FC School Board members hear update on Virtual Arkansas courses

School board members heard an update at their meeting last week about Virtual Arkansas which teaches 22 courses at Forrest City High School. John Ashworth, executive director and superintendent of Virtual Arkansas, provided an overview of the online program to board members. “We are nationally classified as a state virtual school. We’re not a school though, we’re a supplemental program,” said Ashworth. “Schools around the state have the opportunity, if they so choose, to use our teachers and our content to teach their students. The majority of our students are at a school somewhere around the state taking a class, just like you do here, from a classroom.” Ashworth said the agency serves 94% of all public schools in the state and 98% of all rural school districts. “We’ve been doing this since 2013, and since that time, we’ve had an enrollment of about 315,000 students. Our fingerprints are everywhere in the state,” said Ashworth. “We are an extension of the Department of Education and not an outside business. We are a public entity embedded with educational serve cooperatives.” Virtual Arkansas also provides concurrent courses for students who want to take college classes while still in high school as well as career and technical education programs for high school students. Ashworth explained that the purpose of Virtual Arkansas is to serve school districts and “fill the needs they can’t serve themselves.” “Some schools find themselves in emergency situations where they just can’t find a teacher. Helping them until they find a teacher is another way we’re used around the state,” said Ashworth. Board member Annie Norman asked about statistics regarding the number of students in the FCSD and how they are performing with the Virtual Arkansas setup. “I know a lot of our students are performing at a high level according to their grades in other classes but having trouble in Virtual Arkansas,” said Norman. “With our kids, I’ve seen some of your curriculum. What do you do in regard to ensuring that the needs of our students who have not been prepared are ready academically?” “We’re going to be as flexible as we can be,” responded Ashworth. “You’re right. Our courses are built according to Arkansas State Standards and are rigorous courses. We try to fill in the gaps wherever we can.” Ashworth noted that school personnel is also required for the courses taught online. “As a supplemental program, the local school still has to have the wraparound services. Teachers can identify where students are struggling and they can provide them an opportunity to meet with a teacher to help them, but the wraparound services you would normally find in any school district will still be at the local school,” said Ashworth. FCSD Deputy Superintendent Dr. Zrano Bowles told the board the wraparound services is one of the big differences they would see in the district’s reports comparing how students performed last year versus this year. “We’ve taken a completely different approach to the services we provide,” said Bowles. “Last year we operated around two days a week and now we’re at four days a week in a lot of our classes. We also do extra support for students who are struggling during the week and have coaches work with those students. We’re really proud of our students and what they’ve been doing.” “In our traditional model students engage in coursework in online curriculum and two days a week, traditionally, they have an opportunity to meet with a teacher through Zoom,” said FCHS Principal Aundra Bohanon. “What he is referring to is that in some classes, like geometry, the teacher is more full-time with the students and meeting with them each day,” said FCSD Superintendent Dr. Tiffany Hardrick. “That’s much better support for students in those test areas like geometry.” “What do you guys do when you notice students failing?” asked Norman. “Our teachers are just like any other teacher. They will be tracking students and actually have access to data the students don’t necessarily see but the teachers see,” said Ashworth. “What our teacher does, like any other teacher, is provide opportunities and feedback. They try to provide some interventions for those students in those situations. But, again, when it comes to full on intervention, that has to happen locally beyond what we do in a virtual setting.” “When does virtual teaching take place?” asked board member Larry Devasier. “Our teachers are meeting with students during their class period,” said Ashworth. “Our teachers meet with them Monday through Thursday. The students meet with those teachers during that class period through Zoom and the teachers lead them through instruction very similar to what you would see with a teacher physically in the classroom, except they’re doing it on screen and meeting with them during the class period during the day.” Hardrick said there is a “facilitator” in each classroom where students are taught through Virtual Arkansas and that each of the district’s facilitators have four year degrees, although she did not specify that those degrees are in the subjects where the staff serves as facilitators. Ashworth said geometry appears to be the main course Virtual Arkansas is teaching in the FCSD. “In that instance, there is another teacher in the background that can come in and do intervention with students, so you have two teachers working in tandem with that teacher,” said Ashworth. “We have a facilitator and we have you all, so the kids have two or three teachers in one class,” said Norman. “I wouldn’t look at it like that,” responded Ashworth. “The co teacher is in the background and if interventions are needed they can access that teacher.” Bohanon said counselors at the high school are involved in Virtual Arkansas and track the progress of students to determine if or when additional help is needed. Ashworth said Virtual Arkansas officials make site visits to districts where their teachers teach. “We bring a team in, meet with students and spend the day with them. They love to see their teachers in person,” said Ashworth. Norman asked Hardrick to let the board know when Arkansas Virtual makes its next visit to the FCSD. “How often are you scheduled to come?” asked board member Evetta Whitby. “The administration can call us or we may contact you all and say our teachers would like to get in and spend a day with you,” Ashworth responded. “Think about Arkansas Virtual as a teacher the same way our teacher would work in the building with kids with challenges,” said Hardrick. “The teacher looks at student activity and provides that type of reporting to the counselor who flags it for the principal.” Bohanon said teachers at the high school offer help to students on Fridays and that after-school tutoring is offered twice a week. “They can also come in on Saturdays. If a student wants help there is plenty of help they can get,” he said. Ashworth said the grades students in the FCSD are making are “on par” with what he is seeing across the state. “That’s grades. I’m just looking at grades, but they’re doing well right now,” he said. “We’re learning as we go,” said Hardrick. “Covid forced us into needing virtual and now it’s become kind of part of how we live. We have tried to provide some extra services and wraparound services for the kids because adults are also making adjustments. Our kids are rising to the occasion. We just had to hold them a little accountable to it.” “I think our kids need to be exposed to virtual, I do. We don’t know what’s going to happen down the line as far as getting teachers,” said Devasier. Bohanon shared statistics showing how students performed in virtual classes last year compared to the fall semester of the current school year. “This year you’ll notice only two classes below 70 percent passing and only four total below 80 percent,” said Bohanon. “All the other classes are over 80 percent passing.” The report shared with the board for Virtual Arkansas in the 2024 fall semester, during which 22 courses were taught, shows 80 percent or above of students passing in algebra 2, AP English Language and Composition, AP U.S. History, AP World History, geometry, programming first year, English 10, English 9, programming second year, Spanish 1 and 2, and psychology. The report shows students scoring 70 percent or below or failing in English 11 ALE, English 11, English 12, physical science, quantitive reasoning ALE, world history and English 10 ALE.

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