State Educational Technology Directors Association
VSDL Virtual Schools and Distance Learning
 
1. Chapter Summary
2. Standards and Quality Policy Guidelines
3. Program Evaluation Policy Guidelines
4. Professional Development Policy Guidelines
5. Finance and Infrastructure
6. Resources & Readings
7. Next Steps
 




Executive Summary
Building Partnerships and Leveraging Resources
Technology Leadership Skills
Data Drive Decision-Making
High Quality Prof Dev: Teaching & Learning

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Program Evaluation Policy Guidelines and Resources

This set of guidelines and resources identifies the key topics to be addressed in developing policies for program evaluation of virtual schools and distance learning. For each topic, the table lists guidelines for effective policies and practices, and provides resources and examples (when available) for state technology leaders.

This set of guidelines can be used as a checklist to review specific courses or providers, and addresses the following sub-topics:

Administration and Management

Data Driven Decision-Making

Guidelines Resources/examples
  • A needs survey has been completed and the data is used in the planning process.
  • Formative data is being collected for evaluation and to improve the implementation.

Guidelines for Governance

  • Guidelines should exist that indicate which institution (state department/or school system) will grant credit for online courses, when it will do so, how many courses a student may take in a semester, and how many online course credits it will accept towards meeting graduation requirements.
  • The state and/or school system has established a system-wide procedure for reporting attendance.
  • The state and/or school system has a policy that addresses student access to the technology necessary to participate in online courses.
  • The state and/or school system has determined whether grades for online courses will be included in the grade point average (GPA).
  • If the school system has a standardized end-of-course exam that is included in the student's grade for the course, the school system has determined whether students in online courses must take this exam.

Guidelines for Vendor Requirements

  • A policy exists for recourse or appeal if the online course is not delivered as described.

Guidelines for Course Fees and Payments

  • The state and/or school system has determined under which circumstances the system, school and/or parents will pay the course fees.
  • Procedures for fees and payment have been established and published prior to student enrollment in a course.

School System and School Level Responsibilities

  • The responsibilities of the school system contact person and the school-based staff have been defined.
  • A school system contact person has been designated and is knowledgeable about the use of online courses with students.
  • A site-based teacher or other educator is designated to coordinate and assist students with instructional, technical and management requirements.
  • School-based administrators and counselors have received training on using online courses with students.
  • Training has been provided for the site-based coordinators.
  • School-based mentors have been identified and trained.

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Parents

Dissemination of Information, Participation and Feedback

Guidelines Resources/examples
  • Information is provided to parents regarding students attending online charter schools including tuition costs, roles and quality of courses.
  • Parent orientation materials are given to parents and meetings are held.
  • There is a parent consent form for students to participate in an online course.
  • There is assessment of parent satisfaction with course content, instructional activities, course assessments, teacher and site-based support.

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Teachers

Evaluation of Online Teachers

Guidelines Resources/examples
  • Online teachers have strategies to ensure that the course is interactive.
  • Online teachers know each student, lead and direct student discussions, write and communicate well, and recognize the nuances of words as they are communicated.
  • Online teachers use available technology to communicate effectively with students.
  • Teachers have excellent time management skills.
  • The teacher has the prerequisite technology skills to teach online.
  • The teacher can provide evidence that he or she can use Internet browsers, e-mail applications (including attaching and downloading files) and word processing applications.

Certification of Online Teachers

Guidelines Resources/examples
  • The teacher has the necessary academic credentials in the field in which he or she is teaching.
  • The teacher has provided evidence that he or she has credentials in the field of study to be taught.
  • The teacher meets the core teaching standards set by state licensing agency.
  • Recent evaluations report that the teacher is utilizing the core teacher standards.

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Technology

Infrastructure and Access

Guidelines Resources/examples
  • The state has a statewide network.
  • The state, school system, and schools have sufficient bandwidth and desktop capacity to offer online courses.
  • Issues regarding student access outside of normal school hours are addressed.
  • Assistive technology devices are available to students who have IEP or 504 plans.
  • The state and/or school system has course management, data collection and record keeping tools for the distance learning program.

Navigation

  • Courses provide an online learning environment that is user-friendly.

    Security

    Guidelines Resources/examples
    • Data security is provided to ensure systematic protection of student privacy rights.
    • Complies with federal, state, and school system requirements for security and privacy.

    Service Standards and Support

    • Standards have been set and assessed for minimum requirements for the services being offered in terms of availability, performance, and technical support.
      • Availability - Requests for course pages must be returned without error for 99.9% of requests over a one-month period.
      • Performance - The first byte of 90% or more of course pages requested from a 56k dialup modem must be received in five seconds or less.
      • Technical support - The vendor will resolve 80% of customer calls within the first phone call.
      • Technical help desk assistance is provided for students and teachers 24 hours, seven days a week.
    • State and/or school system should assess the degree to which students, parents, and staff have technical problems that interfere with getting work done.

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    Students

    Grading and Credit

    Guidelines Resources/examples
    • Define and evaluate student completion and success rates.
    • Specify attendance requirements.
    • Require that students sign and comply with integrity codes.
    • Identify testing requirements to evaluate students.
    • Establish the standards that students must meet to receive credit for the courses.
    • Decide who determines final grade and gives course credit.

    Feedback
    The school district or state department of education has guidelines or policies in place which:

    • The effectiveness of the implementation of the online course is measured by student completion rates.
    • The effectiveness of the online course is measured by student performance on assessments built into the course.
    • The effectiveness of the online course is measured by student performance on required assessments.
    • End of course surveys by students and parents indicate level of satisfaction with course content, instructional activities, course assessments, online teacher support and site-based support.

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    Course

    Content and Design

    Guidelines Resources/examples
    The school district or state department of education has reviewed the selected courses to verify:
    • Course content and assignments are aligned with the state's content standards, standards set for AP courses, or nationally accepted content standards set for technology, computer science or other courses whose content is not included in the state standards.
    • Pedagogy is appropriate for content.
    • Tools are appropriate for content (i.e. audio, video, other technologies, graphing calculators, spreadsheets)
    • Depth of content exposure through alternative assessments/activities.
    The school district or state department of education has reviewed the selected courses to verify that the design includes:
    • Inquiry-based, higher order thinking skills, project-based teacher-student interaction and student-student interaction .
    • Students use a variety of resources.
    • Student activities address variety of learning styles
    • Opportunities for student-teacher and student-student interactions.
    		Maryland State Dept of Education:
    http://mdk12online.org

    Accessibility

    Guidelines Resources/examples
    The school district or state department of education has reviewed for equivalent access for students using:§ Electronic and information technology issued under sub-section (a) (2) of section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Maryland State Dept of Education:
    www.msde.state.md.us/technology/access_tech.html

    Section 508
    www.section508.gov/Access Board www.accessboard.gov/sec508/508standards.html


     

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