School year to speed shift to Net learning

New test, more classes move online

The 2014-15 school year that begins Monday in Arkansas' public schools will distinguish itself from all previous school years in two ways: new online student testing and digitally delivered course-taking.

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Back to school information for Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special School Districts.

"Legislation has opened the door and virtually pushed educators through into the digital age," Debbie Jones, the Arkansas Department of Education's new assistant commissioner for learning services, said about the changes in effect this year.

In 2014-15, thousands and thousands of the state's public school students in grades three through 11 will take all new, state-required math and English-language arts/literacy exams on computers. Using a keyboard, mouse and screen, students will click, type, drop and drag to read passages, answer questions and solve problems on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests that will be given starting in March.

And, for the first time this school year, every Arkansas public high school is required by Act 1280 of 2013, the Digital Learning Act, to offer one or more courses via the Internet or some other electronic means. This year's class of ninth-graders will be among the students taking a digitally delivered course because members of that class -- and all the classes to follow -- are required by the Digital Learning Act to take such a course to graduate in 2018 and beyond.

Computer and Internet use aren't at all new to Arkansas schools. The schools for years -- even decades -- have been furnished with computer laboratories and classroom computers, and more recently laptops and tablets, for student and teacher use. And, in that time, plenty of courses have been taught to students over phone lines and via the Internet by teachers in distant locations.

Now, all of that can be considered a warm-up for the technology-related test and course mandates in this new school year.

"It's not just about assessment and individual courses," said Jones about the impact of the technology requirements. "It completely changes the face of education."

Reading, writing and keyboarding

Evidence of the change is apparent even in kindergarten, where pupils won't take the multistate exams or digitally delivered courses.

But they will be learning computer keyboarding skills, along with reading, writing and math.

"We are paying particular attention to that because we want our kids to be proficient for the PARCC assessment," Rosie Coleman, the North Little Rock School District director of elementary education, said about teaching some computer skills starting in the second semester of kindergarten.

"We also want them to be proficient using the computer for everything -- doing their homework and looking things up. That's 21st-century learning."

The new online tests that were piloted this past year replace Arkansas' paper-and-pencil Benchmark and End-of-Course exams in math and literacy.

The new tests are based on the Common Core State Standards in math and English-language arts/literacy that were developed by national committees of specialists in the subject areas.

Arkansas adopted the Common Core standards on what students should know and be able to do, in July 2010 -- one of more than 40 states to do so. The new standards were phased in over the past three school years in Arkansas, starting with kindergarten through second grades in 2011-12, third through eighth grades in 2012-13, and ninth through 12th grades this past school year.

Arkansas joined a multistate consortium to develop new tests that are based on the new standards. The PARCC online exams are the result. Arkansas students will be taking the same tests next spring as their peers in New York, Ohio and New Mexico.

(Arkansas students in fifth and seventh grades will continue to take the state Benchmark Exams in science and 10th- graders will take the old End-of-Course biology test, all of which are required by state law, Jones said. )

The PARCC tests differ from the state's old test system -- not only because they are given on computers and are based on new standards -- but also because there are two separate tests per subject area. A performance-based assessment will be given in math and in English-language arts/literacy when 75 percent of the school year is completed, which will be in March. A second round of testing will be done in each subject when 90 percent of the school year is completed. That will be known as the end-of-year assessment.

The results from both testing sessions will make up the final score for the student.

Sample questions and practice tests are available for public review by clicking on the "PARCC Assessment" link at the website: parcconline.org.

In another change from the past testing system, ninth- and 10th-graders will take the literacy/English-language arts test. Additionally, algebra II has been added to the state-required tested subjects, along with algebra I and geometry that were part of the old testing system.

The state and the 236 traditional school districts and 18 charter school systems have been working almost since the adoption of the new standards in 2010 to ensure that schools have the equipment and capability to give their students computerized exams during a relatively compressed testing window.

Lonnie Myers, superintendent of the 4,000-student Mountain Home School District, said he believes his district is as prepared as it can be.

"I'd be untruthful if I didn't tell you I was a little apprehensive -- moving into a completely new assessment," Myers said. "But we'll figure it out and get it worked out one way or another."

Jones said there will undoubtedly be some challenges in the first year of online testing. Fourteen districts and two charter school systems have already been given permission to opt out of the online test this first year because of insufficient numbers of computers or other technology deficits.

"This is a new process. We expect bugs," Jones said, citing the possibility of school-closing spring storms at test time. "But for the bugs that we expect, we'll have a Plan B and a Plan C. We'll just have to be flexible and work through it."

Japanese lessons online

School districts are complying with the digital course requirements in Act 1280 of 2013 in myriad ways. They are being helped in part by the state Department of Education's approval of nearly two dozen digital course providers and the digital learning grants given earlier this year to 32 districts and charter school systems.

The grants, awarded by the Little Rock-based Arkansas Public School Resource Center, are meant to help districts offset the tuition costs charged for the online courses. For example, Virtual Arkansas, a digital course program offered by the state's education service cooperatives, charges a $2,500 district membership fee plus per student and per course fees.

Students in Mountain Home -- where all seven campuses have access to wireless Internet service -- will take courses from both Virtual Arkansas and from a national provider, Myers said.

Advanced Placement courses that are designed to give students a head start in earning college credit, and credit recovery courses meant to help students catch up on their high school requirements are among the kinds of courses that his students will be taking online, Myers said.

"Kids are able to access courses that maybe didn't fit into their schedules," he said. "We have a couple of kids who will be taking Japanese. We don't teach Japanese, but we are allowing them to do that online. That's a good thing about a grant. You can go out a little further."

The students can do the online work during study halls as well as after regular school hours.

The Pulaski County Special School District is making Computer Business Applications -- a one-year, ninth-grade elective course -- its digitally delivered course offering this year, said John Tackett, the district's secondary education director.

A required ninth-grade course in health is the North Little Rock School District's response to the state requirement for a digitally delivered course, Deputy Superintendent Beth Stewart said. The course will be a blend of regular teacher-to-student, face-to-face class time plus the use of the computer for tasks such as research and completing assignments, said Stewart, who added that additional "blended" courses will be added in later years.

"We've already got several teachers trying it out, getting their feet wet," she said. "It's a paradigm shift."

The Little Rock School District is offering online one-semester courses in economics and civics -- both required for graduation, plus an English/Read 180 supplemental reading course that will be a mix of regularly scheduled class time plus online work, said Karl Romain, the Little Rock district's interim supervisor for virtual learning.

About 100 students are registered for the three courses. The district also offered online courses in environmental science and health, but an insufficient number of students enrolled.

The district is using Edmentum Inc., an online educational program, as the textbook of sorts for the Little Rock district-designed civics and economics courses.

"We've added pieces such as a message board so that students can communicate with each other and a notebook piece that will enable them to do special projects," Romain said.

Students will communicate with their course teachers -- one of whom is a district administrator and another who is a banker -- via email during office hours that will be from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Students will take the course and do the course work on their own time, only taking course exams at school.

Romain said he and fellow district administrator Laura Beth Arnold will be able to monitor student activity in the courses to see if they are completing course work.

"If I see that they aren't where they need to be, I'll be emailing their parents and their counselors," Romain said. "I'll probably send a report home weekly."

Romain said the online courses will increase in number in later years, giving students the opportunity to take more courses online or at school.

"It will not only help our students prepare to be successful at the next level, but it will give them a greater resume," he said. "The online classes will free them to take an extra band class or an extra language class in school or double up on math. They can focus on what they want to do and so school becomes more fun."

Metro on 08/17/2014

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