Chat Transcript for Spokane Schools Research Needs Webinar 2/18/15

Kristin Whiteaker & Don Brummet

Christopher R:sorry I am late...are these students 100% online or blended?
Don Brummett:We have very few ful time online students. most are taking 1-2
online and the rest in their home schools
Christopher R:is it continual enrolment / exit?
Don Brummett:No. We align to our districts calendar. We usually have full classes
or cut it off about two weeks into the semester.
Don Brummett:They can finish as fast as they want though
Don Brummett:Our Credit Retrieval program is continual
Christopher R:thank-you b/c we are continual enrolment and our completion rates
are not like yours.
Christopher R:How do you calculate your completion rate?
Don Brummett:Completion is anyone who is in the course after first three weeks,
same enrollment period as the brick and mortar schools.
Don Brummett:Pass rate is % of those students who pass classes
Christopher R:Is there support at the home school for these students?
Don Brummett:We have student support specialists that are assigned to every
school. We have an electronic intervention system that flags students based on
weekly progress. The support people work with the students
Christopher R:How do I get these support teachers? :)
Don Brummett:They are not teachers. They are basically IA's
Don Brummett:We could not afford to hire teachers for that role.
Christopher R::)
Don Brummett:There are two of them for the 11 secondary school that we have
Kathryn Kennedy:We have a requirement for mentors to work with online
students within Michigan.
Christopher R:It is interesting that F2F teachers wish to get these courses to
support them when many are against online learning.
Rebecca Stimson:Do they IAs go through any special training for their role with
students?
Christopher R:School in BC could have gotten teacher support for online students
but they there was a push back from the F2F schools
Don Brummett:They are not IA's but are paid at that level. They all have some
background with students. We do alot of social and emotional training with all of
our employees and teachrers
Kathryn Kennedy:That's unfortunate ,Christopher - supporting students is #1
priority so if it means having extra support. It's crucial for student success as
we've seen in our effectiveness report.
Christopher R:Kathryn -- I agree
Kathryn Kennedy::)

Christopher R:Please define blended learning - does it mean 1 day in F2F class
and then next day at home?
Don Brummett:We ended up bypassing the teachers and putting the resources
directly in the hands of students and parents. They are bringing the teachers
along with them.
Frances:How are the coaches trained to implement the school responsibilities?
Don Brummett:We spent a year meeting and training the coaches to prepare for
implementations.
Christopher R:Don -- so a Physic student in a F2F course could access the online
content, quizzes, forums etc?
Kathryn Kennedy::)
Frances:What were the greatest challenges getting the admin and teachers to
buy in to blended learning?
Don Brummett:They automatically get the online course minus the quizzes etc.
They get all of the material to use for a resource though. If their teacher has
requested to use it then they could have access to the full version
Christopher R:Don - Who pays for these F2F students to get the online content?
Don Brummett:Biggest challenge is probably just understanding. We have good
support at the top levels of our district and it was just taking time to show them
what it was and the possibilities
Don Brummett:There is no cost for them to access. All of our students 4th grade
and above have a Blackboard account.
Frances:Was the PD for admin and teachers performed online, f2f or blended?
Don Brummett:Our department pays for Blackboard.
Christopher R:So your definition of blended is full time F2F student having access
to the online content?
Don Brummett:PD was in face first. Then modeled online and in person blended
Frances:sounds like a very good transition!
Don Brummett:No. There are many diferent level of Blended. We have some that
just make the online content available and do rotations all the way up to some
teachers who are flipping classrooms
Frances:so the coaches are providing both leadership and instructional coaching?
Don Brummett:Yes. We also are using The Microsoft Peer Coaching program to
train Blended Learning coaches
Frances:what plan was put in place to educate the parents/community?
Don Brummett:The support courses were the first step. Every parent in our
district has an observer account to see what their students see in Blackboard.
Teachers and schools are educating parents as they go. We have not seen any
that are pushing back against it. Most embrace the individualized possibilities for
teir student
Christopher R:I asked for a parent observer account for my students but techies
said it could not be done. We are using D2L
Don Brummett:We automatically do it for every secondary parent. It sure makes
buy in easier when they see it and can connect with the curriculum and support
their child at home
Christopher R:So, parents can go into their child's class and see content etc and
their child's grades page
Frances:are there any general blended learning models being used in secondary
level?
Don Brummett:Yes. They see the support classes and any class that the student
is in that the teacher has requested

Don Brummett:The most common model we see is rotation. Teachers are using
data to create groups and work for students
Justin Bruno:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T8SU7ZVcjk
Frances:do you find that most schools are more interested in sustaining
innovative models vs. disruptive
Don Brummett:Depends on the school. We push for disruptive innovations all the
time. One of our schools dove in head first and changed everything. Others are
slowly rolling into it
Frances:Don, thank you very much, appreciate all your responses to the
questions!!!
Don Brummett:Thank you. Feel free to contact me at donb@spokaneschools.org 509-354-7544 if you have any other questions
Christopher R:Yes...I think I need to do a road trip to Spokane to visit your
program
Don Brummett:absolutely
Don Brummett:Where are you at/
Christopher R:Vancouver BC
Don Brummett:anytime Cristpoher
Christopher R:Can students from outside Spokane take your courses?
Justin Bruno:Beth Robelia is doing some interesting work on student and teacher
climate; her email is robe0284@umn.edu
Justin Bruno:she may be interested in chatting about her instruments
Don Brummett:Yes. We are also the blended learning solution for Tacoma,
Belingham, Mt Vernon, Puyallup and about 7 others
Christopher R:In BC we have a competive model where students can take online
classes from any of the 60+ school districts
Don Brummett:Those districts use our environment to teach their own kids online
as well as having them take our classes
Frances:Thank you Kristin!
Don Brummett:There are alot of options in WA too. Districts partner with us to
ensure rigor and to not loose funding
Christopher R:with a competive model -- I feel there is less colaboration between
schools and teachers
Justin Bruno:https://www.inacol.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/iNACOLBlended-Learning-Teacher-Competency-Framework.pdf
Frances:There appears to be a lot of buy in from teachers on the growth mindset
Don Brummett:I think it opens the eyes of alot of people who would have
considered themselves to have a growth mindset
Frances:was there PD that you facilitated on that?
Dave Goodrich:#GrowthMindset = #Brilliant
Christopher R:If a F2F teacher decides to use one of your course -- can they
modify it to suit their needs?
Don Brummett:We are starting to do it wide scale. As Kristin mentioned we have
purchased Brainology software to use district wide with staff and students
Don Brummett:They can modify it however they want
Frances:I have heard that the toolkits are very valuable
Frances:That appears to be very important for teachers to be able to edit the
content
Justin Bruno:thanks!
Don Brummett:Teachers being able to modify it makes them feels like they are
stil in control
Frances:what type of data is being collected to research blended approach?

Don Brummett:We are trying to develop that. There is a slide earlier that talked
about what we are looking to trak. Right now we can compare grades in Brick
and Moratr classes that use a blended approach and those who do not
Dave Goodrich:Have any of you tapped into the BlendKit Course | Blended
Learning Toolkit? https://blended.online.ucf.edu/blendkit-course/
Don Brummett:The problem is that we have no way to track the level of use
Frances:did you gather any data on teacher perception before/during the PD
Don Brummett:We ave them all in a Blended Learning Blackboard shell where
they are journaling and sharing experiences
Christopher R:Sounds like you are doing great work
Don Brummett:Thank You Christopher
Frances:absolutely!
Frances:i look forward to learning more about your great work
Christopher R:It is great when there is support from admin. How about the
teacher union?
Don Brummett:Being a public school we believe in sharing everything we do with
other public entities
Don Brummett:We have had no issues with the union. They recognize the
importance and we are not forcing any teacher into it at this point
Christopher R:Great presentation
Dave Goodrich:Thank you, all! So much!
Don Brummett:Thanks for the link Dave
Dave Goodrich:Keep up the GREAT work!
Dave Goodrich:Gladly!
Christopher R:Is there a class size restriction?
Don Brummett:We folow the district prescribed class sizes
Don Brummett:No problem
Rebecca Stimson:Very interesting. Thank you!
Christopher R:In BC online classes do not have class size restriction and this
might transfer to blended courses
Don Brummett:Lets talk more Christopher later . I will share a little more
Christopher R:will do
Rebecca Stimson:http://www.mvlri.org/Blog/MVLRI-Guest-Blogger-Program
Don Brummett:Thank You!
Kathryn Kennedy:Thank you so much!
Kristin Whiteaker:Thank you
Frances:Very helpful Kristin and Don!