Utah became the first state in the nation to turn

Digital Learning Now's Ten Elements of Quality Online Learning

into a comprehensive state policy.

Utah's Statewide Online Education Program

Shifts the Paradigm

Funding Follows the Student to the Course

• Through the Statewide Online Education Program every 9-12 grade student in Utah has access to the very best online courses and teachers regardless of zip code - whether they choose electives, foreign language, honors or AP, science, history, math, or anything in between.

Funding Based Upon Successful Completion

• Most efficient and accountable use of public education funding •

50%

upfront (25% per semester) -

50%

earned (successful completion based on UT standard) upon credit • Credit recovery incentivized -

30%

of final payment if student completes prior to graduation (based on statutory parameters of 9 additional weeks allowed for semester course and 12 months for full-year course)

Tiered Cost Structure

• • A tiered cost structure has been created based on such factors as course subject and difficulty and necessary level of teacher interaction. These new course fees were designed to provide a reasonable and fair fee to the Public School Providers of online courses while ensuring students receive the high-quality curriculum and instruction necessary to prepare them for their post-secondary goals.

(Based on .5 credit)

Course Fees

• Notwithstanding the online course fees prescribed a school district or charter school may: • negotiate a fee with an online course provider for an amount up to the amount prescribed and • pay the negotiated fee instead of the fee prescribed • An online course provider who contracts with a vendor for the acquisition of online course content or online course instruction may negotiate the payment for the vendor's service independent of the fees specified

Students Customize Their Education with Blended Learning

• Course selection tied to the student's education occupation plan (SEOP - counselor led plan that tracks credits needed for graduation and post-secondary goals) • Courses offered in the Statewide Online Education Program are not supplemental

Parents and Students are in the Driver’s Seat

•

They choose

the courses •

They choose

the Course Providers • Blended Learning - Student chooses whether to take their course from the Statewide Online Education Program or from their primary school of enrollment

All Students Seeking High School Credits are Eligible

• 9-12 grade public school students eligible • Homeschool and private school students eligible in year three • Students on track for early graduation eligible

No Caps on Student Enrollment

Subject Mastery Replaces Seat Time

• Allows students to advance based upon demonstrated competency • Open-entry, open-exit permitted based upon provider parameters • Provider administers required state assessments (CRTs) upon course completion - state required to make assessments available at any time

Multiple Course Providers - Multiple Courses

• Incentivizes Competition • Allows students to customize their education to best meet their individual needs and academic goals • Provides access to the best courses and best teachers regardless of income level or zip code

Providers = Public and Private Partnership

• Authorized Providers are already part of the public school system - Providers can and currently do contract with private providers. Eligible Providers are: 1. LEA (Local Education Agency - charter or district school) program created exclusively for the purpose of serving students online 2. Charter or District School created exclusively for the purpose of serving students online • Allows for growth - as any LEA can potentially qualify by creating a program to serve students exclusively online

Accountability for Online Course Providers

As LEAs, Providers are already subject to USOE rule and oversight. In addition they must provide the following information on their website: • Description of Statewide Program & It's purposes • Eligibility & enrollment information • Course Catalog • Performance on statewide assessments • Successful completion rate • Student-Teacher Ratio

Program Expansion

• Up to two online courses in years one and two, beginning in the 2011-12 school year • In year three it expands by one course per year expanding to six courses in year six (based on Utah’s requirement of 24 credits for graduation) • A student may use the program to graduate early in accordance with their SEOP

“Online Course Offerings Explode for Utah Students”

September 6, 2011

Q: Do you know what happens when you allow the money to follow the student to the online course of their choice?

A: When you empower students and parents with the ability to choose, options increase exponentially!

Since the Statewide Online Education Program law took effect on July 1, 2011, there has been a

585% increase

in online learning options for Utah students.

For questions about Utah’s law or inquiries on how to develop your own state digital learning policy, contact Parents for Choice in Education at: 801 710-2345 or visit www.ChoiceinEducation.org

Parents for Choice in Education is a grassroots non-profit dedicated to ensuring every child has equal access to a quality education by empowering parents, increasing choice, and promoting innovative solutions to Utah's educational challenges.

How Do We Accelerate the Adoption of Digital Learning in K-12 Education?

Commerce

Vs.

Communication

Vs.

Exploration

Vs.

Education

The Same?

Utah State University: Education Administration Graduate Program

The Problem: The current types of educational technology deployed generally focus on improving classroom presentations and create more work for teachers

When technology

is

placed in schools, it is often misused, or ignored.

Interactive Whiteboards Laptops I>Clicker

2011

Badly Deployed Technology a Learning Distraction Freedom Elem. (digital) vs. Highland Elem.

Mathematics Proficiency

Enrollments Highland (569) Freedom (664)

Language Arts Proficiency

Highland Elementary Freedom Elementary Highland Elementary Freedom Elementary All Students 93% 89% 94% 92% Economically Disadvantaged 91% 80% 93% 84% Students With Disabilities 75% 73% 80% 75% Source: Utah State Office Education (USOE). Freedom Elementary was built from the ground up to implement 1:1 technology in the classroom.

Wasted Resources?

=

Student Engagement?

=

The Khan Academy

Bozeman Science

The Flipped Classroom

Socrates Opposed Manuscript Technology

“ … for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.

” Plato's Phaedrus Dialog on Socrates' view of Writing

Many Died for Using Disruptive Technology

On the morning of October 6, 1536, William Tyndale was tied to a stake, strangled, revived, then burned for the crime of mass producing the first English Bible.

Teaching to the Middle of the Bell-Shaped Curve

The Future is Now?

Disruptive Innovation

73% was good enough in the days of manual instruction because it had to be.

With digital learning we can require the other 27% or mastery.

Digital Learning Foundation International

Legislators must exercise their Constitutional prerogative of funding digital learning tools in the classrooms through competitive vendor RFP’s and competitive license applications from schools.

The Digital Learning Academy

Digital Learning Tools not likely to be in your schools • Smart Schools –

1:1 iPad student deployment

with professional development, technical backup, and engaging instructional tools produces significant measurable student gains.

• Software for

English Language Learners

provides engaging, individualized training which expedites English acquisition many times faster than manual methods, producing significant gains in student academic growth.

•

Connecting all public schools to fiber.

Use E-rate federal taxes already collected in your state to fund fiber to every school

and

robust connectivity

within

every school. Plus, ensure all students devices are safe on the Internet whether in

or

out of school.

• Self Contained Special Education Classroom –15 minutes a day of

interactive animation software

diminishes behavioral problems and accelerates academic performance.

•

Home based Pre-K software

provides preschoolers with engaging individualized reading and math instruction, collapsing the achievement gap at home before students enter Kindergarten. •

Online reading enhancement tool

used only 7 minutes 3 times a week causes students to read faster, comprehend more and perform better in all subjects. The online program produces measurable results and accountability through back end reporting.

•

Post-secondary education choices

are aligned with job market realities as students engage through “sticky” social media tool which pushes information, job offers, scholarship opportunities to students, parents, and counselors based on student academic performance, expressed interests, and aptitudes. Predictive analytics use soft and hard data to enhance success.

•

At-risk students

from language-deprived homes enter school with brains unfit for school success. Repeated instruction is futile for children whose brains are not capable of comprehending the language of schooling. Just 30 minutes a day with engaging digital “games” successfully “wires” the brain for the child to catch up to peers within 14 weeks.

•

High school dropouts

drop off the radar of public schools, but online providers contract with school districts to provide individualized online instruction and mentoring to now eager dropouts earning diplomas, not stigmatized GEDs. Nearly 80% of enrolled dropouts graduate as providers are paid only when students complete credits within narrow timelines.

• 9 th Review of highest rated

statewide online education legislation

which overcomes traditional school resistance to high quality online education and enables students to “vote with their feet” as the dollars follow the online providers based on student completion. Using digital individualized instruction to change the paradigm that 73% is “good enough” by requiring complete competency for all students by obtaining proficiency in the remaining 27%.

Contact Info: Senator Howard Stephenson Email: [email protected]

Mobile: (801) 815-6800