Beginning with the new school year, which kicks off Aug. 24, middle school and high school students may be able to design some of their own courses to achieve high school credit outside the classroom.

Members of the district’s credit flexibility team outlined the new program for school board members at their meeting Monday, July 26.

“I get excited when I think of getting student learning outside the four walls of a classroom, because that is where real life happens,” said Dave Miller, who teaches at Worthington Kilbourne High School.

Miller said options for credit flexibility include students pursuing independent study and a portfolio presentation; online courses; internships; service learning; research-based projects; dual credit college and high school programs; distance learning; and educational travel, similar to the Walkabout option that’s part of the Linworth Alternative Program.

For the rest of the article, go to Excitement builds around credit flexibility’s potential in Worthington

Now the district makes all eighth-graders attend summer “bridge” programs – a week or two at their future high schools to get to know teachers, take tests in math and reading, and learn how to study and manage time.

Once in high school, CPS offers students online courses to help them keep up on their credits. About 20 percent of CPS students take at least one online course, Rothwell estimated, not counting the 250 or so who attend CPS’ Virtual High School.

Most area high schools have expanded online course offerings to help students make up missed credits and graduate on time.

New Richmond schools runs a Graduation Academy at its district office, helping about 20 students a year make up credits online. The district’s grad rate climbed from 89.9 percent to a record 94 percent over the past two years, school officials said.

For the rest of the article, go to Ohio lags in minority grad rates

lso at the meeting, Superintendent Michael Sander updated the board on the status of the turf field construction, a $500,000 project which is slated to be completed by August 14. Sander said the base of the field has been laid, and the lettering and painting of lines on the field is scheduled to begin today before the installation of a rubberized sand mix.

“The weather has been fantastic, even though we did have some rain for a while,” he said.

Sander also said there is a possibility the field could be completed ahead of the mid-August completion date.

The board also agreed to purchase Virtual Learning Academy courses for students who are unable to take certain classes due to scheduling issues, and Sander reported that all school buses will be fitted with digital video cameras before the first day of classes on Tuesday, August 17.

For the rest of the article, go to Clinton-Massie welcomes new principal, teachers

The Morgan Local School District improved from an 89.8 percent graduation rate last year to 93.1.

Johnson said through research she’s found the majority of students who drop out of John Glenn High School did not begin school in the East Muskingum district, they more than likely have come in at a later grade.

“What I mean by that is they would be students who may have come into our system under the foster care system, maybe they are transient kids who have moved several times,” Johnson said.

She said she pulled files of all of the students who have dropped out in the past five years and the majority of students fell into those categories. She said she and district administrators and teachers then began putting a support system in place for those students.

“That’s where the Care Teams became involved and we’ve also added Apex, which is an online credit program we have that students who are behind on their credits can take courses to catch up or if they’re absent for high percentages of time,” Johnson said.

Mark Neal, Tri-Valley’s superintendent, said there is programming in place for students who may “fall through the cracks,” like online classes they can take from home, for students for some reason or the other, have missed class.

“We’ve made a pretty conservative effort to target those students and make sure we find a way to keep them on track to graduate,” Neal said.

Passing the graduation tests are key, he said.

For the rest of the article, go to More students graduating

One big impact on the rate is students who transfer into the district already lacking credits, which is why he said the district puts a big focus on after-school and summer school programs.

“We’re very aware of our graduation rate and work really hard to improve it,” Raach said.

Online and after-school programs are offered for students at River View High School.

“We try to provide kids every opportunity to make sure they get their credits, ultimately, they have some responsibility, but we do provide those opportunities to kids,” Kanuckel said.

Coshocton High School also offers online learning and Hire said a lot of flexibility is offered for credits to provide more opportunity to succeed.

“Also a big thank you to the Care Team approach, where local agencies work with some of our students that are highly at-risk so we can meet all of their needs,” Hire said. “It’s everybody coming together for after school programs, programs in the school day and other ways to help students get their diplomas.”

He said despite how successful a 96 percent rate is, there’s still 4 percent that should have passed.

“We really can’t rest until we get a 100 percent graduation rate,” Hire said.

For the rest of the article, go to Graduation rates on the rise

Virtual Community School of Ohio

The for-profit e-learning company K12 Inc. grew 40 percent last year, generating $385 million in revenue by providing virtual courses to 70,000 students across the country. Connections Academy, another such provider, generated about $120 million in revenue serving up online courses to some 20,000 students. And last month, the education technology company PLATO Learning announced that it is now offering online Advanced Placement courses, marking the first time the company will do so as part of its courseware for school districts.

Experts say for-profit providers of online courses—long seen as an option for home-schoolers and a potential rival to public schools—are breaking into the public education mainstream as more schools mix face-to-face classes and online courses to expand their curricular offerings. With demand for that “blended” approach expected to grow, other players in the online-coursetaking marketplace, such as Apex Learning, Aventa Learning, Compass Learning, and Kaplan Virtual Education, are also seeking business in public schools.

For the rest of the article, go to E-Education Inc. Seeks the Mainstream

Beginning this year, Oak Hills’ students will be moving toward the next decade in three areas:

• Virtual learning opportunities using personal laptops and other technological devices.
• Capstone activities and projects that culminate students’ high school learning experiences.
• Flexible credit options, which provide alternate ways for high school students to earn credit outside the classroom.

The result will be students graduating from Oak Hills prepared to stand above the competition by having more marketable skills for future educational and career experiences.

Hayes Ryland, an Oak Hills senior, attended the 2020 engagement and a similar session on technology in the district. He is eager to take advantage of the new opportunities he and Oak Hills classmates will have in the upcoming school year.

For the rest of the article, go to 2020 vision helping Oak Hills move toward future

COLUMBUS — The Virtual Community School of Ohio recently honored the Class of 2010 at a graduation ceremony at the Bridgewater Banquet and Conference Center in Powell. This year’s 114 high school graduates make up the eighth graduating class since VCS Ohio’s inception.

For the rest of the article, go to  LOCAL STUDENTS GRADUATE FROM ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL.