Spartanburg County Alternative School

1
Spartanburg County Alternative School

• SCAS serves approximately two hundred 6th-12th
  grade students from six of the seven local school
  districts.

Students are referred to SCAS by their home
schools for a variety of reasons. 98 of our
students qualify for free or reduced lunch and
68 are minorities. 80 are below grade level in
either English and / or math.
150 Lincoln School Road Spartanburg, SC
29301 864-595-4302 www.spart6.org/ussc/usschome.ht
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2
The NovaNET lab at SCAS

• 14-24 students enrolled per class for 4 periods
  each day
• Offering all high school subjects, but primarily
  9th grade English and math
• Recovery and first-time credits
• Prescriptive courses are primarily utilized

Math Teacher
Students
English Teacher
The LAYOUT
Good classroom management is key to any eLearning
environment.
3
There are three main reasons why a student may be
assigned to the NovaNET lab

• They have taken the class before and failed it
  (recovery credit)
• They need a course that SCAS does not offer for
  whatever reason (initial credit).
• Special circumstances (personality conflict with
  content course teacher, etc)

4
Sample Course Equivalents

• Math Tech I Algebra IA
• Math Tech II Algebra IB
• World Geography Global Studies
• Anatomy Disease Anatomy Physiology
• US History US History B

Courses that are offered for first-time credit
should be enhanced by adding additional
assignments. For example, English I (first time
credit) might include both the 2000 version of
Eng I as well as the updated version.
Supplemental materials can also be added from SC
English curriculum, which is aligned to SC State
standards. Having the initial course considerably
longer than the recovery version is necessary due
to State law and seat time requirements.
5
Initial v. Recovery (Example)
6
Aligned to SC Curriculum Standards
Elements such as writing, speaking and
listening are dealt with in the same way that
the South Carolina End Of Course (EOC) test
assesses these standards.

7
Calculating a Grade
Automatically generated reports make converting
NovaNET scores into existing grading systems easy
and versatile

• Sample
• average posttest x complete
  grade
• Or
• average lesson grade
• average test grades 2
• x complete grade

NovaNET progress reports averages all lesson
scores and test scores so teachers can easily
merge these figures into their own grading system
8
Additional Reports Used
9
Results

• 04 summer school 23 students 25 credits
• 04-05 school year 110 students 102
  credits
• 05 summer school 26 students 31.5 credits
• 05-06 school year 100 students 98
  credits
• 06 summer school 25 students 35 credits
• 06-07 school year 94 students 43 credits
• 07 summer school 22 students 25 credits
• 07-08 fall semester 79 students 99 credits

The 06-07 school year reflects several
unsuccessful experimental changes to the NovaNET
lab. The lab design implemented during this time
revealed the kind of program that clearly does
not work.
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Current Results

• 79 students served
• 75 active students
• 99 credits recovered first semester
• 95 of active students received credit
• 60 of students receiving two or more credits
• 76 students completed course
• 23 students passed without completing course
  (average post test x complete passing score)

11
Cost Comparison

• In the average regular education class with at
  risk students, approximately ½ will fail (Hughes
  Adera, 2006).
• Given an average of 25 students for three periods
  per day, the average teacher serves 75 students
  and grants 37-38 credits each semester.
• One NovaNET lab staffed with two teachers, can
  still produce more credits with less
  administrative headaches

12
Collaboration Making the Most of our License

• Glen Springs Academy (children from the boys
  orphanage can use our NovaNET account to improve
  their academic skills)
• Fresh Start Students from districts five and six
  who are not eligible to enroll in the alternative
  school can attend an after school program
  identical to the one ran during the day. The
  program operates four days per week and has
  helped many students get back on track for
  graduation.
• District 4 (district four students can attend an
  after school program similar to our Fresh Start
  program and use our license)

13
Details of Management

• Folders
• ClassXP info
• Registrar e-mail
• Completed work (including supplemental)
• All correspondence
• Discipline information
• Yellow Legal Pad
• Notes
• Two teachers (Math and English)
• Content certified and technologically adept

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Details of Management Cont

• Discipline
• All misc. programs removed from computer
  students are not allowed to access ANY area of
  the computer other than NovaNET.
• Students must face forward in their chairs and
  remain silent for the entire class.
• Rewards
• Certificate on bulletin board outside classroom
• Stickers progress wall
• Food rewards

15
Future Plans

• Collaborate with the SC Virtual Schools project
  (SCVS) in order to offer more elective options to
  our students
• Continue trying to convince lawmakers to waive
  seat time requirements for students who are one
  or more years behind grade level
• Expand the Fresh Start program to include middle
  school students

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Final Thoughts

• NovaNET is an instructional tool, not magic a
  NovaNET lab does not run itself.

17
References

• Hughes, A., Adera, B., (2006) Education and Day
  Treatment Opportunities in Schools Strategies
  That Work. Preventing School Failure. Fall 2006
  51, 1 p 26-30

18
Marsheila Ksor NBPTS Certified English
TeacherMA in English from the University of
Miami3 years experience using NovaNETksormn_at_spar
t6.org Dennis SettleMA in Education from
the University of South CarolinaEdSp. From the
University of South Carolina4 years experience
using NovaNETsettledr_at_spart6.org
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