MANVILLE: Board won’t decide on online classes until 2009

By Eileen Oldfield, Staff Writer
   Approving online courses, offered by Educere, will have to wait on Policy Committee discussion that won’t occur until 2009, the Board of Education decided after a Dec. 9 presentation by a company representative.
   Accepting courses offered by the service could require changes to the board’s academic policies, however, the board opted to wait until 2009 for a policy meeting, citing holiday preparations and end-of-the-year scheduling conflicts.
   Jim Daily, an Educere representative, spoke to the board at the Dec. 9 meeting regarding Educere’s course offerings, costs, and integrating the Online courses into Manville’ curriculum. Manville High School Principal Donald Woodring attended the meeting as well, and used the service in his prior district, South Hunterdon.
   Educere, of Ambler, Pa., offers over 1,000 courses in almost 50 subject areas through its online service. While Educere provides the courses, the service contracts the curriculum writing to outside sources, including high schools and colleges. Educere does not charge a subscription fee, Mr. Daily said, but providers charge a fee for students to take the courses.
   ”It’s basically a service that supplements the current education at the school,” Mr. Daily said. “We deliver the courses you can’t deliver.”
   The service also provides a learning coach to track students’ course work, and ensure students complete designated assignments. The learning coach can contact students regarding missed work, and, if the student continues missing assignments, can contact the school principal about the work.
   The online courses are particularly helpful when students want to take courses their district doesn’t offer, including certain electives or Advanced Placement courses, Mr. Daily said. The service also provides homebound instruction for suspended or ill students, since it can provide portions of courses to cover what a student would miss. Educere’s courses can fulfil summer school requirements, reducing transportation costs for parents, Mr. Daily said.
   Educere’s courses can also be used for students who transfer to Manville from districts that do not require as many credits to complete a school year or graduate.
   Paying the course fees would depend on the reason for taking the course — while the district would pay for homebound instruction; parents would foot the bill for summer school courses.
   Board members questioned whether the online credits would translate to regular high school credits, how the district would handle policies on online education, how students would take end of course or AP exams, and who would foot the bill for the courses. Many of the answers depend on whether the board accepts the program, and how it handles the online classes.
   ”Can a student graduate in three years by taking these courses on the Internet,” board member Ned Panfile said.
   While a student could graduate early by taking additional courses, Mr. Woodring said the students’ diploma would not come from Manville High School, but from the institution that provided most of the student’s courses.
   ”Do you have a lot of instances of seniors that use the courses to avoid not graduating,” board member Heidi Alles said.
   While Educere had some instances of seniors taking the courses to avoid missing graduation, Mr. Daily said Educere’s services were primarily used for summer school courses. Mr. Woodring supported the Educere service, noting the instances where failing marks in a single class prevents a student from graduating.
   ”I wouldn’t want a kid not to walk because of one class,” Mr. Woodring said. “In a lot of cases, it’s a good kid that just messed up.”
   Manville resident and high school Special Education teacher Stacey Kita asked whether course exams required proctors and who would proctor the exams, and how students without home Internet connection would access the courses.
   Course providers determine whether students need test proctors. The providers can designate proctors for each test, or midterm or final exams exclusively, or opt against requiring proctors, Mr. Daily said.
   Students without Internet connections at home could access the Educere courses through the school’s computers, or at the public library, Mr. Daily said.