Support and Leadership to Accelerate Innovation

Michigan Virtual Plans and Benchmarks for the 2018-19 School Year

This report is being submitted in fulfillment of the following legislative directive:

The Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the legislature not later than November 1 of each year that includes its mission, its plans, and proposed benchmarks it must meet, which shall include a plan to achieve the organizational priorities identified in this section, in order to receive full funding for 2019-2020. Not later than March 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide an update to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on school aid to show the progress being made to meet the benchmarks identified.

Mission: Advance K-12 digital learning and teaching through research, practice, and partnerships.

Test, Evaluate Tools:

Organizational Priority

2(a)(i) – Test, evaluate, and recommend as appropriate new technology-based instructional tools and resources.

Plans

To better serve educators looking for quality educational tools to meet all their needs, Michigan Virtual will publish a blog series focused on educators who are utilizing technology in the classroom to serve the needs of their students. This series, consisting of multiple posts throughout the year, will showcase how teachers are using various tools in their classrooms and their recommendations on what they are finding useful.

Michigan Virtual will also host a podcast series designed to better understand how educators are implementing technology in their classrooms. The podcasts will focus on specific discussions around educational tools and how they are integrated. These podcasts and the information shared by educators will then be packaged together to create a new SCECH-bearing professional development course offered through the Professional Learning Portal.

Benchmarks

1. Host a series of at least 12 blog posts, approximately three per quarter, from educators highlighting their use of technology tools in the classroom.
2. Produce two new professional learning podcasts by April 30, 2019 and two additional podcasts by September 30, 2019.
3. Leverage the assets created through the podcast series to construct a SCECH-bearing professional development course for the Professional Learning Portal no later than September 30, 2019.

Research, Design, Recommend Virtual Delivery Models:

Organizational Priority

2(a)(ii) – Research, design, and recommend virtual education delivery models for use by pupils and teachers that include age-appropriate multimedia instructional content.

Plans

Michigan Virtual will continue to conduct learning analytics research by exploring a wide array of tracking variables gathered in learning management system repositories. Focusing on a mathematics course for two academic years (2016-17 and 2017-18), Growth Mixture Modeling will explore students’ sub-groups based on their learning trajectories in the course. Also the characteristics of students’ mathematical communication will be examined by text-mining and social-network analysis techniques.

As a continuation of work done in the 2017-18 year, Michigan Virtual will again work with Kerry Rice and Andy Hung of Boise State University to refine models to identify early warning indicators of student success or failure in their online courses. For 2018-19, this research will be expanded to include course enrollments from prior school years. The expanded model will then be tested on data from another school year.

Michigan Virtual has been maintaining online Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as a guided model to connect educational communities across geographic boundaries and to enhance educators’ professional learning. This year, the community engagement will be researched in depth. Social network analysis and text-mining will examine in what ways characteristics of knowledge sharing and development are evident in discussion forums of online PLCs. The result of this research will provide an adequate guide to model improvement.

Last fiscal year, Michigan Virtual designed a mobile application called “NuTeacher.” NuTeacher was developed to help all teachers, but particularly new teachers, connect, share, and learn from their colleagues. It is based on the theory of action that beginning teachers have a need to connect with master teachers, establish professional relationships, and maintain continuous discussions around classroom-related topics. The app is now available on the iOS App and Google Play stores. This year, pilot studies will be conducted with an urban and rural school district. The pilot studies will include usability and feasibility testing so that improvements can be made in the design of the app itself as well as in creating training resources necessary for optimal rollout.

In speaking with stakeholders throughout the state, many leaders are sharing their challenges dealing with social and emotional issues in their districts. To help address this concern, Michigan Virtual has partnered with Evolution Labs to make available their Suite 360 online and mobile application. Suite360 is a digital character development and behavior intervention program that offers programs for students and parents as well as professional development for teachers, administrators, and support staff. It also includes a restorative justice program for students who need extra support with conduct and behavior. In this initial year of the partnership, Michigan Virtual will collect information from users of this product to better understand how the product is being used, the areas where the product is meeting school’s needs and expectations, and areas for improvement.

The dynamic nature of communication that takes place between the instructor and students poses challenges for both. Further, communications between instructors and schools and parents/guardians are pivotal roles in successful online teaching. To gain an understanding of that dynamic, Michigan Virtual will explore the communication experiences and perspectives of instructors. Multiple data sources will include messaging system, phone call, email, announcement, and discussion forums in the course. The communication scope will include academic, collaborative, interpersonal, and managerial. A report detailing the findings from the study will be published on the MVLRI website.

For the past couple of years, Michigan Virtual has worked with Dr. Charles Graham to develop and validate a blended teaching readiness instrument. As part of his work in blended learning, Dr. Graham and his colleagues will be releasing an open educational textbook, entitled K-12 Blended Teaching: A Practical Guide for Teachers, in early 2019. Michigan Virtual is helping to review and provide feedback on this free resource as well as explore opportunities to collaborate, disseminate, and deepen the learning opportunities and research around this resource.

Benchmarks

1. Publish a report about learning analytics in summer 2019.
2. Post a recorded webinar on early warning indicators and the model developed from Michigan Virtual School course data in summer 2019.
3. Publish a report presenting educators’ network and discourse in professional learning communities in spring 2019.
4. Conduct two pilots for the NuTeacher professional learning mobile application by September 2019.
5. Collect data on Suite360 users to identify examples of successful uses of the new product as well as unmet challenges that remain for districts around social and emotional issues.
6. Publish a report on effective communication monitoring and support systems by September 2019.
7. Provide feedback to Dr. Charles Graham and colleagues on their forthcoming free book on K-12 Blended Teaching by Jan. 1, 2019 as well as identify one area for future collaboration to be identified by March 1, 2019.

Recommend Evaluation Criteria for Cyber and Online Providers:

Organizational Priority

2(a)(iii) – Research, develop, and recommend annually to the department criteria by which cyber schools and virtual course providers should be monitored and evaluated to ensure a quality education for their pupils.

Plans

In K-12 online learning, a set of standards, specifically iNACOL’s standards for teaching, programs, and courses, are widely-recognized for evaluating online providers. Unfortunately, these standards have not been revised for some time. Michigan Virtual staff are part of a nationwide effort to update all three sets of standards. The program and teaching standards are set to be released in early 2019 and the course standards later that year. Michigan Virtual staff will spend time throughout this fiscal year serving on leadership and development teams and will share information about the standards and ancillary resources created as part of this update process.

In addition to the standards development and dissemination effort, a Michigan Virtual staff member has been meeting with MDE and CEPI to coordinate the state’s communication around pupil accounting and other reporting requirements. This staff member will continue to act as a liaison to the department.

Michigan Virtual has also created a protocol for conducting supplemental online program reviews to assess programs in the areas of content procurement and monitoring practices, instructor training and communication, mentor training and student support techniques, student selection processes, parent communication, and overall program evaluation. Each review culminates in a summary of findings detailing program strengths, opportunities to further develop program effectiveness and includes targeted resources regarding the growth opportunities identified during the review. Michigan Virtual will provide MDE with a primer on the evaluation process so that it can offer its own reviews, if desired, or recommend the process to schools that may benefit from Michigan Virtual conducting a review.

Benchmarks

1. Participate in the revision of the National Standards for Quality Online Learning Programs, Teaching, and Course Standards to be released in 2019.
2. Attend meetings with MDE and CEPI staff to coordinate and clarify communications to the field around online learning.
3. Share information with MDE on how Michigan Virtual evaluates supplemental online programs, including the tools developed for the program reviews by spring 2019.

Effectiveness Report:

Organizational Priority

2(a)(iv) – Based on pupil completion and performance data reported to the department or the center for educational performance and information from cyber schools and other virtual course providers operating in this state, analyze the effectiveness of virtual learning delivery models in preparing pupils to be college- and career-ready and publish a report that highlights enrollment totals, completion rates, and the overall impact on pupils. The report shall be submitted to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, the department, districts, and intermediate districts not later than March 31 of each year.

Plans

By March 31, 2019, Michigan Virtual will produce the Effectiveness Report in a form and method consistent with the past version as it has been generally well received and represents the most in-depth, state-level analysis of virtual course enrollments in the country. Like last year’s report, Michigan Virtual will also create an infographic summarizing key findings from the report. The report will be mailed to required recipients and also published on the MVLRI website. The report’s author will host a webinar, which will be recorded and made available on-demand through the MVLRI website.

Benchmarks

1. Report published on MVLRI website by March 31^st deadline with physical copies sent to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department postmarked March 31st.
2. At-a-Glance Report Infographic and cover letter detailing the online report and resources mailed to superintendents and high school and middle school principals (approximately 2,000 people) no later than April 30, 2019.
3. Conduct and record a webinar in April to present key findings from the report.
4. Post webinar recording on MVLRI website for on-demand viewing.

Deliver PD and Submit PD Report:

Organizational Priority

2(a)(v) – Provide an extensive professional development program to at least 30,000 educational personnel, including teachers, school administrators, and school board members, that focuses on the effective integration of virtual learning into curricula and instruction. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute is encouraged to work with the MiSTEM advisory council created under section 99s to coordinate professional development of teachers in applicable fields. In addition, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute and external stakeholders are encouraged to coordinate with the department for professional development in this state. Not later than December 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall submit a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department on the number of teachers, school administrators, and school board members who have received professional development services from the Michigan Virtual University. The report shall also identify barriers and other opportunities to encourage the adoption of virtual learning in the public education system.

Plans

Michigan Virtual currently offers an extensive and wide variety of virtual learning experiences for educational personnel. With key stakeholders, this suite of services has grown to meet a growing number of teachers, school administrators, and school board members through virtual, blended, and face-to-face professional learning experiences. From compliance courses to SCECH credits, Michigan Virtual offers a robust catalog of professional learning options to schools.

An example of this robustness, Michigan Virtual will continue to host and maintain the Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy K-3, Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy Pre-K, Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy School and Center-wide professional learning modules, and the Early Literacy District Coaches Online Network.

In the 2019 year, Michigan Virtual will continue to grow its Collaborative Partnership model in which Michigan Virtual provides the course content and hosts the course in its Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) while the district provides the certified Michigan teacher. An integral part of this partnership has been Michigan Virtual’s training of district teachers, which consists of a face-to-face day-long event as well as enrollment in an online Instructor Onboarding course.

Michigan Virtual also puts on an annual event called Collaboration of the Minds (COM). COM is an annual two-day professional development conference that serves as an opportunity to bring the large remote teaching staff of Michigan Virtual, many of whom have full-time teaching positions in local school districts, together to learn, explore and collaborate with each other. It is the only opportunity throughout the year for all instructors to meet face-to-face and provides time for like-content instructors to explore best practices and strategies for supporting students. The event introduces new learning in the virtual environment, trainings in best practices and collaboration time to explore with fellow instructors. The event has also been expanded to include a mentor workshop to support the needs of this unique group.

The PD report for detailing Michigan Virtual’s efforts for the 2017-18 school year, as well as the identification of barriers and other opportunities to encourage the adoption of virtual learning in the public education system, will be submitted as part of its annual report. The work for this fiscal year will be reported on in Michigan Virtual’s annual report the following year.

Benchmarks

1. Provide a minimum of 30,000 professional learning enrollments.
2. Host and maintain the Early Literacy modules.
3. Train teachers from multiple districts in Michigan Virtual’s Collaborative model.
4. Host the 2019 Collaboration of the Minds professional learning conference.
5. Submit the 2018 PD report as part of a combined annual report that also includes Michigan Virtual’s annual Institute report specified under 2(b)(xiii) and the annual report required under subsection 7 for the Michigan Virtual School no later than December 1, 2018. This is a requirement from the previous fiscal year that crosses over fiscal years.
6. Submit the 2019 Professional Development report detailing Michigan Virtual’s professional learning services and the identification of barriers and opportunities report by December 1, 2019.

Identify/Share Best Practices:

Organizational Priority

2(a)(vi) – Identify and share best practices for planning, implementing, and evaluating virtual and blended education delivery models with intermediate districts, districts, and public school academies to accelerate the adoption of innovative education delivery models statewide.

Plans

Michigan Virtual will continue to maintain and update, where necessary, its series of role-specific guides to online learning. Consisting of guides for students, parents, teachers, mentors, school administrators, and school board members, the resources are in use around the globe assisting schools with implementing their virtual programs. The guides are currently available as pdf downloads from the Michigan Virtual websites. Michigan Virtual will explore alternative formats, such as mobile applications, that might broaden the dissemination of these best practice guides. Additional best practices are shared through the Michigan Virtual websites including through blog posts, webinars, and podcasts.

As mentioned under 2(a)(iii) above, Michigan Virtual is also participating in a refresh of the national standards for online programs, online teachers, and online courses. Upon the standards release in 2019, Michigan Virtual will help to raise awareness and promote these new tools for evaluating virtual and blended programs.

Michigan Virtual also spreads best practice by conducting supplemental online program reviews free of charge to Michigan schools. These reviews assess programs in the areas of content procurement and monitoring practices, instructor training and communication, mentor training and student support techniques, student selection processes, parent communication, and overall program evaluation. Each review culminates in a summary of findings detailing program strengths, opportunities to further develop program effectiveness, and includes targeted resources regarding the growth opportunities identified during the review.

Michigan Virtual staff will also spread best practices through presentations at a number of conferences. National, state, and local presentations on a variety of relevant topics on online and blended learning are given throughout the year at the conferences for leading educational organizations, such as MACUL, MANS, MASA, MASB, MASSP, MEMSPA.

Michigan Virtual staff also offers blended training events. These training events, known as Blended Learning Live!, consist of an immersive, two-day program implemented to support school-based or district-wide teams of five, including at least one district or building leader and one teacher. Participants are introduced to various blended learning models and develop an implementation plan for virtual and personalized learning models at the systems-level.

Michigan Virtual staff are also looking at creating and facilitating a new face-to-face training around personalized learning with technology.

Benchmarks

1. Maintain, and update where needed, best practice guides in online learning for students, parents, teachers, mentors, school administrators, and school board members.
2. Explore alternative formats to extend the usefulness and adoption of the best practice guides.
3. Participate in the creation of and promote the release of the national standards for online programs, online teaching, and online courses expected in 2019.
4. Offer to conduct Supplemental Online Program Reviews for Michigan schools free-of-charge.
5. Present at a minimum of five Michigan conferences on topics relevant to online and blended learning.
6. Offer at least one Blended Learning Live! event by fall 2019.
7. Facilitate at least one face-to-face training on personalized learning by fall 2019.

Policy Recommendations to Gov./Legislature:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(i) – Develop and report policy recommendations to the governor and the legislature that accelerate the expansion of effective virtual learning in this state’s schools.

Plans

Michigan Virtual will provide feedback on current virtual learning policies and make recommendations that will accelerate the use of effective virtual learning in the state.

Benchmarks

1. Before December 31, 2018, submit virtual learning policy recommendations to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the Department.

Research Clearinghouse:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(ii) – Provide a clearinghouse for research reports, academic studies, evaluations, and other information related to virtual learning.

Plans

Maintain the existing clearinghouse website (http://k12onlineresearch.org/) and add 100 additional resources to the website throughout the fiscal year. Currently, the nationally-recognized clearinghouse acts as an aggregator of K-12 online and blended research and key publications. To date, there are over 900 resources cataloged in the clearinghouse. On a quarterly basis, Michigan Virtual will email a clearinghouse newsletter to the MVLRI mailing list and share it via social media outlets to highlight five new resources added during that time period.

Michigan Virtual also maintains a website for MVLRI that publishes research reports and other information related to virtual learning.

Benchmarks

1. Create and send out quarterly newsletters that highlight five new resources and document progress toward the 100 newly added resources to the clearinghouse by the end of the fiscal year.
2. Continue to promote and add resources to the MVLRI.org website in the form of blogs, publications, webinars, podcasts, and the clearinghouse.

Promote/Distribute Instructional Design Guidelines and Standards:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(iii) – Promote and distribute the most current instructional design standards and guidelines for virtual teaching.

Plans

Michigan Virtual will maintain and update the instructional design guidelines and standards tagged in the clearinghouse. Michigan Virtual will provide leadership and guidance during the revamp of the National Quality Standards for Online Teaching, Quality Standards for Online Programs, and Quality Standards for Online Courses, which will all help to inform Michigan-based work in the area of online and blended learning. Part of these leadership activities is to conduct the literature review for the Course Standards refresh. Michigan Virtual will also create an online course on instructional design and make this course available through its Professional Learning Portal.

Benchmarks

1. Include links to instructional design guidelines and standards in the clearinghouse tagged under the keywords “instructional design” and “standards.”
2. Participate in the National Standards work, including assisting with the literature review for the course standards work.
3. Create and make available through the Professional Learning Portal a course on instructional design by September 30, 2019.

Work with Teacher Preparation Institutions on Digital Learning:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(iv) – In collaboration with the department and interested colleges and universities in this state, support implementation and improvements related to effective virtual learning instruction.

Plans

Michigan Virtual has developed a suite of online resources and courses that may be of value to teacher preparation institutions. These resources include digital content around areas such as early literacy, blended and online instruction, and use of open educational resources. The resources are available to colleges and universities to use through the Michigan Virtual-hosted environments, and in some cases, are portable for use in a university-hosted environment.

As detailed in greater depth below in the section on teacher effectiveness, Michigan Virtual will work with the department to identify issues and challenges specific to online teachers and Michigan’s current system for evaluating teacher effectiveness.

Benchmarks

1. Communicate with Michigan teacher preparation institutions about Michigan Virtual’s suite of online resources and courses on topics such as early literacy, blended and online learning, and open educational resources by spring 2019.
2. Work with interested Michigan teacher preparation institutions to coordinate access to the Michigan Virtual-hosted content, or where applicable, provide technical support for materials made available for self-hosting by the college or university.
3. Surface potential obstacles specific to virtual instructors that may arise from the current system of teacher effectiveness ratings and reporting.

Public/Private Partnerships:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(v)- Pursue public/private partnerships that include districts to study and implement competency-based technology-rich virtual learning models.

Plans

Michigan Virtual is also actively involved in statewide efforts to create an environment for competency-based professional learning. Various stakeholders are teaming together to identify needs and resources for micro-credentials, a certification, or badge for which an individual must prove mastery or competency to earn. This represents a sizable shift from much of the professional learning today which tends to be clock-hour or seat-time based. A primary focus for Michigan Virtual in this effort is to surface features and functionalities necessary for managing these micro-credentials statewide.

Michigan Virtual also provides technical assistance to educational group wanting to create their own micro-credentials. This includes reduced rates for design and development work as well as for consultations around areas such as creating reviewer pools, training reviews, and ensuring fidelity of reviews.

Michigan Virtual is also partnering with the Michigan Data Hubs project to construct a plan for how Michigan Virtual’s professional learning portal can connect to the data hubs using the Ed-Fi standards. Such integration work between private companies and Michigan schools would reflect a significant advancement on how data sharing occurs, resulting in the streamlining and improvement of data accuracy.

Benchmarks

1. Determine scope and feature set of the micro-credential platform by spring 2019.
2. Promote, once launched, the new micro-credential platform by September 30, 2019.
3. Provide technical assistance to educational organizations around the creation of micro-credentials and their related review teams.
4. Develop a multi-year plan for Michigan Virtual’s systems integration with the Ed-Fi standards and the Michigan Data Hubs.

Mentor Network:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(vi) – Create a statewide network of school-based mentors serving as liaisons between pupils, virtual instructors, parents, and school staff, as provided by the department or the center, and provide mentors with research-based training and technical assistance designed to help more pupils be successful virtual learners.

Plans

Using mentor data from MDE or CEPI, Michigan Virtual will reach out to Michigan mentors to invite them to participate in the Online Mentor Community that Michigan Virtual facilitates through its Professional Learning Portal. This community provides mentors access to the latest resources, a way to register for upcoming mentor trainings offered by Michigan Virtual, and a place to connect with other Michigan educators serving as mentors for online students.

Michigan Virtual also works with mentor leaders throughout the state to conduct onsite trainings at Michigan schools or ISDs. These face-to-face trainings allow mentors to see how mentoring works in other programs, share challenges of practice, and develop and deepen their professional networks.

In the last year, Michigan Virtual has conducted in-depth research studies of mentors. Using this new, research-based information, Michigan Virtual will review and update, where necessary, its existing online trainings to reflect up-to-date best practices.

Benchmarks

1. Invite Michigan mentors, identified through MDE/CEPI data, to participate in the Online Mentor Community (free-of-charge) by February 1, 2019.
2. Conduct four face-to-face mentor trainings by fall 2019.
3. Maintain and update online training materials using latest research findings by fall 2019.

Focus Groups /Annual Surveys:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(vii) – Convene focus groups and conduct annual surveys of teachers, administrators, pupils, parents, and others to identify barriers and opportunities related to virtual learning.

Plans

In line with the past several years, Michigan Virtual will conduct a survey of Michigan adults as well as of college students to better understand the public’s attitudes and awareness of online learning opportunities in Michigan. The adult data published establishes important benchmarks for school districts to recalibrate their perspectives on the general public’s views of online learning. In contrast, the college student data presents information about this populations’ opinions and experiences with online learning in high school and college. The results of the survey will be published on the MVLRI website.

Michigan Virtual will undertake surveying and focus groups to gather important feedback from our core user groups, including students, teachers, administrators, and school personnel. End of course surveys will be offered to all of our student and professional learners. These will be available online at the end of courses to gather information on the user experience. Michigan Virtual will also conduct at least three focus groups with students who are taking, or have taken, one or more online courses. These will be done at different schools in Michigan.

Michigan Virtual is also interested in conducting a survey in partnership with one or more educational organizations. Similar survey work was conducted with MASSP in 2013. The instrument will need to be updated due to changes in the field over the past five years.

Benchmarks

1. Publish results of Michigan adult and college student survey in spring 2019.
2. Collect data on instructors’ communication with students, schools (including onsite mentors), and parents and guardians as part of focus groups and annual surveys and incorporate these findings in the research publication about instructor communication practices by fall 2019.
3. Conduct an online learning survey with one or more educational organizations and publish findings on the MVLRI website by fall 2019.

Consumer Awareness Report:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(viii) – Produce an annual consumer awareness report for schools and parents about effective virtual education providers and education delivery models, performance data, cost structures, and research trends.

Plans

The consumer awareness report is available as an important link on the Micourses.org homepage, with sections devoted to background, providers, delivery models, performance data, cost structures, research trends, conclusions, and resources. Including this resource as part of the Micourses website provides high visibility for parents, students, and schools exploring 21f options. Data on areas such as the school districts that are putting courses in the catalog, the distribution of courses by ISD, PSA, LEA, and the Michigan Virtual School, and disaggregation by key variables such as who is providing the content or the instructor, are updated once in the fall and once in the spring to reflect the changes in those two enrollment windows. Other data throughout the report are also updated on an ongoing basis with a particular emphasis on the fall and spring updates.

Benchmarks

1. Update the Consumer Awareness Report twice annually (fall and spring).

Internet-based Platform:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(ix) – Provide an internet-based platform that educators can use to create student-centric learning tools and resources for sharing in the state’s open educational resource repository and facilitate a user network that assists educators in using the content creation platform and state repository for open educational resources. As part of this initiative, the Michigan Virtual University shall work collaboratively with districts and intermediate districts to establish a plan to make available virtual resources that align to Michigan’s K-12 curriculum standards for use by students, educators, and parents.

Plans

Michigan Virtual acts as a close partner with the Michigan Department of Education and the #GoOpen Michigan Strategy Team to make available a common Open Educational Resources system (https://goopenmichigan.org/) throughout the state. At the GoOpenMichigan website, educators can access open educational resources for modification and use in the classroom. In addition to providing leadership on the platform, Michigan Virtual also creates free learning objects for the platform. Michigan Virtual is currently working on making available 1,000 Michigan Virtual-created learning objects in the GoOpenMichigan website by the end of the fiscal year.

Michigan Virtual will also be releasing modules on its Professional Learning Portal that help educators learn about open educational resources, including how GoOpenMichigan can be leveraged for their classrooms.

Benchmarks

1. Provide leadership to the state’s GoOpen initiative by contributing staff members who serve on the GoOpen strategy teams and subteams.
2. Add at least 250 free learning objects to the GoOpenMichigan website by Dec. 31, 2018.
3. Add at least 250 free learning objects to the GoOpenMichigan website by Mar. 31, 2019.
4. Add at least 250 free learning objects to the GoOpenMichigan website by June 30, 2019.
5. Add at least 250 free learning objects to the GoOpenMichigan website by Sept. 30, 2019.
6. Make available modules on the Professional Learning Portal that address open educational resources, including the state’s GoOpen initiative.

Maintain Statewide Catalog of Online Courses:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(x) – Create and maintain a public statewide catalog of virtual learning courses being offered by all public schools and community colleges in this state. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall identify and develop a list of nationally recognized best practices for virtual learning and use this list to support reviews of virtual course vendors, courses, and instructional practices. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall also provide a mechanism for intermediate districts to use the identified best practices to review content offered by constituent districts. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall review the virtual course offerings of the Michigan Virtual University, and make the results from these reviews available to the public as part of the statewide catalog. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall ensure that the statewide catalog is made available to the public on the Michigan Virtual University website and shall allow the ability to link it to each district’s website as provided for in section 21f. The statewide catalog shall also contain all of the following:

(A) The number of enrollments in each virtual course in the immediately preceding school year.

(B) The number of enrollments that earned 60% or more of the total course points for each virtual course in the immediately preceding school year.

(C) The pass rate for each virtual course.

Plans

Michigan Virtual will continue to maintain the statewide course catalog (https://micourses.org/) including a mechanism for schools to include the results of their course reviews in the catalog as well as their course completion data.

Michigan Virtual is part of a national effort to update the national standards for online learning. The catalog currently uses the existing national course standards for the course reviews. Upon the release of the new course standards in 2019, Michigan Virtual will create a plan for transitioning the catalog to include the new standards.

Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute will cover the expense associated with having Quality Matters, a nationally-recognized third-party for quality assurance, conduct reviews of a minimum of 10 MVS semester-length courses.

Benchmarks

1. Maintain statewide catalog, including the ability for schools to record their course review and course completion data.
2. Create a transition plan to incorporate the soon-to-be released 2019 national standards for online courses into the statewide catalog by fall 2019.
3. Submit a minimum of 10 MVS courses to Quality Matters for independent course quality reviews.

Support Registration, Payment Services, and Transcript Functionality to Statewide Catalog:

Organizational Priority

2(b)(xi) – Support registration, payment services, and transcript functionality for the statewide catalog and train key stakeholders on how to use new features.

Plans

Michigan Virtual will continue to support the registration, payment services, and transcript functionality of the catalog. This includes providing technical and customer support for users of the statewide catalog. Michigan Virtual will also continue to maintain a public facing knowledge base allowing catalog users to browse for instant help.

Benchmarks

1. Provide technical and customer support for users of the statewide catalog.
2. Based on customer feedback and help-desk tickets, update help documentation to assist users to promptly resolve common issues.

Examine District-Level Accountability and Teacher Effectiveness Related to Virtual Learning

Organizational Priority

2(b)(xii) – Collaborate with key stakeholders to examine district level accountability and teacher effectiveness issues related to virtual learning under section 21f and make findings and recommendations publicly available.

Plans

Following a successful pilot of a modified evaluation rubric based on the Charlotte Danielson Model to suit the online teaching context, Michigan Virtual will implement the modified Danielson evaluation rubric with all instructors both full- and part-time (a minimum of 150 instructors). This effort allows Michigan Virtual to continue its effort to support district level accountability and teacher effectiveness issues.

To extend the value of the teacher evaluation work that has to date been focused on Michigan Virtual, Michigan Virtual would like to explore the utility of these materials in evaluating a district’s online teachers. Gathering feedback from a district on how applicable the Michigan Virtual teacher evaluation resources will help Michigan Virtual adapt them for use in a wider range of virtual settings.

A Michigan Virtual staff member has also been meeting regularly with MDE and CEPI to coordinate the state’s communications and create resources around issues such as teacher effectiveness. This staff member will continue to act as a liaison to the department.

Benchmarks

1. Implement the modified Danielson’s evaluation rubric for all instructors (a minimum of 150 instructors) to comply with state guidelines related to teacher effectiveness. These effectiveness ratings will be reported for all instructors to Michigan Department of Education (MDE) by September 30, 2019.
2. Work with one or more districts to make available Michigan Virtual’s teacher evaluation resources for evaluating their virtual teachers.
3. Attend meetings with MDE and CEPI staff to coordinate and clarify communications to the field around online learning.

Institute Annual Report

Organizational Priority

2(b)(xiii) – Provide a report on the activities of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute.

Plans

Submit required reports detailing Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute activities.

Benchmarks

1. By December 1, 2018 submit the combined Annual Report for the 2017-18 year.
2. By December 1, 2019 submit the combined Annual Report for the 2018-19 year.

Operate the Michigan Virtual School

Organizational Priority

(3) To further enhance its expertise and leadership in virtual learning, the Michigan Virtual University shall continue to operate the Michigan Virtual School as a statewide laboratory and quality model of instruction by implementing virtual and blended learning solutions for Michigan schools in accordance with the following parameters:

(a) The Michigan Virtual School must maintain its accreditation status from recognized national and international accrediting entities.

Plans

Michigan Virtual is accredited through AdvancED. Michigan Virtual will complete any necessary requirements from AdvancED to maintain that accreditation.

Benchmarks

1. Maintain AdvancED accreditation for the 2018-19 school year.

Restricted Use of Appropriation for MVS

Organizational Priority

(b) The Michigan Virtual University shall use no more than $1,000,000.00 of the amount allocated under this section to subsidize the cost paid by districts for virtual courses.

Plans

Pass board-approved budget that caps appropriation spending for MVS to no more than $1M.

Benchmarks

1. Adopt fiscal year budget which allocates no more than $1M to subsidize the virtual school.
   1. On October 5, 2018, Michigan Virtual’s board approved the FY19 budget fulfilling benchmark.
2. Based on audited figures from the prior year, demonstrate that no more than $1M of the state allocation was used to subsidize the virtual school.

Background Checks for MVS

Organizational Priority

(c) In providing educators responsible for the teaching of virtual courses as provided for in this section, the Michigan Virtual School shall follow the requirements to request and assess, and the department of state police shall provide, a criminal history check and criminal records check under sections 1230 and 1230a of the revised school code, MCL 380.1230 and 380.1230a, in the same manner as if the Michigan Virtual School were a school district under those sections.

Plans

Michigan Virtual conducts background checks through a private security firm that uses the FBI’s LiveScan fingerprinting process to comply with these requirements.

Benchmarks

1. Conduct criminal background checks on Michigan Virtual staff and maintain appropriate documentation.

Appropriation for Expanding Online and Blended Professional Development Programs

Organizational Priority

(4) From the funds allocated under subsection (1), the Michigan Virtual University shall allocate up to $500,000.00 to support the expansion of new online and blended educator professional development programs.

Plans

The following initiatives represent funding priorities for the expansion of new online and blended educator professional development. First, Michigan Virtual will identify, through work with state leaders and educational organizations, the feature sets needed in a microcredentialing platform. Second, Michigan Virtual will provide some in-kind support to multiple educational organizations requesting Michigan Virtual’s assistance with developing online, micro-credentialed professional development courses. Third, Michigan Virtual will continue to conduct research into the NuTeacher mobile application outlined above. Fourth, Michigan Virtual is partnering with the Michigan Data Hubs project, in coordination with Genesee ISD, to construct a plan for how Michigan Virtual’s professional learning platform can connect to the data hubs using the Ed-Fi standards.

Benchmarks

1. Determine scope and feature set of the Micro-credential platform by spring 2019.
2. Promote, once launched, the new Micro-credential platform.
3. Assist multiple educational organizations with the development of Micro-credentialed courses.
4. Conduct two pilots for the NuTeacher professional learning mobile application by September 2019.
5. Develop a multi-year plan for Michigan Virtual’s systems integration with the Ed-Fi standards and the Michigan Data Hubs.

MVS Catalog

Organizational Priority

(5) If the course offerings are included in the statewide catalog of virtual courses under subsection (2)(b)(x), the Michigan Virtual School operated by the Michigan Virtual University may offer virtual course offerings, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(a) Information technology courses.

(b) College level equivalent courses, as defined in section 1471 of the revised school code, MCL 380.1471.

(c) Courses and dual enrollment opportunities.

(d) Programs and services for at‑risk pupils.

(e) High school equivalency test preparation courses for adjudicated youth.

(f) Special interest courses.

(g) Professional development programs for teachers, school administrators, other school employees, and school board members.

Plans

Evaluate additional course development, licensing, and partnership opportunities to both improve and expand the Michigan Virtual School catalog of online course offerings in targeted areas, including for the provision of new information technology, world languages, and credit recovery courses, updated courses in mathematics, science, and social studies, and the exploration of viable partnerships with higher education institutions as a precursor to possible future dual enrollment offerings.

Benchmarks

1. Acquire at least one new course related to computer programming to support the creation of at least two coherent, multi-course, online study programs in the information technology career pathway and provide guidance to local schools on course selections aligned to a 4-year educational development plan related to this career pathway.
2. Develop six new world language course offerings in three target languages.
3. Develop and pilot two new online credit recovery offerings in high school Algebra 1.
4. Expand the middle school course catalog by acquiring at least one additional special interest elective course for students in grades 6-8.
5. Identify at least 14 existing courses titles in the Michigan Virtual School catalog requiring updates due to aging content, and replace or revise these select courses through a combination of new course developments and licensed vendor course acquisitions.
6. Conduct a review of legislative and policy implications for the potential introduction of statewide dual enrollment course offerings through the Michigan Virtual School catalog, explore possible partnership opportunities with higher educational institutions in Michigan, and, should viable options be identified, produce a proposed, multi-year plan in partnership with one or more postsecondary institutions to adopt, develop, or co-develop select dual enrollment course offerings and to establish instructor assignment and student registration procedures in compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements under the State School Aid Act 94 of 1979 and the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act 160 of 1996.

Home-Schooled and Non-public Students

Organizational Priority

(6) If a home-schooled or nonpublic school student is a resident of a district that subscribes to services provided by the Michigan Virtual School, the student may use the services provided by the Michigan Virtual School to the district without charge to the student beyond what is charged to a district pupil using the same services.

Plans

Michigan Virtual will continue to adhere to this requirement. Michigan Virtual makes available its courses to Michigan home-schooled or nonpublic students at the advertised base rate. Michigan Virtual pricing is available at https://michiganvirtual.org/students/pricing/.

Benchmarks

1. Produce 2018-19 pricing with no additional charges for a home-school or nonpublic school student.

MVS Annual Report

Organizational Priority

(7) Not later than December 1 of each fiscal year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department that includes at least all of the following information related to the Michigan Virtual School for the preceding state fiscal year:

(a) A list of the districts served by the Michigan Virtual School.

(b) A list of virtual course titles available to districts.

(c) The total number of virtual course enrollments and information on registrations and completions by course.

(d) The overall course completion rate percentage.

Plans

Submit the report detailing Michigan Virtual School activities for 2017-18 school year as part of an annual report that also includes the Michigan Virtual’s professional development report specified under 2(a)(v) and the Institute annual report required under 2(b)(xiii) no later than December 1, 2018.

Benchmarks

1. Publish report no later than December 1, 2018.

MVS Schools Served

Organizational Priority

(8) In addition to the information listed in subsection (7), the report under subsection (7) shall also include a plan to serve at least 600 schools with courses from the Michigan Virtual School or with content available through the internet-based platform identified in subsection (2)(b)(ix).

Plans

Michigan Virtual plans to serve over 500 schools with courses from the Michigan Virtual School, with the remaining balance of schools using the free learning objects created by Michigan Virtual and made available through the state’s GoOpenMichigan website (https://goopenmichigan.org/). Michigan Virtual is currently working on making available 1,000 Michigan Virtual-created learning objects into the website by the end of the fiscal year. Currently, there are over 800 registered users of the platform. The content is also available to website visitors without a registered account.

Benchmarks

1. Serve at least 500 Michigan schools with online courses through the Michigan Virtual School.
2. Add at least 250 free learning objects to the GoOpenMichigan website by Dec. 31, 2018.
3. Add at least 250 free learning objects to the GoOpenMichigan website by Mar. 31, 2019.
4. Add at least 250 free learning objects to the GoOpenMichigan website by June 30, 2019.
5. Add at least 250 free learning objects to the GoOpenMichigan website by Sept. 30, 2019.

Advisory Board

Organizational Priority

(9) The governor may appoint an advisory group for the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute established under subsection (2). The members of the advisory group shall serve at the pleasure of the governor and shall serve without compensation. The purpose of the advisory group is to make recommendations to the governor, the legislature, and the president and board of the Michigan Virtual University that will accelerate innovation in this state’s education system in a manner that will prepare elementary and secondary students to be career and college ready and that will promote the goal of increasing the percentage of citizens of this state with high-quality degrees and credentials to at least 60% by 2025.

Plans

Since this section pertains to the actions of the Governor’s office rather than Michigan Virtual, no plan has been created by Michigan Virtual.

MVS Budget Costs

Organizational Priority

(10) Not later than November 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a detailed budget for that fiscal year that includes a breakdown on its projected costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the anticipated fees to be paid by districts for those services. Not later than March 1 each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a breakdown on its actual costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the actual fees paid by districts for those services based on audited financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year.

Plans

Continue to submit required materials.

Benchmarks

1. No later than November 1, 2018, submit a detailed budget for 2018-19 fiscal year that includes a breakdown on its projected costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the anticipated fees to be paid by districts for those services.
2. No later than March 1, 2019, submit a breakdown on Michigan Virtual’s actual costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the actual fees paid by districts for those services based on audited financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year.