CT Virtual Adult High School
Board of Directors Minutes
September 7, 2005
Vernon Adult Education, Manchester
Attendees:
Dan Gaynor, Rich Tariff, James Misenti, Marc Potish, Jerry Griffin, Gretchen Hayden, Ed Klonoski.
Hayden began the meeting by welcoming everyone back from the summer. The May minutes were approved. At the May meeting the Board approved D grades as passing for online courses. The Board was concerned that this policy would create problems for districts that have a higher minimum passing grade. Tariff suggested that the grades in the D range be reported as P for passing. After some discussion, the Board approved the policy that all D grades (and only D grades) would be reported as P.
Hayden began her report on the summer courses with the following data:
Course Initial enrollment Final enrollment Credit Awarded
Transitions 9 cancelled
Contemporary Issues 23 16 9
Literature 14 11 5
One of the issues that arose during the summer concerned student participation in courses that used the online conference as part of the process of the course. Some students worked independently and moved through the course with a minimal amount of interaction. In effect, they created an independent study that eliminated required interactions between themselves and the instructor or other students. The Board discussed the tension between online flexibility and cohort integrity and decided the following:
Courses that require student participation will:
- Announce that requirement as part of the course description in the portal.
- Require one interaction per week at the minimum.
- Measure that interaction based on participation in the online conference.
- Teachers will be informed that this weekly interaction must be graded
This policy will apply to courses (i.e. Literature, Contemporary Issues) not sections of courses. Hayden will survey the teachers to see what the consensus is on which courses should have a participation requirement. (The results of this survey were that all course teachers requested mandatory logins except Transitions)
The Board requested that the CTDLC supply periodic reports on Enrollment & Completion for the online courses. These reports will be presented to the Board and will cross reference enrollment and credit awarded by course and district.
Hayden reported that the summer training was well attended. In addition, the online registration system for the fall course offerings will open on September 19 with a two week registration period, followed by one week of add/drop. As a means to track course interest, at the end of the enrollment period the CTDLC will report to the Board on any waiting list students who failed to get enrolled into a course.
Hayden reminded the Board that they can look at any courses which are running by going to the portal site (ctvhs.org) and logging into Blackboard using ctavhs as both the username and password. Interested districts can also log in to Blackboard using adultedu as both the username and password to access the Orientation to Online Learning course. Finally, the Board was reminded that the OLCs have LEA specific usernames and passwords to use in handling registration within the CT AVHS online system. Passwords can now be changed, and all will be encouraged to do so.
One cheating incident occurred this summer and the Board requested that the CTDLC post an academic honesty policy on the CT AVHS portal. Hayden is collecting samples from the participating districts from which to draw the online policy. The policy will address academic issues such as plagiarism and cheating, but it will also address online misbehavior including using other people’s identities, illegal activities, and harassment. When the draft is complete, the CTDLC will circulate it for feedback from the various AVHS constituents.
The final issue that arose over the summer involved a student submitting handwritten work instead of using the online tools. The Board recommended a policy change:
Online courses require that students use the online toolset to take the course. Generally, this means that assignments must be completed online, papers must be word processed, and the online conference is a required tool for course interactions. Exceptions to this policy can be made for special circumstances after consulting with the CT AVHS Program Director (Gretchen Hayden).
The CTDLC Instructional Design group is producing open (teacher modifiable) versions of the courses. But the original course is what is saved as the basis for the next course. If teachers would like their modifications saved for the future, they must consult with the CTDLC Instructional Design department regarding these changes.
The CTDLC released is New Course Development RFP several weeks ago to everyone in our Adult Education contact list. The CTDLC ID department is working on a master template that will make the development of new course materials easier by reducing the amount of technical planning that is required.
The Board of Directors decided on its own composition for the coming year and that representation is listed below by category. New representatives include New Haven and Jerry Griffin as the OLC representative. Marc Potish will continue to serve on the Advisory Board as the representative from CAACE.
CAACE Representative 1 Rep: Marc Potish
Large Urban City 1 Rep: Hartford
Original Four 1 Rep: Middletown
Regional Program 1 Rep: Vernon
Small City 1 Rep: New London
RESC 1 Rep: Education Connection
Smaller Program 1 Rep: Enfield
New Participants 2 Reps: Valley Regional; New Haven
SDE 1 Rep: Ajit Gopalakrishnan
Teachers/Counselors/Mentors 1 Rep: local invited by host location
OLCs
Finally, the Board agreed to host the meetings at the participating LEAs in the middle of the state (Hartford, Middletown, Vernon, and New Haven). The next meeting was scheduled for November 2nd at Middletown Adult Education but must be rescheduled. I propose Wednesday, November 9th. Please pencil it in and it will be confirmed in a future email.
Future meetings:
February 1, 2006 May 3, 2006
March 1, 2006 June 7, 2006
Respectfully submitted
Gretchen Hayden
CT AVHS Program Director