I am currently reading “The Influence of Teachers: Reflections on Teaching and Leadership” by John Merrow.  The 14th chapter of the book is devoted to his experience with charter schools.  Many of his reflections mirror my own experiences in my 3 years with SC charter schools, including:

1.  There seems to be an “overriding spirit of optimism” in charter schools.  Without a doubt, educators working with successful charter schools have a much greater sense of optimism.  Not only because of the innovative nature of the school, but also because of the constant drive for improvement and growth.  Every year, every week, every day, charter school educators are faced with new situations and dilemmas that call for different resolutions.  No charter school educators have the ability to continue doing the same thing year after year. 

2.  There is great interest and large growth in charter schools.  “The first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992, with fewer than 100 students; today 4,900 charter schools in 39 states adn Washington DC enroll over 1.6 million students – and counting.”  We have also seen this in our charter schools.  SC Virtual Charter School opened in its first year with 960 students, grew to 1900 students by year 2, 2800 students by year 3, and currently has over 3800 students in its 4th year.  We continue to enroll students daily and expect the total enrollment to reach 4000 by the end of the year.  That is just one of the 13 public charter schools, not to mention all of the charter schools in the traditional districts!

3.  Charter schools are meant to be “incubators” to encourage positive growth and change in traditional public schools.  I love John Merrow’s analogy of charter schools to incubators!  If you enter the NICU at any hospital, you will see premature infants in incubators.  The design of an incubator is a temporary aid to growth and greater success.  The point in charter schools is to promote change in traditional schools.  As a scientist, I have great value for experimentation and the power of statistically significant data.  Charter schools provide the perfect experimental groups to test new pedagogical strategies and identify needs of children.  My hope is to see charter schools working directly with traditional schools in a huge collaborative effort to continually improve education in SC.  The great things that happen in charter schools should not stay in charter schools!

Who would choose virtual school?  Why would anyone want to do this?

This is the most common question I am asked.  Most often, educators loved their experience in the traditional classroom when they were students.  That’s why they became educators!!  I loved seeing my teachers and fellow students every day.  I couldn’t wait to read the next novel or jump into the next group project – anything I could do to impress my teachers!

Because of this perspective, many of us can’t imagine why students would ever choose to work from home in the virtual environment rather than joining the fun and excitement of the traditional school system.   The answer is simple.  The students who choose virtual ed are not like us.  They don’t get excited to enter the school building and their lives are not improved and enhanced by the school schedule.   Every year I work with SCVCS, I gain a bit more perspective from those students.  Following are some direct quotes from my students when asked why they chose to learn virtually:

“ I feel safe, because in regular school I was bullied and threatened.  I went through a lot of things during those days.  I was jumped in the bathroom and saw someone with drugs and they told me I better not tell. I had panic attacks and didn’t tell my parents for a long time.  I wouldn’t get out of the truck to go in and was just before being sent to DJJ for not going to school.  That is when my mom found out about this school and I feel like it saved me.”  

“As a parent, virtual schooling has been great.  My son was getting ready to go into 6th grade and 2+ years behind in math and reading.  He has an IEP but it didn’t seem to get him the help he needed… This year is his fourth year and he is in 9th grade, at grade level in every subject and working fairly independently.  I have been able to return to work (I quite to help him get caught up)….”

“When she was in the brick and mortar school, she would come home most days crying and every morning was a struggle to get her off to school. Her anxiety level was sky high most of the time. She has trouble staying focused and was getting further and further behind the other students. She would get teased and bullied because she’s not like most other kids her age. Having Cystic Fibrosis made her life at school far more challenging and only added to her anxiety. She had more frequent illness just from being around all the germs the other kids bring to school. Her missing school for illness only made her more behind.”

Each of these students, and countless others, were not successful in the traditional school setting for reasons that I could never have imagined.  As I continue to work with students in this setting, I am becoming increasingly aware of the important and unique role that virtual education plays for individual students in South Carolina.

I had the opportunity to speak at the recent conference for the SC Association of Teacher Educators at Francis Marion University on October 17.

The pre-conference activities the night before included viewing “Waiting for Superman” and the SCATE were interested to hear more about what charter schools are an how they operate.  I shared information about Charter School Law, how charter schools are developed and opened, how charters are revoked, and specifics about how virtual charter schools run.

Many found the information helpful and many mindsets were changed.  Specifically, many walked away with a clear understanding that SC Charter schools are fully PUBLIC schools, teaching the same SC standards, preparing for the same state testing, providing the same SPED accomodations, and being held accountable by the same AYP standards as every other public school in the state!!!

I was very encouraged to see the level of support and collaboration that can occur among the traditional and charter school educators if clear information gets out and educators truly see what both sides are doing.  Many of the professors had questions about how to best prepare pre-service teachers for careers in virtual schools.  I think that is an GREAT question and I’ll be adding a new stream of blog posts specifically addressing best ways to prepare new teachers for careers in virtual education!

A panel met in the studio of SCETV on Sunday, October 2 for a live discussion about virtual schooling in SC. Representatives of virtual charter schools and the virtual school program discussed how virtual schools are run and managed and how students work in those schools.

The following link will allow you to view the segment. You’ll see the live interviews, some pre-recorded segments, and a live online classroom presentation!

http://tinyurl.com/virtualedscetv

TIP: The easiest way to open the clip is to double-click on the picture!!!

The Results are In!!!

The SC Public Charter School District Science Fair was held on Friday, April 1st.  Fifty four projects competed, representing 7 schools in the district.  The judges were Wanda Whatley (former assistant superintendent in Lexington 2 ), Tom Siler (current assistant superintendent for Lexington 1), and Karen Stratton (former K-12 director of science education in Lexington 1). 

The reults of the science fair were:

Judge’s Choice Award

Noah Rigsby -7^th grade – Palmetto Scholars Academy

Grant Kuczler – 7th - York Prep Academy 

Participant’s Choice Award

Savanna Rutherford – 6^th grade – Palmetto Scholars Academy 

Best of Category: High School Engineering

Daquan Graham -9^th grade – Lake City College Prep

Best of Category: Middle School Physical Science

Grant Kuczler – 7th - York Prep Academy 

Best of Category: Middle School Engineering

Justin Debrow - 6^th grad – Palmetto Scholars Academy

Best of Category: Middle School Life Science

Logan Lillibridge – York Prep Academy

On Sunday, February 27 a panel of 7 members met to discuss charter schools and virtual education.  A pre-recorded 6-minute segment was included showing a glimpse of my virtual classroom from both the teacher’s and student’s perspectives.  Enjoy!

http://www.knowitall.org/EducatorPlus/content/video.cfm?ProgramIDpassed=1046&SeriesIDpassed=72&offset=0

In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, Dr. Zais will be reading Dr. Seuss books to some elementary school children on Wednesday, March 3.  I’m thrilled to report that he will be reading to our virtual school students through an online classroom that day as well.  I think this is an excellent way to show others how our virtual charter students can be taught the same things in similar ways to all other traditional school students!

Some common criticisms of virtual education are that there is no real relationship with the teachers and that students aren’t really learning anything.  Many people think students are reading material and completing assessments like the old correspondence courses that I took in high school.  However, that is simply not true. I received an email from a student recently and was so encouraged and excited that I wanted to share:

“I just wanted to let you know that today all of your biology lessons were VERY useful. I competed in the SC state 4H hippology contest in Clemson. For part of the competiton, we had to take a written test to test our horse knowledge. I never expected to see familiar words like diploid and haploid chromosomes on there but sure enough, several of the questions asked about how many diploid or how many haploid chromosomes horses, donkeys,and zebras have. Also, there were questions about organelles and ATP and the energy released in its bonds. I was SO relieved haha. Who would have thought? I ended up getting second place overall in the competition and am going on to represent SC in the southern regional 4H hippology contest in Missouri this July. So I just wanted to say THANKS So MUCH!! “

This correspondence is a key example of the many great challenges and opportunities we are providing for our students through virtual education in South Carolina.  My student not only learned the material, but was able to apply it in a new situation and evaluate it in terms of it’s own impact in her life.  Doesn’t that hint of higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy as well as the Six Facets of Understanding???  In addition, my student clearly has a personal relationship with me.  She wants to share her good news and she knows that I will be rejoicing right along with her.

I’m proud of this student and thankful that she’ll be representing our school, our district, and our state in the national competition in Missouri in July.

South Carolina Minds at Work is an effort to get positive information about our state’s public schools known to the general public.  In a national survey, 46% of respondents had a negative opinion of the job opportunities in South Carolina and 41% had a negative opinion of higher education opportunities.  If people do not see value in our job market, we cannot thrive and compete on a national scale. 

Fortunately, SC is doing some really great things and we need to spread the word.  This data was pulled from, and can be accessed at www.scmindsatwork.com:

#1 – National Rank of SC for teacher quality 2 years running (Education Week 2011 Quality Counts)

#2 - National Rank of SC for virtual education (2009 Center for Digital Education)

#3 - National Rank of SC in total number of National Board Certified Teachers

#15 – National Rank of SC for academic policy and performance (Education Week 2011 Quality Counts)

#17 - National Rank of SC for preparation for educational challenges ahead (2009 US Chamber of Commerce)

#17 - National Rank of SC in preparing students for the workforce

$917 million – Scholarships earned by SC graduating seniors in 2010

$3.85 billion – Scholarships earned by SC graduating seniors in the past 5 years

In addition to these statistics, SC is also well known for many of it’s programs in action.  Please access the SC Minds @ Work site to read more.  Become informed, then help to inform others.  If we don’t share our great news with others, no one will ever hear!

The greatest issue with charter school legislation currently in South Carolina  is the miscommunication.  However all of us can help combat it through a grassroots effort if we are appropriately informed.  Even listening to the house debate this week, it is clear that some representatives don’t understand or are choosing to purposefully confuse people.  Here are the key misconceptions I am finding people continue to have:

•  We are private.  Many folks continue to write editorials, etc about us being private, charging fees, having no accountability, etc.  Remind them that our kids take all state tests, meet all state standards, and our schools must meet AYP.

• Why call them charter schools?  I’ve heard many folks say that, if they are truly equally public, why do charter schools have a distinctive name.  This is a misunderstanding of what a charter school is by definition.  Charter schools are schools of innovation – they provide something different for teachers and students that is not being done in the traditional schools.  Therefore, they have a distinction.

• We are state-funded.  I have a phone conversation set up for today with the man who first stated this in the state newspaper.  I’m eager to determine whether he knows something I don’t or whether her purposefully began calling charters state-supported in order to confuse.  Many educators think we are funded at a greater proportion by the state, like the Governor’s School, and therefore should not get any local funds.  This is simply not true.

• We are separate from K12 education.  I heard a representative comment about this in the general assembly debate.  He said he supported public charter schools as long as the funding does not come from K12 education funds.  To me, that is a grievous misunderstanding of who we are as we, too, are K12 education!  In order for charter schools to ever gain any footing, we must get everyone to understand that we are exactly the same in education, but look different.

• Our teachers are not certified.  As a result of the rule that allows 25% of charter school teachers to be uncertified, I am now hearing educators say that none of our teachers are certified.  They are envisioning zoos with crazy people rounding up children.  In fact, there are specific rules about what teachers can be non-certified and it leaves very little room for any non-certified educators in the classroom.  Remind people that all core courses and special ed educators must be certified instructors.  The only teachers that can be non-certified are electives that are not a part of the core curriculum and the Carnegie Units required for graduation.

• This opens a window to vouchers.  Many feel that supporting the funding of public charter schools would open a window to provide vouchers for private schools.  There are a lot of differences between private schools and public charter schools.  I can clearly see a difference in the training of the teachers and the rigor and accuracy of the curriculum at private schools.  Especially at the high school level, many of the math, history, and science curriculums are weak, watered down, and at times inaccurate.  Private schools are not free and equal access schools to all children because there is no transportation provided, fees will most likely still be charged (a voucher at per pupil rate would cover only half tuition for my child in his private school), the teachers are not required to be certified in core areas, the schools don’t teach state standards or participate in state accountability, and they are not certified and prepared to teach students with special needs.  If the private schools adjusted all of that, I would be in great support of vouchers – however, a move like that would make them cease to be private.  That’s a long way of saying, make sure folks realize there is a difference between sending money with the child to a public charter school that does meet all of those requirements and a private school that does not.

I hope this helps many of you as you seek to combat the misconceptions about our public charter schools here in South Carolina.  Good luck in your part of the battle to help validate the work our kids and teachers are doing in our public charter schools!