FutureNow!theis

A Guide for Parents and Students

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About VHS

A non profit collaborative of 200+ high schools offering innovative online courses

Currently in 8th year of online course delivery

$10M and 5 years of R&D effort

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A note to parents and students

Thank you for your interest in Virtual High School. Please take a few minutes to review these slides – we hope you’ll learn enough today to speak with your school administration about participation in VHS.

Many of these slides have Notes with additional information. To access Notes: click View (on the top of your screen) and select Notes Page. You will be able to see the slide as well as the accompanying narrative. Or, move your mouse pointer toward the bottom of the slide until it turns into an arrow, then click and hold your mouse and scroll up until you see the white Notes box below the slide.

Thanks,

Liz Pape, CEO

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When was Virtual High School developed?

Founded in 1996 Concord Consortium & Hudson Public Schools, Hudson,

Massachusetts Grant funded 1996-2001: US Dept of Ed.Technology

Innovation Challenge Grant

Purpose Develop Internet-based online courses for high school

students. Research and evaluation by SRI (Stanford Research

International

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Broadened course selection 21st century and ICT skills The opportunity to participate in virtual

communities of global learners Learning with technology, instead of about

technology

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21st Century and ICT skills

Students gain skills needed for the workplace: ability to research, filter

and assess information find the best information

possible develop better inquiry

skills develop rich multimedia

presentation skills experience collaborative

working groups extend vision and

community beyond the geographic community

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VHS Net Courses are INTERACTIVE

Interaction student to student student to teacher

Threads discussion group threads private threads team threads

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A Shakespeare Who-Dun-It: Introduction to Shakespeare

Academic Writing Access: Database Structure and

Application American Foreign Policy American History: All History is Local

History American Multiculturalism American Popular Music

2004-2005 VHS Course Sampling

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More VHS Courses...

Pre-AP CalculusAP BiologyAP EconomicsPre-AP English Lit.AP Statistics Astronomy: Stars

and the CosmosPre-veterinary

medicine

Constitutional LawGenes and DiseaseFolklore and

Literature of Myth, Magic and Ritual

The Holocaust Introduction to

Programming in Visual Basic

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Role of VHS Site Coordinator

Monitors student progress Enrolls students in VHS courses Provides technical support to

VHS students and teachers Serves as physical link to VHS

teacher for students Serves as teacher presence to

parents of VHS students Course materials coordinator

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What about Quality Control?

VHS design and delivery standards VHS courses are written to National

Curriculum standards, and VHS design standards

VHS faculty advisors and professional growth model ensure adherence to VHS course delivery standards

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Quality Control

How we achieve it:

Strict adherence to approved curriculum and design standards

One-to-one mentoring for new instructors

Weekly monitoring for speed, quality and quantity of teacher feedback

All teachers are certified and “highly qualified”

Customer survey results: 98%+ overwhelmingly

satisfied with their VHS membership

99% say their school board members, parents and community perceive VHS as a positive offering

95%+ are very satisfied with the quality of VHS courses

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Asynchronous Teachers and students live in different time

zones Students can access class at any time

25 students or fewer in each class Students work on a computer connected to the

internet at least three times a week Teachers and students communicate via a

written discussion area located in the Web classroom area

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Students logon to VHS via the Internethttp://student.goVHS.org

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After logging in with a private password, students can access their course and other content.

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The Course Menu lists the separate areas for students in each course.

Lessons Discussions Media Center AnnouncementsGrades Private Threads Teams Classmates Teacher Info Tools

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The Lessons area lists student assignments and gives the due dates

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The Discussions area is where students communicate with the teacher or classmates in their VHS course.

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The Media Center contains resources for the class.Students can learn about their classmates in the Classmates area.

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How VHS Meets School Needs

Instantly expands curriculums by over 150 courses

Scheduling flexibility Expert instruction and training to

VHS teachers and site coordinators at your school

National & global experiences, locally

Continuous new program offerings

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VHS Success Rates

90% course completion rates 76% of students taking a

VHS course receive a C or better.

79% of students taking a VHS Advanced Placement (AP) course receive a 3 or higher. National average pass rate 3+

= 60%

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Students say:

“I wish that this opportunity were available all throughout my high school years. Now I know how hard I have to work to really compete outside my school.”

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Contact Information

Wendy Papkoffwpapkoff@goVHS.org or 978-450-0500

Sandra Rowe, VHS Director of Membership & Marketing srowe@goVHS.org or 978-450-0413

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VHS will help YOU ….

Expand your curriculum offerings

Provide flexible scheduling options

Encourage national and international collaboration among students and teachers

Participate in high quality professional development

Adopt cost effective solutions