Running head: XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT

XYZ School District: Virtual School Consultant Project

Kay L. Venteicher
University of Maryland University College
EDTC 650

November 29, 2015

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

XYZ School District: Virtual School Consultant Project

Figure 1. K-12 education by the numbers.

The Numbers Speak
The growing access to virtual school and online K-12 education offers opportunities that
may not be available in the traditional school setting. With the increasing numbers of student
turning to services offered through the virtual K-12 school systems, many traditional schools
have opened their eyes to the realization of the benefits offered by blended and online virtual
learning environments. Many states and school districts are realizing the benefits of online
education which allows students unparalleled equity and access to high quality education
unconstrained by time and place (Wicks, 2010).
Figure 1 above shows the K-12 education numbers for 2015 (Watson, 2015). With the
state virtual schools, full-time virtual charter schools, and supplemental online course
enrollments, as seen in Figures 2, 3, and 4 from Watson (2015) on the following page, the
numbers speak for over three million student enrolled in other online course options. This
compares to the Sloan Consortium survey in 2007-2008 enrollment year were in excess of one
million students were in blended or online courses less than ten years and the numbers have
tripled (Wicks, 2010)!

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

Growing up with the Internet and technology intricately interwoven into everyday life,
Millennials as a generation embrace virtual activities Internet, blogging, communicating on
cell phones, downloading files to iPods and instant message (Wicks, 2010, p. 4) which have
become second nature behaviors. Virtual K-12 schooling options become a realistic
consideration as the next step for children whose parents have either experienced or seen the
benefits of online higher education. Wicks (2010) notes that the students experience in the
online environment will parallel experiences the student will have in the future working in our
technology-driven global economy. The virtual K-12 school expansion has provided the
parent(s) and student with greater educational choices which Clark and Berge (2005) note has
become important deciding factor.

Figure 1. 2015 national state virtual school numbers

Figure 2. 2015 national state virtual school numbers.

Figure 3. 2015 national virtual online course enrollment.

Figure 4. 2015 full-time virtual charter schools.

.numbers

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

The purpose of this report is to provide the XYZ School District with a viable option for
developing and establishing the district-level supplemental program. This will provide for access
for the district students to the online supplemental course offerings enabling them to move them
forward into todays technology driven world. They will have the ability to explore the online
learning program with a flexibility that traditional schools cannot offer. Other benefits that the
online courses will provide the XYZ School District include:

Access for high-achieving students to online virtual course(s) that may not be offered at

local schools due to the limited number of enrollees (i.e., AP courses, language courses),
Access to students for credit recovery, remediation, at-risk (dropouts),
Student who are in homeschool programs,
Students who are migrant youth (military family members), and
Students who are unable to attend school for other reasons (i.e., homebound due to
illness, home school, geographic access limitations) (Rose, 2014, Wicks, 2010).

As seen above, Figure 5 displays the 2015 End of Course Assessment numbers are shown
Figure 5. 2015 end of course assessment
for AP coursescomparisons.
in the Florida.stime
Virtual
School
(FLVS)
and the
state averages (Watson, 2015). It
virtual
charter
schools
numbers
can be assumed that using the same course vendor as FLVS can produce similar results over time
for the XYZ School District. Further acknowledgement of the suitability of XYZ School District
for a district-level supplemental program can be seen in Figure 6 of the 2015 supplemental
online course usage in public school districts. The three school districts that surround XYZ

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

School District all have successful supplemental online course usage Fairfax County Public
Schools, Loudoun Public Schools, and Prince William County Schools. With XYZ School
District coordinating offered courses with these districts and using the same provider, the XYZ
School District can grown into the district-level supplemental program and not be overly
financially burdened in the first years of implementation. Continued partnership will offer both
course and cost sharing advantages to the XYZ School District in growing their district-level
supplemental program for high school decreasing the number of years before a middle school
and elementary school district-level supplemental program can be offered.

Figure 6. 2015 supplemental online course usage in public school districts.

comparisons. .stime virtual charter schools numbers
Recommended Model for the XYZ District
Type of Course Design (web-facilitated/blended/online)

Figure 6. 2015 supplemental online course usage in public school districts.

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

The XYZ School District will have a district-level supplemental virtual school model that
will quickly meet the need of the XYZ students. The three models of asynchronous,
synchronous, and blended eachoffer the students access to the supplemental program. Blended
or hybrid offers continued face-to-face with augmentation of online coursework while still
attending the traditional classroom . The synchronous model offers set virtual meeting times for
sync sessions through videoconferencing and/or telephone conferencing technology, chat rooms
that supports instant feedback and live collaboration. There will be limited flexibility in the
session. The final model, asynchronous will offers the greatest flexibility for the student as well
as own pace work schedule, and communication at a distance with email and discussion board
communication. The synchronous and asynchronous will have settings at the XYZ School
facilities and teachers/mentors physically present during scheduled sessions. The XYZ students
have had limited experience with the asynchronous model in the past and were successful.
Just smaller than the Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun Public Schools, and Prince
William County Schools, the XYZ School District is still a rather large system with a diverse
population that includes a large segment of military dependent children who have asked to be
considered for a future virtual school program. The academic levels are spread across the range
of academic needs. The previous District experience lends itself to the District adopting the
synchronous session with future offerings of blended courses for high school and eventually
filtering into the middle and elementary schools. Many teachers with experience and training
have volunteered to assist when the blended option is rolled out and extension to middle and
elementary school occurs.
While there are challenges which are administrative in nature such as the cost of start-up
that comes with setting up a virtual school program seems daunting at best. XYZ School District

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

is lucky in fact that major gaps in the digital divide with students and faculty are limited in
nature. In most cases, the district has already taken steps in previous years to optimize the
infrastructure currently installed. My Internet technology technician has already inventoried the
District infrastructure and identified the equipment required. It appears the District is on target
to be fully functional prior to the deadline. Only evident concerns will be with digital policy and
increasing digital licensure. That will be dealt with in a section further down in the report.
Targeted Focus
The first three areas of student needs that should be focused on for the XYZ School District are:

High-achieving students/students requiring accelerations.

- Many schools in smaller districts or remote areas are not able to offer accelerated or
Advanced Placement (AP) courses. This offers those students the ability to
accomplish that goal of taking AP courses as well as providing a means of student
acceleration for those who require it. As seen in Figure 5 which displayed the 2015
End of Course Assessment numbers for AP courses in the Florida Virtual School
(FLVS) that outscored the state averages and often the national averages (Watson,

2015).
Students in need of credit recovery (remediation) or at-risk,
- Online courses can be very successful in helping students that are required to retake a
course in order to graduate. To prevent Watson and Gemins (2008) Silent
Epidemic with disengaged students, the teachers/mentors will spend additional time
with the student at the scheduled sync sessions. In addition, tutors will be set up from
the beginning, including during after school hours. With a student giving up and
dropping out of school every 29 second, XYZ School District cannot afford to NOT
spend the extra time with students participating in credit recovery or those determined

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

at-risk. Barbour and Reeves (2009) provide that this additional time with a student
who may not yet have a high degree of autonomy will benefit from increased
structure to decrease the lack of proximity with the teacher. The student will also be
limited to one class at a time when starting and when the second class is successfully
completed, they will be allowed to take tow as in the Cook County Sherriffs
Department program. First build up their sense of worth and value let them know

they can accomplish anything! Celebrate the personal victory (Wicks, 2010)!
Homeschooled/Homebound/Migrant Students
- This group is special concern do to the limited access to take part in the traditional
school environment. For those in homeschool, arrangements are made for interaction
with teachers/mentors onsite at an alternate facility. Those homebound for either
medical or other reasons will have access to a tutor to meet with them each week.
Additional sync sessions will be determined as needed and handicap accommodations
to ensure success with use of items such as multimedia, large print, audio recordings,
and to maintain compliance (Rose, n.d). Migrant students include those of military
families. Scaffolding will be built to ensure student success it will be paramount for
all students in this category. XYZ School District has a large percentage that rotates
with their family but remain enrolled for continuity of education. Most have access
to remote education centers for some assistance but still heavily rely on the
teacher/mentor/tutor for the connection.

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

While the above information seems a bit inundating, the analysis shows what is offered in
and around the region of the state of Virginia. In many ways, the XYZ School District is posed
for success in gathering full support from stakeholders and families as it rolls out it supplemental
virtual school program. Options similar to these have been selected to provide to stakeholders

XYZ SCHOOL DISTRICT: VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONSULTANT PR

10

and families to easily accommodate each student who desires to participate. Additionally, this
information will be hosted on the Districts website that contains a family specific login and
password already in use by each family for other student support. The information will be there
to go through and set up appointments for oneon-one discussions after the town hall meeting
that will cover the academic options available
in the new program. By actively preparing the
students for successful navigation in the virtual
environment, we are preparing the student for
a bright future in the technology-driven global
economy of tomorrow. Figure 7 show the
subject areas offered with a university based
high school program.
Moore and Kearsley (2005) are well
respected with their systems model to set up
the framework for the distance education
Figure 7. 2015 university high
school subject areas

model. I believe this approach will work best

for this scenario. The team members will

function best in their specialty area. Figures 8 and 9 detail the conceptual model of distance
education and the systems model for distance education.

Figure 8. Conceptual model of DE

Figure 9. Systems Model for DE

Five Criteria of a Sound Virtual School Model

The XYZ School District will use a three year implementation plan with five considerations:
Curriculum/Course Development
This criteria calls for a tall order of magic Course developers and/or suppliers must
develop/select an online curriculum that meets the needs of a diverse student population. This
curriculum must include program offers equal access to online courses for students who might
not be able to take Advanced Placement, world language, core academic and elective courses.
Consideration for remediation, acceleration, and special need students must be remembered. In
order to be successful, XYZ school district must develop a curriculum that meets the needs of its
student population and can change as the program and or students changes. The curriculum and
courses must be of high-quality and ensure that the course content is rigorous but still allow for
some flexibility to meet school and student varied schedules. It must provide a unique
opportunity for teachers to reach students who want the experience of online courses.

Program Delivery/Management
XYZ school district will be changing the course of direction for the entire district once it
ventures down the path of virtual schooling! It will flow over into traditional face-to-face classes
as suddenly blended learning becomes main stream. Give it time, it will happen. And it will go
from the high school to middle school and then the elementary school. A learning management
system (LMS) software that has the capacity to be robust, provide for needs of teacher, student,
administrator are absolutely a necessity. I would recommend the LMS LEO which has access to
both asynchronous and synchronous. Google is ready to prepare student/teacher/administrator
emails for all and assist with the hosting of the school district email. The program delivery and
management system must be capable of upgrades and growth. It must be adaptable to the needs
of those with unique access need as the program continues and grows (Rose, 2014). It must
provide support for student needs such as course materials and content, enrollment, track
assessments, student personal data and information, and teacher and administrator needs.
Staffing (Teachers/Teaching Assistants)
No longer the sage on the stage but the facilitator, the gentle digital nudge to new
horizons, the individual who is capable of drawing out even the persistent lurker, or being the
consummate conversationalist, the online teacher is a bit of everything! With new ways to reach
students, teachers are able to turn the student with a problem into the student with the next
success story! The teacher must understand the intricacies of the different DE programs to offer
what is appropriate what will change the course for student. Recognizing that struggling
students enter at different academic achievement levels, the online teachers in the Title I summer
program create a personalized learning path for each student based on the students performance
(Wicks, 2010)
Student Engagement/Support

The XYZ School District district-level supplemental program will offer student attending
the virtual program student the same support services of the traditional education students.
Moore and Kearsley (2005) list the following as student support in the systems model: this
normally consists of counselors, administrative staff, librarians, the help desk, and learning
center/site coordinators. There will be a few virtual program specific individuals such as the
program mentor for the students. Additional IT and electronics support staff such as those
supporting sync sessions, virtual technical assistants, will be available. This list is potentially
subject to change as courses are added, changed, or deleted. Other traditional services will be
available to the student as well.
Teaching and Learning Technology
Online learning is expanding also because technology in education is an appropriate,
and perhaps necessary, way to educate the
many digital students of this generation
(Wicks, 2010, p. 6). If not for technology,
how else would you teach math courses? A
slide ruler? An abacus? Todays
Millennials and students do not go through
the day without using either directly or

Figure 10. Student and DE

indirectly some form of 21st century technology. So why shouldnt teaching and learning
technology reflect these advancements in the students online environment experience in the
virtual academic environment. The continued technology advancements provide virtual K-12
school environment with greater educational choices (Clark & Berge, 2005). In the case of
technology, it plays a key role in the online learning experience as seen in the presence in Figure
10.

Another factor in teaching and technology is access. Both Wicks (2010) and Rose (n.d.)
bring to the forefront a need for social responsibility. As XYZ School District brings online the
district-level supplemental program, there will need to be monitoring of students to ascertain
those who do have access to technology. It is possible that the School District may need to stand
up a technology loan department ensuring that students have access to proper equipment and
Internet access to be successful or even participate in the online course (Wicks, 2010).
Mission
The school district mission will be to close the gap between the students home and school is a
program of the Virginia Department of Education serving students in the Virginia high schools of
XYZ School District. The district-level supplemental program will provide flexible options for
the diverse educational needs of students and their families. The district-level supplemental
program offers equal access to online courses for students who might not be able to take
Advanced Placement, world language, core academic, and elective courses due to the lack of a
highly-qualified instructor, too few students to offer the course, scheduling or conflicts within the
school.
Policies
While existing policies for Internet technology are sufficient for both the District and the state, in
additon to hardware/software concerns, my technician will be ensuring thatall policies are met
for the traditional school learning environment, he will ensure all virtual requirements will be
met or exceeded to allay concerns. In addition to the townhall meeting on curriculum, we will
have a townhall meeting specifically for the nuances, requirements, and IT and digital policy for
the virtual school, students, teachers, administrators, policy makes, and stakeholders. IT policy
updates can be seen in Figure 11 and 12.

Figure 11. Digital Learning Program Figure

12. Policies that impact learning
Implementation
Policy Update
The implementation of the program for the XYZ School District is designed to be rolled
out over a three year period. Current plans for upgrading the IT and procurement of curriculum
are planned to be done through procurement from outside vendors, ideally vendors with the
district is currently using or those that surrounding districts are using to assist in possible shared
resource in the future. The current IT infrastructure supports asynchronous use. Software
updates to the LMS can be done to upgrade at any time but the District has the option to manage
according to the school calendar.
Year 1

Year 2

Program Townhall Meeting for Program

Program Townhall Meeting for IT / Digital Policy
Meet with Surrounding District Virtual Program Sponsors
Develop procedure for working with the district schools
Evaluate course content/materials/offering
Assess current/outside course providers
Develop training on program
Host program information on District website
Provide program training for students/parents/teachers
Begin training teacher candidates
Begin constructing virtual / online learning environment
Continue asynchronous program currently in District
Procure curriculum/courses
Evaluate/test learning environment
Continue training students, parents, and teachers
Marketing of synchronous / new courses to students and parents

Year 3

Continue training teachers, administrators, and support staff

Pilot synchronous program in schools
Develop and/or partner for course content not offered by provider
Evaluate the feedback of the pilot program
Put into process possible changes as needed
Continue training new / veteran teachers, administrators, support staff
Continue marketing new courses to students and parents
Fully implementation of program in XYZ high schools

Conclusion
Already using the asynchronous virtual program, the XYZ School District should start
the transition to a district-level supplemental program and expand the virtual school program to
what it should be to meet the needs of the students. Todays Millennials and students do not go
through the day without using either directly or indirectly some form of 21st century technology.
So why shouldnt teaching and learning technology reflect these advancements in the students
online environment experience in the virtual academic environment. The continued technology
advancements provide virtual K-12 school environment with greater educational choices for
parents and students creating greater possibilities for student success (Clark & Berge, 2005). By
focusing on curriculum and course development, program delivery, teachers and teachers
assistants, student engagement and support, and finally teaching and learning technology, the
XYZ School District can transition to a first class virtual education provider.

References
Barbour, M., & Reeves, T., (2009). The reality of virtual schools: A review of the literature.
Computers and Education, 52, 402-416.
Clark, T., & Berge, Z. (2005). Perspectives on virtual schools. In T. Clark & Z. Berge (Eds.),
Virtual schools: Planning for success (pp. 919). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (Eds.). (2005). Distance education: A systems view (2nd ed.).
Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.
Rose, R. (2014, October). Access and equity for all learners in blended and online education.
International Association for K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved from
http://www.inacol.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/iNACOL-Access-and-Equity-for-AllLearners-in-Blended-and-Online-Education-Oct2014.pdf
Watson, J. (2015). Keeping pace with K-12 digital learning: An annual review of policy and
practice. Evergreen Education Group. Retrieved from http://www.kpk12.com/wpcontent/uploads/Evergreen_KeepingPace_2015.pdf
Watson, J. & Gemin, B. (2008, June). Promising practices in online learning: Using online
learning for at-risk students and credit recovery. Evergreen Consulting Associates.
Retrieved from
http://www.k12hsn.org/files/research/Online_Learning/NACOL_CreditRecovery_Promis
ingPractices.pdf

Wicks, M. (2010). A national primer on k-12 online learning. (2nd Edition) International
Association for K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/cms/wpcontent/uploads/2012/11/iNCL_NationalPrimerv22010-web1.pdf

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