Halstrom High School Blog

The Digital Learning Imperative

The Alliance for Excellent Education recently published an issue brief, “The Digital Learning Imperative: How Technology and Teaching Meet Today’s Education Challenges.”  The brief highlights several outstanding issues in education and argues that they can be addressed with innovative, technology-based solutions.

One challenge facing high schools is graduating students who are competitive in a changing global workplace.  Too few students are graduating high school, and of those who graduate, many fail to meet college and career readiness benchmarks.  At the same time, more and more jobs require more than a high school diploma.  The brief argues that increased digital learning remedies this problem both by providing students greater access to content, as well as hands on experience with emerging technology.

A second challenge facing schools is providing all students access to quality instruction. The brief reports that teachers have, on average, only one to two years of teaching experience, and argues that these teachers are less skilled at personalizing instruction for students, which is critical to keeping them engaged and on track.  The Alliance suggests that digital learning is well suited to addressing these shortages. Digital content is more easily customized to a student’s learning style, speed or interest.  It also provides greater access to credit recovery options.

For more information on digital learning, as well specific examples of implementing digital and blended learning, check out the full brief.

Personalization of High Schools with Digital Learning

Speak Up, a national research initiative of Project Tomorrow since 2003, surveys students on digital learning and solicits their opinions on how successfully their school approaches and implements technology for learning. Julie Evans presented the project’s findings and highlighted what students envision for their schools and education.

The project found that students, more than teachers and administrators, viewed technology as having a larger, more interactive role in their education. When asked about their school’s practices of “technology learning,” they expressed and experienced:

•     Frustration with unsophisticated use of technologies within education;
•     Persistent digital disconnect between themselves and adults; and
•     Exasperation of lack of relevancy in current education.

The survey found that the student vision for learning is socially-based, digitally rich, and not restricted to the classroom. Students say proper use of technology can provide teachers and students with opportunities for:

•     Collaborative learning;
•     Online communities;
•     Out of classroom learning;
•     True digital content; and
•     Mobile and online learning.

By using digital learning to personalize high schools, educators, policymakers, and administrators hope to reengage students and enable them to experience learning in new ways that are fun, efficient, and assist them with skills for their future college and career endeavors.

Data That Matters: Giving High Schools Useful Feedback on Grads' Outcomes

Now more than ever, there is an agreement that students should graduate high school college and career ready. What does that mean exactly and how can learning institutions tell if they are meeting the goal?

It's not easy, says Policy Analyst Anne Hyslop, in Data That Matters: Giving High Schools Useful Feedback on Grads' Outcomes. In it, Hyslop lays out the benefits of a unified data system that could provide high schools with timely information about their graduates.

According to a 2010 Deloitte educational survey, only 13 percent of high school educators receive reports of their graduates' academic performance in college. Most frequently, principals receive college readiness information through occasional anecdotes from former students and their families. Worse, 8 percent of educators reported they receive no information at all.

However, thanks to significant investments in K–12 and higher education data systems, significant progress has been made in developing a system that will give educators the information they need. Currently, over 40 states can collect information about college readiness. Yet only eight of these states are using that information in ways that can materially improve college preparation.

In Data That Matters, Hyslop identifies the important characteristics of the most successful college readiness reports.

Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates

A recent report published by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) updates a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began back in 1988. Included in this report are both national and regional population estimates for the percentage of students who dropped out of high school between the years 2008 and 2009, the percentage of young people who were dropouts in 2009, and the percentage of young people who were not in high school and had some form of high school credential in 2009.

The full report can be found at the NCES website here.

Dropout Prevention Services and Programs

We came across an interesting new report from the National Center for Education Statistics which provides national estimates about dropout prevention services and programs in public school districts.

The estimates are based on a district survey that outlines dropout prevention services and programs offered by the district or by any of the schools in the district during the 2010–11 school year.

The report can be found here.

Preparing For The Increasing Cost of College

In September, the U.S. Department of Education published a new report that raises important concerns as we think about the goal of preparing all students for college and their careers.

The findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) fall 2010 data collection and examines the price of postsecondary attendance. This report shows a substantial increase over the past decade in average tuition; for example, the report cites a 47 percent increase for in-state students and 35 percent for out-of-state students at 4-year public postsecondary institutions. The average tuition and required fees for in-state students who attended these institutions in 2010-2011 is about $6,800 per year and $15,700 for out-of-state students. Factoring in housing costs (i.e., living on campus), the report cites an average price of attending a public institution of approximately $19,500 per year for in-state students and $28,900 for out-of-state students. (Tuition at nearly every other type of postsecondary institution increased substantially as well.)

To put these figures into context, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the median household income in the United States was $49,445 in 2010. Indeed, median income is moving in the opposite direction of college costs; it declined 2.3 percent from the 2009 median. On the other hand, poverty rates have increased; there were 46.2 million people in poverty in 2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009. The Census Bureau reports that this is the fourth consecutive annual increase and the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.

The bottom line is that the cost of attending college is getting higher at a time when family and state budgets are getting tighter. As we think about the goal of preparing all students for college and career, a critical question arises: How well prepared are students and their families to pay the price of college?

Increasing Times and Getting Yourself On Track in High School

Increasing the time allotted for teaching and learning is gaining popularity as a school reform strategy. At the high school level, where achievement gaps are particularly wide, increased learning time may help struggling students get on track for graduation.

Additional time may be used to help students recover credits, receive additional academic support, and pursue expanded learning opportunities, such as internships, career training, or community service, that encourage their interests and keep them engaged with school. Increased time can also be used for teacher collaboration, which is especially important at the high school level where students work with several teachers in different content areas.

Collaboration time allows teachers to develop and implement a coherent instructional program and work together to identify strategies to support student learning across content areas.

Although increasing time may help high school students stay on track, it is far from sufficient.  Many steps must be taken before and after reorganizing time. For example, an Early Warning System (EWS) can be used to identify students who have fallen off-track for high school graduation. Interventions can then be matched to students’ individual needs and increased time can be used to accommodate interventions that require additional time to implement.

Similarly, time for teacher collaboration is helpful only if used well. The National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL) recently presented a webinar for a community of practice focused on school turnaround and highlighted the following key components of effective collaboration:

• Sufficient time is provided for teachers to identify student learning needs and share, review, and provide feedback on instructional practices that address these needs.
• All teacher collaboration and professional development is a mechanism for teachers to improve instruction and build expertise.
• District and school leadership see frequent collaboration as the primary vehicle for the ongoing improvement of instruction and ultimately, student performance.
• Teacher collaboration is purposeful and part of a coherent school-wide plan with clear goals and consistent practices used across all teams.
• Organization promotes sharing honest feedback and a commitment to improving classroom instruction among teachers and administrators.

NCTL also provides case studies of schools that have increased time for student learning and for teacher collaboration and provides examples of how high schools have reorganized to use increased time effectively.

E-Textbooks as an Alternative to Traditional Text Books

Interesting article recently from Examiner.com regarding the use of e-textbooks at San Jose State University:

San Jose State University students began attending fall classes this past Wednesday. As students search for classes, many more are seeking alternatives for class textbooks and course materials. Due to higher costs for tuition and books, many students are finding the option of opting out of printed books in return seeking lower costs and direct access to information from online media sources.

The new e-book is influencing the way students access course work for exams.  One advantage to using e-texts are online sites that offer course study guides and quizzes enhancing course material taught in class.  Companies such as Course Smart in direction of Pearson Education, Inc., offer online rental e-Textbooks.  However, when you rent the course e-book text material through Course Smart, after the semester course has ended, you no longer have access to the information.   The information itself may not lead to any strategic improvement to course structures as professors may choose to teach part or some of the information offered by the e-textbook or text.

The average cost of a textbook is anywhere from $40 - $260.  By choosing to use an e-textbook, the text material cost is reducing by 60% of the original cost.  However at the end of the semester session you no longer have access to e-textbook information and site privileges.

If you have textbooks that you would like to recycle, Recycle Bookstore located at 1066 The Alameda can help with deciding how you would like to recycle your old textbook.  Recycle bookstore chooses which books they think that they can recycle or resale to students who are looking for used textbooks. Rates are explained by Recycle Bookstore as having a "three to one swap for similar valued books."

San Jose State University President Mohammad Qayoumi envisions the future goals of the University to offer course material online, instead of offering the
traditional textbook. Qayoumi stated, "We can reduce costs by better utilization of technologies and fostering innovation."

Often the world of textbooks and other course materials are offered by University Press Publishers. Publishers often along with textbooks offer online study guides and self help materials for registered students on company websites.

Graduating At-Risk Students With Online Education

Online education, generally used for the promotion of accelerated learning, is beginning to gain traction as a widespread alternative to traditional school settings. According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), 82% of U.S. school districts had students enrolled in online classes in 2010. Most recently, online learning has been acknowledged as a useful tool for supporting at-risk and off track students. Supporters of online learning have called on the government to provide additional funding for online classrooms, teacher development and digital infrastructure required to support online education settings.

Recently, the Alliance for Excellent Education has argued that online learning's flexibility makes it a great tool for preventing high school dropout and narrowing the achievement gap. They have noted that online forms of education are more easily matched to fit students abilities, interests and their needs. They specifically point to the success of projects like Alabama's ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide) program, which had enrolled over 26,000 students in classes that counted towards graduation requirements in 2009. The iNACOL notes that this type of individualization additionally makes online education an ideal fit for credit recovery due to its ability to identify and focus on the areas that students have the most difficulty with.

In Virginia, Performance Learning Centers (PLCs) use teacher supervised online learning, also referred to as "blended learning", to assist in catching up and graduating at-risk students. These PLCs focus on undercredited and chronically absent students in what may amount to a final effort to get them on track for graduation. With its unique, blended approach to online learning and teaching, the PLCs appear to be successful. Virginia PLCs graduated one third of their 2009 at-risk students by 2010. Also, the PLCs reported high scores for end of course exams, ranging from 90 to 100 percent. Proponents argue that these scores, which are equal to or better than the state averages, disprove arguments that online education leads to lower standards.

Mobile Learning: Better Than Conventional?

A recent report out by NPR looks at how “disenfranchised” students perform in math class when using mobile technology. The results may be somewhat surprising to most of us.

By the end of a semester program that incorporated smart phones into the curriculum, some significant changes took place. Students reported greater confidence in math, were much more willing to endorse the statement “Math is easy”, and were more motivated to learn math skills. What’s more, these mobile learners were better at math than when they started. We all learn better when we are motivated and when we feel like we are capable of doing well.

Smart phones were used in this study to engage the students by collaborating through blogs, email and instant messaging. Videos and photos were posted to demonstrate problem solving strategies, and shared for peer review. Quite a clever idea. Sounds like another blow for making learning fun, and making learning fun is a good thing. Some critics may voice their opinion, that it makes learning too easy to be real learning. But on the other hand, research has shown that motivation drives learning.

It’s definitely supportive of distance education with the internet as a venue. Sound like online college, anyone?