Monday, April 1, 2019

3:00−4:20 p.m.

Failing Schools or Failing Metrics? A Virtual School Accountability Debate

Jay W. Ragley, VP of State and Strategic Client Relations, Pearson Online & Blended Learning

Todd Ziebarth, Senior Vice President of State Advocacy & Support, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds, Vice President of Policy, Foundation for Excellence in Education

Are K–12 virtual schools failing students, or are metrics failing virtual schools? Have flawed accountability frameworks painted an unjustly negative picture of fully online schools, or are current metrics valid? Join leading virtual education thought leaders as they debate academic performance and accountability issues relating to online schools. Policy for virtual schools will round out this lively and timely debate on one of the nation’s hottest educational issues.

3:00−4:20 p.m.

Texas Digital Learning Champions: Go Big or Go Home!

Lea Ann Lockard, Executive Director, Texas Connections Academy @ Houston

Debbie Vincent, Digital Learning Curriculum Specialist, Alief ISD

“Go big or go home,” say Texas educators, architects of some of the nation’s largest digital learning programs. Debbie Vincent of Alief ISD discusses serving students statewide with supplemental online courses. Rising student demand — and success — have spurred Alief’s enrollments to an all-time high. Texas Connections Academy@Houston’s Lea Ann Lockard chronicles her school’s growth since it opened almost a decade ago. Both offer best practices for building sustainable, scalable digital learning models.

3:00−4:20 p.m.

VR Gets Real: Bio Pilot Highlights Potential of Virtual Reality for Student Learning

Mickey Revenaugh, Director of Global Schools, Pearson Online & Blended Learning

The promise of virtual reality (VR) to improve student engagement and raise learning outcomes has been largely untested in K-12 education — even in virtual schools. Until now. It’s still early, but Mickey Revenaugh of Pearson unveils a new VR biology pilot program, “World of Cells,” which has been implemented across five schools, serving 800 students. The VR module, delivered on a smartphone with a cardboard headset, has produced strong early results that offer a roadmap for all digital learning advocates.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Road Schooling: Escaping the Boxed Life

Bionca Smith, California Connections Academy Parent

Single mom Bionca Smith chronicles her adventures in “road schooling” her 9-year-old son. Living a comfortable life, yet feeling stressed out and “boxed in,” a year ago Smith took a leap of faith, trading a traditional home for a vintage van, and a conventional lifestyle for the joy and freedom of travelling the world as a family. Online public schooling means Smith’s son Carter can learn anywhere and infuse their travel experiences into his lessons. Smith’s unconventional approach reflects many of today’s parents’ proactive embrace of fully online learning as a tool to help them live a more spontaneous life and re-define “success.”

New VLLA/QM Online Learning Standards: Veteran Virtual School Principal Weighs In

Melissa Gould, Principal, Minnesota Connections Academy

The Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance and Quality Matters are revising the current iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Learning. Most agree it’s a good idea to update the decades-old Standards. But what impact will new Standards have on virtual schools nationwide? Melissa Gould, Minnesota Connections Academy principal, shares her perspective on how new Standards impact every aspect of online schools: accountability frameworks, school programs, teacher training, and course development.

POSTER SESSION: New Research Reveal: Impact of Instructional Interventions Targeting Diverse Students at Online Schools

Dr. Alyssa Walters, Senior Director of Research, Assessment and Accountability, Pearson Online & Blended Learning

Researcher Dr. Alyssa Walters presents new research on the efficacy of instructional interventions supporting the diverse students served by online schools: Response to Intervention programs; accelerated pacing; bullying victim supports; and effective synchronous instruction, including talking about math. The research addresses fully online learning, and not one school model specifically, so findings will be of interest to all educators seeking evidence-based practices to lift student achievement.