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ST. LOUIS, MO (KMOX) – Chesterfield Senator Jane Cunningham says she has a plan to give students in unaccredited schools options for where to go. The law currently says students in unaccredited schools can go to a county school of their choice for free. Cunningham says they should also be able to go to charter schools, virtual schools or private schools if they want.
For the rest of the article, go to Cunningham Proposes School Accreditation Fix
Within U.S. borders, online learning providers often approach districts, schools, and individual students and families by pitching the idea that virtual courses can help a student reach beyond a school system that falls short of addressing all student needs.
International e-learning consumers, by contrast, are approaching American virtual providers because they represent not an alternative to traditional American education, but an extension of it.
For the rest of the article, go to U.S. Virtual Ed. Companies Court Global Clients
National School Choice Week is ending in Missouri with a flurry of proposals that would sharply increase the number of charters, establish scholarships to private and parochial schools, solve the dilemma over students in unaccredited districts transferring to nearby schools and carve the Kansas City school district into pieces annexed by surrounding districts.
Whether the reshaping of schools passes — and whether the St. Louis Public Schools win approval to sponsor two charter schools this fall — is now up to the Missouri legislature and the state Board of Education. State Sen. Jane Cunningham, the Chesterfield Republican whose bill would bring about the most drastic changes, says if lawmakers don’t act to settle what has become known as the Turner case, the courts will.
Her bill, introduced Thursday and set for a hearing next week, would go much further than just the provisions addressing Turner. It would include these changes to Missouri education law:
For the rest of the article, go to Proposals could bring dramatic changes to Missouri schools
According to Cunningham, students in the St. Louis City school district are being “locked” in failing schools. By law, students in districts that have lost accreditation can apply to, and must be accepted in, surrounding districts. She says those applications are being refused, “and so, they are not getting their present rights.”
She plans to file a bill that reflects the testimony she heard during the Committee’s hearings. For her, that means seeking legislative approval for private schools to accept students living in districts that have lost accreditation. She says, “…we certainly have excellent ones out there who are willing to take these children and provide them an excellent education, and the other advantage that they noted to us was they’re in the city, or very near the city, so we would not have to spend the money and the time transporting the students out to county districts.”
She also anticipates lawmakers considering the expansion of charter schools, encouraging surrounding school districts to open their own charters in the St. Louis City Limits, expanding online virtual school options for parents who want that to help meet the needs of the number of students who will seek transfer.
For the rest of the article, go to Private school options considered for unaccredited districts’ students
Rockwood students are using technology to take advanced courses through a virtual learning environment. The experience is made possible with online meeting software or videoconferencing equipment that allows students to attend class and ask questions using an online chat feature.
At Eureka High School and Lafayette High School, students are using this technology to take calculus II through Wildwood Community College. Next semester, they will have the opportunity to enroll in calculus III.
For the rest of the article, go to Rockwood classes offered by virtual method
The principal, Esperansa Veal, was placed on administrative leave in May. Superintendent Kelvin Adams Jr. told reporters after Schweich released the report at the auditor’s office downtown that Veal is being paid while on leave. He said she would remain on such status until a hearing into her situation is conducted; he could not give an estimate on when that may take place. Her annual salary is $76,823, the school district said.
Schweich (right) said the attendance changes may have helped Patrick Henry meet progress requirements under the No Child Left Behind act and could have resulted in the school receiving extra money.
In a low-key response to the findings, Adams said that “the data speaks for itself.” He said the district has done internal audits on schools for attendance and test scores and not found any other examples of such manipulation of the figures.
Asked if he was surprised to find out about what was going on at Patrick Henry, he replied:
“What surprised me is that we weren’t aware of it.”
Adams said that academic achievement had been rising at the school and because such improvement often is the result of higher attendance, he did not realize the figures had been inflated. He also said that the school had had some virtual classes, and he thought that some increase in attendance could be attributed to that component.
For the rest of the article, go to Downtown elementary school principal inflated attendance figures, audit finds
The University of Missouri’s College of Education plans to launch a virtual school later this year that will provide online courses aimed to supplement what students take in their traditional high schools.
Eventually, the virtual school is expected to provide online courses to all K-12 students — although that’s likely years in the making.
In its infancy, the school will offer semester-based classes to help traditional students recover course credits, take advanced courses not offered in some districts or provide more options for homebound kids with special needs, said Director Monica Beglau.
It’s unclear how the program will be funded. Beglau is in the process of applying for federal grants and soliciting foundational support to get the school up and running. Then, she envisions funding for operations to come from a variety of sources.
School districts that don’t have the resources to offer Advanced Placement courses, for instance, might contract with the virtual school to provide them. Or, parents who want their children to take a foreign language not offered by their home districts might pay the virtual school to provide them.
The Missouri School Boards Association is in the process of surveying school districts to get a better idea of what courses they need the most. Beglau hopes to have a few of the most in-demand classes ready by January.
The virtual school is not intended to replace or compete with MU High School, which was moved under the helm of the College of Education this summer after the university repackaged two programs previously in MU Extension. The former MU Direct and Center for Distance and Independent Studies previously operated MU’s online and distance programs, including MU High School.
For the rest of the of the article, go to High school offerings in the pipeline
Lottery funds support 14 educational programs, Reardon said, including the A+ program, Virtual Schools, special education, construction of college and university buildings, library acquisitions and educational scholarships.
Missouri lottery sales went from $995 million in fiscal year 2008, the beginning of the last recession, down to $968 million in fiscal year 2009. Then sales went back up to $971 million in fiscal year 2010 before reaching $1 billion in fiscal year 2011.
Missouri lottery officials credit their success to increased marketing efforts, more ticket outlets and more community outreach.
In 2011, the Missouri Legislature allowed the lottery to increase its advertising budget by about 4 percent to $8 million, said May Scheve Reardon, executive director of the Missouri Lottery.
“We were able to do a 12-month campaign. In the past, we really only advertised our holiday Scratchers and maybe one other game. This helps us build momentum and keeps us in front of our players,” Reardon said.
During the past year, new scratchers games also helped boost sales, Reardon said.
One popular new game is a Bass Pro Shop-themed game offering instant winnings of up to $750,000 and hundreds of $500 gift cards as prizes. Another is the Missouri Lottery’s 25th anniversary cruise game in which participants could win up to $75,000 or a one of several seven-night Royal Caribbean International Cruises.
“We have one of the most aggressive prize packages. Our Scratchers are just so fun and exciting. We keep up with trends in the market,” Reardon said.
Lottery proceeds transferred to the state for public education programs totaled $259,424,366 in fiscal year 2011. Monday the Missouri Lottery made its largest monthly proceeds transfer ever, transferring more than $29 million from August ticket sales.
Reardon expects lottery sales to continue to increase through 2012 and hopes to transfer $267 million in proceeds to education this fiscal year.
For the rest of the article, go to Lottery sales up in Missouri, across nation
Eric Schmitt, 36, earned an associate’s degree from Kaplan University’s campus in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and then a bachelor’s degree from its online school three years ago The aspiring paralegal said he has been unable to find a job in the field. He owes nearly $45,000 in student loans and is working a temporary warehouse job to help support his wife and two children.
Schmitt, who testified before Harkin’s committee in June, called the Kaplan Commitment and other industry initiatives “a step in the right direction” but said the gap between education costs and real job prospects could mean “you’re going to keep seeing students thrown under the bus.”
In a statement issued by Kaplan after Schmitt’s testimony, the company said he turned down a paralegal job it helped him line up.
The conversations in Washington and Wall Street mean little to Carl Tabb, a 36-year-old father of 10 who hopes to earn a bachelor’s degree in information technology from the University of Phoenix while continuing to work full-time for the Missouri Department of Mental Health and moonlighting repairing home computers.
“I really was not the best student when I was in school,” he said. “I always thought I wouldn’t make it to college.”
Fitzgerald, a former Price Waterhouse consultant, said nontraditional students such as Tabb deserve just a chance to earn a degree and a shot at better future.
“Yeah, we’re a for-profit. But that doesn’t mean we’re in it for the wrong reasons,” she said. “We want to set up our students for success.”
For the rest of the article, go to For-profit colleges respond to increased scrutiny
This is happening in education as well. State universities are being disrupted by online universities. For K-12 education, online learning looked like it had the same characteristics to disrupt and transform. But it had to plant itself in areas of non-consumption. Those areas include credit recovery, drop outs, tutoring, AP or advanced courses, homeschooled or homebound students.
Substitution follows S-curve pattern. At first, just a few people are using it, followed by rapid adoption and a leveling off when the market gets saturated.
For the rest of the article, go to Notes from the ‘Education in the Digital Age’ conference
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