Proposal to Charter A Virtual Alternative School To Be Known As: Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy Prepared for: Daleville Community Schools Board of Trustees Prepared by: Board of Directors Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 500 East 96th Street, Suite 400 Indianapolis, IN 46240 Introductory Letter Through our experiences administering the Indiana Virtual School, we have discovered a great need for a ‘virtual’ alternative school in the state of Indiana. No other organization is offering such a program at this time and too many students are being left behind as a result. This document will present some of the technical details on how such a program will work and how we believe we can accomplish this mission. In our six years of serving Indiana Virtual School students, we have realized a great need to accommodate those students not being served by traditional schools or alternative programs. We have invested a great deal of time researching this need and we believe our team can better serve these students in a new setting. Beginning with the Individual Service Plan that will direct the schedule for each student, as well as an impetus on school to work opportunities, we believe we can provide a balanced approach in understanding the present needs of our students for future success. The Indiana Virtual Education Foundation is asking Daleville Community Schools Board of Trustees to authorize this new school, allowing us to further serve a number of students in Indiana who do not fit the standard mold of the current education system. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to your review of this proposal. Respectfully, Percy Clark, Jr. Superintendent Indiana Virtual School Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 2 Executive Summary Mission & Vision Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy provides robust, diverse and personalized educational pathways for “at risk” students through leveraging online coursework with community partnerships, internships and industry certifications. Our intent is to provide an educational format that will accommodate Indiana students who fall by the wayside, missing the opportunity for greater personal development and ultimately greater economic opportunities. Our vision is to provide an equal opportunity for academic success for all students, regardless of the obstacles in life that may hinder their success in a traditional school. Targeted Student Population While recognizing that all high school students in Indiana have the right to enroll, our targeted population will be those with a record of poor performance. These are students who are out of their cohort due to academic deficiencies, intend to withdraw or have withdrawn from school, have failed to comply academically, are disruptive as defined in IC 20-10.1-4.6-1.6, or would benefit from instruction offered in a manner different than what is offered in a traditional school setting. Educational Focus The targeted population has significant hurdles, and in some cases, barriers in their path to receiving an education. Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy will focus on creating a viable and realistic pathway forward for each student using internships and industry certifications as a means to incentivize and provide relevance to the education. Educational Delivery System Course content will be delivered online through relationships with content providers. Between Pearson School, Edison Learning, and Edmentum, IVPA can offer over 600 online courses, customizing each student’s educational experience. Teachers and student representatives will regularly engage with students through multiple communication avenues such as phone, email, text, IM, chat, Adobe Connect, Scribbler, as well as those that are inherent in each LMS. Internships and industry certifications will, of necessity, be “in person” and live. Governing Structure The Indiana Virtual Education Foundation will serve as the Organizer of Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy. IVEF is a domestic nonprofit corporation registered in the state of Indiana since 2015. The IVEF Board of Trustees reflects a broad diversity of expertise and interests and their individual track records demonstrate successful performance in education and business as well as a commitment to our communities and the State of Indiana. The Board is united in a commitment to help expand the range of quality educational opportunities for those students whose life circumstances make education a challenge. Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 3 Accountability Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy will utilize EVOLVE for a yearly self-analysis. EVOLVE is a research-based rubric, developed by The Summit under the leadership of Dr. Brad Oliver, that supports the evaluation and evolution of online learning and virtual efficacy by scrutinizing practices in the four critical competencies of education: academics, systems, personalization, and governance. Through an external review by an expert team along with a self-study by our school, EVOLVE will provide us with guidance that is targeted, relevant and timely. Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 4 Proposal PURPOSE The Indiana Virtual Education Foundation seeks to enter into a relationship with Daleville Community Schools for the purpose of authorizing a new virtual charter school to be known as Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy. The new school will be designed to provide robust, diverse and personalized educational pathways for “at risk” students. Online coursework will be augmented with community partnerships, internships and opportunities to earn industry certifications. Our intent is to provide an educational format that will accommodate Indiana students who fall by the wayside, missing the opportunity for greater personal development and ultimately greater economic opportunities. Our vision is to provide an equal opportunity for academic success for all students, regardless of the obstacles in life that may hinder their success in a traditional school. TARGETED STUDENT POPULATION While recognizing that all high school students in Indiana have the right to enroll, our targeted population will be those with a record of poor performance. Examples fitting this criterion would be students who are: • Currently under expulsion • Intend to withdraw or have withdrawn from school • Parents or expectant parents and are unable to regularly attend the traditional school program • Employed and the employment is necessary for family financial support and traditional school interferes with a part of student's instructional day • Who are out of their cohort due to academic non-compliance (credit deficiency) • Are disruptive students (as defined in IC 20-10.1-4.6-1.6) • Have failed to comply academically and would benefit from instruction offered in a manner different than what is offered in a traditional school setting EDUCATIONAL FOCUS The targeted population has significant hurdles, and in some cases, barriers in their path to receiving an education. Each student has a prior record of school failure. Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy will focus on creating a viable and realistic pathway forward for each student using partnerships, internships and industry certifications as a means to incentivize and provide relevance to education. Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 5 EDUCATIONAL COMPETENCY: GOVERNANCE THE BOARD – INDIANA VIRTUAL EDUCATION FOUNDATION Organization The Indiana Virtual Education Foundation will serve as the Organizer of Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy. IVEF is a domestic nonprofit corporation registered in the state of Indiana. The IVEF Board of Trustees reflects a broad diversity of expertise and interests and their individual track records demonstrate successful performance in education and business as well as a commitment to communities and the State of Indiana. The Board is united in a commitment to help expand the range of quality educational opportunities for those students whose life circumstances make education a challenge. Board Members Mr. Tom Stoughton Mr. Tom Burroughs Mr. Fred Ellis Mr. Tom Krudy Mr. Ed Valdettaro Role The Board of Trustees will assume ultimate responsibility for all of the operations and finances of Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy. Inherent in that oversight will be establishing and approving all major educational and operational policies as they relate to the school, approving all contracts, approving the school's annual budget, overseeing the school's fiscal affairs, and monitoring Indiana Virtual Pathway Academy performance. The Board of Trustees will also be responsible for ensuring compliance with its charter agreement and overseeing the evaluation and accountability process agreed to in the Charter. The major roles and responsibilities of the Board of Trustees include: • Establishment of the Charter • Establishment, management, execution and evaluation of all policies governing the school including, but not limited to, academics, programs, students, employees, volunteers, community partners, and internships • Establishment, management and execution of all financial policies, procedures and transactions including budgets, contracts, expenditures, receipts, and yearly external audits as a fiduciary organization • Establishment and evaluation of academic programming • Monthly public board meetings • Compliance with all local, state, and federal regulations including, but not limited to, the Charter, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indiana State School Board, and the Indiana State Board of Accounts • Performance evaluation of the school based on the EVOLVE rubric • Any other powers not delineated above are reserved by The Board to further the mission and operation of the school. Board Policy Development Policy development is informed by a combination of local, state, federal and Authorizer requirements for the operation of the school. School administrative staff will recommend to Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 6 the Board of Trustees policies that are required to be in place for the safe, legal and effective operation of Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy. In this context, the school administration is staff to the Board of Trustees. The staff responsibilities will include assisting in policy development as well as having the authority to carry out policies once the Board of Trustees have adopted them. The Board of Trustees maintains the responsibility and authority to approve the educational and operational policies of the school and to hold the administrative staff accountable for the proper implementation of those policies. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION Overview Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy administrative staff will manage the school, handling all day-to-day academic, operational, and management issues. These school leaders will be certified administrators with leadership experience as school principals or school leaders. Staff will be expected to demonstrate expertise in curriculum, instruction, assessment, finance, facilities, business management, governance and administration. Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy administrative staff will be structured based on the school's educational program and projected enrollment. Head of School The Board will employ a Head of School (HOS) to act in the capacity of a state school superintendent with supervisory authority over all students and employees of the school. The HOS will be responsible for all operations of the school and will make recommendations to the Board regarding policy, operations, employment, systems, and educational best practices. In this capacity, the HOS will also be the Board’s liaison with the Authorizer, the Indiana Department of Education, and the State School Board. Administrative Staff School personnel such as principals, assistant principals, and designated educational department leaders shall be duly licensed as required by the IDOE, legislative mandate, and/or any other applicable Indiana State laws. All administrative staff shall report to the HOS. Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 7 EDUCATIONAL COMPETENCY: ACADEMICS CURRICULUM Content Our curriculum is provided by Florida Virtual School, Edison Learning, and PLATO, each of which are award-winning curriculum developers known worldwide and comprises over 600 courses including AP, and Honors. All courses are provided online and are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) as well as the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA). Each course has an Indiana licensed teacher that works directly with students, and students may contact teachers through a variety of methods. Delivery All of our courses are fully online enabling students to be able to work on their studies any time of the day or night, and as often as they wish. All courses have a Pace Chart embedded in them. This allows students to know exactly what is expected to be submitted on a weekly basis, whether they choose a traditional, extended or accelerated pace. Instructors assist students in modifying the chart to reflect their chosen pace or life circumstance. Relationships, Internships & Industry Certifications A critical focus at the Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy is establishing more adult relationships in the lives of our students through a variety of business and social service partners. We have established relationships with the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association, Meridian Services (a statewide social service agency), Minority Engineering Program of Indianapolis, Indiana Construction Roundtable and EmployIndy, the Marion County Workforce Investment Board. The Minority Engineering Program of Indianapolis (MEPI) will serve as a community partner. MEPI was established in 1986 to expose minority students in central Indiana to key concepts related to STEM careers. MEPI’s Saturday programming provides activities that deliver a strong math and science foundation. Students are encouraged to excel in their studies and 95% of MEIP-engaged youth enroll in college upon high school matriculation. Internships are available for juniors and seniors at work places such as Xerox, Lilly, Rolls Royce, Allison Transmission, and Cummins. Also serving as a community partner is the Indiana Construction Roundtable (ICR). ICR is a primary partner in the Build Your Future campaign, a collaboration of employers, state agencies, and industry associations that encourages Indiana students to learn about and qualify for emerging careers and training opportunities in the construction industry. INSTRUCTION Teachers Courses are taught by highly qualified, Indiana state certified instructors. Instructors and students interact regularly through a multitude of communication methodologies (i.e. phone, email, text, IM, chat, Adobe Connect, Scribbler, etc.). Students are encouraged to Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 8 contact the instructor when there is a need of any kind. Instructors speak via telephone with students and their parents at least once per month. While technology will be utilized to deliver course content, our school is built around a powerful educational model of meaningful parent/student/teacher involvement. Stating this, it is critical that the parent/guardian is engaged with the education of the student they represent. The Indiana Virtual Pathway Academy will continue to develop strong relationships between the school, student and parent/adult. Assignments Upon entering the course, students have access to all assignments, but access to tests or quizzes may not be available until certain assignments have been completed. Students move sequentially through the course but may be allowed to occasionally move ahead or test out of certain areas, pending instructor approval. The Grade Book Every graded assessment is recorded in the student’s personal grade book, which is also available to parents/guardians. All graded assignments and current overall grade average are available for viewing. Work Load Expectation Each student is required to submit a specific amount of work each week to maintain the appropriate pace decided on by instructor and student. The number of required weekly submissions depends on the interaction between the course taken, the end date, and the number of weeks until the end date. Instructors will work with students to accommodate individual schedules while emphasizing the importance of reading the material, studying the material, and understanding the various connections to previous course work. Failure to maintain pace will result in warnings, reduced grades and, if unheeded, withdrawal from the course. Academic Integrity Academic integrity is a core value and one of the most important areas of focus as a learning organization. IVPA uses a variety of tools and protocols to ensure academic integrity. Some of these include: TurnItIn.com: This Internet tool compares student work against a variety of databases. The IVPA Learning Management System is integrated with TurnItIn.com and most work is automatically uploaded to the system. This database compares students’ work against other students’ work, as well as work found on the Internet. Academic Integrity Database: IVPA maintains its own database of student work. This database is used to compare student-to-student work to verify student originality. Teacher Expertise: IVPA instructors have extensive classroom experience. Their expertise is often a guide in identifying the level of originality in student work. Discussion-Based Assessments: Each teacher regularly conducts discussion-based assessments with his or her students. These conversations occur at specific intervals in a course and are included in the assessment component of each course. The teacher Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 9 discusses individual student work and extends the conversation to verify the authenticity of the student work while identifying useful connections to previous course material. It is expected that the work submitted by the student will align with level of mastery demonstrated in the discussion-based assessment. Proctored Exams: All Indiana State testing (ISTEP, ECA, ILEARN, ISTAR) are proctored and comply with all IDOE testing policies and regulations. Teachers may also schedule a proctored exam for course content at any time. Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 10 EDUCATIONAL COMPETENCY: PERSONALIZATION PATHWAYS The inclusion of the term “Pathways” in the naming of the school was intentional. The students that we propose serving have lost their way, educationally, and do not have a viable pathway forward. Our first step is to ascertain their current level of academic performance, i.e., credits attained, grade placement and reading level. Then, drawing upon conversations with the students and parents, we will identify their interests for the future. Courses and community partnerships/internships will then be deliberately selected to create an individualized pathway forward. During the scheduling process the school will take in to account personal circumstances such as work, parenting, juvenile detention, health factors, etc. Each student will have an assigned team of teachers and support staff who will constantly monitor progress and intervene when the student loses engagement. THE INDIVIDUAL SERVICE PLAN Student Success Coaches will be assigned to every student upon enrollment. As referenced above, each student will have an individual pathway that charts what they have accomplished, what courses they have yet to take, and internship/training opportunities that ultimately lead to graduation, and potentially, a job. The Success Coach oversees and implements an Individual Service Plan for each student; advises students and parents in regard to academics and activity levels; collaborates with school staff to identify and assist students in accessing school and community resources; and assists students who enroll mid-semester to ensure smooth transitions into their new their classes. ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION Students Student engagement in the learning process is critical. Because the targeted student population have already experienced failure in school despite live, in-person support in their traditional school settings, it is imperative that we re-engage these students. We will use a multi-tiered approach, combining increased communication with community and industry relationships to provide relevancy and purpose. Students who see the relevancy and understand the purpose of their education will be more engaged and vested in the process, desiring a good outcome. Engagement in an online environment is measured through the interactions of three core processes: assignments, logins, and course progression. Students are expected to attempt all the activities associated with the course content and interact with their teachers on a weekly basis. Students who fall behind on assignments, logins, or course progression may be classified as “Insufficiently Engaged” and eventually end up on academic probation through our tiered engagement policy with increased interventions and BMV consequences. Teachers Teachers will provide prompt and personalized feedback on assignments, communicate Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 11 with parents on a regular basis, and utilize a variety of methods for weekly communications with students. The student’s level of academic success will be the criterion used to determine the initiation of increased teacher engagement. Parents Parents must provide the oversight of and the support for students attending IVPA. Parents are encouraged to verify their child’s daily online attendance, set high expectations for quality of work, log in to the Parent Portal weekly to check assignments, current grades and course progression, and maintain regular contact with the teachers. TEACHER/STUDENT RATIO IVPA will determine the student to teacher ratio based on the needs of the students and their academic success. As pathways are determined for each student, the school has the flexibility to assign teachers accordingly. Students who have demonstrated prior success and are more independent, require fewer interactions than students who are behind with their credits, not reading on grade level and/or need a slower curricular pace. We would expect a ratio of 250:1 to be near the effectual “top end” for those students requiring fewer interactions. Since our targeted population has a record of poor academic performance and engagement, we expect the average ratio to be much lower. INTERVENTIONS Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy is designed around providing critical wraparound services for “at risk” students. Our pathways approach will provide the relevance and incentives these students need in order to continue on to graduation. The relationships established by teachers, counselors, success coaches, mentors and business/community partners will also deliver a significant impact on the success of these students. We will identify and place students in the following classifications: Tier 1 Academics: Teachers use high-quality core class instruction aligned with the Indiana Academic Standards in which the majority of these students have demonstrated success. Tier 2 Academics: Students are identified for individual or small group intervention in addition to core instruction. This level includes scientific research-based programs, strategies, and procedures designed to supplement, enhance, and support Tier 1 activities. Tier 3 Academics: Students who have not responded adequately to Tiers 1 and 2 will receive specific, custom-designed individual instruction beyond the instruction in Tier 1. This level of intervention is aimed at those students who have academically identified difficulties. Triggers Failure to log in to the LMS, complete assignments, maintain appropriate course pace, and/or disengagement with the success coach will all be causes for the initiation of interventions. The school will inform the parent of the concerns. If the disengagement continues, the school may place the student on an academic/engagement plan with specific expectations for reporting and assignment completion. At this point, additional support staff may be added as well as local community support services. Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 12 SPECIAL EDUCATION Special education services will be provided in a virtual format. Special education needs, IEPs, and other related services are identified and met by our special education staff. Teachers on the IVPA special education team are dedicated to meeting students at their ability levels to help them reach their fullest potential. They help tailor the lessons to meet the goals of the IEP and are available each week day to help students through any challenges. Regular education teachers will have access to the At-A-Glance IEP for each student so that they are aware of the goals that are being addressed. Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy will be in compliance with state (Article 7) and federal (ESSA) guidelines and protocols for special education. ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IVPA will follow all IDOE guidelines in identifying, testing and providing curricular adjustments for English Language Learners. Inherent to that process, we provide a multilingual text to speech utility as an excellent means to alleviate the language barrier during the student’s transitional time to English. Additionally, we also offer Text to Speech capabilities to all students who do not read at a proficient level. Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 13 EDUCATIONAL COMPETENCY: SYSTEMS LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (LMS) Buzz Buzz LMS is our personalized learning application, developed by Agilix. As a platform, Buzz enables us to easily distribute, update, and manage courses, enrollments, and reporting in a virtual environment. Buzz is a 'mash up' of the popular and award winning BrainHoney LMS and the personalized learning application (also known as Buzz) that has produced large scale transformation in student achievement in Detroit and New York. Edison Learning Edison Learning has been at the forefront of the most dramatic advances in American public education for a generation, and now has further established itself as a leader in virtual learning with a dynamic, media-rich learning experience designed to engage students in rigorous coursework. eCourses within Edison Learning utilize videos, interactive demonstrations, games, virtual science labs,forums, and a text-to-speech tool to support learning in multiple modalities. Edmentum (PLATO) Online curriculum is designed to infuse technology and education together to provide a personalized learning experience for every student. Rigorous and engaging online content is designed to meet all students at their proficiency level through the use of media-rich and interactive experiences and real-time, actionable student data. STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (SIS) Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy will utilize Invision for its student management system (SIS). Invision is a web application that is used to store academic, demographic, and contact information about students and parents. The main functions of Invision are to: • Provide a central repository for student data • Provide the means by which to extract data for state and federal reporting • Track management/administrative metrics and statistical data • Record teacher/staff tasks and communications with students • Drive internal processes • Deliver grade reporting and transcripts FINANCIAL & ACCOUNTING SYSTEM Financial services are provided by Bright Financial Services, owned and operated by Indiana Certified Public Accountants. The firm has over 20 years of not-for-profit experience and is currently under contract with other Indiana charter school organizations. EVALUATION SYSTEM EVOLVE EVOLVE is a research-based rubric that supports the evaluation and evolution of online Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 14 learning and virtual efficacy by scrutinizing practices in the four critical competencies of education: academics, systems, personalization, and governance. In order to be proactive in providing a high quality, online learning experience for our students, IVPA will implement the EVOLVE Rubric (i.e., EVOLVE is an acronym for EValuation of Online Learning and Virtual Efficacy). As reflected in the name, this tool is designed to help virtual schools to evolve in terms of both academic quality and the ability to deliver online education effectively. EVOLVE calls for a diagnostic evaluation of the school through a self-study and by an expert review team utilizing the rubric. EVOLVE examines four critical areas: academics, systems, personalization, and governance. Each of the four areas requires the school to respond to a series of guiding questions. Evidence provided by the school, in response to these questions, is then rated on a 4-point scale using descriptive, research-based criteria. EVOLVE is able to calculate a letter grade for each quadrant, as well as, an overall school grade. Indiana Virtual Education Foundation 15