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Virtual school program lacking applicants

January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“We’ve gotten several calls from students currently enrolled in virtual schools, for example in Union County,” Locke said. “We’ve heard from some [parents] homeschooling their students and some enrolled in private schools.”

Locke said when his department gathers a sufficient number of people signed up, Robertson County can begin with its virtual program, which will be administered by the company Connection Learning.

“Connection Learning [representatives] has indicated students can begin as late as February and still be able to complete coursework by the end of the term,” Locke said.

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Dreams of many ride on Metro Nashville’s magnet lottery

January 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Her advisers offered AP calculus online through Metro’s Virtual School, but she opted instead to learn it from her brother, a student at Volunteer State Community College.

“I don’t need to go to a magnet school to get a good education,” Clarise said. “Some say it’s a better opportunity, but going there won’t make me any smarter.”

She works part time at White Castle, many days driving straight to work after school and not getting off until 10 p.m. She uses her dinner break to study and do homework, finishing up at home if she has to.

Academics come first, she said, and if her grades drop, she’ll definitely quit the job.

For the rest of the article, go to Dreams of many ride on Metro Nashville’s magnet lottery

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New laws and new Hamilton County Schools chief mark year in education

December 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Some of public education’s most sacred cows vanished this year as the Tennessee General Assembly took on one of its most aggressive education reform sessions ever.

At home in Chattanooga, a changing of the guard also took place as school board members ousted Hamilton County’s five-year superintendent in favor of a longtime schools administrator.

In what reformers say were long-overdue changes, the Republican-controlled Legislature rewrote the teacher tenure law, stripped away teachers’ collective bargaining rights and enacted a teacher evaluation system that, for the first time, ties teacher performance to student achievement. The state also expanded the use of virtual and public charter schools.

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Hamilton County’s teachers union targets school boards

December 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Locally, Hughes said she’d like to see the legislature be more careful in opening the door for charter and virtual schools, both of which recently were expanded under Tennessee law. She also hopes to see the legislature repeal the Collaborative Conferencing Act, which stripped unions of negotiating powers.

Hughes said changes in teacher tenure laws were unnecessary because tenure has never ensured a teacher’s job, just a teacher’s right to due process. She said principals have always been responsible for dismissing poor teachers.

“It’s not hard to fire a teacher,” she said. “But we don’t want to make it so easy that you fire a teacher just because you don’t like that person.”

For the rest of the article, go to Hamilton County’s teachers union targets school boards

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/dec/13/chattanooga-union-targets-school-boards/

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Virtual Academy funding questioned

December 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

UNION COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) — It’s the fastest growing form of education in the country.

40 states have virtual academies and Tennessee is one of them. Growing at a rate of 30 students a day, its headquarters are in Union County

Now a study out of Colorado is questioning how they and dozens of others work.

“What is the purpose of having a school?” asks Union County Mayor Mike Williams. He is concerned too.

The National Education Police Center says there isn’t enough oversight.

Perhaps the most eye opening part of the study is financial.

“Cash strapped states and school districts are using online education.” the study says.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual Academy funding questioned

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In Tennessee’s virtual schools, everything is homework

December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Nashville, Memphis, Bristol City, Union County and Putnam County took advantage of a new state law allowing public school districts to launch virtual schools. Some opened this semester, and others will start in January.

Dockery, 39, who taught high school history in east Georgia for five years, said he has enjoyed the transition to virtual education, but it has drawbacks.

“I miss seeing kids face to face and the interaction,” he said. “But this is the first year I’ve never had to break up a fight and not had to devote a lot of time to logistics — like going into work an hour early to make copies and the copy machine is down.”

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Virtually Educated

December 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I always thought that the only kids getting their entire public schooling online were in the hospital, living in the Alaskan tundra, or pursuing a career as a singing orphan in the road company of “Annie.” Not so. There are now around 250,000 cyberschool students in kindergarten through high school and the number is growing fast.

If I had managed to envision a lot of students going to school online, I’d have imagined them being home-schooled by a diligent middle-class parent. But, lately, the target seems to be low-income families. Andy Berke, a state senator in Chattanooga, Tenn., says that when an educational company named K12 Inc. held a meeting to publicize its online taxpayer-funded academy, it chose “one of the poorest neighborhoods” in his district. In Pennsylvania, where K12 runs a statewide online charter school called Agora, you can go to the Web site and watch Head of School Sharon Williams explain about “online learning as an alternative to a violent in-school experience.”

O.K., here is my first question: Does full-time online learning really work for disadvantaged kids who may be alone at home all day?

Kevin Welner of the University of Colorado did a review of all the information available on this and, in fact, on the entire question of how well full-time online learning works for kids in elementary through high school. The answer was: nobody knows.

“The most detailed study is a couple of blog entries,” he said.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtually Educated

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Metro schools applaud progress

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

» Allowed students who move frequently to stay in the same schools, even if they’ve moved out of the attendance area.

» Served the district’s 1 millionth customer at its customer service center in April, and took a picture of Register posing with a mother still wearing her work shirt, cheerleaders jumping and balloons hanging in the background.

Also on Tuesday, the school board approved a $443,223 curriculum by Scholastic for its 144 pre-K providers, to be paid from the state lottery grant, and a $594,640 contract with Blackboard Inc. for its Virtual School. The 24-hour access will allow students to interact with virtual school classmates, watch PowerPoint presentations and view teachers’ notes.

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Report on proposed online, or virtual, school courses cites lack of regulation

November 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There are two kinds of online learning environments. The first, and most common, are courses students take to graduate early or repeat classes they have failed.

In most cases, these are online tutorials that do not include lectures. Students advance at their own pace and take a test at the end.

In the second case, school districts contract with private companies to provide all online classes for students.

Last year, Tennessee legislators approved Tennessee Virtual Academy, run by K12 Inc. through Union County Public Schools in East Tennessee.

From July 1, when the law went into effect, until this fall, the virtual academy — authorized for students in grades K-8 — enrolled more then 2,000 Tennessee students, including several dozen from Memphis.

At least $5,387 in state and federal tax dollars per student flows to the Union County school district. It passes about 96 percent of the money to K12 Inc.

Each student receives textbooks and other class material.

Memphis parent Angela Muhammad enrolled her third-grade son in the Union County program and is pleased.

For the rest of the article, go to Report on proposed online, or virtual, school courses cites lack of regulation

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Board sets policy on Virtual Academy

November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

PUTNAM COUNTY — Putnam County students will not be able to leave Putnam County Schools mid-school year to enroll in the for-profit online school known as Tennessee Virtual Academy.

In its regular November meeting, the Putnam County School Board amended its policy on home schools to include Tennessee Virtual Academy. That policy requires notice of intent to enroll in a home school, and now Tennessee Virtual Academy, prior to the beginning of the school year.

“Tennessee Virtual Academy is a for-profit company that came into a county in Tennessee and it allows individuals to leave a system and go through the Tennessee Virtual Academy K12 system,” Director of Putnam County Schools Kathleen Airhart told the board. “What is happening is the money from the system (where) the students reside follows the student to that county.”

Tennessee Virtual Academy is an online public school administered by the Union County School District. K12, the company that runs the school is based out of Herndon, Virginia.

For the rest of the article, go to Board sets policy on Virtual Academy

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