Toolkit for Administrators in Virtual Ed Environments

This Virtual Admin Toolkit provides resources and links to resources, anecdotes on topic, and lots of questions that a newly-assigned administrator should be asking.  Welcome to the world of remote learning, we hope you love it here!

ODE Resources:


Division 22


Division 22 Standards and Assurance of Compliance

District Run Virtual Schools

Children with blocks

Kids play at new preschool

  • Compliance with Division 22 Standards: District-operated virtual schools must adhere to Division 22 standards, similar to traditional brick-and-mortar schools. They are presumed compliant unless a deficiency is identified and are allowed to address any issues before potential funding consequences.
    Oregon Government
  • Compliance Monitoring Processes: The outlined processes—ongoing coaching, maintaining a complaint process, and adhering to appeals procedures—apply to virtual schools. Districts must ensure these processes are in place for all their schools, including those that are virtual.
“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

-Albert Einstein

Virtual Public Charter Schools

Exemptions from Division 22 Standards: Virtual public charter schools must comply with Division 22 standards unless specifically exempted in their charter contract or through a waiver as per ORS 338.025.
Oregon Legislature

Meeting of the minds at Howard Ele.

Special Interpretations for Virtual Charter Schools:

  • Instructional Time (OAR 581-022-2320): Virtual schools are required to meet annual instructional hour requirements. They can include synchronous online sessions, asynchronous learning activities, virtual teacher-student interactions, and online coursework completion in their instructional time calculations. It’s essential to have clear systems to track and document this time.
  • Assessment (OAR 581-022-2100): Virtual schools must ensure secure testing environments, provide physical locations for state assessments, verify student identities during tests, document testing protocols, and maintain test security, even in remote settings.

Eligibility for Remote Testing:

  • Instructional Model Alignment: Students enrolled in schools that primarily offer remote or online instruction are eligible for remote state assessments. Conversely, students from schools that predominantly provide in-person instruction are generally expected to participate in assessments on-site, even if individual students receive instruction remotely.
    Oregon Government
  • Parental Consent: For a student to participate in remote testing, explicit consent from a parent or guardian is required. The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) provides a Parent/Guardian Remote Testing Permission Form, which districts must collect prior to testing. 
  • School Improvement (OAR 581-022-2305): Improvement plans should be adapted for the online environment, incorporating virtual-specific metrics, addressing engagement and participation, focusing on online learning effectiveness, and tracking virtual attendance patterns.

    Little girls and teacher learning at preschool.

  • Personnel Evaluations (OAR 581-022-2410): Evaluations should consider online teaching observations, virtual classroom management, digital communication skills, remote student engagement, and online curriculum delivery.
  • Individual Student Support (OAR 581-022-2030): Support strategies must include virtual intervention methods, online tutoring options, remote special education services, digital accessibility considerations, and technology support.

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Budgets

Budgets

Plan ahead, create practice budgets with the “best” and “worst” case scenario. For many online schools, budgets take into account the shifting and changing of student numbers through the year. Plan ahead for those shifts by tracking your school enrollment data, and taking a look at yearly average trends, numbers, and shifts. Determine if you see a pattern in enrollment, platform/curriculum costs. Create a practice budget prior to the start of the next year, to wiggle the numbers. This can help with any foresight about planning for staffing, contracts, and when to penny pinch. Some programs are fully funded, others rely on enrollment numbers and charges for the bottom line. Meet with your school or district budget specialist to determine your budget, how you receive funds, plans for funding the next year, and what action items need to be addressed in this year’s budget.

Questions/considerations:

  • Know your vendor contracts. Are you billed per student? Per course? Do you have a package deal?
  • Don’t let your school/program be an afterthought, ask about your budget, do not assume that you are funded.
  • Do you have any funded grants? Federal, State – what are the requirements or deliverables to receive funds?

Devices

Distribution/Return/Accountability

  • Courier services, pick up events/appointments or mailing service supports the distribution of devices
  • Most schools will track and label with specific device numbers a form of tag or label system
  • In most SIS databases there is a place to track which devices and tag numbers that are assigned to students. A database can also be tracked in a spreadsheet.
  • Return – providing a return deadline/date and end of year celebration can encourage families to bring their devices back for repair/cleaning/reimaging.
  • Determine as a school if you will charge for broken, lost, stolen devices or plan this replacement into the budget.
  • Fees/Charging families may result in a process that includes using collection agencies in the event families do not pay for tech replacement. Having a plan/documented process  in place ahead of time will help with this process. Some schools plan to absorb costs, and not charge for replacement devices. Consider requesting a deposit that can be refunded at the end of the school year (or waived if the family qualifies for free and reduced lunch).
  • Plan/budget on replacing devices overtime as they reach their circulation date (between 3-5 years – most school tech departments support this process). Build a replacement plan into the budget.
  • Label devices with program information, and the tech support hotline.
  • Support device access by whitelisting any and all platform or program components prior to the start of the school year.
  • Hotspots and Data
  • Most hotspot plans charge – determine by hotspot carrier which hotspot and carrier provide the best plans and data management services.
  • Provide a hotspot user agreement – that only school devices may connect to the hotspot.
  • Some programs provide or require internet access as a point to support attending the program – determine this process/expectation for your school.

State & Remote Testing

(creating impediments for opting out, smoothing barriers to testing)

The State of Oregon requires students in selected grades to take the Smarter Balance test to demonstrate their mastery of math, English, science and social studies (optional). Families have the option to “opt-out” of testing for their students and it is no longer considered a requirement for a high school diploma. The challenge for districts and schools is that they are still held accountable for participation and demonstrating learning growth while communicating the opt-out option.

To support students with test anxiety, quiet rooms with a smaller group of students, frequent breaks, snacks and a positive atmosphere help students with finding the testing environment less stressful.

Resource:  SBAC Opt-Out Script

Online Proctoring

Securely, Vault

Stand and Delivery

Questions/Comments

  • For students who are full-time virtual, one school added the students to teacher rosters for testing and they were assigned the day and time on campus for that cohort of students.
  • In my experience students spend more time with the state tests with online proctoring, increasing staff time needed.
  • Attendance needs to be taken to ‘count’ for being present.
  • Provide a variety of headsets and chargers, bring backups for all digital components.
  • Bring supplies: pencils, sharpener, highlighters, paper, snacks, etc.
    • Review any allergies or medical needs for students prior to testing (i.e. allergies to food, scents, and blood sugar management or other medical necessities)

Safety & Planning

Crisis Prevention Planning

Questions to ask about crisis prevention:

  • What is your schools or district’s current crisis prevention plan?
  • How does this plan apply to virtual students?
  • What virtual components and responses differ from in person components?
  • Do you need to develop/add a virtual component to the current school or district plan? Who needs to be a part of this process?

Take into account virtual student crisis prevention/action may be prompted through data collection by reviewing student search history, data from in person lab times, virtual lab written or verbal information/discussions/responses, or responses to online assignments.

Onboarding & Orientation

Attendance

Communicating

Special Populations

Counseling Services

High School Transcripts

Participation in District Sports and Activities

  • OSAA and NCAA

Expulsions

PLCs/CoP

PE

Health

Virtual Versus Hybrid Learning

Curriculum Adoption – Digital Instructional Materials

Modifying Courseware to meet Oregon Standards

Career and Technical Education

Credit Recovery

Artificial Intelligence in virtual ed, academic integrity

Course Design

Virtual ORS

Senate Bill 13 (SB13)

Title 1

Teacher Evaluations

Increasing Professionalism in an Online Learning Environment

My teachers need to be thinking about

Accountability

Challenges and Mitigation (Best Practices) chart

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