East Valley, a Rural District

EDUCATIONAL NEED

Like school districts around the country, East Valley School District (EVSD) in Washington State is faced with serving 4,400 students from a rural community struggling with the economic downturn. Under the leadership of Superintendent John Glenewinkel, the district is tackling these challenges head-on through the use of innovative technology solutions that are helping the district improve student achievement and reduce the dropout rate.

In fact, EVSD’s recent implementation of flexible, online educational services allows for reach into at-risk students and special populations and provides a continuum of learning options for every student.

In the Fall of 2009, EVSD launched the district’s new, innovative online learning system, EV Online Learning. Based on market-leading online courses and unique credit recovery programs from one of the leaders in online education, Aventa Learning, the district’s new EV Online Learning school has quickly become a popular option for students who might not otherwise have been able to attend school, complete their education, or take advanced courses.

Through online courses, the district is now able to reach out to a wide variety of students with unique learning needs, including:

• Students who have chosen to focus on a special skill or talent (e.g. professional athletes) that requires a more flexible learning schedule
• Students who have serious health issues and are unable to attend school
• Older students who have dropped out and are self-conscious about going back to high school to complete their education
• Homeschooled students who have outpaced their parents in subjects, such as math, foreign languages and science
• Teen parents who have trouble getting to school

EVSD offers students such as these the flexibility to continue their education through online coursework, done at their own pace, with dignity. In addition, EV Online Learning is accessible to students either from their home computer or from two educational centers each with approximately 20 Internet-enabled computers and a certified teacher onsite. Educational centers have proven to be a great service for families who are interested in online learning but cannot afford Internet access from home.

East Valley students benefit from the flexibility of the program with options like not having to wait until the next semester to enroll. This has helped the district retain students who were in the process of dropping out of the traditional school and recruit back students who realized they needed a diploma to succeed. Says Principal Barbara Cruse, “Had students had to wait, I believe we would have lost them.”

During each semester, students are able to take two or three courses at a time, focus on those courses for four to five weeks or more as needed, and then take another two or three subjects. Typically, by the end of semester, students have taken six or more courses, in a manner that allowed them to have a deeper understanding of the content studied. The students avoided the stress of juggling six content courses at a time. This dynamic calendar is critical in its approach; it gives a pacing guide for students to follow.

EVSD’s innovative use of online learning is also extending outside the district, through a partnership with a couple of surrounding districts. These districts are too small to be able to offer language or AP courses and are unable to offer math classes due to the highly-qualified teacher requirement.

AVENTA LEARNING’S VIRTUAL SCHOOL SOLUTION

Whether students are attending online school full-time or making up credits or coursework part-time, Aventa Learning provides EVSD’s EV Online Learning program with a cost-effective, comprehensive and flexible platform. Students who follow a variety of learning paths pass courses and get the credits they need to graduate from high school.

• Courses consist of 60 hours of content per semester with the option to test out of material previously mastered – helping students succeed more quickly
  • The average student spends 35 hours in a semester course
• Certified teacher of record is associated with each course, supporting students as needed
  • Live teacher hotline support
  • Students can get immediate help and tutoring from teachers who are certified in the subject area, giving schools options to have courses monitored by aides, study hall monitors or lab techs
• Students and staff can securely access courses from any Internet connection – providing flexibility and erasing geographic boundaries
• Documented course alignment with Washington state standards
• Rolling enrollments support students’ schedules
  • Dynamic schedulers help staff and student pace themselves if finish dates are critical to the school (e.g. graduation
• Courses are self-paced and auto scored
• Weekly emailed reports to gauge students progress
• Reading levels are adjusted (one to two levels below course content as well as adjusted to special populations, i.e. special education and ELL)
• ELL support for all courses
• Use of interactive curriculum, videos, flash cards, animation, and games keep students engaged
• Parents are encouraged to actively monitor their student’s progress. EVSD provides a login for parents that allows them to see the work, but not access or make changes to the work.

In addition to instruction from highly-qualified teachers for each online course, all students are assigned a mentor. The mentor is critical in the support of the student’s initial success for online education. EVSD has found that when mentors frequently check in with the students, especially during the first two weeks of their online work, the students are more successful making the transition from traditional school learning to online learning.

Mentors also “meet” with students through the Elluminate program, where they hold a homeroom once a week for social interaction with other EV Online Learning students. This offers a safe environment for students to chat with each other as well as with theit mentor. The mentor also receives a weekly report for each student from Aventa. The mentor uses this to visit with students about their course progress, to touch base or intervene with teachers if needed, and to encourage students to keep going.

RESULTS

East Valley School District wanted to use innovative district technology to provide a continuum of learning options for every student – from those who are completely homeschooled to those who cannot attend school regularly due to special needs. But it takes more than just a computer connected to the internet to provide students with a successful online educational experience. Customized, online educational opportunities from Aventa Learning are helping EVSD reach its goals to improve student achievement and serve at-risk youth and special populations.

With an extensive online course catalog, including Core Curriculum, Electives and World Language courses, as well as Advanced Placement® and Credit Recovery courses, and the ability to customize its offerings to meet EVSD’s needs, the district has been able to offer new options for learning and serve nearly 300 online students. In addition, EVSD has been able to increase its homeschool enrollment and believes the growth will continue.

According to Online School Principal Barbara Cruse, the online courses allow students to complete their high school education with a sense of dignity, at their own pace, and to overcome issues that might have prevented them from graduating. Additionally, many students have benefited from the flexibility to take online classes or recover credits when regular school might be closed, such as during winter or spring break.

Results since Fall 2009 Launch of Online Learning:

• 300 online students – both full-time and part-time – enrolled in EV Online Learning
• Increase in number of homeschooled students from across the district now enrolled in EVSD
• Decrease in number of high school dropouts – Since Fall 2009, EV Online Learning has served approximately 54 students who would have dropped out or were expelled from traditional high school
• Increase in number of students returning to school to retrieve credits and graduate – Since Fall 2009, the program has brought approximately 40 students back to school to retrieve their diploma.

“We have been able to educate more than 300 students through our EV Online Learning Program who otherwise might have dropped out.”
- Superintendent John Glenewinkel