Regular communication with students and caregivers

• Student & Learning Coach Monthly Calls: proactively seek to speak to the family at least once per month. Document this conversation in K12 via email or a note. (See below).

• Grading:  within 48 hours Monday-Friday, best practice within 24 hours

• Return Emails/Voicemails/Texts:  within 24 hours

Communication between instructor and student/caregiver must be documented within the K12 system. There are a few ways to do this. 

1. Communications Widget 

All users can send emails and notes via the communication widget within the Online School environment. 

Email: Instructors and administrators are encouraged to use the email widget to message and respond to families as it is more secure than the web client/ desktop application/mobile app. Email messages cannot be received through this widget, only sent.

1. When you send a message to a student/caregiver, select the option to save as a note.

2. Depending on the content, you can use the Tag option to indicate if it is a Weekly Contact or Monthly Progress to ensure that these contacts are documented in the report. 

When you create a new message to a student, the learning coaches are automatically copied on the message. Why is this important for you to know? Our district contacts may be one of the learning coaches for each of their students. If you send an email directly to the caregiver, the district contact does not see it.

Note: When you create a new note regarding a student, please know that this communication is not shared with the family. The note becomes part of the student record within TotalView School. This is the preferred method to document Monthly Contacts with families. 

It is important to understand that Notes are not shared with caregivers. It is okay to use the Notes section to document unsuccessful calls, academic integrity concerns, and anything that you believe should be documented in the history of the student.

In the Subject line of all communication, please use the following identifiers:

• Successful

• Unsuccessful

This will help us track the kind of communication you are having with your students. MDVS staff members are analyzing communication efforts on all platforms. These identifiers will provide one additional way to do that.

2. Webmail: Office 365 Outlook

   • • Locate school-issued email address.

       1. Access school inbox from the OLS.

       2. Select profile image, located in the right-hand corner of the inbox.

       3. Record your email for future use. This will be your username when accessing via a browser.

     • Access school email at: https://portal.office.com.

     • Enter school email and your OLS password in the appropriate fields. Office 365, our school email application is mobile-compatible.

When you send an email message to a student/caregiver via Office 365 Outlook, please Tag the communication to indicate if it is a Weekly Contact or Monthly Progress to ensure that these contacts are documented in the report. The option is not readily available (see below). 

When you create a new message for a student, the learning coaches are automatically copied on the communication. Why is this important for you to know? Our district contacts may be one of the learning coaches for each of their students. If you email the caregiver directly, the district contact does not see it. If the information is pertinent to the district (pace or lack thereof), please send it to all learning coaches.

You can view all the notes you created for a student via the OLS system. If you want to see all the notes regarding a specific student, you have to open TotalView School (Under Quicklinks): 

Next, click on the Students tab and search by the student name or display all students.  After searching for the student, click the student's name that is hyperlinked to access their information. All information about the student is located in TotalView School. You can view notes made about the student in the Notes tab.

MONITORING PROGRESS VIA CLASSROOM

Select here to view video short.

Log into OLS.

1. Select the homeroom or course classroom dropdown menu » choose Progress.

2. Select either Core Lessons Only or Core and Optional.

3. Select Percentage of Lessons or Number of Lessons. This screen shows the difference between what the student has completed and what they should have completed at this point in the school year.

4. Select Export to export and/or print this information.

5. Export Progress offers two choices:

• Incremental Progress – provides 4 weeks of data on the number of lessons completed, the number of assessment failures, and the number of assessments taken more than once. This information can be found in columns Q through AF. The percentage of progress for each month can be found in columns AG through AR.

• Class Progress – provides information for all courses, such as the number of completed lessons in Column G, the expected number

MONITORING PROGRESS VIA STUDENT RECORD

Select here to view video short.

1. Select Students dropdown menu or use search feature to find desired student.

2. Select All Students or choose individual student(s).

3. Review Overview tab: the last column provides the students’ % of Expected Progress in each of their courses. The target percentage is 100.

4. Select the Progress tab to review additional information. Users can view the percentage of lessons in each course that the student has completed, not mastered, skipped, or not completed.

a. Completed Lesson - A Completed lesson means the student has demonstrated a mastery of objectives by scoring 80% or higher on the assessment. A lesson also shows as completed if it has no assessment and is marked Complete by the instructor or Learning Coach.

b. Not Mastered Lesson – A Not Mastered lesson means that the lesson is marked as Completed, but the student did not demonstrate mastery of the objectives by scoring 80% or higher on the assessment. It may also mean that the lesson is marked as completed, but the assessment has not been attempted. Not mastered lessons always have associated assessments that need attention.

c. Skipped Lesson – A lesson that is marked as Skipped is not put on the student’s plan. Both instructors and Learning Coaches may mark a lesson as skipped. While a lesson retains the status of skipped, it does not count toward completed progress for the student. When the lesson status of skipped is removed, the status reverts to not completed and available for the plan.

d. Not Completed – Any lesson that a student has not started or has not been marked completed by the student shows with this status. Upon beginning a course, all lessons show as not completed. A not completed lesson on the plan remains on the plan until it is completed.

5. Select the Progress tab to review additional information. Users can view the percentage of lessons in each course that the student has completed, not mastered, skipped, or not completed.

a. Completed Lesson - A Completed lesson means the student has demonstrated a mastery of objectives by scoring 80% or higher on the assessment. A lesson also shows as completed if it has no assessment and is marked Complete by the instructor or Learning Coach.

b. Not Mastered Lesson – A Not Mastered lesson means that the lesson is marked as Completed, but the student did not demonstrate mastery of the objectives by scoring 80% or higher on the assessment. It may also mean that the lesson is marked as completed, but the assessment has not been attempted. Not mastered lessons always have associated assessments that need attention.

c. Skipped Lesson – A lesson that is marked as Skipped is not put on the student’s plan. Both instructors and Learning Coaches may mark a lesson as skipped. While a lesson retains the status of skipped, it does not count toward completed progress for the student. When the lesson status of skipped is removed, the status reverts to not completed and available for the plan.

d. Not Completed – Any lesson that a student has not started or has not been marked completed by the student shows with this status. Upon beginning a course, all lessons show as not completed. A not completed lesson on the plan remains on the plan until it is completed.

6. Select Show number of lessons in the Change Progress View Options section to view the number of lessons instead of percentages.

7. Select the name of the course to view a deeper dive into what lessons fall into each of the 4 categories. Here users see 4 tabs: Completed, Not Mastered, Not Completed, and Skipped.

8. Picture should be here

9. Selecting each tab allows users to see all the lessons that fall under each category. Pay close attention to the Not Mastered tab, as these are the lessons the student needs support with.

a. There are 3 factors that cause a student to have a Not Mastered status.

i. Assessment not taken

ii. Less than 80% score on the assessment

iii. Student took an offline assessment, but the Learning Coach did not yet input responses.

b. Assessment submissions can be viewed from here. Select Lesson Checkpoint, and then Review Assessment to see the student’s responses.

1. Also, take note of the Skipped tab. Learning Coaches can mark lessons as skipped on their students’ plans. If LCs are marking lessons as skipped, instructors should be aware and (THIS SHOULD BE #10. ALSO, THIS SENTENCE WAS CUT OFF IN THE HANDBOOK)

MONITORING STUDENT PROGRESS VIA THE GRADEBOOK

Viewing student progress via the gradebook varies based on if a student is assigned to a homeroom classroom only or if they are assigned to a course classroom as well.

REMEMBER: Visibility via a course classroom takes precedence over a homeroom classroom.

VIA COURSE CLASSROOM

1. Locate course classroom on the OLS homepage.

2. Select classroom dropdown menu » Gradebook.

3. View % Expected Progress bar always visible to the right of assignment columns.

4. Select the bar to view additional details. The line represents the expected progress while the blue portion represents the student’s actual progress.

VIA HOMEROOM CLASSROOM

1. Locate homeroom classroom on the OLS homepage.

2. Select homeroom dropdown menu » Course Management and Reports.

3. Select Gradebook associated with the desired course.

NOTE: If students do not appear within the gradebook, access the gradebook via the course classroom.

4. View % Expected Progress bar always visible to the right of assignment columns.

5. Select the bar to view additional details. The line represents the expected progress while the blue portion represents the student’s actual progress.

PUTTING A LESSON BACK ON PLAN

Putting lessons back on a student’s plan is primarily done if a student has rushed through a subject and has little or no comprehension of the lesson/unit. If an instructor needs to put a lesson back on the plan, call the student and LC to check for comprehension prior to unmarking lessons.

1. From the OLS home page, go to Students – All Students. Select the name of the student.

2. Go to Progress tab on student detail page.

3. Select the Course Name.

4. Select Unit List.

5. Choose the unit/lesson in question.

6. Select the green circle in the last column of the list. A dialogue box pops up asking the instructor to indicate the intention.

7. Choose Put this lesson back on plan and select Save. The lesson is now marked as not started.

To place an entire unit back on a student’s plan:

1. Follow directions 1-4 above

2. Select Change Unit Status.

3. Select Put the Entire Unit Back on Plan. This action marks the unit as not started.

Teachers should use the escalation process with students working below 70%.

1. Students working below 71% or not meeting program expectations for 5 school days are contacted by K-Mail and phone by the teacher(s) to discuss concerns and ways to show improvement. An informal action plan is put in place.

2. When a student is identified as falling behind (below 71% of expected progress) or is in need of additional support in an area of compliance for 10 school days, an instructor submits the student’s information to MDVS staff via form (http://bit.ly/2IcUxDi) to initiate a call to discuss and set up a Student Success Plan specific to that student’s needs, with goals and a review date. Instructor(s) will hold a progress conference and review with the family.

3. Each week thereafter, the teacher will share the progress report with MDVS staff to ensure that the student is on track.

4. If the student does not follow the plan or continues to drop in progress or compliancy after the review date, MDVS staff will hold an intervention conference and create a Student Engagement Plan, giving the family ways to improve to meet expectations for the program.

5. If the student continues not to meet the goals, the teacher will complete the School Student Escalation Form to send to MDVS staff so that the report can be sent to the district.

6. The district will reply to CAC with the next action requested for the student.

Immediate District Escalation will occur if:

• If the family is nonresponsive to all attempts to communicate

• Student has not logged lessons or attendance for three school days or more

• Contact information no longer works

• Academic Integrity Information

What can the district do:

School may refer to suggested actions to implement:

• Monitor Student with updates

• School contacts family

• Academic Probation

• Lock Courses

• School Truancy Intervention

• Student withdrawal to an environment suited for student accountability