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The first two virtual schools in the United States were established in 1997. The Virtual
High School (VHS) and Florida Virtual School (FLVS). By 2001 Virtual Schools had expanded
to 14 states and are projected to continue to grow to most if not all state in some capacity. (Barbour
& Reeves 2009). In its 2016, annual report on virtual schools The National Education Policy
Center (NEPC) stated that in the 2013-2014 school year 447 full time virtual schools enrolled
almost 262,000 students and blended schools enrolled nearly 26,155 students in the US. (NEPC,
2016). These students came from the thirty-three states that had full time virtual schools, the
sixteen states that had blended schools and the two states that had blended schools but no full time
virtual schools. (NEPC, 2016). Private education management organizations (EMO) accounted for
44.4% of the full-time virtual schools which represented 74.4% off all student enrolled. There were
less of a presence of EMOs in blended schools. Independent schools with no private partners
represented 62.8% or blended school while EMOs represented just 20.9% of those institutions.
(NEPC, 2016).
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rationale.
The XYZ School District is actively seeking new initiatives to improve the performance of
the underperforming schools represented in high poverty areas within its district. As a virtual
school consultant, I have been tasked with creating a model that will change the dynamics and
improve the performance of these failing schools. My proposal is based on the blended school
model.
blended school.
A blended school is described as formal education in which students learn at least part
time through online content delivery and the students have some control over time, place, path and
or pace. And, in part learn at a brick and mortar location away from home (Stalker & Horn, 2012).
In addition, the blended learning model will have the ability to offer personalized learners for all
students. To implement this model, I will target the most underperforming middle school in the
district to be redesigned into a blended school. The school chosen for this pilot program is the
Riverfront Middle School (RMS). The focus of redesign for RMS will be of its mission, policies,
each of these components will be based on the skills learners will need to compete in a 21st Century
global environment.
The mission of RMS is to use 21st Century technology, a sound learning pedagogy, and
dedicated staff to provide a student-centered learning experience that challenges each student to
reach his or her full potential. The policy of the RMS middle school will be based academic
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integrity, faculty and teacher accountability, proctored exams, discussion based assessments
academic integrity.
All faculty and staff will be expected to abide to the highest standards of honesty,
accountability, dedication to the students success and ethics. In addition, all students and parents
are expected to read the student handbook and to sign the academic integrity pledge.
teacher accountability.
. Existing teachers at the school will assigned based on prior evaluations and those with
high evaluations will be placed in supervisory teacher roles and those teachers that are new or
underperforming will be assigned to a supervisory teacher for guidance. Each teacher will
environment. Teacher will be given mid-year and end of year evaluations to evaluate instruction
administrative accountability.
Administrative staff will be evaluated based on the effectiveness of the day to day
operation of the school and the quality of their interaction with leadership, faculty, students,
parents, and the public Administrative staff will also be given ongoing professional development
leadership accountability.
The leadership of the school will be evaluated based on the overall performance of the
school. The principle will be evaluated based on the management of leadership. This includes the
chief information officer (CIO) and chief academic officer (CAO). The CIO will be evaluated a
based on the quality of the technology implementation and maintenance. The CAO will be
evaluated on the quality of the curriculum course development and assessment outcomes.
leadership accountability.
There will be parent teacher conferences in which student progress will be discussed.
Students and faculty will have email accounts and access to all faculty and staff will be
accessible via email. In addition, a parents portal will be established for parents to interact with
the school staff and receive important information. As a part of policy all emails will be
responded to in a timely manner. All policies and procedures will be based on the guidelines
curriculum.
The curriculum for RMS will be vigorous, stimulating and designed using the highest
standards. RMS will provide each learner with an experience that is fulfilling and long lasting. The
curriculum will align with state and common core standards and will take into consideration the
needs of special learners. There will also be an emphasis placed on creating electives that allow
methodology.
approach. Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable and measurable aspects of human
behavior. (Standridge, 2002). The behaviorist aspect is based on learner participation in the
learning process. Leaners will be given task that are measurable and they will be evaluated based
that learners need to attend to stimuli, access existing knowledge to relate to it, realign the structure
of that knowledge to accommodate new information and finally encode that restructured
knowledge base into memory. (Jonnason, 1988). Using active learning, leaners will solve problems
To ensure all students receive a learner centered education each learner will have a
comprehensive individual education plan (IEP). RMS will be an inclusive organization that
encourages input from teachers, students, subject matter experts (SMEs), and most importantly,
parents. The framework for curriculum development will be based on the following Common Core
(2017) criteria:
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Based on rigorous content and the application of knowledge through higher-order thinking
skills
Informed by other top-performing countries to prepare all students for success in our global
course development.
All courses will be developed to align with the mission and core values of the XYZ school
district, state and national standards. There will be a holistic approach to learning employing the
latest in educational technology. The development of the courses will be supervised by the CAO.
Teachers and SMEs will work together to design and deliver courses easily integrated into both a
program implementation.
rotation model.
Building on the above framework of standards and guidelines I will use a rotation model
as the primary instructional methodology. A rotation model is a course or subject in which students
rotate on a xed schedule or at the teachers discretion between learning modalities, at least one
of which is online learning. (Christensen Institute, 2017). RMS students within a classroom will
rotate through stations which include differentiated small group instruction, collaborative or
independent practice and directed or online activities. In addition, students will be given activities
RMS BLENDED SCHOOL 9
and assignments to be completed via online access outside the classroom using the flipped
classroom method to help student develop self directed learning skills. (Stalker & Horn, 2012).
Teachers will use various tools and methodologies to make the students learning experience more
flexible, enriching, collaborative and personalized. This model affords teachers and students with
funding source.
Because RMS is a redesigned school that already exist in the XYZ school district the
primary funding will come from the district. Also, RMS will solicit government grants, and partner
with business and community organizations that value quality education and want to see students
succeed. In addition to district funding, government grants and partnerships RMS will fundraise
administration.
. The most important part of implanting a new program is its organizational structure. The
structure of a virtual or blended school have different components than traditional brick and mortar
schools. Based on general standards and guidelines as demonstrating in The Virtual Schools and
Online Learning pdf (UMUC, 2008) the following blended school model will be used:
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technology.
RMS will use a Learning Management System (LMS) to manage staff, courses, instructors,
students, and school related activities. The LMS of choice will be talentlms. (Talentlms, 2017).
This LMS is all encompassing and cloud based. The LMS administrator under the supervision of
the CIO will assign instructors to courses, and students to classes. In addition, the LMS will be
used to share pertinent school related information such as upcoming events and school closures.
Talentlms is a platform that is 100% mobile compatible. In each classroom there will be a
technology that consists of smartboards, computers, printers, and other computer aided
technologies. All students participating the program will be assigned laptops and thumb drives at
the beginning of the school year equipped when the latest educational software.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, as a virtual school consultant who was tasked with the mission of creating a
school model to improve the underperforming schools in the XYZ school district I have
accomplished this task by using a proven method. I chose to pilot the blended school model at
RMS I believe it is the most effective model to fit the needs of the XYZ school district. The
blended school model allows the district to redesign an existing school that doesnt displace
students and staff. Integrating technology with a traditional educational structure allows the RMS
community to develop a quality school within the existing walls of the current school. Most
importantly, through staff development and teacher training, RMS can serve as a blueprint for
References
Barbour, M., Reeves, T., (2009). The reality of virtual schools: A review of the literature.
Computers and Education, 52, 402-416.
Clayton Christensen Institute. (2017). Blended learning definitions and models. Retrieved from
https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blended-learning-definitions-and-models/
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2017). Core standards. Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/
Jonassen, D. H. (1988). Integrating learning strategies into courseware to facilitate deeper
processing. In D.H. Jonassen (Ed.), Instructional designs for microcomputer courseware (pp.
151-182). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
National Education Association. (2017). Online teaching guide. Retrieved from
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/onlineteachguide.pdf
National Education Policy Center. (2016). 2016 virtual school annual report. Retrieved from
http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/virtual-schools-annual-2016
Stalker, H., & Horn, M. (2012). Classifying k-12 blended learning. Innosight Institute Inc.
Retrieved from http://www.innosightinstitute.org/innosight/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/Classifying-K-12-blended-learning2.pdf
Standridge, M. (2002). Behaviorism. Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and
technology. Retrieved from http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/
Talentlms. (2017). Features. Retrieved from https://www.talentlms.com/features
University of Maryland University College. (2008). Virtual schools and online learning; how it
works. Retrieved from https://learn.umuc.edu/content/enforced/22086-022072-01-2145-
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