Executive Summary. Indiana University High School. Mr. Mike Beam 750 E Kirkwood Ave Maxwell Hall Bloomington, IN

Transcription

1 Mr. Mike Beam 750 E Kirkwood Ave Maxwell Hall Bloomington, IN Document Generated On February 14, 2014

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School 2 School's Purpose 5 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 6 Additional Information 8

3 Introduction Every school has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and procedures by which the school makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a school stays faithful to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder engagement, the trends and issues affecting the school, and the kinds of programs and services that a school implements to support student learning. <br><br> The purpose of the Executive Summary (ES) is to provide a school with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the school community will have a more complete picture of how the school perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This summary is structured for the school to reflect on how it provides teaching and learning on a day to day basis. Page 1

4 Description of the School Describe the school's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced in the last three years. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the school serves? (IUHS) offers online courses to students seeking an IUHS diploma, or students seeking courses to supplement another high school or home school program. Many IUHS students are talented academically and artistically, or participate at advanced levels in competitive sports (recent IUHS graduate David Boudia won a gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and 2011 graduate Conrad Tao is among the world's leading classical music performer and composers under the age of 30). IUHS is accredited with the NCAA as a clearinghouse approved high school provider. The school enrolls students ranging in age from as early as nine years old to adults seeking to complete diploma requirements. Students enroll from 18 countries, including the United States, Canada, China, Australia, South Korea, Germany, France, Taiwan, Norway, Saudi Arabia and several others. Domestic students enroll from 41 different states, with 58% of enrollment coming from Indiana residents. Females represent 55% of enrollments and males 45%. Additionally, IUHS has 303 active diploma seeking students and 950 students seeking supplemental coursework. IUHS students are predominantly white (72%), with students identifying as Asian (10.4%), Black (5%), and Hispanic / Latino (4%) making up the largest portion of the remaining population. IUHS has a strong commitment to supporting students experiencing financial hardship and provide a 25% discount for students eligible for free or reduced lunch, and scholarships, in the form of free tuition, through partner high schools. Additionally, IUHS is committed to providing curriculum and support structures appropriate for most students with IEP's and 504 plans. IUHS employs guidance professionals trained to assess and recommend accommodations suitable for success in the program. IU High School is located on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University, and is housed in the Pre-College Division of the Office of Undergraduate Education. IU High School is one of five active online schools located in Indiana, though IUHS also competes nationally with other recognized university providers such as by Brigham Young University, University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska. Additionally, many for-profit competitors offer online coursework and enroll students both in Indiana and across the US (Apex, K-12.com, Plato, etc ). IUHS staff includes a director /principal, director of operations, student services coordinator, exams coordinator, recorder, IT coordinator, curriculum coordinator, four part-time guidance counselors, a part-time assistant director, and 29 teachers. All teachers are licensed in the state of Indiana (with one exception - licensed in Florida), and work at IUHS part-time with most holding full-time teaching appointments at other Indiana high schools. Relevant Changes (IUHS) has experienced significant change over the past two years. In May of 2011, the university announced the closing of the School of Continuing Studies (SOCS), which housed IUHS, effective July 1, Given the closure of the school, the university assessed the viability of the program and considered all potential alternatives for the placement of IUHS within a new unit. The university determined that IUHS merited continuation if the program could be restructured in order to become sustainable financially and positioned to support campus and system-wide academic initiatives. Ultimately the program was relocated to Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (OVPUE) on the Bloomington Campus of Indiana University. Within the OVPUE, the IUHS program is housed within Pre-College Programs which is the office that coordinates IU's dual credit program (ACP) and other pre-college and early enrollment activities. Additionally, OVPUE houses the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning and serves as a pedagogical incubator for classroom and online course development. The placement of IUHS within Page 2

5 OVPUE is intended to meet the following objectives: - Develop efficiencies necessary to sustain the IUHS program; - Introduce instructional redesign around best-practices in online course development; - Develop online dual-credit courses in support of campus and K-12 initiatives; and - Expand the range of pre-college engagement opportunities. In order to meet the objectives stated above, two critical elements required immediate attention: information systems infrastructure and administrative overhead. Information Systems Infrastructure IUHS required a new student information system as well as a new learning management platform in order to remain operational. The platforms IUHS used while housed in the School of Continuing Studies were beyond technical feasibility and scheduled for decommission (the "Dragon" student system), and designed primarily to service Continuing Studies' undergraduate student population (IU's "OnCourse" management tool) proving to be an inadequate option for high school use. The School of Continuing Studies made these systems "work" for IUHS by providing dozens of customer service personnel tasked with manipulating each IUHS student record and enrollment so that the high school students "fit" into the systems procedures. This approach was both financially unsustainable and significantly difficult for students and families to manage autonomously. IUHS has devoted significant time and resources assessing and adopting new student information and learning management systems which should prove to be more efficient and user-friendly (the academic impact of the new systems is discussed in the "Notable Achievements" section). The process for adoption of these systems has taken considerable time given the systematic approach to evaluation, function, and data security required when handling sensitive student information. The new systems are in the testing phase and will be rolled-out June 1, Administrative Overhead When housed in the School of Continuing Studies, IUHS was subsidized by other revenue streams and supported through resources shared with other departments. The school had a full time director, full time administrative support, the equivalent of a full time guidance counselor, and access to roughly 50% FTE of five curriculum developers, four IT professionals, two exams coordinators, fourteen customer service staff, three financial office staff, and a recorder. In order to balance the finances, IUHS staff was pared down to only those necessary to support the functions of the high school that students, teachers, and families couldn't (or shouldn't) complete themselves. The position of full-time director was eliminated and the Sr. Assistant Vice-Provost serves as director/principal of IUHS, in addition to serving as director of the other programs in the Precollege Programs unit. This individual holds an active Indiana principal's license and has experience in secondary instruction and administration. IUHS employs a full time director of operations / student support, one full time administrative assistant, one full time recorder, one full time curriculum coordinator, the equivalent of a full time guidance counselor, an hourly assistant director for recruitment (primarily attends conferences), and one full time IT professional. Additionally, IUHS significantly changed the application and enrollment processes, and also course development, in an effort to achieve efficiencies and greater financial stability. In order to manage the non-enrollment aspects of the customer service department, IUHS entered into an extremely low-cost contract with the Indiana University Call center in order to handle customer calls, direct inquiries, and provide tierone program information. This move allowed IUHS to forego the high cost of maintaining a dedicated customer service staff. Course development has been adapted around a professional learning community model developed by researchers in IU's School of Education, and each of the core courses is slated for redesign in this new format. This approach is more cost effective, promotes greater interaction among the instructors, and results in greater engagement between teachers and students, and also student to student. Page 3

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7 School's Purpose Provide the school's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the school embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students. Mission is a global virtual learning community which provides a high-quality education that meets the unique academic needs of a diverse student population. Students engage in a relevant and rigorous learning experience that includes a standardsbased curriculum, individual courses, diploma programs, and student support services. is dedicated to the continuous improvement of all aspects of its programs. Vision is committed to providing a high-quality virtual high school learning experience for students in Indiana, the nation, and the world. believes: - should provide an opportunity for a wide variety of students, including nontraditional students, students with special needs, and others who seek a flexible independent study program that provides them an opportunity to successfully pursue and complete a high school diploma. - should collaborate with school districts, schools, and individual students to provide high-quality virtual learning. - All high school students should be provided an opportunity to engage in high-quality virtual learning experiences prior to graduation. - All high school students should be provided the opportunity to take virtual undergraduate and advanced placement courses to help better prepare them for the rigors of higher education. - All courses offered through should be based on Indiana standards and also make use of Indiana University as a world-class resource in best practices in online pedagogy and instruction. - All administrators, instructors, and advisors should possess appropriate educational credentials, combined with experience working in high schools. - A process of continuous progress that involves the regular collection and analysis of data should be used to improve the quality of all aspects of. Page 5

8 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement Describe the school's notable achievements and areas of improvement in the last three years. Additionally, describe areas for improvement that the school is striving to achieve in the next three years. The most significant achievement has been the successful transition from the School of Continuing Studies into OVPUE. Although the transition wasn't always smooth, the school was effectively integrated into the OVPUE family and with strategic support of OVPUE leadership, focused energies immediately on new student application, testing & registration processes, and streamlining staffing, such that the program ended the year in the black. This was achieved with minimal disruption to the instructional effort. As mentioned above, IUHS was in need of new core systems (SIS & LMS) and after significant analysis of options contracted with Genius SIS and Canvas LMS in order to provide comprehensive student information and learning support. All stakeholders were involved at some stage in the selection of these systems, through analysis of needs, review of modules, and/or testing. The two systems are cost-effective, integrated, and provide a suite of reporting, instruction, and student & parent engagement options that will allow IUHS to more quickly and efficiently monitor student learning, adapt instruction and assessment around student performance trends, utilize targeted and timely communications, and involve all stakeholders (students, teachers, parents, counselors ) in real-time assessment of student learning. Notable Accomplishments + Areas of Improvement Analysis of student completion and performance data, and input from the IUHS testing coordinator, suggests that IUHS can make significant strides in shortening the time students take to complete each course. Of particular concern, supplemental students take longer to complete, and complete at lower rates than our diploma students. The traditional "self-paced" approach of IUHS courses fosters unproductive idle time, long gaps between spikes of activity that erode continuity in learning, and subsequent panic and a rush to completion as the course-end date approaches. The new SIS and LMS are highly integrated and allow IUHS to transition away from the purely self-paced format toward more engaged and proactive designs. As of June 1, 2014, all IUHS courses will incorporate an assignment and exam pacing tool that allows students, parents and instructors immediate insight into where the student is in terms of completion of the course. The pacing tool includes a dashboard, regular and text option reminders / updates, and a reporting function. Additionally, IUHS has partnered with the IU School of Education in order to introduce a peer learning/developing model of course development. All four levels of English / Language Arts courses were redesigned using this model and tested during the academic year. Preliminary results are positive and this peer learning/development approach will be replicated with science and social studies courses over the next eighteen months. Using this model allows IUHS to attend to three areas in need of improvement: peer-to-peer interaction among teachers, within-class interaction (student-to-teacher, student-to-student), and timely course completion. The nature of IUHS courses has been similar to traditional correspondence courses, where students may have little real communication with each other or teachers. This approach focuses too heavily on rote and content-bound learning, where the best online education offers contextualized, personalized, and interactive learning. Additionally, the teacher in this model is as much coach as "sage" and the interactive nature provides more frequent nudging and peer-modeling of task and/or assignment completion. The robust reporting, sequencing, and pacing features available in the SIS & LMS, combined with the new course development model, should support IUHS efforts to reach the following objectives over the next three years: - Increase course completion rate and shorten completion time for supplemental students - Increase course completion rates for all students in courses identified as "low-completion" rate courses Page 6

9 - Transition all core courses (those required for diploma) to the new interactive / personalized model Page 7

10 Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections.. Page 8