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Y o u c a n l e a r n a n y w h e r e i n B i g S k y C o u n t r y !

Created by the Montana Legislature

in 2009

• Serve K12 Students in Montana through Public Schools• Governing Board• Director (CEO) Curriculum Director (Vice CEO)• Montana licensed teachers• Core subjects, dual credit enrichment

Created by the Montana Legislature

in 2009

K-12/Higher Ed. Partnership

Unique Educational Partnership

MEA-MFT

Montana School Boards

Association

School Administrat

ors of Montana

Montana Rural

Education Association

Montana University

System

MTDA Governing Board

Bruce Messinger

Chair, Supt.

Helena PSDennis

Parman, Deputy

Supt., OPI

Barbara Fettig,

Teacher, Billings Public

SchoolsBryan Duvall, Trustee,

Geraldine

Roberta Evans,

Dean Coll. Of Ed. UM

Sheila Stearns,

Commissioner

Higher Education

• 45 core high school courses, including electives and AP offerings • 9 dual credit college courses• New MTDA Connect - Launched February 2011• Courses available at 9-12 levels; • 2010-2011 courses available at no cost to Montana students/parents and schools

MTDA Program Overview

Fall Spring Total

Students

Number of unique

students

2751

Enrollment

1951 2109 4060

Teachers

67 76 76

Schools 137 165 165

MTDA Enrollment Data 2010-11

MTDA Courses

• Licensed in Montana• Employed by Montana school

districts• Trained by MTDA on course

development and online pedagogy• Monitored and mentored by MTDA

staff

MTDA Teachers

MTDA Teachers

Red = Teachers Purple = Students

MTDA Teachers and Students

What Students See

Mathematics – AP Calculus

simulation

Resources – Video Science Labs

• Communication

Moodle Discussions, Audio, Video and

Text Chat

MTDA Online Delivery Tools

GENIUS SIS

• Usually defined as an in-school opportunity for students to earn academic credits that they have lost, or are about to lose, by failing a regular course.

–edweek.org 10/20/2008

Credit Recovery or Credit Retrieval

MTDA CAN HELP YOUR STUDENTS MAKE-UP CREDITS!

MTDA Connect Credit Retrieval Program

Connecting MTDA Coach-Student-Local Site Facilitator

Credit Retrieval

Algebra

English

US Government

Geography

Economics

World HistoryBiology

Health

Consumer Mathematics

American History

Examples of MTDA Connect Courses

• Charged by Montana to do so • Requests before and after

original credit rolled out• High cost of solutions,

especially for small schools

Why credit retrieval to keep pace?

Focused Learning Efforts• K-12

– After school programs– Saturday or summer School– Block scheduling– Academies– Early ID of at-risk population

• College– Fast-track/focused programs– Adult Basic Ed– Veteran’s Upward Bound

Types of Credit Retrieval

Commercial Products– Aventa– PLATO– NovaNET– Apex– Florida Virtual– K-12.com– Khan Academy (

http://www.khanacademy.org/)

Commercial Computer-Based

Solutions

• Time-based model– Based on Caroll (1963) – “Quality instruction is defined by a structure

based on knowing what objectives are, access to content and carefully planned and specified wide range of instructional events”

• Mastery Learning Model– Based on Bloom (1987)– Bloom preferred self-paced learning or

adjusting the time to the student’s aptitude

---Loupa (2010)

PLATO Learning Environment (PLE)

• Notify of objectives• Organize into small units• Materials and strategies should

be identified and used consistently

• Each unit has pre-test• Allow for/provide supplementary

instruction

Bloom’s 5 Steps For Mastery Learning

• Combine intrusive, focused, supported mastery learning

• With individualized/computer based solution

MTDA Connect- home-grown attempt to:

• Assess individual learner gaps

• Individualized instructional path

• Self paced• Flexible• Internet Resources• Offline activities• Regain lost academic

ground

MTDA Connect

• Accessible/secure/comprehensive solution

• Purchased centrally, shared widely

• Technical support• Enrollment management• Curricular oversight• Integrated solution? Coming

Soon

MTDA Connect Charge

• District Rep contacts us• Fills out enrollment form(s)• Go through short orientation• Figure out how to support

students locally

How Schools Get Involved

• MTDA + local facilitator + academic coach

• Online access 24/7 to curriculum

• Modular, individualized, self-paced

• Module tests open for 2 tries• Post-tests unlocked manually

and monitored locally

How MTDA Connect Works

• PLATO Vocabulary• Tracking and communication • Pre-test, module exemption or

module mastery, post-test• Grade reports

How MTDA Connect Works

• Wide variety of programs at local level

• Balance with local needs to provide support

• Grading or teaching needs• Changes equation for students• Subject matter certified – Math,

Science, Social Studies, English, Computers, Health

• Can make modifications to curriculum

Why use coaches?

• Monthly meeting with MTDA and Coaches

• PLE messaging• Email to facilitators and students• Google docs and dropbox.com for

shared files• Toll free fax to email service for

written work• Phone calls

Communication

• Analysis of curriculum/prioritize offline activities– Support Site– Teacher Materials– Curriculum maps

• Suggestions for improvements• Modifications and Planning• Monthly Update Meetings

Taking Content Retrieval to the

Next Level

• Class management– Local eyes and ears for MTDA Connect– Passwords– Enrollments

• Tracking and Management– Help logging in then making students do it– Working on curriculum– Formative assistance– Conduit for communication– Tracking work– Grades and final assessment

Facilitators

• Great conversations happening now!

• Wide variety out there• Sometimes none• Poor past experiences/mixed

results• Resource hurdles - technology,

staffing, time• Potential for us to share/create

a model

Creating A Solution for Montana

• Do get “intrusive” in Credit Retrieval

• Don’t expect different results without changing the variables

Do’s and Don’ts

• Rolling for first time from Spring to Summer

• Modifying curriculum• Research adding alternate systems or

courses• Full integration with SIS for enrollment

and enhanced data tracking/reporting• Training and presentations to

propagate best practices with facilitators/coaches, etc

Future

Roles State

The Status of Online Learning

(Fall 2009)

http://www.kpk12.com

Keeping Pace with Online Learning

• SIZE- Range from a few thousand to about 16,000 course enrollments 2009-10.

• Funding - Funded primarily by legislative appropriation, sometimes supplemented by charging course fees.

• Grade level - Primarily high school, although half offer middle school courses.

• Full -time students Most provide supplemental courses to students who are enrolled in another school full time.

Attributes of State Virtual Schools

• Organization type - Run by or within the state education agency.

• Accountability for student achievement - Most state virtual schools work in partnership with local school districts, which grant the credit for the online course. The state virtual school provides the grade for the course.

Attributes of State Virtual Schools

Questions and Comments

• Contact Ryan Schrenk• ryan.schrenk@montanadigitalacad

emy.org • 406-243-6122• Skype: ryan.schrenk• Twitter: ryanschrenk• This presentation is available at

slideshare:• http://www.slideshare.net/rschrenk

Questions? Interested in discussing or partnering?