Ongoing Professional Development for Virtual School Instructors

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Ongoing Professional Development for Virtual
School Instructors
ETLO Forum Webinar October 23, 2007
Nicole Honoré, LDoE nicole.honore_at_la.gov
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www.louisianavirtualschool.net

• Established in 2000 by Board of Elementary and
  Secondary Education
• Designed to improve student achievement by
  providing LA students with opportunities to
  access necessary courses, standards-based
  curriculum, and high quality teaching, utilizing
  a web-based platform
• Targets areas of the state that experienced
  teacher shortages for particular subjects and/or
  low student enrollments for particular courses.

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LVS Growth
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Professional Development Model
Participation in ongoing PD in each Phase is
required
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Professional Development Topics

• Phase I and II
• Designing and Teaching Online courses
• Discussion Topics for Online Leaders and
  Instructors
• Program policy and guidelines
• Bb Learning platform and new technologies
• Communication Workshops
• Mentoring Program
• LA Online courses (http//www.doe.state.la.us/lde/
  lcet/322.html)

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Professional Development Topics

• Phase III, IV, and V
• Instructing Virtual Courses Online
• Mentor training
• Advanced Placement
• Topics for Algebra Leaders and Instructors (TALI)
• Program policy and guidelines
• Bb Learning platform and new technologies
• LA Online courses

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Identifying Professional Development Needs

• Online Surveys and Needs Assessments
• Course Walk-throughs
• Faculty Meetings
• Professional Growth Plans

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What we heard

• Include online and f2f professional development
  opportunities
• Need to occur multiple times during the year
• Provide opportunities for teachers to interact
  with teachers who are at different phases of
  participation
• Need to utilize expertise of online instructors
  as providers of professional development
• PD has to be ongoing!!!
• Hire full-time PD coordinator

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Future Directions

• Expand PD offerings (content specific)
• Provide PD to non-LVS instructors
• Expand mentoring component of LVS
• Explore Add-on Certification Endorsement for
  Online Instructors

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Thank You! Nicole Honoré
Education Senior Consultant
Office of Educator Support
LA Dept of Education Nicole.Honore_at_la.gov