Submitted by James Handschuch, Principal
Note: The information in this profile represents 2012-13 unless otherwise indicated.
School Overview
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School Description
Established in 1981, Lacey Township High School is a four-year public high school with a record of academic, co-curricular, and athletic performance. In SY2013-12, the school began offering online courses through the Lacey Online Learning Academy for students looking for Advanced Placement (AP) and credit- recovery opportunities. In the near future, the school’s goal is to have all students take at least one online course to graduate.
Blended Learning Program
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Program Model
Program model: A La Carte
Model description
Students can enroll in online courses as supplements to their brick-and-mortar courses or as a means for credit recovery. The courses are taught by online teachers-of-record provided by Aventa Learning. Students generally complete the courses at a media center during or after school under the supervision of a certified teacher, but some complete them remotely.
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?
The amount of time that students spend on campus during the blended-learning program depends on what the school, the student, and the student’s parents agree is the best schedule for the student. Most students remain on campus for their online classes, either by enrolling in a 46-minute period that meets after the end of the regularly scheduled school day or taking the online course during a 46-minute period within the regularly scheduled school day.
Some students may take their online course at home if they have demonstrated they can handle the additional responsibility. The amount of time students spend learning online or using educational software depends on the number of online courses in which the students are enrolled. Students enrolled in one course through Lacey Online Learning Academy spend 46 minutes per day learning online or using educational software, whereas students enrolled in two online courses spend 92 minutes per day learning online or using educational software.
Briefly describe the offline components of this blended-learning program.
Lacey Online Learning Academy uses online teachers provided by Aventa Learning and the online courses include no offline components. Students who remain on campus to take their online courses receive instruction in the high school’s media center where a credentialed teacher is on-site to check in on the students and offer them face-to-face support if they need it.
How does this blended-learning program fit into the rest of the students’ school day?
For students enrolled in the Lacey Online Learning Academy, the school works with the students to ensure that the online course does not disrupt the students’ regularly scheduled school day. Most students enroll in a 46-minute period that meets after the regular school day and some students take an online course during a 46-minute period within the regularly scheduled school day. A few students even work through the course remotely on their own time.
What are the teachers’ roles and responsibilities in both the online and offline components of this blended-learning program?
For students enrolled in the Lacey Online Learning Academy, the teacher-of-record is an online teacher provided by Aventa Learning. The teacher-of-record is responsible for facilitating the delivery of curriculum and assessments, working one-on-one with students, ensuring student progress, grading student work, and providing online support and instruction for students. The certified teacher employed by Lacey Township High School to staff the media center is responsible for registration, technology support, and aiding in the facilitation of the online experience.
What other adults are involved in this blended-learning program (e.g., paraprofessionals, learning coaches, counselors) and what are their roles and responsibilities?
The Lacey Online Learning Academy uses the guidance counselors employed by Lacey Township High School to provide support to the students with a range of academic, emotional, and social issues.
Briefly describe the set-up of physical space for this blended-learning program.
Students enrolled in the Lacey Online Learning Academy may use the high school’s dedicated media center, which is equipped with 50 desktop computers that have been arranged in a circle so that staff members can more easily monitor the students.
How are students grouped within this blended-learning program?
Students enroll individually in Lacey Online Learning Academy courses and are only grouped depending on their regular school schedule.
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.
Lacey Online Learning Academy sets up a “dynamic schedule” for each student. Students are tied to a semester-based course schedule and the school attempts to stay within semester dates posted by the school district when they set up the students’ schedules. But within the course, students have some control over the pacing of their learning. The school allows students to move on to the next unit if they finish their assignments early and demonstrate proficiency on assessments, but it encourages students to follow the schedule as it was defined at the beginning of the course. If a student requires the course credit for graduation, then she will need to complete the course prior to the end of the school year to walk at graduation.
Describe the academic results of the program, using quantitative data where possible.
The school’s success rate in completing courses with a passing average is 67 percent in its first year. Students who did not successfully complete a course reported that the course was either more difficult than they had initially expected or that they had not scheduled enough time to complete the class based on the school schedule.
Describe any other distinctive characteristics about this program if they have not been captured above.
The Lacey Online Learning Academy program helps Lacey Township High School address its dropout rate by providing students with an alternative to traditional learning.
Describe any financial impact this blended-learning program has had on your cost of operations. Use numbers when possible.
Lacey Township High School administrators estimate they spent roughly $45,000 on the blended-learning program.
What have been the biggest obstacles in implementing this blended-learning program? What has needed adjustment along the way?
One of the biggest obstacles that administrators at the school have faced is allowing students the flexibility to receive online instruction when they want. The administrators have found that too many students do not have the self-discipline to stay on top of the schedule set at the beginning of the course. They have adjusted to this issue by requiring students in credit-recovery courses to complete their work after school in the media center under the supervision of a teacher.
Have you or are you planning to scale your program model to more/other schools?
In time, the middle school and other schools in the district would like to use online learning within their curriculum. Lacey Township High School is also planning to expand online-learning opportunities to serve homebound students who are out of school for an extended duration.
Contact Information
Name: James Handscuch
Title: Principal
Email: [email protected]
Website: lths.laceyschools.org