Submitted by Susan Chan, District Administrator
Note: The information in this profile represents 2013-14 unless otherwise indicated.
School Overview
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School Description
Kingman Academy of Learning High School (KOAL) in Kingman, Ariz., was one of the first 12 charter schools in Arizona. After discovering that 25 percent of high school students were failing mathematics courses, administrators recognized they needed a solution to help bolster students’ skills. In addition to piloting Edgenuity courses for 11th and 12th graders who were behind on their math requirements and at risk of not graduating, in the spring of 2011, school leaders decided to create a blended-learning math program for 9th- and 10th-grade students.
Blended Learning Program
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Program Model
Program model: Flex
Model description
During math block, students work in a computer lab where they spend the majority of their time progressing through online coursework provided by Edgenuity. There are two certified teachers in the lab who answer questions, keep students on task, and hold small group breakout sessions for students who need additional instruction or support.
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?
Students at the Kingman Academy of Learning (KAL) are required to be on campus all day Monday through Thursday and the school offers an optional two or four-hour Friday session for students who want to come in and get extra help on their math curriculum. During the four-day school week, students learn online or use educational software for approximately 105 minutes per day. Some students can spend an extra two to four hours per week learning online if they choose to attend the Friday session.
Briefly describe the offline components of this blended-learning program.
During math class, students spend the majority of their time in the computer lab progressing through Edgenuity coursework. The only offline components of the program are small group, face-to-face, teacher-led instruction for students who are stuck on a particular concept or need additional help on their coursework. Also, once per week, teachers provide face-to-face math instruction to groups of 20 students and teachers constantly circulate the computer lab answering questions about online content and concepts.
How are the online and offline components of the program connected to provide an integrated learning experience for students? How do data from different learning modalities inform each other?
KAL teachers use online data from the Edgenuity courses to identify commonalities in where students are struggling and determine what concepts are causing problems for individual students. Once the teachers have identified which students need extra help or what concepts are particularly troubling for the class, the teacher will use that information to call students into small groups to offer additional face-to-face instruction.
How does this blended-learning program fit into the rest of the students’ school day?
KAOL implements a block schedule. Each school day, high school students are on campus from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and rotate through four, 105-minute periods, one of which is the math period where students engage in blended learning. The math period fits into student schedules differently each day, depending on the student and his/her individual schedule.
What are the teachers’ roles and responsibilities in both the online and offline components of this blended-learning program?
At KAL, two math teachers administer Edgenuity Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II courses. Each week, teachers use Edgenuity’s learning management system to monitor student achievement, progress, and pace. If data reveal students are struggling with a particular concept, then teachers provide academic counseling and one-on-one instruction. Additionally, teachers regularly check for comprehension of content by reviewing students’ notes. Teachers email parents progress reports weekly and orient parents on how to interpret and access their child’s achievement and progress data via Edgenuity’s parent portal.
What other adults are involved in this blended-learning program (e.g., paraprofessionals, learning coaches, counselors) and what are their roles and responsibilities?
The school also employs a course manager who works with teachers each day in the classroom and helps administer the online courses as well as monitoring the Edgenuity dashboard to track student grades and progress. Additionally, the course manager checks students’ quizzes and reviews online content with students who are struggling to understand a concept. The school also employs a technology director who serves primarily as the school’s IT professional and does not assist in the implementation of blended-learning curriculum.
Briefly describe the set-up of physical space for this blended-learning program.
The blended-learning program takes place in a computer lab. The lab is outfitted with 80 desktop computers arranged in rows. Adjacent to the lab is what the school calls “a pullout room” furnished with round tables where teachers work with students in small groups and offer additional face-to-face instruction. In addition, the lab has a small room off to the side that has two desktop computers without Internet access where two students at a time come to take their cumulative exams.
How are students grouped within this blended-learning program?
Teachers primarily group students by grade level, but also look for commonalities in which students are struggling with particular concepts and, for efficiency’s sake, try to group students with similar struggles together for the breakout sessions.
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.
Because block scheduling allows students a lot of time to work on their online coursework, students at KAL typically finish a full-year course within a semester. The school accommodates for students who need additional time to complete the course and allows students to progress through their online math courses at their own pace.
Describe the academic results of the program, using quantitative data where possible.
In spring 2011, KAL piloted Edgenuity courses with five seniors who were behind in credits. After using Edgenuity math, language arts, social studies, and science courses for credit recovery, four out of five seniors were graduating on time; the fifth student graduated in the summer. After the success of the credit-recovery program, KAL decided to implement Edgenuity courses for its math program.
What have been the biggest obstacles in implementing this blended-learning program? What has needed adjustment along the way?
Classroom management is the biggest issue. Keeping students focused and on-task is difficult for teachers who are trying to deal with as many as 80 students in the computer lab at one time. The school has worked especially hard on classroom management for the students in 9th and 10th grades as the school has found that these students can get distracted easily.
Have you or are you planning to scale your program model to more/other schools?
The school has no plans to scale its program at this time.
Contact Information
Name: Susan Chan
Title: District Administrator
Email: [email protected]
Website: kaolaz.org