I Looked at 3 of the 5 scenarios and compared the requirements in Section 21f of the State School Aid Act.
- Scenarios 1: You're a rural district with only a few hundred students total. A child wants to take courses like calculus, but they cannot feasibly be offered by your high school.
I believe that rural school faces these challenges every day. Also, at the rate our public schools’ funding changes so do the ability to take courses online. For this student, it depends on the technology that in their life. Per the Section 21f of the State School Aid Act, One or more of the following must be met to satisfy the attendance requirement:
- 1. Pupil attended a live lesson from the teacher.
- 2. Pupil logged into a lesson or lesson activity and the login can be documented.
- 3. The pupil and teacher engaged in a subject-oriented telephone conversation.
- 4. There is documentation of an email dialogue between the pupil and teacher.
- 5. There is documentation of activity/work between the learning coach and pupil.
- 6. An alternate form of attendance as determined and agreed upon by the cyber school and intermediate district auditor was met.
- Scenarios 2: You're a principal of a school. An overbearing parent comes to you. Their first son had Mr. Siko for chemistry and hated him. He's the only chemistry teacher, and now their younger son has him. They want to pull him out and have him take it online. Can you prevent this? Should you prevent this?
As the principal of a high school, they must accommodate all students when it comes to online classes. Also, a district must allow a pupil to enroll in up to two (2) online courses per term, semester, or trimester with the consent of the pupil's parent or legal guardian. Likewise, the student can take the online class if through, allow pupils in grades 5 to 12 to enroll in online courses where each course can generate credit or a grade while being provided in an interactive internet-connected learning environment.
- Scenarios 3: A child comes into your class, having transferred from a 'cyber school'. It is clear the quality was subpar. Any of this child's standardized test scores this year are tied to your performance evaluation under the new teacher evaluation guidelines
Gov. Snyder told The Detroit News, “when it comes to standardized testing, scores show students at Michigan cyber schools, many operated by for-profit management companies, are consistently underperforming their peers.” There are guidelines for the cyber school that must be met for students in order for the class to be acceptable. Enrollment Requirements Per Section 552(2), a cyber school must be available for enrollment to all pupils who are eligible for membership in this state, must offer some or all of grades K-12, and must demonstrate experience in delivering a quality educational program that improves pupil academic achievement.
