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August 15, 2001
How to Launch an Online School
By Shawn Morris
A Home-School Model Offers Broader Lessons
Today, more and more parents are moving their kids from the public school system to pursue other educational options, including homeschooling. The reasons are varied: some students may be having learning or social problems at school, others may have personal or religious conflicts, and still others may fear the possibility of school violence. Wichita Public Schools, where I work, like many other areas of the country, is experiencing this phenomenon of school flight. Faced with a decreasing student enrollment in our city and across the state of Kansas, the district decided steps were needed to bring students back to public education.
But the big question was how. After seeing a conference presentation given by the Florida Online High School, which had designed a program for alternate learners, the district felt Web-based learning might be the answer we were looking for, allowing us to provide needed teaching expertise and assistance while still giving students and families the flexibility they needed to learn at home. We wanted to maintain some control over the curriculum to give a consistent quality of learning experiences in line with district and state standards. If these children decided to return to our schools, they would be ready to jump right in at the appropriate grade level.
In March of last year, with the backing of the school board and the superintendent's office, I sat down with a group of personnel from the district and together we mapped out the Wichita eSchool. We wanted our online program to include as many elements as possible from our bricks-and-mortar schools, and to be just as rigorous. Perhaps most important, we wanted parents to feel like they had a partner in educating their children. Since we didn't really have a model to work from, there were a lot of questions: What technology to buy? Who designs the classes, and how? What is the role of the teacher? In what ways would parents be involved? As with any startup, it was a complicated process where many decisions were made concurrently, but following are some basic steps we took.
Develop a Vision
The first step in designing an online school is to form an overarching vision, which will become the basis for communication with families, board of education members, school staff, and the general public. The vision for Wichita eSchool is to eliminate barriers between home schools and traditional school-based learning by offering online lessons, resources, and teaching support. We communicated this goal through brochures, conference workshops, newspaper articles, and segments on the local news. In addition, we had an informational Web site where parents could pre-enroll their children.
Determine Your Audience
With our vision in mind, we assembled a planning team, comprised of district personnel from different departments, to establish parameters for the first year of operation. Our first decision was to narrow the scope of our audience. Instead of taking on grades K-12 the first year, we decided to start with K-5 students and then add middle and high school courses in the second year. (There is a larger population of home-school students at the elementary level, so it made sense to start there.) We also decided to focus on home-school students first and later work with other fringe students, including students homebound with illnesses, teen mothers who have left school, and children living in temporary community centers.
Secure Funding
Wichita eSchool is fully funded through FTE (full-time equivalent) money-$3,850 for each student enrolled in the district. We wanted the FTE money to be our regular funding source so that we wouldn't depend on soft money from grants that might not be there in the future. Because the budget is dependent on the number of students enrolled, we needed at least 50 students for the first year. We ended up with 85 on enrollment day, which gave us a grand total of $327,250 to work with.
Unless a school district has monies set aside for special projects, another way to fund a project of this size is through a variety of technology grant programs. Because online schools are still seen as a novelty, the uniqueness of the project might improve your grant-winning odds.
Build Your Budget
Our budget includes salaries for the administrative coordinator and office secretary, who are the only full-time staff in the program. Other personnel costs include supplemental pay for 35 teachers who create courses and mentor families via e-mail and phone calls. Teachers receive $4,000 to create their courses online and anywhere from $500 to $3,000 for mentoring. (To learn what it takes to be a good online teacher, see below). They have the use of a district computer, printer, scanner, and cable Internet connection in their homes since that is where they do most of the work for the program.
We also purchase computers and printers for families to use while they are in the program. This is a large expense, but it guarantees that all families have access and equipment to receive the courses through the Internet. We do not cover the cost of an ISP (Internet service provider) connection in the families' homes. They must pay for that service as well as the rental cost for grade-level textbooks, which ranges from $45 to $55 for the school year per student.
Weigh Your Technology Options
Another significant expense, of course, is the technology needed to create a Web-based learning experience. After researching our options and seeing what local universities were using, we chose Blackboard, which provides course templates and other teaching tools, to be our online platform. We also decided to outsource the server services instead of purchasing one and having to maintain it ourselves. Additionally, we licensed the software tools-Microsoft Office 2000, Adobe Acrobat, and Inspiration-to use for course creation.
We explored curriculum software but in the end decided that we wanted our online program to be created by our district teachers. We felt it was essential that they know the courses inside and out, and be able to talk to parents and students as informed instructors. Online software packages are an option that we could see using at a later date to supplement our core course materials.
Design the Courses
Initial course design was done during a two-week in-house workshop, where teachers worked together in small, curriculum-specific groups to create the online classes. Using Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, and Inspiration's concept-mapping software, teachers designed lesson templates, worksheets, and assessments that could then be loaded to the Blackboard platform. Also included were links to syllabi, state and district standards, and mentor contact information. To see some sample lessons, visit our guest page.
After the workshop, teachers worked from home to fine-tune their courses. I monitored their progress online every day, and together we used a rubric to evaluate all components of the course, including assignments, Web links, instructions, and use of video. (Rubric for evaluating all components of the course. Content rubric for evaluating individual lessons.)
While homeschooled students typically don't have schedules that lend themselves to synchronous sessions, we do have "virtual classroom" capabilities that allow teachers to meet online with students at a given time and go through Web sites together, view presentations, and chat live. In addition, we've purchased a Tegrity video streaming system that will let teachers record lectures, demonstrate experiments, or plot out steps of a math problem.
Provide Face-to-Face Support
Even though Wichita eSchool is designed for independent, self-paced learning from home, we felt it was important to supplement the online experience with "non-virtual" services. To that end, we give each family access to our Parent Teacher Resource Center, where they can come to make hands-on learning activities that supplement the online courses. Families can also use the Library Resource Center, our district's central lending library, to check out materials for research or for literature units. In addition, parents are given training on using the Internet, how to navigate through the eSchool site, and how to teach reading.
We've also partnered with a local arts agency that sponsors our student field trips to theater productions and also provides the services of local artisans to work with both parents and students on arts-related projects. During our first year, Wichita eSchool students met regularly with an artisan to create a quilt that depicts our logo.
Ask for Feedback
This spring we surveyed parents to see where our successes were and to find areas for improvement. An overwhelming number of parents-90 percent-told us lessons were grade appropriate and the course technology was easy to navigate. Ninety-four percent planned to enroll again. One trouble area was preparation for district and state assessments, which students are required to take at our Instructional Support Center. Next year, we plan to work more closely with parents to help them better understand the process, and to provide more teaching content that will prepare students for these tests. It's this type of assistance and flexibility that we believe will bring parents back each year and allow us to grow as a school.
Shawn Morris is administrative coordinator of the Wichita eSchool in Wichita, Kan.
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