Distance Learning School Report Card

This is Jasper's second year in an Oregon distance learning school.  People ask me about it often, particularly about what the pros and cons are to this program, so I thought it would be a good idea to post about it. There are many, many different kinds of distance learning schools.  Jasper's provides an educational stipend but does not have specific required curriculum. Currently, I believe there are only two in Oregon that offer a stipend: Paisley and Fossil. Distance learning schools are really in their infancy, with schools trying to figure out how best to both serve families and to meet state requirements with transparency. One criticism I've heard is that distance learning programs are run by for-profit companies subcontracted by the states that are earning a bad reputation for ripping off taxpayers while delivering poor academic results.  This is definitely not the case with ours, which is run by a very small public Oregon school district.  I've been told that they could not meet their overhead costs for their small K-12 school without the additional funding that comes from administering the distance learning program. 

This year, we were loaned iPads to be used for the school year. Our district has been using an app called Edmodo which was designed for online classes.  Our distance learning program uses the app for attendance.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, "assignments" are posted that require a response.  Any assignment that does not receive a response by Friday counts as an absence.  Two absences in a row requires the school district to report a truancy, which means a visit from a truant officer.  And too many absences risks removal from the program.  The first assignment reads like this:

"Please answer one of the questions that apply to your home school:  What kind of unit or interest study are you working on this week? What lessons did you complete in your curriculum this week?  What Common Core Standard are you working on in Math/Reading/Writing this week?"

I don't know how others respond to this "assignment", but I generally list what we did for homeschooling the previous week.   

The second "assignment" is: 

"Please submit one photo per student of an assignment or unit of study you are working on. Please look at the portfolio checklist and make sure you are meeting one of the requirements for your picture being submitted."

Last school year, at the end of each semester, I compiled a paper portfolio for Jasper. This school year these weekly photos were substituted.  We needed to make sure that we had covered each required subject (math, language arts, social studies, and science) with at least one photo per semester. The purpose was to demonstrate progress.  You have to get creative if your learning is not heavy on written assignments.  For example, Jasper's language arts for 2nd grade consisted heavily of reading aloud, reading aloud, and more reading aloud.  He did do handwriting assignments and a few creative writing assignments, but neither of these really demonstrated reading fluency, which was our priority.  Jasper did do written assignments for math, although he strongly objects to writing down equations, preferring to do the problems in his head.  Since we cover science and social studies mainly with hands-on activities, I asked him to pick some topics we'd covered, write a title and draw pictures, and then dictate to me what  he'd learned about each topic.

Jasper's charter school administers standardized tests to every child.  Tests must demonstrate grade level proficiency (as opposed to progress).  All students are tested using the Easy CBM test (twice yearly this past school year, but this may increase), and beginning in January of 3rd grade all students are given the same tests which are given to Oregon public school students (which has been the OAKs test).  Students who fail the test in January are retested in April.  I understand that students who do not pass (with higher than a 50th percentile score) run the risk of being removed from the program if adequate progress is not shown upon retesting.  And they have their stipend restricted to uses that would directly address the problem area (so additional reading or math curriculum might be purchased but music lessons would not).  Because the OAKs test is based on the complete standards for each grade level, I will have to cover all of the material for 3rd grade before Jasper's January test next year. I can't see how he could possibly hope to achieve a passing grade if we have covered only half the material.  So we will have to do schoolwork over the summer if we want to avoid a crushing workload in the fall.

That is, basically, what the charter school requires of us.  What do they offer us?  This year they offered a $1000 stipend for students in grades 1-8 ($500 for K), which was designed to be used for curriculum and classes, with limitations. Jasper's teacher seems quite capable of providing practical and helpful academic support if needed. Many people like the required reporting because they say it keeps them focused on their goals. Consumable materials such as workbooks may be kept, but curriculum becomes the property of the school district and must be returned.  Curriculum which has been turned in  theoretically should be available for use for free by other families.  So far, they haven't furnished us with a list of available curriculum, but Jasper's teacher has been willing to check for specific items in their inventory.

Currently the stipend cannot pay for more than 3 months of classes at a time, and no more than half of it can be spent per semester.  Here is their list of items that they would not consider using stipend money to purchase last school year:

As the fall rains begin, we have tended to start the academic year with a good number of classes.  They get us out of the house on days when we'd tend to stay cooped up.  But it seems that every time we sign up for a series of classes, wonderful things pop up that we can't attend because of this commitment.  And by January we're kind of tired of it. The only pricey curriculum I've wanted was Math on the Level, which is a pre-K through pre-Algebra curriculum Jasper isn't likely to outgrow anytime soon, supplemented with inexpensive workbooks and free web downloads.  So it can be a challenge for me to plan the best use of the stipend.  Last year I used it to purchase some really amazing art supplies which Jasper has loved and which will continue to be worthwhile for many years to come.  Most were high quality and intended for adults, although there is certainly no reason a child couldn't use them.  This school year, they stipulated that art supplies had to be "what a typical school would supply for a child in that grade level."  Aside from the fact that most schools are eliminating their art programs entirely, it's clear to me that the art supplies I had selected will no longer be approved.  This year, I found some wonderful science kits to make good use of unallocated stipend funds.  I am assuming that as Jasper gets older, the stipend will be a godsend because he will want to take more expensive classes or require more expensive curriculum, so he is remaining in the program for that reason.

I was disappointed to see they are now requiring that if an item is available through Rainbow Resource or Timberdoodle, it must be ordered through these distributors, even if it could be found elsewhere at lower prices. Additionally, the charter school requires that a $10 shipping fee be deducted from the stipend for each separate shipment, regardless of the actual cost, which is a big incentive to consolidate orders. I had a bad experience with a Rainbow order, because I placed an order in January for two Singapore Math  (Primary Mathematics) workbooks that I wanted, and added more things to the order so that I could use stipend funds for useful things.   I received my order with a packing slip indicating that the workbooks were backordered.  In April I asked Jasper's teacher about the workbooks, and Rainbow responded to her inquiry by informing her that they were no longer carrying them.  They are still listed as available on their website today.  I didn't get my workbooks and was then unable to spend the balance of Jasper's stipend because it was well past their deadline for new orders for the school year.

I have also learned that spending stipend money on classes has its pitfalls.  The school district has been paying for classes by check, paid directly to whomever offers the class.  Payments cannot be made to parents.  And processing payment requests takes time.  Jasper has taken 6 week classes in which the classes ended before payment was received.  I know some people are able to sign their kids up for classes by promising that a check will be arriving later.  I don't feel right about that; after all, their rent and their teacher's salaries must be paid in a timely manner so it doesn't seem right for them to wait an extended period to receive a payment from me.  I pay for classes in full when I register Jasper.  Then after a payment is received, we should have a credit we can use towards future classes, or request a refund.  We have never had a semester when everyone receiving payments knew that the checks were for Jasper's account, and a couple times it turned out the checks had never been sent.  We are hopeful that this process will be streamlined.

Are these distance learning programs a good option? I would say they are especially worth considering  if you have a clear use for the stipend and don't mind dealing with some red tape.  Examples would be families that have ongoing music, martial arts or tutoring expenses that quickly add up. I can see that the standardized testing could be problematic for many.  The fact that they are testing for grade level adherence rather than progress could be especially difficult for students who were withdrawn from traditional public school because they weren't at grade level in the first place due to learning differences.   So far, all the other families I know who are enrolled in this particular program are well pleased to have a stipend and do not consider the various problems to be a major drawback.  And there were so many significant changes in the way the program is administered over the last school year, that it's clear more will be on the way.  The distance learning concept is evolving, and the pros and cons of such programs will be constantly evolving as well.