I am still in the process of getting answers regarding the details of the services the Appleton Area School District has been providing to struggling students. I have some follow-up questions that I’m waiting to hear back on, but I do still have an update.
The first item of note is that AASD does not yet have any data on the Graduation Coach positions because those positions were just approved prior to spring break.
The second item of note is that, as you will read, I asked what the school district did after the 1st quarter grades revealed major equity issues, and Superintendent Baseman pointed to the Virtual Plus programming that they implemented. I then asked for details regarding how many high schoolers with Ds, Fs, and incompletes were offered Virtual Plus services and how quickly they were offered those services after the first quarter ended. I also asked if AASD could quantify the success of the Virtual Plus programming after comparing the first quarter grades (prior to Virtual Plus implementation) with the first semester grades (after Virtual Plus was implemented) It has been two days since I submitted those questions but I have not yet received a response. While I understand that AASD may not have much data related to the Graduation Coaches program at this point, the Virtual Plus programming was implemented during the second half of the first semester so data related to that must be available.
At any rate, here are my questions and Superintendent Baseman’s answers.
Question: It’s not clear to me why AASD opted to provide a full time virtual option this year when the virtual schools you’re directing students to for next year existed in 2020 (and I know several people who opted to go with them). It seems like the leadership team was setting up an unnecessarily difficult task–to provide competent in-person and hybrid instruction while also providing completely separate fully virtual instruction. Back in the summer when you first created that option did you have any discussions surrounding how having teachers provide both fully virtual instruction in addition to jumping between virtual/hybrid/in-person was going to increase their workloads, make it more difficult to move between models, and negatively impact students who wanted to be in-person? What did those discussions look like?
Superintendent Baseman’s Answer: Representative groups of staff and administrators worked throughout the late spring and early summer to determine the best instructional models for our students given the changing and unknown future conditions of the global pandemic and the need to follow safety guidelines within our classrooms and schools. The teams considered various instructional models recommended by the Department of Public Instruction and other state educational agencies across the country. Throughout that process, they also considered what support would be needed for staff to prepare for and sustain these models of learning. Training was offered throughout the summer and Canvas Coaches were added at each school to further support our teachers in adapting their instruction.
As we approached the target date for transition to our Hybrid learning model on January 19th, web cams were installed in classrooms and additional coaching was provided so that teachers are able to provide synchronous virtual learning that better aligns with in-person instruction. Offering a school-based fully virtual program also continues to benefit students who need to quarantine at home for extended periods of time and provides continuity of learning within the regular AASD curriculum. Fully virtual Wednesdays are used not only for teacher planning and student progress monitoring, but also for providing targeted interventions for both in-person and fully virtual students who need this additional support.
Question: Regarding the Graduation Coaches, how many Graduation Coaches does AASD have? How many high school students have at least one D, F, or incomplete? How many students with Ds, Fs, or incompletes have the Graduation Coaches reached out to? How many of those students have begun receiving Graduation Coach services? How many students have declined services or not responded to overtures?
Answer: We do not yet have this data as the Graduation Coaching positions were just approved prior to spring break. Our Student Services teams at each school continue to work with our teachers to identify students in need of additional support to make progress in their learning.
Question: Additionally, the equity issues faced by students was apparent as far back as when the first quarter grades came out. What did AASD do at that time after those grades showed many high schoolers were struggling academically to respond to those obvious equity issues? Answer: As soon as our teachers, counselors, and administrators saw the difficulty that certain students were having with engaging in the Fully Virtual model last fall, we began providing Fully Virtual Plus targeted interventions and support. These included counseling to support social and emotional learning, academic interventions, English Learner classes as well as additional services for At-Risk students and students with special education needs. These opportunities have continued to be in place for identified students in need of targeted support.
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