By Dan Martin
Filed Friday, June 01, 2007 at 9:15 AM
A new effort announced yesterday, May 31, by the St. Louis Public School District would let students transport the classroom into their home computers.
In yesterday's press release, Superintendent Diana Bourisaw stated that the district is developing a "virtual school" for the 2007-2008 school year. The program would allow certain K-12 students to attend school from any Internet-capable computer.
“Through the Internet, we will offer a broad range of courses and flexibility in scheduling," said Bourisaw.
Interestingly, this program is not part of a larger plan unveiled by Gov. Matt Blunt earlier this month that would provide similar online classroom services to K-5 and 9-12 grade students throughout the state.
According to SLPS Community Relations official Deborah Sistrunk, the district will be administering its program separate from the larger state program as a services for its own students.
Under Blunt's plan, the Elementary School courses would be taught by the Connections Academy, a Maryland based company that provides online education. High School courses would be provided by Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville and several unnamed national partners.
The city's plan names no providers as yet, but states that classes will be taught by Missouri certified teachers.
8 Comments:
I am trying to follow what Bourisaw is up to---it reminds me of a baseball team down 13 -2 in the ninth, pretending like they are going to score at least 11 runs.
I do not disagree with much she is doing---it just seems that a lot of it---becomes moot unless there is a victory in court. The comments about charter schools---this reluctance to use Blunt's on-line choice of companies---the sharply worded criticism of the actions of the state board----she's got spunk.
They hate spunk.
6/01/2007 11:53 AM
the plot thickens-----I am not clear on the money trail, but I suspect there is a huge difference between what happens per student under Blunt's company, and under Bourisaw's idea. from wikipedia:
Connections Academy in the United States is a free public school that students attend from home. It combines aspects of homeschooling with those of traditional public education.
Connections Academy is a virtual educational program (also known as virtual school, or cyber school) serving students in grades K-11, with Grade 12 being added in Fall 2008. Certified teachers work with students and a parent or other adult, referred to as a "Learning Coach," to deliver instruction. Learning is done both asynchronously and synchronously (i.e., independent work and real-time instruction online). The curriculum is a compilation of texts, materials and online resources drawn from a range of publishers and educational content providers, along with lesson plans and instruction developed by in-house curriculum specialists. The Connections Academy program is accredited by the Commission on International and Trans-regional Accreditation (CITA).
There are Connections Academy programs in twelve states (as of May 2007): Arizona, California--Southern and Central, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Each school's teachers and administrators work from centralized offices and communicate with students and parents via the Internet, telephone, and mail, and in person. Teachers and local community coordinators also conduct field trips and other in-person activities where students and families interact with one another and school staff. In most states the schools are charter schools overseen by independent boards of directors. In a couple states the schools are offered in partnership with a school district or state department of education.
6/01/2007 12:01 PM
hey kjoe--
why would slps ever use something they can get for free when there is an opportunity to pay someone for the same thing?
6/01/2007 12:22 PM
I doubt anything is free with this. If Blunt's plan causes anystudent who is virtual to be classified like a charter school student---would that be a difference? less money to slps for that student compared to what Bourisaw is proposing?
I do not know. I have a deep distrust of governor Blunt, but thaqt is not to say Bourisaw is right, and he is wrong on this. More info needed about what money goes where.
Or just trust the takeover people on this---I am sure kmox and the pd will.
6/01/2007 1:39 PM
You can see the vitural school online at the DESE website. It also has course descriptions. Sees like a good program.
Because a lot of black families do not have home computers, the virtual school is not an option. Therefore, SLPS should concentrate on their core product, classroom teaching and learning.
6/03/2007 5:30 AM
I repeat my question.
Is there a difference between where the money goes per student using the governor's plan, and where it goes using slps plan?
6/03/2007 11:58 AM
Kjoe, the two programs are entirely separate. Any overlap between their planning is likely a result of the similarities in medium.
In addition, the city is still developing its plan, so the details on funding distribution are not quite clear at this time.
6/05/2007 1:33 PM
This was in wikipedia---to me it raises more questions than it answers. Do administrators of Blunt's plan work out of Jefferson City? Are they charter schools?
There are Connections Academy programs in twelve states (as of May 2007): Arizona, California--Southern and Central, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Each school's teachers and administrators work from centralized offices and communicate with students and parents via the Internet, telephone, and mail, and in person. Teachers and local community coordinators also conduct field trips and other in-person activities where students and families interact with one another and school staff. In most states the schools are charter schools overseen by independent boards of directors. In a couple states the schools are offered in partnership with a school district or state department of education.
6/05/2007 7:41 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home