The only significant online program in North Dakota is the North Dakota Center for Distance Education (CDE; formerly North Dakota Division of Independent Study), which offers both online and print courses that are self-paced. The Center is a state-funded, supplemental program that was started in fall 1996 and serves middle and high school students. In 2008-09 the program had 2,417 online course enrollments an increase of about 30%. Teachers are full-time and are each responsible for up to 500 students in a course, which are spread over a calendar year due to the open enrollment policy of the CDE. Districts that used to send a few students each to CDE are now beginning to partner with local colleges on dual credit courses and to utilize outside providers to create their own online programs and alternative school curricula.
The Center is funded via state appropriation and course fees. The portion of their appropriation used for online learning for 2008-09 was approximately $350,000. Overall, approximately 15% of the CDE operating budget comes from the state. Additional funds are generated by course fees ($168 per semester course for in-state students). Local school districts must approve enrollment of local students in CDE courses, and homeschool students must pay tuition to participate in CDE courses.
The only law related to online education in North Dakota in addition to the one that created the North Dakota Division of Independent Study,166 and the law that changed the name to the Center for Distance Education, is a law passed in 2007167 that required the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to set up a process for approving online courses. The entire law has just a few relevant provisions; they do not “apply to a course provided electronically between approved schools in North Dakota.”
The relevant provisions are:
A “person must obtain annual approval from the superintendent of public instruction” before 5.
providing “electronic” courses.
… the superintendent shall verify that: 6.
a. All courses… are aligned with state content and performance standards… if standards do not exist… the course content must be sufficiently challenging for students…;
b. All teachers… meet or exceed the qualifications and licensure requirements placed on the teachers by the state in which the course originates; and
c. All students receiving a course electronically have ongoing contact time with the teachers of the course.”
166 Chapter 15-19; retrieved July 28, 2009, www.legis.nd.gov/cencode/t15c19.pdf
167 House Bill 1491; retrieved July 28, 2009, http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/bill-text/HBIR0400.pdf
NORTH DAKOTA
State virtual school
North Dakota Center for Distance Education Other statewide programs No Other significant online programs Some district programs State-level policy HB1491 passed in 2007 required the state to set up an approval process for online courses by July 2009; no charter school law
ST
ATE POLICY PROFILES
PROGRAM PROFILES OUTL
OOK & CONCL
USION NOTES FROM THE FIELD KEY ISSUES NA
The resulting section NDCC 15.1-21-15 allows for a process168 for North Dakota schools to provide academic services through the use of out-of-state electronic course delivery providers. As of July 2009 all schools receiving out-of-state electronic course delivery must complete the Out-Of-State Electronic Course Delivery-School Application for approval by the School Approval & Accreditation Unit of the Department of Public Instruction on an annual basis. Only those out-of-state providers that have received approval may deliver their services within the state. The application asks the provider to describe for each course:
the cost to the student, the grade level and type of course credit which will be awarded,
•
a timeline for the course, including the expectation of time to be devoted to the course,
•
instructor information, including if the instructor meet or exceed the state’s highly qualified
•
teacher licensure requirements from the state in which this course originates,
if the curriculum is aligned with the North Dakota Content and Performance Standards,
•
how the course is developed and evaluated to ensure quality, a description of the course
•
delivery model(s) and student contact plan including frequency, how student work is evaluated for the course, and finally, how their progress is assessed for quality. As of September 2009, there have been 4 applications submitted.
168 North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, school and provider application forms, instructions and rubrics; retrieved September 7, 2009,
http://www.dpi.state.nd.us/approve/electronic.shtm FRONT MA TTER NA TIONAL SNAPSHOT KEY ISSUES
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
OUTL OOK & CONCL USION PROGRAM PROFILES ST ATE POLICY PROFILES APPENDIX 111
Ohio
As of August 2009, Ohio has 28 eCommunity (charter) schools, these include at least seven statewide schools.169 Six eCommunity schools have closed in the past year by mutual agreement with their sponsors. Ohio eCommunity schools served approximately 27,037 students in 2008-09, representing an approximate 12.6% increase from 2007-08.170 Ohio also has a number of district programs in pockets across the state. A community school is similar to charter schools in other states. An eCommunity school is an Internet- or computer-based community school in which the enrolled students work primarily from their residences. eCommunity schools first opened for the 2000-01 school year. Legislation adopted in April 2003 provided additional guidance for their operation.171 Legislation enacted in 2005 imposed a moratorium on new eCommunity schools until the General Assembly adopts standards for the schools, due to a number of concerns including:
Fast growth of some of the eCommunity schools coupled with a
•
lack of additional standards (beyond those captured in the 2003 legislation and general charter law).
Low state assessment participation rates and aggregate test scores
•
by some eCommunity schools. (In the years since passage of the 2005 legislation, most of the schools moved up one level on Ohio’s school report card system.)
Enrollment of students in eCommunity schools contributing to
•
decreased enrollment in many public school districts.
Funding issues; because state funding follows the student, districts
•
lose most of the state foundation funding (but none of the local funding) associated with students who go to the eCommunity schools. A study by the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools172 suggests that the eCommunity schools have achieved better results than comparable traditional school districts, but as of August 2009 these findings have not yet translated into lifting the moratorium on new eCommunity Schools that remains in effect.
Legislation enacted in 2007 and later amended in 2008 directs the chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents to establish a clearinghouse of online courses offered by school districts, community schools, higher education institutions and other providers for sharing within the state for a fee set by the course provider.173 To offer a course, the course provider must submit an application to the chancellor for review and approval. The clearinghouse is not yet in place as of September 2009.
169 List of e-Schools; retrieved August 21, 2009, http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/DocumentManagement/DocumentDownload.
aspx?DocumentID=59539
170 School enrollment history based on the 2007-2008 Annual Report on Ohio Community Schools; retrieved August 21, 2009, http://education.ohio.
gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=662&ContentID=41601&Content=66604; and the Ohio Report Cards, 2008-2009; retrieved August 25, 2009, http://www.ode.state.oh.us/gd/templates/pages/ode/odedetail.aspx?page=279
171 Information in this section is based on and updated from the 2004-2005 Annual Report on Ohio Community Schools; retrieved August 21, 2009,
http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/DocumentManagement/DocumentDownload.aspx?DocumentID=22703; and legislation passed in 2005, House Bill 66; retrieved August 21, 2009, http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText126/126_HB_66_EN1_N.html
172 The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools study, E-schools Show Superior Results; retrieved August 24, 2009 http://www.oapcs.org/files/
OHIO
State virtual school
No
Other statewide programs
Some of the 28 eCommunity Schools enroll students from across the state
Other significant online programs District programs State-level policy 2003 legislation HB364 provided operational guidance; 2005 legislation HB66 placed a moratorium on new eCommunity schools; HB119 in 2007 established online clearinghouse; HB562 in 2008 expanded the clearinghouse to K-20 and moved responsibility to the Ohio Board of Regents
ST
ATE POLICY PROFILES
PROGRAM PROFILES OUTL
OOK & CONCL
USION NOTES FROM THE FIELD KEY ISSUES NA
State policies
FundingCommunity schools, including eCommunity schools, receive state funds directly from the
•
state; these funds have been transferred from school district allocations.174 eComunity schools are funded at the same formula per-pupil as traditional districts ($5,718 for FY 2010).175 eCommunity schools are not eligible to receive poverty-based funding; however they do
•
receive the same special education-based funding as all community schools.
Since FY 2007, each eCommunity school has been required to spend a designated amount
•
for pupil instruction or face a possible fine of up to 5% of state payments to the school. The 2009 budget bill revised the language in ORC3314.85(A) adding computers and software for students as eligible instruction expenses.176
Governance, tracking, and accountability
Each student enrolled in an eCommunity school must have an “affiliation” with at least
•
one “teacher of record” licensed by the State Board of Education. The “teacher of record is responsible for the overall academic development and achievement of a student and not merely the student’s instruction in a single subject.”
No teacher of record can be responsible for more than 125 students.
•
Each eCommunity school must provide a minimum of 920 hours of “learning opportunities”
•
to students per school year. Only 10 hours in any 24-hour period can count toward this total. eCommunity schools can count student learning in terms of days instead of hours; in this
•
case, a “day” must consist of at least five hours.
Each child enrolled in an eCommunity school is entitled to a computer supplied by the
•
school. If there is more than one child per household, the parent can request fewer computers than children enrolled in the school.
eCommunity schools may not provide a stipend in lieu of a computer; they must provide an
•
actual computer.
Quality assurance, teaching, and curriculum
eCommunity schools must administer the state-developed achievement tests and diagnostic
•
assessments in the same manner as school districts, and must provide students a location within 50 miles of the student’s residence for the assessments.
Whenever an eCommunity school student fails to participate in the spring administration of
•
a grade-level achievement test for two consecutive school years, the school must withdraw that student from enrollment unless the parent pays tuition equal to the state funds the school otherwise would receive for that student. eCommunity schools must report these students to the state, the state must maintain a list of these students, and no eCommunity school will receive funds for students appearing on this list.
Each eCommunity school “must submit to its sponsor a plan for providing special education
•
and related services to disabled students enrolled in the school.”
174 Summarized from ORC3314.08(C); retrieved August 21, 2009, http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3314.08
175 ODE website; retrieved August 21, 2009, http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=878&C
ontentID=2305&Content=70890
176 Retrieved August 25, 2009, http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3314.085
FRONT MA TTER NA TIONAL SNAPSHOT KEY ISSUES
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
OUTL OOK & CONCL USION PROGRAM PROFILES ST ATE POLICY PROFILES APPENDIX 113