| State: Wisconsin | Number of Students: 10,273 |
| School Type: Public School District | Free and Reduced Lunch: 48.0% |
| Grade Level: PK-12 | English Language Learners: 5.6% |
School Context
This tool is for a medium-sized, public school district in Wisconsin. They serve pre K-12 students and have a mixed socio-economic population. Some schools have around 45% students on free and reduced lunch, while other schools in the district will have 100% on free and reduced lunch. They serve students with challenges to gifted students. They also host charter schools who are governed by the same policies, but given autonomy with creative solutions for their students. They also have a significant online presence with a K-12 virtual academy, that draws students from all over the world. They are developing relationships within the community. Within the last five years, the community has embraced technology, innovation, industrial engineering and healthcare.
State of Technology
This district is looking for a new credit recovery program or multiple online course solution to offer to a variety of students such as those on homebound, have truancy problems, failed, or cannot complete a course because of scheduling conflicts.
The district is currently using Plato and is looking for an alternate program. The tool has been not been successful in their district for many reasons. First, the tool gives the teacher/facilitator no room for customization, and as such, the implementation of the program is lackluster. Secondly, the tool lacks rigor, and as such, the students do not engage with the program. Third, the tool seems dated and does not align with the standards being taught in the school.
Tech Needs & Requirements
The district is looking for a tool that can be used in multiple ways for homebound, virtual school, and in-class credit recovery. They are looking for a flexible tool that can speak to several specifications.
The content should deliver asynchronously and they would like to assign chunks of content to students to fill skill-gaps. They would also like to have full courses, start to finish if possible. They are looking for a range of content areas, such as English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. If the tool supports subjects like personal finance or AP courses, that would be a nice to have. If the tool is adaptable, that is preferable. They would like students to have the ability to move through the tool at their mastery level.
The district is looking to work with a company representative that is available, supportive, and responsive after the point of purchase. Too often have they needed support and have not received it.
Ideally, they would like a tool that could play nice with third party content, for customization purposes, and be aligned or integrated with STARR assessments.
Students should be primarily working independently with a full view and understanding of where they are in scope and sequence.
Students should have direct connection to a highly qualified staff member that works as a mentor or coach. The teacher should have basic administrative control and control over the customization.
The tool must provide: flexibility, customizable, adaptable delivery of content; strong customer support (not simply a sales representative); be aligned with CCSS and NGSS; and have comprehensive data and reporting to demonstrate that students have mastered the content. The district allows bring your own devices and provides classroom Chromebook carts and computer labs. Data should be comprehensive and should be able to download into a CSV file. The tool should ideally integrate with Infinite Campus.