Kentucky Virtual High School Decides to End Classes

The state Department of Education has offered the virtual path to a diploma since 2000, but funding has remained at $800,000 since its inception making the program hard to grow, according to a 2009 report called “Breaking New Ground.” Interest in the program has remained consistent, with around 700 students taking online classes each year, said Bob Fortney, Kentucky Virtual High School program consultant.

Fortney’s job is now shifting from providing online courses, which end after this current spring semester, to finding ways Kentucky’s online education can improve, he said. The department will move from a delivery to an oversight, or gatekeeper role, he said.

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Lambuth officials: Some preliminary planning for online courses done with Learning House

The company “has been able to capitalize on the growth in online education by offering schools all the resources and knowledge to design and customize every aspect of effective online education programs,” the release says.

“We are dedicated to helping our partner schools offer online education to students who may not have the opportunity to earn a degree in a traditional setting,” said David T. Richardson, president and chief executive officer of Learning House, in the release.

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Study Island From Archipelago Learning Announces Common Core State Standards Product Update

When the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers released the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-12 education earlier this month, they set in motion a seismic shift in what students are expected to learn and how teachers are supposed to teach. Kentucky became the first state to officially commit to adopt the CCSS, and since that time, additional states, including Maryland, Michigan, Hawaii, Missouri, New Mexico, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Ohio and Utah have also announced their intent to move to the new standards.

To help educators ensure their students are gaining the critical knowledge and skills specified by the new standards, Archipelago Learning, (ARCL 11.27, -0.06, -0.53%) , a leading subscription-based online education company and developer of the highly-acclaimed Study Island, announced today the availability of the first of their products built directly from the CCSS. The Study Island Kentucky edition includes on-line instructional content, supplemental resources, video lessons, a digital writing portfolio, on-line assessment development, and engaging animated games. In addition, the new Study Island Kentucky edition includes an extensive on-line integrated professional development module, with teacher videos, lesson plans, activities, and supporting materials to enable a smooth and effective transition to the new standards. Kentucky customers will be able to concurrently access both the prior Kentucky standards as well as the new updated Common Core State Standards from within the Study Island product, to provide districts and schools with complete flexibility. Updates to other Study Island state editions will be made available based on each state’s specific time frame for implementing the CCSS.

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