Virtual Learning Solutions is an Illinois not-forprofit. Proposed public charter school Illinois Virtual Charter Fox River Valley

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1 Virtual Learning Solutions is an Illinois not-forprofit organization Board Members Sharnell Jackson, President Mike Skarr, Vice President John Rico, Vice President Eric Kohn, Treasurer Ted Dabrowski, Secretary Proposed public charter school Illinois Virtual Charter Fox River Valley

2 Charter Schools ARE Public Schools No cost to parents or students Governed by a board of directors Illinois certified teachers & HQT residing in the state Students take same state tests in proctored setting Annual financial audits Annual academic reports Curriculum aligned to Common Core Standards Admit any student who applies no discrimination or selection process Provide full special education services and comply with I.D.E.A. & Section 504 Public not private, not sectarian Accountable to state and federal requirements Create CHOICE in the public education system

3 Why Choice Matters Every child is different, every parent should have the right to choose the best educational option for their child Choice gives parents and families the freedom to choose what s best for their individual child Parents and families know their child best and know what educational environment is best for their child ILVCS@FRV is just one choice for parents and families, it s not for everyone, but it is the right choice for some children

4 VLS intends to contract with K12 Inc. to provide curriculum and services for the Illinois Virtual Charter Fox River Valley

5 K 12 Inc. provides curriculum and administrative services to over 2,000 school districts and charter schools, including 2 charter schools in Illinois. The Chicago Virtual Charter School (CVCS), the city's first public online charter school, was named as one of Chicago's best high schools by Chicago Magazine in their September 2012 issue.

6 Students who can benefit Struggling Gifted & Talented Advanced Learners Special needs Home-bound Alternative Education Long-term suspended Discipline/behavioral issues Mobile families (e.g., military) Seeking 1 on 1 instruction Grappling with social and/or discipline issues

7 Students will receive The K 12 online curriculum and planning and progress tools Books, materials, manipulatives and supplies Computer, monitor, and printer as needed Internet Reimbursement Access to an Illinois certified teacher, administration, and special services Access to group outings, academic workshops, and enrichment activities

8 K 12 Educational Program Specifically designed for K-12 online delivery Based on decades of education research and cognitive science More than 185 K-12 online courses More than 21,000 individual lessons Incorporates innovative technologies: More than 100,000 multimedia components Virtual field trips Game simulation Avatars Concept maps Threaded online group discussions (high school) Interactive science lab activities Video lectures Online debates Discovery streaming video Integrated textbooks and hands-on materials Full wet labs for a richer learning experience Assessments Lesson, unit and course level Teacher- and computer-graded

9 K 12 has corporate accreditation from AdvancEd, the organization made up of The North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI). Schools that use K12 curriculum are accredited by their regional agency that include:

10 Additional Programs Special Education English Language Learners Gifted and Talented Title I National Honor Society Science Fairs, Quiz Bowls, Spelling Bees, Geographic Bees Field Trips Student Clubs (e.g. chess, yearbook, art) Graduation Ceremonies

11 Accountability Follow all State testing requirements in proctored settings Frequent use of additional testing (e.g. DIBELS, Scantron, OLS) National Instructional Model (NIM) State reporting Reports to Board of Directors Authorizing entity oversight No Child Left Behind & AYP goals Individual Learning Plans (ILP)

12 Laws Applying to Charter Schools Family Education Rights & Privacy Act Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act Illinois Freedom of Information Act Illinois Open Meetings Act Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) US DOE Guide on Applying Federal Civil Rights Law to Charter Schools

13 Teacher Licensure All teachers will hold appropriate Illinois teacher certification in their grade level and content area Teachers will live and work in Illinois with a preference for teachers based in the Fox River Valley area Teachers will receive 50 hours of initial professional development and ongoing training throughout the school year

14 The K 12 Curriculum Online Pedagogy Instructional Strategies Intervention Strategies Use of Technology and Online Systems Building School Community Tracking Student Progress Data Driven Decision Making to Drive Instruction Implementing School and Student Improvement Plans Special Education Test Prep for Standardized Testing

15 Financial Impact Enrollment trends for online schools in other states indicate that approximately 0.25% to 0.5% of a district s enrollment are interested in enrolling in a full-time online school. District K-12 Enrollment Potential ILVCS@FRV enrollees 20, , , ,

16 Financial Impact Illinois statue currently allows for the level of funding to be negotiated with the authorizer at a range of 75% to 125% of the district s per capita student tuition (PCST) ILVCS@FRV has projected a funding level of $8,000 per student Year one projections are that 0.25% of students will be candidates for enrollment in the program. That equates to 1 in 500 students currently enrolled in the public schools in the Fox River Valley $8000 is approximately 84% of the average PCST of the 18 districts identified in the charter application This amount is subject to additional negotiation with districts approving the charter application

17 Criticism of K12 Tennessee Claims that administrators of the K12 managed Tennessee Virtual Academy (TNVA) directed teachers to fix grades The claims in the story were not true and were debunked by the school s teachers and academic leaders. The story from the TV station in Nashville was wrong and contained a number of false claims. It was quickly and completely debunked by the school and its teachers. One of the TNVA teachers, speaking on behalf of her fellow teachers at the school, responded in the media here. The teachers also spoke before the TN legislature and directly knocked this story down. TNVA administrators responded to the story here. The issue in this accusation was that the accuser did not understand the online school s policy of mastery based assessments vs. the more traditional use of teacher assigned grades. In the mastery based model used in grades K-8 students are allowed to re-take assessments after additional study until they score a grade of 80% or higher.

18 Criticism of K12 Florida Accusations that K12 uses non-licensed teachers. In May 2012, when K12 first became aware of these accusations we took it so seriously that K12 launched an internal investigation into what it considers to be very serious accusations. K12 also retained a respected former U.S. Attorney to investigate the allegations. Further, K12 worked 100% with the Inspector General (IG) and offered to assist in arranging interviews of the relevant staff and access to all relevant records. K12 respects the integrity of the IG s process, and therefore will not comment on the substance of that process until the IG has had the time to complete the work and issue its finding. The Inspector General s report has not yet been released. Another school district launched their own investigation and also concluded that there were no wrong doings on the part of K12.

19 Criticism of K12 Class Action Lawsuit In federal court documents, the Lead Plaintiff in a class action securities lawsuit against K12 Inc. voluntarily and permanently dismissed the claims it made about the academic performance and educational quality of K12-managed schools. The charges were dropped when the Lead Plaintiff in the securities class action claim filed documents in federal court indicating that it was voluntarily and permanently dismissing the claims. The stipulation of dismissal states that "substantial fact and expert discovery to date does not support the academic performance and educational quality claims on the merits." This conclusion was reached after the conduction of testimonies with several staff members representing K12 and 10 separate witnesses, and also "voluminous document production totaling 132,355 documents comprising 1,032,725 pages." As a result of the documents filed by the Lead Plaintiff in the securities class action lawsuit, the following charges will be dismissed due to lack of merit.

20 Criticism of K12 NCEP Report Critical of K12 NEPC is not some neutral, independent think-tank, staffed by non-partisan academic experts. NEPC has earned its reputation as the de facto research and policy arm of the unions the interest groups that are advocating against charters, virtual charters, and school choice. They have a long history of pumping out reports, backed by incomplete data and dubious methodologies, that trumpet the policy and political views of unions and other special interests. The National Education Policy Center is funded by tax-deductible private donations made through the University of Colorado Foundation, and by contracts and grants. In addition to donations from individuals, NEPC has received direct or indirect funding from the National Education Association. A review of the NCEP report by the Brookings Institute called the report Seriously Flawed

21 Criticism of K12 K Academic Report K12 estimates that from 50% to 70% of students now entering our largest schools did not achieve proficiency in math on state exams they took in the year before enrolling in a K12 managed public school, and up to 40% did not achieve proficiency in reading. Moreover, in many K12 -managed public schools, about half of the students taking state-required tests are in their first year in a K12 program thus, their scores reflect their previous educational experience more than their brief time in a K12 - managed public school. Because of the fact that so many students are enrolling who are 2, 3 and 4 years behind grade level, the NCLB AYP measure is not a reflection of the students time enrolled in the online school, but more a reflection of the students prior academic setting. K12 is tasked with getting these students learning at an accelerated rate and thus a valueadded assessment model is better suited for determining the success of the online school. K12 uses the adaptive Scantron performance assessment to measure the academic growth of the student while enrolled in the online school. Data from this assessment indicates that students in the online school are out-performing their peers in the Scantron norm-group and that the longer the students are enrolled in the K12 online school, the better they perform on the state assessments using the NCLB AYP model.

22 Questions

23 Criticism of K12 AGORA Percentage of F&RL Students Has increased from ~54% to 69% since 2009 Percentage of Special Education ~20% in Percentage of new students enrolling in who were 1 or more grade levels behind upon enrollment 66% of 4 th graders 74% of 5 th graders 78% of 6 th graders 72% of 7 th graders 62% of 8 th graders 72% of enrolled students were previously enrolled in public schools from 191 different schools which were in academic distress

24 Criticism of K12 AGORA Agora Synchronous Session Program: New for the school year, this revised synchronous program requires new and/or struggling Agora students to attend daily live lessons for the first 30 days of enrollment on either Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday schedules. Teachers directly lead students through the daily sessions to model appropriate use of courses, ensure fidelity to intended instructional methods, reduce teacher planning time, and encourage students to set aside sufficient time for regular lessons.

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26 AGORA The longer students remain enrolled in K 12 Virtual Academies, the better they perform on state tests. The following charts illustrate this phenomenon using school year state tests scores in math and reading across all K 12 Virtual Academies. K 12 % Proficient in READING by Length of Enrollment SY % 64% 43% 49% 50% 55% enrolled less than enrolled at least 1 enrolled at least 2 enrolled at least 3 enrolled at least 4 enrolled 5 or more one full academic but less than 2 full but less than 3 full but less than 4 full but less than 5 full full academic years year academic years academic years academic years academic years

27 K 12 % Proficient in MATH by Length of Enrollment SY % 58% 50% 36% 38% 38% enrolled less than enrolled at least 1 enrolled at least 2 enrolled at least 3 enrolled at least 4 enrolled 5 or more one full academic but less than 2 full but less than 3 full but less than 4 full but less than 5 full full academic years year academic years academic years academic years academic years

28 Georgia Cyber Academy worked closely with a consultant handpicked by the Georgia Dept of Education who concluded in Fall 2012 that the school was in compliance with state and federal special education requirements. The School released a statement in November 2012 laying out the facts and disputing claims about its special ed programs: html In December 2012, the Georgia Board of Education reversed its prior assessment and praised the school for its work on special education programs: