PWA CONNECT Supporting Student Success through Individualized Programming Debbie Terceros

Peace Wapiti Academy  School serving rural students in an urban setting  Approximately 500 students from grades 9-12  28 teachers and 13 support staff  “Traditional” model school with a staff which embraces new ideas that enhance student success

“Hot Topics” in Education  Differentiation  Mastery Learning  Personalized Learning  High school completion rates

Stand and Deliver! Stand up if you agree:  I’ve been teaching for more than 20 years.  I’ve been teaching for less than 10 years.  I love to use technology in my class.  The best way to learn is in a classroom.  The only way my students can catch up is to see me for missed work.  No one teaches _____ like me!

John Hattie says:  “ It turns out that about 95% to 98% of things we do to them does make an increase in their learning so almost everything works….”  “…virtually everything works. One only needs a pulse and we can improve achievement.”

Keep the good… Not everything about the old way is bad…. BUT… …Not everything new is bad either. And so the HYBRID was born.

WHAT? The Hybrid… CONNECT is a HYBRID program (NOT “correspondence”)– a combination of independent & teacher-directed work  Teacher supervisor assigns the work  Teacher marks the work  Student & teacher meet regularly  Student sets up goals and comes for help when needed  Student works independently at home or school and comes to class when needed or required

Four Branches of CONNECT

A student enrolled in a regular class needs more time to meet the outcomes. Extension? The student has the opportunity to extend the course into the next semester and write the final exam after completion. What is….

Recovery? The student writes the final exam and then has the opportunity to redo certain units/exams. A student was successful in some parts of the course but did not successfully meet one or two objectives. What is….

Redirection? A student can retake an entire course. (Help! It doesn’t fit in my schedule!) redirect to a different stream/course (ex. Eng from Eng. 20-1). take a new course (never taken/not offered) (especially great in small schools!) What is….

Acceleration? A student wants to accelerate through a course. A student may register in a second course (after completion of the first). What is….

WHO is it for?  Good students  Not so good students  Quiet, hard working students  Distracted students  Students with attendance issues  Students in sports  Transfer students  Students with timetable issues or courses not offered

HOW does it work?  Students are recommended by teachers, admin or themselves  Students fill out application form  Coordinator interviews students, and talks to prerequisite teachers  Decision is made (based on interview & circumstances) (remember: students have the right to fail)  Every decision is based on the individual student

And then what?  Student is assigned to a teacher  Student and teacher meet fill out a contract; discuss course materials  Student works independently, meeting with teacher when required or desired  Student can attend class when required or desired  Student is on a trial period for 2-3 weeks

Last year in CONNECT:  Total registered students: 197  Total number of courses taken: 433  Extension - 60  Recovery - 33  New Courses – 340 (Dual Credit – 29)  Number of courses successfully completed: 307 (Unsuccessful Completions = 120)  Credits earned: 666 (176 extension/recovery; 490 new courses)  Students on full-time CONNECT: 1  Students taking 1 course: 100  Students taking >1 course: 97  Students extending into Fall 2014: 9

Breakdown of Total courses:

Breakdown of Credits Earned:

Your Turn…Challenges What challenges might/does your school face in trying to implement some of these ideas?

Challenges we faced…  Teachers need CONNECT TIME to meet with students, track students, mark etc.  CONNECT needs SPACE with computer access for students to work, and for teachers to meet with students (individual and small groups).  Traditional grading is not very flexible (Heading towards outcome based grading)  Web-based marks systems (ex. PowerSchool)  Extensions over summer  Helping teachers to “step-out-of-the-box”

Student Successes  A student who needed a course to graduate (PE 10) was able to take it through CONNECT and graduate.  A student who was “at risk”, went on CONNECT to finish gr 10, 11 and graduated last June!  A student who moved from another province was able to complete courses rather than start over.  A student that has extended absences due to medical treatment extended her course into the second semester in order to complete the outcomes.

Student Comments  “I was able to get more credits through the program.”  “It was great having my teacher available right here to ask questions.”  “It was a lot harder than I thought to do my work on my own.” Word of mouth is your best advertising!

Compass Points What could you do NOW? Dreams/long term goals? One biggest challenge to overcome? What needs to happen to overcome this challenge?

Resources to Help You… ty_resources/resources.cfm University of Wisconsin – excellent site on Hybrid Instruction: My