Meanwhile, although the North Carolina Virtual Public School has yet to offer professional development to teachers who teach only in brick-and-mortar schools, it appears to be mastering the balance between “comprehensive” and “targeted” professional development that VHS is only experimenting with.

With most of its rolling teaching force of 600 to 700 also working full time in face-to-face classrooms, NCVPS blends what it calls its “PD-10” courses—approximately 10-hour self-paced, instructorless online courses that can count as 10 of the 150 hours of professional development the state requires of its teachers—with shorter, more acutely focused “just in time” courses.

For example, copyright and fair use, common-standards compliance, and teaching students with individualized education programs would be PD-10 courses; use of a new geometry math tool or language arts application would fall into the just-in-time category. And because trends and tools can go from cutting-edge to commonplace, the format lends itself to progress, said Karen Creech, the director of curriculum and instruction for the North Carolina school.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual Schools Offer PD Programs for E-Teaching

SANFORD — After seeing a dip in SAT scores in 2010, a Lee County Schools representative said the district is hard at work trying to find solutions to the problem.

Among the remedies, LCS Public Information Officer Sharon Spence said the district planned to increase the focus on test taking skills during adviser/advisee sessions, encourage students to take the SAT multiple times and boost enrollment in more rigorous courses.

According to the annual College Board SAT report released last week, Lee County was one of several central North Carolina districts that saw a dip in SAT scores below the state average in 2011. Lee County’s average combined reading and math score dropped to 973 in 2011 from 1,000 in 2010. North Carolina’s 2011 average was 1,001, down three points from a 1,004 average in 2010. The national average was slightly higher at 1,011, down four points from 1,015 in 2010.

After the scores were released last week, Spence said the district was disappointed in the 27-point drop but would work to ensure student success on the SAT in the future.

“We are asking all students to consider taking an SAT/ACT at the completion of their sophomore year and/or in the fall of their junior year,” Spence said. “If their score is below 1,000, then we ask them to consider enrolling in the online North Carolina Virtual Public School SAT prep course, which can be counted as a high school credit and taken during the school day as one of their four courses.”

Participation in the SAT rose to 67 percent of graduating seniors statewide and 56 percent in Lee County. The College Board altered its parameters to include scores through June rather than the previous cutoff of March, which Spence said may partially account for the drop in scores.

For the rest of the article, go to LCS mulls remedies to low SAT scores

High school students take online courses through North Carolina Virtual Public School, either during the school day or at home if they are taking the classes in addition to their regular course load.

Trice said many students like having more control over their school work when taking online courses.

“They feel empowered to move at their own pace,” he said.

But school officials said there are disadvantages to online courses.

Jesse Dingle, principal of Chapel Hill High School, said that online courses sacrifice the social interaction between students and teachers.

Trice said he agreed that students benefit from the encouragement of teachers.

“Sometimes we know that high school students need a push, and teachers have traditionally been there to encourage students,” he said.

Academic integrity has also become one of the major problems with these courses, said Shari Manning, online learning facilitator for East Chapel Hill High School.

“You can Google everything,” she said.

Teachers are trying to make online tests more secure, she added.

But she said despite issues associated with online learning, she has seen the courses benefit many students in the district.

“If you are committed to the course then you will learn just as much, if not more, as you would in the classroom,” Manning said.

For the rest of the article, go to Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools limit online course offerings