Review of Online Courses and Programs (as requested in SSB 5410) Karl Nelson

PROCESS AND CONTEXT

Process Student-level data from programs Surveys/interviews of districts and programs Digital Learning Commons data OSPI data Existing reports Future: – CEDARS – Monthly enrollment reporting

Courses and Programs Content – blended to fully-online Instruction – blended to fully-online Sequence – individual courses to full programs Duration – short-term to full-year

BACKGROUND AND DEMOGRAPHICS

Totals 15,805 total students (headcount) estimated to be in online courses 13,130 in 33 online school programs 998 in Digital Learning Commons (DLC) courses 1,677 in courses offered by districts 18 course, content, and program providers

Grade Levels – Program Headcount

Subjects taken in online school programs

Levels of courses taken in online school programs

Gender of students in online school programs

Ethnicity

Poverty Free and Reduced-Price Meal rates aren’t a proxy for poverty for online school programs. No access to the USDA Child Nutrition program = no data

Special Education 3.7% in online school programs 12.7% in state Some issues around how special education services are delivered

Previous Enrollment

FINANCIAL IMPACTS

Interdistrict Transfers 64% of students (headcount) transferred districts to attend an online program 97% of transfers were to the 7 districts operating the largest online programs 248 districts lost students to online programs Of these 248, 17 districts lost more than 100 FTE

Districts gaining students DistrictFTE Steilacoom Historical2,483 Quillayute Valley2,407 Monroe573 Evergreen (Clark)531 Kittitas402 Federal Way262 Stevenson-Carson233

Districts losing students DistrictFTE Tacoma Seattle Puyallup Clover Park Everett Kent Edmonds Vancouver Peninsula North Thurston Kennewick Lake Washington Pasco South Kitsap Spokane Bellingham Federal Way103.75

Districts losing students District07-08 Total Enrollment Transferred Out% of students Wilson Creek % Shaw Island % Brinnon % Odessa % Onion Creek3625.6% Highland % Skykomish5735.3% Creston % White Pass % LaCrosse % Orient5223.8% Quilcene % Klickitat %

Districts with large online populations District% of Oct 08 District Headcount in Online Program Quillayute Valley57.0% Steilacoom Historical49.3% Kittitas38.8% Stevenson-Carson School13.0% Monroe9.8%

Financial Impacts 8 districts had basic education costs greater than basic education revenue Districts that saw increased enrollment saw increased I-728 revenue Even with additional I-728 revenue, half had costs exceeding revenue Average net excess cost over revenue represents about 1% of the total BEA revenue (State average is 10%)

NERC, Facilities, and Staffing Hard to assess NERC when districts contract with 3 rd party providers Districts estimate higher NERC than with traditional programs Minimal facilities requirements Business managers report certificated instructional staff per 1000 students (state average: 47.49)

Levy Bases and Levy Equalization: Districts with increasing enrollment Creates potential for increased levy revenue May see increases in LEA funding

Levy Bases and Levy Equalization: Districts with declining enrollment Lowers levy authority which could result in lower levy collections May see lower LEA funding

OVERSIGHT

Contract Types Online School Programs Online Content Individual Online Courses

Contracts 21 of 30 programs contracted for content, instruction, or administration 14 programs used third-party teachers 16 programs used district teachers 8 districts contracted for administration 16 entirely contracted for content; 5 used both district and third-party content

Teachers All online school programs indicated the teachers had WA certifications Rates vary for WA certification for teachers of individual online courses

Percent of Students Taking the WASL

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Course Completion Rates A “completed” course is defined as a semester-long course where the student received a final grade and did not drop the course 84% of courses taken in online school programs were completed

Course Completion Rates for Online School Programs

Course Pass Rates A “passing grade” is when a student earned an A, B, C, or a Pass grade in a completed course (dropped courses are not counted) Students earned a passing grade in 50.3% of completed courses in online programs

Grades Earned

Course Pass Rates for Online School Programs

Program Completion Half to two-thirds of students complete a program’s course of study Lack of reliable, consistent data from programs Variation in program model – some students may be successful without staying a full year

WASL Results Across all grades and subjects tested, none of the online school programs reporting WASL scores met the state average for students meeting standard

STUDENT SUPPORT

Student/Teacher Ratios Student-to-teacher ratios (FTE) range from 11.4 to 61.2 Teachers per 1000 students (FTE) range from 16.3 to 88.1 On average, online programs are staffed with slightly fewer certificated teachers per student than the overall state teacher-to-student ratio

CIS per 1000 FTE in Online School Programs

Q & A