining the Wisconsin Solutions).

Register Today for Upcoming NACOL Webinars

	Monthly Webinars for March 2008       March 12, 2008 2:00 PM (Eastern) “Online Tutoring: Providing Student Support and Supplemental Services”   Open until 2 PM (ET) the day before the webinar. Online learning programs help students connect to resources and educational opportunities 24 hours per day, 7days a week. Today, qualified online tutors can also be available to students 24/7 to offer on-demand homework help to students who have trouble with a particular concept or who need that extra boost to successfully pass an Advanced Placement (AP) course. Join NACOL’s next webinar on the topic of online tutoring to learn how your online learning program can extend the learning day and provide qualified online tutors for each learner, 24/7, thereby promoting the academic success of online instructional programs. Presenters Burck Smith, Founder and CEO, SMARTHINKING Juanester Russell, State Associate Director, Mississippi Gear-Up March 20, 2008 6:00 PM (Eastern) “Reach Them to Teach Them – Communication and Motivation Techniques for Online Teachers”   Open until 3 PM (ET) the day before the webinar. Motivation and communication are driving forces in the success of online learners. Now we can take communication to a new level in the online environment. We will discuss how to connect with students and gain rapport as soon as possible with a few simple questions and responses. These methods have been used successfully in the high school and middle school environment and as we studied the needs of the online learner (especially middle school) we have found that communication and connection with the students are imperative. Presenters Dr. Karen H. Dolnick Dr. Linda A. Gill To ensure proper delivery of our email messages to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), add info@nacol.org to your Address Book or Safe Sender List.

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Forward

Course Development Opportunity

There were a series of RFPs related to the Texas Virtual School Network that I became aware of last week (see http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/txvsn/ and http://www.tea.state.tx.us/tea/ProcOpp.html).   This week it appears that it is California’s turn.

University of California Releases RFP for Course Development

The Procurement Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) has released a Request for Proposal to procure the services essential to accomplish a project for the campus-based University of California College Prep Online (UCCP). We seek the expertise of educational software/multimedia developers to develop the finest and most effective online courses and content in the world - educational content that will by its quality and vitality engage and stimulate students and educators.

The University of California College Prep encourages multimedia content developers to propose course designs that advance the state of the art beyond UCCP’s current collection (http://www.ucopenacess.org) and/or beyond courses from other sources. UCCP seeks innovation-radical or iterative-in service to students and teachers.

Access to the RFP is available on the UCSC Purchasing website at http://purchasing.ucsc.edu/suppliers/uccp-rfp.html

*All questions are to be directed to the UCSC Procurement Buyer, Nancy F. Nieblas, at nnieblas@ucsc.edu. *

If you have a background in mathematics, this may be something worth pursuing.

More on Wisconsin

A third one from th NACOL forums for you guys today.

Another push to save virtual schools
Monday, February 25, 2008, 10:03 AM
By Andrew Beckett

A state lawmaker is hoping to keep legislation going that some say is needed to save virtual schools.

A compromise on the legislation funding virtual schools fell apart last week in the Senate. That was after Governor Doyle said he would veto the bill unless it capped enrollment and studied their impact on bricks and mortar schools.

State Representative Brett Davis (R-Oregon) says such a move would lock future generations of students out of virtual schools. He says the bill can’t be allowed to die, so he’s introducing new legislation that would include the financial audit. However, it would not cap enrollment.

Virtual school enrollment in Wisconsin is estimated to include about 3,500 students. Davis says the parents of those kids want the programs to continue.

The legislation is needed after an Appeals Court ruled in December that virtual schools can’t receive state aid. The state teacher’s union opposed the legislation, arguing that schools are already facing tough financial times.

The new version of the bill from Davis is expected to receive a committee hearing today at the Capitol.

Again notice how the teacher’s union gets blamed for being the only ones willing to stand up to something that a team of judges found as being against the law (i.e., the judges found that virtual schools in Wisconsin under their current construction, under the current legislation were stealing money from the regular school system - and yes it is a plain as that).

Teachers Wanted for Connecticut Online High School Courses

Anyone interested in working in Connecticut? Another item from the NACOL forums for today.

Teachers Wanted for Conn. Online High School Courses 

News Report, February 2008
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that the state continues to recruit teachers for the CT Virtual Learning Center, a statewide program that allows high school students to take online courses.

“We are signing up new schools every day and our biggest priority right now is recruiting teachers to teach the courses,” Governor Rell said. “We are specifically looking for teachers certified in the areas of Earth Science, Health, U.S. History, Civics, English, Math, Chinese and Forensic Science. About 300 students have signed up so far, and our rolling enrollment ends on February 25.”

“We want to use online courses to increase access to high quality content so that every student in Connecticut will have access to the courses they need when they need them,” said Governor Rell. “In preparing our young people for the 21st century workforce, it is necessary that we employ these same powerful tools to improve access, equity and employment readiness.”

Funded by the General Assembly within the 2008 budget, this pilot project is available at no cost to school districts. Students will remain enrolled in their current schools, but will have the option to take online courses that meets their academic needs.

“The state has created a high speed optical computer network, called the Connecticut Education Network that connects all the school districts in the state,” said Governor Rell. “The Connecticut Virtual Learning Center will be using this state resource in the delivery of its online content.”

The primary focus for the program is twofold:

* Courses for students at risk of falling behind or failing will be offered in Algebra, Geometry, English, Civics or Health. Students can avoid summer school and recover credit by taking these online courses during the school year.
* Interesting electives that may not be available at many schools, such as Mandarin Chinese, Biotechnology and International Business.

The curriculum for these dynamic, fully interactive online courses have been approved by the State Department of Education’s Bureau of Curriculum and Instruction and will be taught by CT certified teachers.

“Online learning is an option for students that need the flexibility to learn at their own pace,” Governor Rell said. “The online experience is relevant and transferable to future opportunities.”

Kids Across Continents Connect in Virtual Class

This was posted to the NACOL forums.

Kids across continents connect in virtual class: Video conference allows students to share learning
By BOBBY AMPEZZAN
Times Herald

Students at Harrison Elementary School in Port Huron directed their laughter at the big-screen television in the library and a handful of high school seniors from North Dakota playing in the snow - in their swim trunks.

The brief skit was one of dozens of mostly educational segments broadcast Thursday to 22 states and at least four continents during Megaconference Jr.

The virtual conference makes use of “multi-point” video-conferencing technology that allows for interactivity through video and audio uploads from points across the globe.

At Harrison Elementary School, a webcam sat on top of the big-screen television, and students could see video of their class at the bottom of the screen even as they watched classes in Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Minnesota and Washington.

Thursday’s was the fifth Megaconference Jr., and students from as far away as Malta, Australia, Hungary and Japan participated.

Along with the antics of the North Dakota high school students, the second- and third-graders who gathered at Harrison in the early afternoon saw a live hip-hop dance video that was webcast from a French language immersion school in Washington. They guessed answers along with students from across the country and Canada to a Jeopardy-style quiz about Monarch butterflies.

To prepare for the quiz, Dawn Licht, educational technology specialist at Harrison and two other Port Huron schools, had students bone up on butterflies earlier in the day. Part of the exercise involved tapping the online, real-time mapping tool Google Earth.

“It’s just a neat way for the kids to learn, a different mode,” she said. “And it’s going to be their life.”

The lessons inside the virtual conference, despite their merits, hardly grabbed students’ attention as much as the students themselves.

Kayla Prater, 9, a third-grader from Port Huron, said she most wanted to see “how we’re learning stuff, and how they do it differently.”

Logan Preston, 7, a second-grader from Port Huron, said it was “cool” when the North Dakota high school students played in the snow.

“I was like, what the heck? Why are they playing in the snow with only their trunks on? We don’t do that (here), but they probably do (there),” he said.

The technology hasn’t quite kept pace with conference proponents’ dreams. Often, schools not pictured on the screen could be heard over the featured school because they forgot to mute their microphones. Streamed video became pixilated and couldn’t be watched if the movement before the webcam grew frenetic.

Licht said the technology will only get better.

“This is so much better than five years ago,” she said.

Contact Bobby Ampezzan at (810) 989-6273 or bampezzan@gannett.com.

Wisconsin - Back in the News

Well, it appears that some of the things that I suggested (in my post last week entitled Examining the Wisconsin Solutions) were the preferred option in the resolution of the Wisconsin cyber charter school case might actually come to pass. It appears that the spinless version of the legislation is likely to be vetoed if passed and the Governor is calling for the legislature to address some of the issues that I thought needed to be raised.

At least based upon the news item that was posted in one of the NACOL forums late last week.

Editorial: A failed compromise

The state Senate scuttled a compromise that would have kept Wisconsin’s online schools alive and instead imposed an unnecessary cap on enrollment.
From the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel

Posted: Feb. 21, 2008

There is still time to save Wisconsin’s virtual schools, but the clock is ticking after a state Senate vote this week that unwisely capped enrollment and blew up a bipartisan compromise.

Buy a link hereIn a letter to legislators on the eve of the vote, Gov. Jim Doyle called for a cap on enrollment and recommended a study to determine how well virtual schools were serving students and what their fiscal impact was on existing public schools and property taxes.

The request for a study is sensible enough, but the cap is a solution looking for a problem. And now, despite exceptions for siblings of existing students and for students who signed up during the current open enrollment period, some children may be denied the opportunity to learn in an environment that is best suited to their needs.

Legislation was needed after a state Court of Appeals ruled in December that the Wisconsin Virtual Academy, operated by the Northern Ozaukee School District, was not eligible for state aid. That ruling threatened the existence of all 12 online schools in the state, which serve more than 3,000 students.

The compromise plan was a good one that balanced the need to legalize virtual schools while imposing new standards on them. It had the support of the state Department of Public Instruction.

The Senate vote sends the measure back to the Assembly, where Rep. Brett Davis (R-Oregon) said Thursday he would draft new legislation that includes a financial audit but not a cap. He also planned to send a letter to Doyle inviting the governor or his staff to a hearing on Monday to explain why a cap is necessary.

“In eight and a half hours of testimony the last time, no one brought up a cap,” Davis said. “Even the teachers union came and testified.” Time is running out on Davis, because the Assembly has only a few more days of work scheduled before it adjourns next month.

Mary Bell, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union, noted correctly that the financial impact of virtual schools on existing public schools isn’t well known. She argues that because the virtual schools may be attracting new students into the public system - students who were home-schooled, for example - state aid is being divvied up among more students. A cap is needed until the effects can be determined, she argues.

Bell is right about the need for a study. But unless problems are evident now, a cap on enrollment is premature. The Legislature and the governor should abandon this poison pill before it kills the virtual schools.

Should the state impose an enrollment cap on virtual schools? Why or why not? Send a letter to: Journal Sentinel editorial department
http://www2.jsonline.com/news/editorials/submit.asp

Funny how they keep blaming the teachers’ union for actually trying to uphold the educational law of the land.

Virtual Schooling in the News

Beginning with the ASCD SmartBrief.
Wisconsin Senate votes to freeze virtual enrollment at current level
Wisconsin’s Senate on Tuesday passed a bill imposing an enrollment cap on virtual schools until the 2011-12 school year, while online learning is studied further. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (2/19)

Back to the regular Yahoo! News Alert for virtual school.

Virtual High School gives MHS students a new way to learn
The Nashua Telegraph Sat, 16 Feb 2008 9:18 PM PST
…

Senate votes to cap online-school enrollment
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Tue, 19 Feb 2008 7:42 PM PST
Madison - It will take a new Capitol compromise to keep Wisconsin’s virtual schools open after action Tuesday by the state Senate.

Virtual School opportunities available to Vernon students
Leesville Daily Leader Fri, 22 Feb 2008 8:49 AM PST
The Louisiana Virtual School (LVS), an 8(g) funded partnership between the Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) and the Louisiana School for Math, Science and Arts (LSMSA), provides Vernon Parish Students access to standards.

Kids across continents connect in virtual class
Times Herald Fri, 22 Feb 2008 3:39 AM PST
Students at Harrison Elementary School in Port Huron directed their laughter at the big-screen television in the library and a handful of high school seniors from North Dakota playing in the snow - in their swim trunks.

Virtual School opportunities available to Vernon students
Leesville Daily Leader Fri, 22 Feb 2008 2:34 PM PST
The Louisiana Virtual School (LVS), an 8(g) funded partnership between the Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) and the Louisiana School for Math, Science and Arts (LSMSA), provides Vernon Parish Students access to standards.

Next the Yahoo! News Alert for cyber school.

School districts battle cyber with cyber
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Sat, 16 Feb 2008 9:21 PM PST
A South Side company has developed a cyber program making it possible for cyber charter school students to study online while staying connected to their district.

Officials bemoan charter school costs
phillyburbs.com Mon, 18 Feb 2008 5:13 AM PST
A superintendent called the amount of money that goes to cyber schools “an apparent rip-off.”

Moving on to the Google News Alert for virtual school.

School districts battle cyber with cyber
Tribune Review - Pittsburgh,PA,USA
South Side-based VLN Partners — Virtual Learning Network — has developed a program that allows any school district in the state to offer its own cyber …
See all stories on this topic

Kansas Senate panel rejects governor’s plan for free parks
Arkansas City Traveler - Arkansas City,KS,USA
It also said dropouts returning to earn a degree make up 19 percent of virtual school enrollment. UNDER THE DOME: Friday is the 33rd day of the legislative …
See all stories on this topic

What you wanted … plus a little extra
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription) - Milwaukee,WI,USA
Virtual school backers tell me that a cap would be one more way to damage the schools. Lehman, to his great credit, is against it. …
See all stories on this topic

Report says virtual schools growing in Kansas
KBSD - Dodge City,KS,USA
Now Kansas has 2000 students in 28 virtual schools operated by 26 school district and service centers. Virtual schools are operated by districts over the …
See all stories on this topic

Finally, the Google News Alert for cyber school.

PA Cyber Charter School Using More Customized Consumable Textbooks
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
It is a public charter school open to the children of Pennsylvania residents, and is by far the largest of 11 cyber charter schools operating in the …
See all stories on this topic

Charting a different course
phillyBurbs.com - Philadelphia,PA,USA
His twin sisters, Rebecca and Jessica, are now sophomores at the cyber school. These schools are not for everyone, officials warn. …
See all stories on this topic

Officials moan over charter schools costs
phillyBurbs.com - Philadelphia,PA,USA
Cyber school proponents disagree, saying they have costs that public schools do not, such as the computer equipment needed for their students. …
See all stories on this topic

NACOL: College Board and National Standards

Not a lot of content this week, as this (and next) week are busy ones for me.  I’ll try and get the semi-regular blogging about virtual schooling item out next week, along with the weekly virtual schooling in the news feature.  Until then, I receive this in my inbox this afternoon.  If you have suggestions I would recommend sending them to Susan directly.

Dear NACOL Members,

Thank you for your support, participation and involvement in K-12 online learning. I wanted to share an important announcement with you on the release of NACOL National Standards for Quality Online Teaching and the College Board’s online course review.

The College Board invited Susan Patrick for a meeting to discuss the online course review next Thursday. If you would like to provide Susan Patrick with any feedback, suggestions or concerns your online program is experiencing with the College Board’s AP course review, please email spatrick@nacol.org any issues as soon as possible (by Tuesday, February 26th at the latest).

Next, here’s the announcement for the NACOL National Standards for Quality Online Teaching:

The North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) released the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching, a publication designed to provide states, districts, online programs, and other organizations with a set of quality guidelines for online teaching

“Our overall goal is to ensure that every student has access to the highest quality education available today. Online teaching standards help ensure the quality and consistency of instruction in K-12 online education,” says Susan Patrick, President and CEO of NACOL. “The National Standards for Quality Online Teaching offers an important tool to help teachers, schools, and parents across the nation evaluate quality and implement best practices.”

“Online teaching is providing teachers with new professional opportunities and is providing students with access to academic courses otherwise unavailable. For online learning to expand and grow, education leaders need assurance for quality. It is important for states to recognize quality online teaching and learning standards,” says Bill Thomas, Director of Educational Technology, SREB. “NACOL is building upon and validating the quality work for online learning and virtual schools of SREB to help programs nationally.”

As a result of the research review, NACOL fully endorses the work of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Standards for Quality Online Teaching and Online Teaching Evaluation for State Virtual Schools as a comprehensive set of criteria. The standards as identified by SREB, already in use by sixteen SREB states, proved to be the most comprehensive and included guidelines set forth in the other criteria from the literature review. A full cross-reference of standards was conducted.

As a proven, practical method to enhance the critical learning experience, K-12 online learning is growing rapidly, 30% annually. Online learning levels the playing field for all students to access high quality courses and teachers.

National Standards for Quality Online Teaching is available on NACOL’s website: www.nacol.org.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement with NACOL.

Best regards,

Susan Patrick
President & CEO

P.S. The VSS 2008 requests for presentation proposals is available on our website for application and submission. Save the date for October 26-28, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona! Registration is now open.

And again, sorry for the lack of content this week…