Submitted by Nadine A. Larkin, EdD, Assistant to the Superintendent, Eastern Lancaster County School District
Note: The information in this profile represents SY2013-14 unless otherwise indicated.
School Overview
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School Description
It is the vision of Eastern Lancaster County (ELANCO) School District to provide a comprehensive program that reaches the widest range of students. By using technology, it expands the options available to students to support their learning. Online learning has already demonstrated benefits to its students. Interest was expressed in putting a more cohesive structure around all of the technology initiatives. ELANCO is part of the Pennsylvania Hybrid Learning Institute
Blended Learning Program
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Program Model
Program model: Station Rotation
Model description
Every classroom has three stations set up – Direct Instruction, Collaborative and Independent Learning. Students rotate through these stations on a daily basis.
Program Description
How much time do students spend on campus in this blended-learning program? How much of this time do students spend learning online or with educational software?
In the High School, students spend one 80 minute block per day for either Social Studies or Language Arts. Approximately 30% of their class time is spent on educational software.
Briefly describe the offline components of this blended-learning program.
Students receive direct instruction from the teacher at one of the rotations and work in a small collaborative student group on a project at another station. Collaborative projects typically span multiple days.
How does this blended-learning program fit into the rest of the students’ school day?
Their Hybrid class fits seamlessly into the rest of their school day.
What are the teachers’ roles and responsibilities in both the online and offline components of this blended-learning program?
The teachers are responsible for creating all aspects of the blended learning program. They develop lessons for the direct instruction component, create collaborative activities and assign digital content. They create a Digital Agenda for students to access which is a roadmap for their week ahead.
What other adults are involved in this blended-learning program (e.g., paraprofessionals, learning coaches, counselors) and what are their roles and responsibilities?
The Assistant Superintendent is the “business owner” of the program. Teachers can contact her if they need anything. She makes programmatic decisions. A Technology Integration Coach is available to assist teachers with the technology and integrating into their teaching. He can assist with setting up a program, a lesson, etc. He is in the classrooms on a regular basis. An Instructional Coach provided by the PA Intermediate Unit (IU) goes onsite to help the Hybrid Learning teachers with implementing in their classroom via training and coaching.
Briefly describe the set-up of physical space for this blended-learning program.
Each classroom is set up with 3 stations. ELANCO purchased desks that are conducive to being set as individual desks or put together for collaborative work. They have independent stations set up along walls in the classroom, direct at the front, and collaborative in between.
How are students grouped within this blended-learning program?
Students are grouped based on the data, sometimes homogeneously and sometimes heterogeneously. Teachers also take into account learning style and personality when creating groups.
Do students have some element of control over the pacing of their learning? Are students tied to a semester-based course schedule or can they complete courses at any time? Briefly describe any requirements or benchmarks in place to ensure student progress.
Students can pace themselves within the independent learning station and the collaborative station in terms of how quickly work is completed. All teachers provide definitive due dates for this work.
Describe any other distinctive characteristics of this blended-learning program if they have not been captured above.
As a member of the Pennsylvania Hybrid Learning Institute, ELANCO has a comprehensive and customized Evaluation Plan. The purpose of the Evaluation Plan is to provide information designed to improve educational programs and to demonstrate accountability to program objectives. PA HLI uses a rigorous and systematic process to evaluate whether new hybrid school implementations are achieving their desired effects. In the PA HLI Evaluation Plan, every hybrid learning task is tied to a specific desired outcome in order to track results. Data is being collected by a Program Management Analyst through monthly visitations and observations, surveys of students, teachers and parents, and a variety comparative data. ELANCO receives monthly status reports as well as quarterly program reviews in conjunction with their Intermediate Unit so they can work on any identified opportunities.
Describe the academic results of the program, using quantitative data where possible.
There are no standardized tests for these subjects.
Contact Information
Name: Nadine A. Larkin, EdD
Title: Assistant to the Superintendent
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.elanco.org