Student Pace - Students should be working in EVERY course EVERY week. Anywhere between 2-5 assignments should be completed each week depending on the course and pace. Instructors will monitor your progress. If you have not submitted work in 7 days, expect contact from your instructor. If you are not completing assignments in order and completing DBA's when coming to them, your instructor may pause your pace in the course by placing you in Contact Instructor status. Please know that if you do not stay in communication with your instructor and submit work (2-3 assignments per week), you will be withdrawn from the course without notice. 

Please be sure to print your course pace chart and use it to set up a weekly calendar to ensure that you complete your segment within 16 weeks of starting the course. MDVS students may only work on virtual courses during the 180 days of your district's school year. Keep in mind, if you begin a segment in April, you must complete it by the end of the school year. If that isn't reasonable for you, please register for the course in August.

Grace Period/28 Day/20% Policy - The grace period will begin when the teacher places a student in Active status in VSA. A student must complete at least 20% of the course by the morning of the grace period date. The student may withdraw from a course within the first 28 days without a penalty on their transcript. The course is recorded as a “W” (withdrawal) on your transcript. If a student withdraws from a course after the 28-day grace period, they will receive a “WP” (withdrawal passing) or “WF” (withdrawal failing) depending on the grade.

Withdrawn Students - If you have been withdrawn, you can be reinstated back in the course. Please follow this pathway.

• Part-time students - Please contact your guidance counselor at your school. They can request reinstatement on your behalf by contacting MyDistrict Virtual School staff.

• Full-time students - Please locate your district contact on this list and request reinstatement. 

Seat Time Requirement - Another aspect of our commitment to student learning is the seat time policy for each segment of every course. For most courses, to ensure adequate time for comprehension and mastery, students must work in the course segment consistently for a minimum of 14 days starting from the date of the first submission. Twenty-eight days of work is required, at minimum, for a two-segment course. Based on content, some courses have longer seat time policies. Consistent submission of assessments will ensure the student is engaged and learning. 

Work submitted in Segment 2 prior to the completion of Segment 1 does NOT begin the 14-day count for Segment 2.  Segment 1 and Segment 2 may NOT be taken concurrently. 

This policy provides students the opportunity to receive ongoing feedback and remediation while demonstrating their learning through several required checkpoints. DBAs (Discussion-Based Assessments) are limited to no more than one per day. The Instructional Leadership Team reserves the right to evaluate a student's gradebook to determine when the work habits show consistent progress, thus beginning the count towards the 14-day minimum, and may require students to take a proctored exam in order to complete the class. All assignments must be completed and graded prior to taking the segment exam. Any open Academic Integrity tickets must also be resolved prior to taking the segment exam. 

No exception is made to the 14/28 seat time. 

Discussion Based Assessments (DBA) -  Each teacher regularly conducts discussion based assessments with his or her students. These conversations occur at specific intervals as well as randomly in a course and are included in the assessment component of each course. The teacher discusses individual student work and extends the conversation to allow the student to demonstrate mastery of the content and to verify the authenticity of the student’s work. Before completing a DBA, students must have passing grades on written work from that module. Students are required to complete and pass all discussion-based assessments themselves, free from any distraction or influence of others. Each instructor has the liberty of conducting their DBA's in a manner that works best with the course content. It is important for the student to be proactive in completing a DBA by following the procedure explained by the instructor for scheduling a DBA. Many times this information can be found on the teacher announcement page or in the email sent by the teacher welcoming the student to the course. 

Student Expectations - To be successful in any online course, the expectation is for the student to submit work (minimum 2-3 assignments per course) on a weekly basis and consistently communicate with your instructor. 

• • • Submitting Work - Consistent work habits are expected. It is MDVS policy to drop any student who does not stay appropriately on pace. It is essential that a student complete assignments in the order they are assigned. Jumping around and skipping assignments will make it more difficult to learn and retain the material.  Failure to complete assignments in order may cause you to lose access to the course until you speak with your instructor. Instructors may also reset any assignments that are submitted out of order.  

    • Communication - Communication is essential.  There are multiple ways of staying in contact with your instructor (phone, text, email). Students who do not respond to teacher communication attempts will not be allowed to continue in the course.  In the event of an emergency that will prevent you from making progress in the course, please inform your instructor immediately. Teachers are required to communicate with the student and parent each month regarding student progress in the course.  Together, it is our goal to ensure that you are updated on your child’s path through the course. A phone call is always best but if you are working consistently with a passing grade we can also communicate via email/text.  

Academic Integrity (AI) - AI is essential in an online course. Students are expected to complete every assignment on their own and using their own words. Failure to do so is considered plagiarism. Remember, you sign a student code of conduct each year, and this applies to your online courses as well. You can learn more about the importance of Academic Integrity through this link.

Student Work and Resubmission - Student work that demonstrates a low comprehension of material will include an invitation to review the lesson again and resubmit to move toward content mastery. The number of resubmission attempts vary by assignment type.

• • • Pre-Tests - 1 try, no resubmission

    • Module Exams - 1 try, no resubmission

    • Segment Exams - 1 try, no resubmission

    • Lesson Level Quizzes and Assignments - 3 tries, 2 resubmissions