Ongoing Professional Development for Virtual School Instructors Nicole Honoré, LDoE ETLO Forum Webinar October 23, 2007
Established in 2000 by Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Designed to improve student achievement by providing LA students with opportunities to access necessary courses, standards-based curriculum, and high quality teaching, utilizing a web-based platform Targets areas of the state that experienced teacher shortages for particular subjects and/or low student enrollments for particular courses.
YearBudgetTeachersCourse Titles Students/ Course Enrollments 2000$310, / $ 5,650, /4688 (as of Aug 2007) LVS Growth
Phase I Prospective Instructor Train a pool of teachers for future growth Phase II Teacher Assistant (TA) Plays the role of an online “student teacher” serving in a mentee teacher assistant role Phase III Induction Year Delivers one online course for the Louisiana Virtual School Phase IV Experienced Instructor May deliver more than one online course for the Louisiana Virtual School Phase V Mentor Program Mentor a new Teaching Assistant (TA) for the Louisiana Virtual School **Participation in ongoing PD in each Phase is required** Professional Development Model
Professional Development Topics Phase I and II Designing and Teaching Online courses Discussion Topics for Online Leaders and Instructors Program policy and guidelines Bb Learning platform and new technologies Communication Workshops Mentoring Program LA Online courses (
Professional Development Topics Phase III, IV, and V Instructing Virtual Courses Online Mentor training Advanced Placement Topics for Algebra Leaders and Instructors (TALI) Program policy and guidelines Bb Learning platform and new technologies LA Online courses
Identifying Professional Development Needs Online Surveys and Needs Assessments Course Walk-throughs Faculty Meetings Professional Growth Plans
What we heard… Include online and f2f professional development opportunities Need to occur multiple times during the year Provide opportunities for teachers to interact with teachers who are at different phases of participation Need to utilize expertise of online instructors as providers of professional development PD has to be ongoing!!! Hire full-time PD coordinator
Future Directions Expand PD offerings (content specific) Provide PD to non-LVS instructors Expand mentoring component of LVS Explore Add-on Certification Endorsement for Online Instructors
Thank You! Nicole Honoré Education Senior Consultant Office of Educator Support LA Dept of Education