Chat Transcript for Spokane Schools Research Needs Webinar 2/18/15Kristin Whiteaker & Don Brummet

Christopher R:sorry I am late...are these students 100% online or blended?Don Brummett:We have very few ful time online students. most are taking 1-2 online and the rest in their home schoolsChristopher R:is it continual enrolment / exit?Don Brummett:No. We align to our districts calendar. We usually have full classes or cut it off about two weeks into the semester.Don Brummett:They can finish as fast as they want thoughDon Brummett:Our Credit Retrieval program is continualChristopher R:thank-you b/c we are continual enrolment and our completion rates are not like yours.Christopher R:How do you calculate your completion rate?Don Brummett:Completion is anyone who is in the course after first three weeks, same enrollment period as the brick and mortar schools.Don Brummett:Pass rate is % of those students who pass classesChristopher R:Is there support at the home school for these students?Don Brummett:We have student support specialists that are assigned to every school. We have an electronic intervention system that flags students based on weekly progress. The support people work with the studentsChristopher R:How do I get these support teachers? :)Don Brummett:They are not teachers. They are basically IA'sDon Brummett:We could not afford to hire teachers for that role.Christopher R::)Don Brummett:There are two of them for the 11 secondary school that we haveKathryn Kennedy:We have a requirement for mentors to work with online students within Michigan. Christopher R:It is interesting that F2F teachers wish to get these courses to support them when many are against online learning.Rebecca Stimson:Do they IAs go through any special training for their role with students?Christopher R:School in BC could have gotten teacher support for online students but they there was a push back from the F2F schoolsDon Brummett:They are not IA's but are paid at that level. They all have some background with students. We do alot of social and emotional training with all of our employees and teachrersKathryn Kennedy:That's unfortunate ,Christopher - supporting students is #1 priority so if it means having extra support. It's crucial for student success as we've seen in our effectiveness report. Christopher R:Kathryn -- I agreeKathryn Kennedy::)Christopher R:Please define blended learning - does it mean 1 day in F2F class and then next day at home?Don Brummett:We ended up bypassing the teachers and putting the resources directly in the hands of students and parents. They are bringing the teachers along with them.Frances:How are the coaches trained to implement the school responsibilities?Don Brummett:We spent a year meeting and training the coaches to prepare for implementations.Christopher R:Don -- so a Physic student in a F2F course could access the online content, quizzes, forums etc?Kathryn Kennedy::)Frances:What were the greatest challenges getting the admin and teachers to buy in to blended learning?Don Brummett:They automatically get the online course minus the quizzes etc. They get all of the material to use for a resource though. If their teacher has requested to use it then they could have access to the full versionChristopher R:Don - Who pays for these F2F students to get the online content?Don Brummett:Biggest challenge is probably just understanding. We have good support at the top levels of our district and it was just taking time to show them what it was and the possibilitiesDon Brummett:There is no cost for them to access. All of our students 4th grade and above have a Blackboard account. Frances:Was the PD for admin and teachers performed online, f2f or blended?Don Brummett:Our department pays for Blackboard.Christopher R:So your definition of blended is full time F2F student having access to the online content?Don Brummett:PD was in face first. Then modeled online and in person blendedFrances:sounds like a very good transition!Don Brummett:No. There are many diferent level of Blended. We have some that just make the online content available and do rotations all the way up to some teachers who are flipping classroomsFrances:so the coaches are providing both leadership and instructional coaching?Don Brummett:Yes. We also are using The Microsoft Peer Coaching program to train Blended Learning coachesFrances:what plan was put in place to educate the parents/community?Don Brummett:The support courses were the first step. Every parent in our district has an observer account to see what their students see in Blackboard. Teachers and schools are educating parents as they go. We have not seen any that are pushing back against it. Most embrace the individualized possibilities for teir studentChristopher R:I asked for a parent observer account for my students but techies said it could not be done. We are using D2LDon Brummett:We automatically do it for every secondary parent. It sure makes buy in easier when they see it and can connect with the curriculum and support their child at homeChristopher R:So, parents can go into their child's class and see content etc and their child's grades pageFrances:are there any general blended learning models being used in secondary level?Don Brummett:Yes. They see the support classes and any class that the student is in that the teacher has requestedDon Brummett:The most common model we see is rotation. Teachers are using data to create groups and work for studentsJustin Bruno:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T8SU7ZVcjkFrances:do you find that most schools are more interested in sustaining innovative models vs. disruptiveDon Brummett:Depends on the school. We push for disruptive innovations all the time. One of our schools dove in head first and changed everything. Others are slowly rolling into itFrances:Don, thank you very much, appreciate all your responses to the questions!!!Don Brummett:Thank you. Feel free to contact me at donb@spokaneschools.org - 509-354-7544 if you have any other questionsChristopher R:Yes...I think I need to do a road trip to Spokane to visit your programDon Brummett:absolutelyDon Brummett:Where are you at/Christopher R:Vancouver BCDon Brummett:anytime CristpoherChristopher R:Can students from outside Spokane take your courses?Justin Bruno:Beth Robelia is doing some interesting work on student and teacher climate; her email is robe0284@umn.eduJustin Bruno:she may be interested in chatting about her instrumentsDon Brummett:Yes. We are also the blended learning solution for Tacoma, Belingham, Mt Vernon, Puyallup and about 7 othersChristopher R:In BC we have a competive model where students can take online classes from any of the 60+ school districtsDon Brummett:Those districts use our environment to teach their own kids online as well as having them take our classesFrances:Thank you Kristin!Don Brummett:There are alot of options in WA too. Districts partner with us to ensure rigor and to not loose fundingChristopher R:with a competive model -- I feel there is less colaboration between schools and teachersJustin Bruno:https://www.inacol.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/iNACOL-Blended-Learning-Teacher-Competency-Framework.pdfFrances:There appears to be a lot of buy in from teachers on the growth mindsetDon Brummett:I think it opens the eyes of alot of people who would have considered themselves to have a growth mindsetFrances:was there PD that you facilitated on that?Dave Goodrich:#GrowthMindset = #BrilliantChristopher R:If a F2F teacher decides to use one of your course -- can they modify it to suit their needs?Don Brummett:We are starting to do it wide scale. As Kristin mentioned we have purchased Brainology software to use district wide with staff and studentsDon Brummett:They can modify it however they want Frances:I have heard that the toolkits are very valuableFrances:That appears to be very important for teachers to be able to edit the contentJustin Bruno:thanks!Don Brummett:Teachers being able to modify it makes them feels like they are stil in controlFrances:what type of data is being collected to research blended approach?Don Brummett:We are trying to develop that. There is a slide earlier that talked about what we are looking to trak. Right now we can compare grades in Brick and Moratr classes that use a blended approach and those who do notDave Goodrich:Have any of you tapped into the BlendKit Course | Blended Learning Toolkit? https://blended.online.ucf.edu/blendkit-course/Don Brummett:The problem is that we have no way to track the level of useFrances:did you gather any data on teacher perception before/during the PDDon Brummett:We ave them all in a Blended Learning Blackboard shell where they are journaling and sharing experiencesChristopher R:Sounds like you are doing great workDon Brummett:Thank You ChristopherFrances:absolutely!Frances:i look forward to learning more about your great workChristopher R:It is great when there is support from admin. How about the teacher union?Don Brummett:Being a public school we believe in sharing everything we do with other public entitiesDon Brummett:We have had no issues with the union. They recognize the importance and we are not forcing any teacher into it at this pointChristopher R:Great presentationDave Goodrich:Thank you, all! So much! Don Brummett:Thanks for the link DaveDave Goodrich:Keep up the GREAT work!Dave Goodrich:Gladly!Christopher R:Is there a class size restriction?Don Brummett:We folow the district prescribed class sizesDon Brummett:No problemRebecca Stimson:Very interesting. Thank you!Christopher R:In BC online classes do not have class size restriction and this might transfer to blended coursesDon Brummett:Lets talk more Christopher later . I will share a little moreChristopher R:will doRebecca Stimson:http://www.mvlri.org/Blog/MVLRI-Guest-Blogger-ProgramDon Brummett:Thank You!Kathryn Kennedy:Thank you so much!Kristin Whiteaker:Thank youFrances:Very helpful Kristin and Don!