Virtual School Consultant Project

Angela Kitchens

Virtual School Consultant Project

EDTC 650

Dr. Allen Grant

Summer 2015

Introduction

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The purpose of this report is to provide background information on how to establish a

virtual school in Prince George’s County School district. I will provide details and information in

regards to the appropriate and successful implementation of a virtual school. Furthermore, I will

discuss the components that make up a virtual school and the steps that would need to be taken to

establish a successful virtual school program. Before we begin our path on the development of a

virtual school, we must discuss criteria that need to be considered when constructing a model for

a virtual school in our district. I have narrowed the criteria to be considered down to funding,

administration, staffing, special education, course development, and socialization within the

virtual school. Each of these criterions plays a crucial role in whether the virtual school will be

successfully developed.

Virtual School definition and status

Before we begin digging deeper into our process of what we need to consider when

establishing a virtual school, we must make sure that we understand what a virtual school entails.

A virtual school is defined as “an entity approved by a state or governing body that offers

courses through distance delivery – most commonly using the Internet” (Barbour & Reeves,

2009). Another definition of virtual schools is “a form of schooling that is taught from a distance

using the internet and other forms of digital communication technologies” (eLearners, 2015).

As we embark on the journey to determining how we want to construct our virtual

school; it is important for us to address the status of virtual schools in the United States. The first

virtual schools in the United States were established in 1997 and since these schools have been

established, the number of virtual schools has increased over time. The Virtual High School and

Florida Virtual school were the first two virtual schools to be developed and within two years of

their development, three more virtual schools we being developed in Florida, Utah, and New

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Mexico (Barbour & Reeves, 2009). Virtual schools are continuing to grow in various states

throughout the country due to student success and multiple benefits that come with attending a

virtual school. The following is an infographic on some benefits that have increased enrollment

of students in virtual schools and establishment of virtual schools:

Image source https://www.myvirtualacademy.com/images/why-do-students-find-online-learning-attractive.png

As we see in the above infographic, students are finding more beneficial aspects of

attending virtual schools for personal academic success than they feel would be reached at a

traditional school. Being that Prince George’s County Public Schools is viewed as being an

innovative and premier school district, there is no better time than now to develop a virtual

school to maximize students success.

Funding

The first criterion of virtual school development that must be taken into account is

funding. This is an important element of developing a virtual school because the development

and implementation of the school will cost money; just as if it were a traditional school. As we

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know, funding is a huge issue when it comes to education and due to constant budget cuts within

the school system…can be scarce. Should Prince George’s County decide that the establishment

of a virtual school is, definitely, needed; they must consider how the school will be funded. In

the Gemin and Watson (2008) article they discuss how “online schools are full-service public

schools with many of the same costs as their brick-and-mortar counterparts including salaries,

benefits, initial training, and ongoing staff development.”

Some of the most important decisions administrators must make when developing a

virtual school is how much money they will spend on the development of courses, buying new

technology, hiring staff, paying for student support services, and marketing their school program.

Once a budget has been issued to the virtual school it is up to administrative staff to allocate

funds to various parts of the virtual school. Of course there will be some bumps in the road when

allocating funds. There could be an instance where you have allocated all your funds and run out

of budget, but all aspects of the virtual school have not been accounted for. The best method to

address this issue is to go back and see what areas may not be absolutely needed and cut them

out of the budget. It has been suggested that “funding should be based on successful completion

and outcomes” (Gemin & Watson, 2008). Since, we are in the beginning stages of developing the

school, we only have the funds we’ve been given to work with.

Administration

Administration plays a huge role in the development and upkeep of a virtual school. For

the sake of clear definitions, I will address the two separate administrations that will need to be

put in place in order for the school to be successful. The first type of administration we must

address are the group of staff that will work with registering students, completing admissions

processes, and record keeping. Without this administrative staff, the school will not function

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effectively. There must be an emphasis placed on the need for a strong administrative staff that

maintains and keeps the functionality of the school in order and professional.

The second type of administration we must address are those that will consist of

principals, assistant principals, instructional leaders, and etc. School administrators are essential

with the achievement of virtual schools because they are the head of the school and make

decisions for the school and provide support to staff, students, and parents. In most virtual

schools there are principals assigned to various grade levels, as it is almost impossible for one

principal to oversee a school that goes from Kindergarten through twelfth grade. The

administrators will take on many roles in the virtual school. One of their biggest roles is to “train

teachers for their virtual classrooms” and “help instructors transition from teaching in a

traditional classroom to teaching in a virtual classroom” (Frey, 2005). The Joki and Quilici

(2012) article states that:

“the effective principal is actively involved in all aspects of the instructional program,

sets expectations for continuous improvement and collegiality, models the kinds of

behaviors desired, participates in in-service training with teachers, and consistently gives

priority to instructional concerns.”

This statement points out qualities that an effective principal must have and exemplifies the type

of principal(s) that should be employed in the PGCPS virtual school.

Staffing

The topic of staffing is another important element of developing a virtual school in the

county. Administrators must decide whether they will recruit and train new teachers, which will

cost money, or pull teachers from within the county they feel will be successful instructors.

Teachers and educators that are employed in our county virtual school should be highly qualified

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and have at least five years of experience teaching. In addition to staffing of instructors, there are

other jobs within the virtual school where staff will need to be placed. Some of these jobs include

instructional designers, special education teachers, and IT staff to set up and maintain the

communications system. The topic of staffing is one that would need to be looked at under a

microscope when allocating funds because there is no guarantee the school will have enough

funds to staff all the positions needed in the beginning. There may be an instance where some

staff may have to take on double roles in the school to make sure the needs of the school and

students are met.

Course Development

Course development will be one of the aspects of the virtual school that will cost a good

amount of funding outside of staffing and technology costs. The first thing we must do when

deciding how we will develop our courses is identify the needs of our students. In other words,

identify groups with special needs, groups that come from low SES, groups that were performing

poorly in traditional schooling, and other factors. Once we identify the different sets of groups

we have, we must decide what format of online learning will best suit their learning needs and

move from there. The “asynchronous method of delivery is more common among the statewide

virtual schools throughout the United States” (Barbour & Reeves, 2009). Also, we must take in

to account why some of our students and families have chosen to enroll in the virtual school.

Some of these factors may be flexibility in scheduling or opportunities for students who are not

physically able to attend a brick-and-mortar school. This will help administration and staff

determine the best delivery method and course design that will meet their learning goals. I

believe it will be essential to have quarterly meetings amongst staff where difficulties, success,

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and concerns with the course design can be shared and suggestions for change or improvement

can be developed.

Socialization of Online Learners

I find the availability of social interaction amongst the students to be important criteria to

consider as well. Students and families that have a desire to attend a virtual school may shy away

from the idea if they see no opportunities for social interaction. The Gemin and Watson (2009)

article states that “successful online programs address concerns over socialization by providing a

range of activities for their students.” I do believe it will be important to provide our students

with the same experiences they would receive at a traditional school. Some of the opportunities

could include community field trips, on site field trips, or out of school gatherings. There are

virtual schools that have had success with acquiring volunteers and parents to organize face-to-

face gatherings where students can meet and interact with their peers. Given that students would

be learning in an online environment, students could interact with one another through the use of

social media such as Edmodo and a class Facebook page. These are social networks that can be

monitored by parents and teachers, but provide students an area to communicate with one

another outside of class.

Type of Course Design

Given the technology prowess in our school district and the availability of technology

resources for low SES students that may attend our virtual school, I am making a suggestion for

an online course design that combines asynchronous learning and blended learning.

Asynchronous learning will be beneficial to students that have busy schedules due to personal

circumstances, or want the ability to put more time into their work before submitting. Blended

learning can be combined with asynchronous learning in various subjects such as Mathematics

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and Science where collaboration and hands on learning can beneficial to student academic

success. The implementation of this course design must follow an organized order of steps to be

successful:

1. Identify a learning platform for students (i.e. Blackboard or Moodle)

2. Decide which subjects and content areas will be taught in a specific learning style

(asynchronous, blended, combination of both)

3. Decide what technology requirements students will need to have and how you will

meet the needs of students that may not have access to technology outside of the

school.

4. Starting out each grade level should have one class and perform a trial run over the

course of the school year. At the end of the school year school staff, district

superintendents, county superintendent, and parents can hold a forum where they

discuss the success, setbacks, issues, and areas for improvement within the virtual

school. Over time more classes should be added within the virtual school.

The following infographics display benefits of both asynchronous learning and blended learning:

Image source http://elearninginfographics.com/wp-content/uploads/Synchronous-and-Asynchronous-E-Learning-Infographic-550x575.png

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Image source http://elearninginfographics.com/wp-content/uploads/blended-learning-infographic-550x575.png

Conclusion

In closing I think that PGCPS is ready to develop a virtual school for students to attend.

There is evidence from well-established virtual schools that suggest “online approaches can lead

to greater student engagement and deeper learning outcomes” (Educase, 2014). As we move

towards further implementation of PARCC and Common Core, there is no greater time to

develop a virtual school that can help students reach their academic success. Given that there are

several criterions we must take into consideration when developing the model for our virtual

school; it is essential for the county to look deeper at each criterion and address all before

developing an effective and successful virtual school. As the Waters (2011) article states, “it’s

very clear that online learning has found its time and place.” There is no better time than now to

establish a virtual school in our county than now.

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References

Barbour, M. K., & Reeves, T. C. (2009). The reality of virtual schools: A review of literature.

Computers & Education, 52, 402 – 416. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2008.09.009

Davis, N., & Niederhauser, D. S. (2007, April). Virtual schooling. Learning and Leading with

Technology, 10-15.

Educase (2014). Foundations of online learning: where digital living and education meet.

Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/pub4008.pdf

eLearners.com. (2015). Asynchronous vs. Synchronous: What is asynchronous learning?

Retrieved from http://

www.elearners.com/online-education-resources/degrees- and

programs/synchronous-vs-asynchronous-classes/

Frey, B. (2005) A virtual school principal’s to-do list. T.H.E. Journal. Retrieved

from.http://thejournal.com/articles/2005/01/01/a-virtual-school-principals-todo-list.aspx.

Gemin, B., & Watson, J. (2008). Funding and policy frameworks for online learning. iNACOL

Promising Practices in Online Learning.  Retrieved from 

http://www.inacol.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/NACOL_PP_Socialization.pdf

Gemin, B., & Watson, J. (2008). Socialization in online programs. iNACOL Promising Practices

in Online Learning.  Retrieved from 

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http://www.inacol.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/NACOL_PP_Socialization.pdf

Gemin, B., & Watson, J. (2008). Using online learning for at-risk students and credit recovery.

iNACOL Promising Practices in Online Learning.  Retrieved from 

http://www.inacol.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/

NACOL_CreditRecovery_PromisingPractices.pdf

Podoll, S. & Randle D. (2005) Building a virtual high school...click by click. T.H.E.

Journal. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/articles/2005/09/01/building-a-virtual-

high-schoolclick-by-click.aspx

Rice, K. L. (2006). A comprehensive look at distance education in the K-12 context. Journal of

Research on Technology in Education, 38(4), 425 – 442.

Waters, J. K. (2011). Competing for the virtual student. T. H. E Journal, 38(7), 28-30.

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