e tech presentation 07

1. Tracking Quality Attendancein Online Learning

Butler Tech Online is a component of the Educational Options Division of Butler Technology and Career Development Schools.

We are in our 4 thyear of operation delivering quality online high school courses to Ohio students.

We serve students in a variety of situations.

Students complete one or more courses during the school day in a computer lab setting.

Students complete all academic courses online in an alternative school setting.

Students complete some courses online from home and some courses at school.

Students complete all courses online from home.

Any variation of the above.

Our program is asynchronous.

We allow students to enroll at anytime.

Students can enroll in a traditional, accelerated, or extended rate of completion.

These factors make it very challenging to know where a student should be in his/her course at any given time.

We could have changed our policies and program design to be more synchronous in nature, and making all students begin and end on the same dates, but that is not what best serves our students and schools.

The only way to maintain a flexible environment, but still appropriately track student progress was to provide each student with a personalized education plan.

When a student enrolls in a course, a start date and ending date are selected.These dates determine the available time a student has to complete the course.

This available time is compared to the time necessary to complete the course which determines the pace at which a student must work.

For example:

Student enrolls from 8/23/06 12/4/06.

This equals 70 school days.

At 40 minutes per day, the student has 2800 minutes available to complete the course.

A semester course is designed to be 3600 minutes of instruction. (90 days x 40 min)

This student needs to work at a pace of 129% (51 min per day) to complete the course on time.

Each lesson in our course includes the expected number of minutes to complete.

Based on the pace percentage and the expected time to complete each lesson, a target date for each lesson is determined.

Lets see how this looks in the learning management system.

As students complete their coursework, their progress will be tracked according to the pace schedule that was determined.

The amount of work (in minutes) that is completed on a given date is compared to the amount of work (in minutes) that should have been completed as of the given date.

This determines the On Track to Complete this Percent number.

If On Track to Complete This Percent is 100%, it would mean the student is right on track with where they should be.

Anything over 100% means they are ahead.

Anything less that 100% means they are behind.

So far, our plan allows for specific expectations to be given to students as to which lessons to complete each day and allows teachers and administrators to see the degree to which they are meeting those expectations.

This part of the plan helps us make sure students complete the courses in the expected time frame.

We also want students to pass the course.

So, in addition to pace, we also track the students quality of work.

Quality of work is determined by taking points earned divided by points possible for completed work.

The quality grade does not take into account work that should have been completed at the given point.We just want to know the grades they have received on the work they have actually completed.

To assist students, parents, teachers, and administrators in getting a quick idea of how students are doing, we convert the pace percentage and the quality grade into a status.

The chart on the next page is used to determine this status category.

Student Status is Calculated Using this Chart:

We have numerous students that work fulltime from home.

How is attendance tracked in an online program?

Many track attendance based on time spent on the computer.Is this really what is important?

We more highly value the student actually completing quality work.

We track Quality Attendance, not just the time the computer is on.

Quality Attendance is based on the students personalized education plan.

If a students overall course status is Excellent, Effective, or Improvement, the student is considered present and in good standing.

If a students overall status falls into the Watch or Emergency category, the student is expected to make adequately weekly progress to be considered in attendance.

If a student does not make adequate weekly progress, they will be counted absent from school.

The adequate weekly progress goal is determined each week based on the amount of course complete and the amount of time left to complete the course.

For example:If the student is 4% complete with their course and there are 12 weeks remaining until the course is expected to be complete, the weekly progress goal will be 8% each week.

The following week, the students course data will be reviewed again and the actual weekly progress will be determined.

If the actual progress is equal to or above the adequate weekly progress goal, the student is considered as being in attendance.

If the actual progress is lower than the adequate weekly progress goal, the student will be counted absent.

For example: If the average weekly progress goal was 8% and the student only had an actual average weekly progress of 6.4%, the student was only present for 80% (6.4/8) of the week.This would calculate to 1 day absent during a 5 day week.

At this point, normal attendance/truancy rules apply as in a traditional high school.

Butler Tech Online

3603 Hamilton-Middletown Rd.

Fairfield Township, OH 45011

Toll Free:1-866-622-4108

Website:www.butlertechonline.org

E-Mail:[email_address]