- April 6, 2021
- Christopher Harrington
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This report is being submitted in fulfillment of the following legislative directive:
The Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the legislature not later than November 1 of each year that includes its mission, its plans, and proposed benchmarks it must meet, which shall include a plan to achieve the organizational priorities identified in this section, in order to receive full funding for 2021-2022. Not later than March 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide an update to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on school aid to show the progress being made to meet the benchmarks identified.
Mission: Advance both learning and teaching through research, practice, and partnerships.
2(a)(i) – Test, evaluate, and recommend as appropriate new technology-based instructional tools and resources.
As part of Michigan Virtual’s work to explore different applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in K-12 settings, the research and development team is involved in conversations with a Michigan-based company on the possible use of their data-driven AI platform that integrates natively with learning management system (LMS) providers to “nudge” students and increase student engagement. Other activities of the team included the exploration of an AI-based language learning platform for providing personalized skills practice for German and French as well as an AI-based platform for creating flexibility with formative and summative assessments from content.
Michigan Virtual continues to play a leadership role within the IMS Global community with a member of the executive leadership team serving as the chair of the IMS Global Virtual School Innovation Leaders Network (ILN), which is part of the K-12 Statewide Programs Board. Leadership activities this year included the delivery of a presentation on the use of comprehensive learner record standards for virtual schools in November 2020 as well as the facilitation of discussions at both the K-12 Statewide Programs Board meeting in February 2021. An additional presentation was delivered in partnership with the Clayton Christensen Institute, Texas Education Agency, and Virtual Virginia in February 2021 at the IMS Global Quarterly Meeting.
The Michigan Virtual research and development team also sees great value in exploring and testing adaptive learning tools such as learning record stores. Plans are currently being made by the internal Instructional Product Development (iPD) and Technology Integrations teams at Michigan Virtual to conduct some deeper research on the best standard to adopt between xAPI or IMS Global’s Caliper standard.
Competency-based education is also at the forefront of the work of the Michigan Virtual research and development team. Personnel are currently shaping a blog series that will focus on exploring competency-based learning solutions in K-12 schools. The blog posts will be published starting in April 2021.
Data collection is focused on existing features, functions, and content needs within the app. A focus group with school practitioners is planned for March 2021. These data will be used to develop a roadmap for ongoing future development.
While the current pandemic continues to impact the availability of school-based mentors and students, the development of the SLiDE mobile app is moving forward. Development will intensify during the second semester of this current school year with a focus on providing the functionality to support the Statewide Mentor Network that is currently housed in the Michigan Virtual Professional Learning Portal (PLP).
2(a)(ii) – Research, design, and recommend virtual education delivery models for use by pupils and teachers that include age-appropriate multimedia instructional content.
The Michigan Virtual research team has designed and is ready to execute a statewide research study on the digital learning model trends of schools and districts. A concept paper for this particular study has been finalized, detailing the need for the study, the overarching research questions, and the methodology for executing the study. In March 2021, research partners and research study subjects will be identified in preparation for the development and distribution of an online survey to collect data from Michigan school leaders. The anticipated date of completion of this study is late summer 2021.
The research team has also begun the execution of a research study that interprets the ways in which Michigan schools and districts are implementing student-centered learning. This particular study is currently underway and is on schedule to be completed by late spring 2021. Survey questions were developed and distributed to participants from five different Michigan K-12 school districts in December 2020, and interviews of school leaders and teachers of these schools were conducted in January 2021. Data are currently being compiled and analyzed, and the development of a written report is scheduled for March/April 2021.
Based on research and experiences during spring 2020 and summer 2020, researchers at Michigan Virtual developed a firm understanding of the need for sound social and emotional learning (SEL) practices to support virtual and remote learners. In response, the research team is developing a research study that is specific to sharing best practices for providing SEL support for virtual and remote learners. The concept paper for this study has been developed, and outreach to secure a partnership for this study has been made. Beginning in March 2021, data collection instruments will be developed, and the collection of data will occur throughout the spring months. The final report for this study is on schedule to be completed by September 2021.
Michigan Virtual researchers have also designed and are in the process of executing a research study on competency-based learning models in Michigan. This study is focused on the ways in which Michigan schools and districts are implementing competency-based learning, the motivations for doing so, and the challenges and success relating to the design and implementation of their models. Several school leaders throughout the state, as well as some national experts, have confirmed participation in the study. Individual interviews with these leaders and experts will occur during the months of March and April 2021. This study is expected to be completed by late summer 2021.
The Michigan Virtual research team is continuing its collaboration with Dr. Kerry Rice and Dr. Andy Hung from Boise State University on a study focused on early warning predictive models within virtual learning environments. The research team intended to conduct its first intervention study in Spring 2020 to test the predictive model for accuracy as well as to investigate whether providing teachers with an early warning notice of students predicted as at-risk for failure would lead to improved outcomes. Although the researchers were able to collect data through most of the semester, the last weeks were disrupted by school closures due to the COVID-19 restrictions. This disruption made the data unreliable. Therefore, the team used what they had done to further test the predictive model and to analyze the intervention study processes for future feasibility. It is the team’s hope is to resume their work during spring 2021.
Michigan Virtual’s collaborative efforts with Boise State University continue to make an impact in the data mining field related to the potential for machine and deep learning techniques in better understanding how student success can be supported through predictive analytics. Based on this work, Boise State faculty members have submitted several papers for publication that highlight some highly innovative approaches:
An Innovative Learning Pattern Analysis Approach – The Long Short-term Memory Based Autoencoder. IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing – submitted for publication.
Using Convolutional Neural Networks to Recognize Learning Images for Early Warning of At-risk Students. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.
Improving Predictive Power Through Deep Learning Analysis of K-12 Online Student Behaviors and Discussion Board Content. Information Discovery and Delivery.
2(a)(iii) – Research, develop, and recommend annually to the department criteria by which cyber schools and virtual course providers should be monitored and evaluated to ensure a quality education for their pupils.
Michigan Virtual continues to offer virtual program reviews at no cost to all Michigan schools and districts. These reviews involve a data collection process comprising the distribution of an online questionnaire and subsequent interviews of key school or district personnel to understand the design and operation of their programs. Once data are collected and analyzed through the use of a standards-aligned rubric, Michigan Virtual personnel write a summary of the school’s or district’s program along with recommendations for optimizing the program for increased student performance. The rubric and the review recommendations reflect the National Standards for Quality Online Programs.
In January 2021, Michigan Virtual extended an invitation to approximately 3,000 schools and districts throughout the state of Michigan to participate in a virtual program review at no cost. So far, six schools responded requesting to participate. The reviews of two of the schools’ virtual programs are currently in progress, and follow-up communications with the remaining schools continues. Ongoing outreach will also continue for the remainder of the year to encourage higher levels of participation.
As part of the program review process, Michigan Virtual provides each school with written recommendations aligned to NSQOL. Schools are also given time to review, reflect, and share feedback prior to the recommendations being finalized.
Michigan Virtual also continues to have staff members who serve as part of the National Standards for Quality Online Learning Leadership team. As such, they serve as experts to help shape the design and development of the standards.
2(a)(iv) – Based on pupil completion and performance data reported to the department or the center for educational performance and information from cyber schools and other virtual course providers operating in this state, analyze the effectiveness of virtual learning delivery models in preparing pupils to be college- and career-ready and publish a report that highlights enrollment totals, completion rates, and the overall impact on pupils. The report shall be submitted to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, the department, districts, and intermediate districts not later than March 31 of each year.
Work is currently underway in the development of the 2019-20 Effectiveness Report. A presentation will be given to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI) in March 2021 to gather feedback and to receive permission to release the report. The report will be made publicly available through the Michigan Virtual website in March 2021. As with the prior year, the entire report will be posted directly as a webpage on the Michigan Virtual website in addition to providing a .pdf format for downloading. Making the report available in this format will help users find the content more easily by improving search engines’ abilities to discover the findings and make them available to users. Putting the content directly into the website also helps meet web accessibility standards and provides a mobile-friendly version. Information about the report and how to view it online will be provided to the required subcommittee personnel and other government staff identified under this section.
A summary infographic and cover letter related to the report will be mailed to superintendents as well as high school and middle school principals in April 2021, providing easy-to-consume key findings and communicating how to access the full report.
A recorded presentation of the report is expected to be completed in March 2021.
The recorded presentation will be posted on the Michigan Virtual website for on-demand viewing.
2(a)(v) – Provide an extensive professional development program to at least 30,000 educational personnel, including teachers, school administrators, and school board members, that focuses on the effective integration of virtual learning into curricula and instruction. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute is encouraged to work with the MiSTEM advisory council created under section 99s to coordinate professional development of teachers in applicable fields. In addition, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute and external stakeholders are encouraged to coordinate with the department for professional development in this state. Not later than December 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall submit a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department on the number of teachers, school administrators, and school board members who have received professional development services from the Michigan Virtual University. The report shall also identify barriers and other opportunities to encourage the adoption of virtual learning in the public education system.
With many districts now providing remote learning opportunities for students, Michigan Virtual staff have created a number of new professional development opportunities for educators, including two new courses focused on supporting early elementary students in a remote environment with a third course in this series to be released in late spring 2021. These courses are available at no cost to educators. In addition, the Michigan Virtual team continues to develop the Online Lessons with Littles professional learning series – designed for preschool and kindergarten educators, both teaching face-to-face and remotely – based on overwhelmingly positive feedback from educators.
The Michigan Virtual staff recognized the need to accommodate flexibility in student scheduling during this challenging time for schools, so the team shifted nearly 40 third-party online courses from a facilitated to a self-paced model. Additional efforts were made to help schools and districts that are utilizing Michigan Virtual courses for students. These schools and districts are offered a 10-month ongoing professional development experience to help build educators’ understanding of the delivery of online content. Michigan Virtual staff members have also updated this experience based on feedback from partners and provided opportunities for educators to take part in monthly webinars for even more opportunities for learning.
Conversations with schools and districts that have partnered with Michigan Virtual have also led to the development of additional support for educators related to Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Through a collaborative partnership with the College Board, Michigan Virtual developed a professional development course to help support the needs of AP teachers in a virtual environment.
With the dramatic increase in the demand for professional learning caused by the pandemic, MIchigan Virtual personnel have also responded to the needs of school leaders as they relate to enrolling large quantities of educators in professional learning courses hosted within the Michigan Virtual PLP. The Michigan Virtual team created and implemented a process to group enroll educational professionals into a course or variety of courses within the PLP. This Group Registration and Enrollment (GRE) service includes communication to all learners, PLP account setup and registration, enrollment into course(s), automated State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECH) processing, and customized reporting with staff’s learning progress.
Michigan Virtual has also partnered with MEMSPA to group-enroll educators across the state into social emotional professional development courses. Approximately 2,500 educators were enrolled in the course titled, SEL: Introduction to Social Emotional Learning through the GRE service
In addition, two school district based “shared time” programs have chosen to use the Michigan Virtual GRE service to group register their staff into the Michigan Virtual PLP, giving them access to a program-chosen subset of the Michigan Virtual professional learning course catalog. The total number of “shared time” participants is now six school districts.
Michigan Virtual is currently in the process of developing an integration between their PLP and the 2gno.me company. This integration offers educators the opportunity to self-assess their knowledge and habits with regard to certain educational frameworks such as the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching or the Danielson Group’s Framework for Teaching. Upon receiving results from their self-assessment, educators receive personalized suggestions of appropriate learning experiences based on their individual strengths and weaknesses. Educators will be able to select the assessment like any other course on the catalog, take the assessment, and then select the suggested training from Michigan Virtual’s offerings and additional resources, mostly provided by other members of the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance, a state virtual school network. The integration is currently in the testing stages, and a pilot of the system is expected to begin in March 2021.
Additional professional learning opportunities are being offered in collaboration with higher education institutions. Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Michigan Virtual are in the process of developing and making available a series of online professional learning modules for K-12 school personnel. The series of 6-9 modules will identify the latest research and best practices for serving a variety of special populations in face-to-face and remote settings, as well as cover several important topics designed to promote inclusive teaching and learning that includes SEL and trauma-informed education. The online modules will be made available to educators at no cost.
Michigan Virtual is currently offering competency-based professional learning courses to Michigan teachers and administrators. To date, Michigan Virtual is offering 22 micro-credential courses: 16 in collaboration with MEMSPA for current and aspiring school administrators, five in collaboration with MASA for current and aspiring district leaders, and one in collaboration with STEM for educators in the STEM field (not limited to only teachers). Additionally, Michigan Virtual is offering five courses in collaboration with MACAC, which consist of a traditional course with some competency-based assignment components. These courses are currently being considered for micro-credentials.
The Michigan Virtual Collaboration of the Minds committee has formalized a theme for this year’s annual gathering and has begun decision-making on the event’s organization and structure. Due to the significant increase in their internal staff, Michigan Virtual has determined that they will close the event to the public and focus on internal professional development. Key decisions regarding the format of the event (virtual as compared to face-to-face) will be determined during the spring of 2021, and the committee is moving forward with outlining the program and offerings to be available to staff.
The 2019-2020 Professional Learning Report was sent to the legislature in December 2020 and is also posted on the Michigan Virtual website as part of Michigan Virtual’s Annual Report.
The 2020-2021 report will be provided to the legislature in December 2021.
2(a)(vi) – Identify and share best practices for planning, implementing, and evaluating virtual and blended education delivery models with intermediate districts, districts, and public school academies to accelerate the adoption of innovative education delivery models statewide.
Michigan Virtual previously published and currently maintains six widely used guides recognized as being important to school and district online learning programs. The six Guides to Online Learning will be reviewed and updated this year to add any changes to Michigan’s Section 21f legislation. This year, Michigan legislation addressed the shift to pandemic learning in March 2020 and its continuation into the current school year. As research in digital learning continues to surface promising practices for improving outcomes for students learning virtually or remotely, these practices will be incorporated in the appropriate guides along with links to any resources freely available for schools to enhance their programs. This work is scheduled to begin in April 2021.
The Michigan Virtual research team is conducting a study specific to the learning models Michigan schools and districts are implementing during the 2020-21 school year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was broken down into two phases. Phase 1 focused on seeking to understand the learning continuity plans formulated by schools and districts in the spring of 2020 as well as teacher, parent, and student perceptions of how these plans were executed. That report, Learning Continuity in Michigan: Plans and Perceptions From Spring 2020 Emergency Remote Instruction, has been published and can be found on the Michigan Virtual website. Phase 2 of this study is currently underway and will focus on the learning continuity models formulated by school districts in the 2020-21 school year as well as lessons learned, challenges, and recommended best practices for virtual or remote learning. School administrator interview questions have been developed, and the next steps are to secure subject schools and schedule and conduct interviews. This study is scheduled to be completed by late spring 2021.
Another study being conducted by the Michigan Virtual research team is focused on best practices for providing special education support for virtual learners. This study was launched in February 2021 with the review of resources that were previously published by Michigan Virtual. Some resources will need to be converted from their current PDF state to HTML and/or moved to a new page on the Michigan Virtual website so they can be more accessible and easily located. This study is on schedule to be completed by late summer 2021.
In another effort to share best practices with Michigan schools and districts, Michigan Virtual designed and implemented a consulting model to help schools grow and share their innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Michigan Virtual staff have completed the process of developing a consulting services model that is intended to help schools move forward with the design and implementation of innovative digital learning programs for students. The scope of consulting services to be made available to Michigan schools and districts include, but are not limited to, strategic planning and program design, program implementation and support, instructional design and pedagogy, professional learning planning, and technology resource evaluation and selection. Michigan Virtual staff are currently providing consulting services to three Michigan school districts, sharing the successes and challenges other schools and districts encounter in their work.
The Michigan Virtual research team believes another way to share best practices with education practitioners throughout the state of Michigan is through the writing and publishing of short blog posts. The team has identified and begun the writing and posting of multiple series of blog posts related to innovative learning models. Topics for the six blog posts focused on student-centered learning blog series have been identified and developed. Some of the content for this blog series – stories of how educators are implementing student-centered learning practices into their classrooms – will be extracted from the interviews that have been conducted for the student-centered learning study. As the data from these interviews are analyzed and the report is drafted, the blogs in this series will be developed and drafted as well. The final post of this blog series is on schedule to be published by September 2021.
A blog series entitled, School Leader Insights is planned for spring of 2021, and it will focus on providing guidance to school leaders on how to design, implement, and maintain digital learning programs to meet the instructional needs of their unique school communities. The topics to be discussed are vision; curriculum, instruction and assessment; technology; professional learning; school operations; and leadership. The series will be published in sequence throughout the spring and summer of 2021.
Another blog series that shares summaries of recent research related to digital learning is currently underway. The first blog post in this six-part series was published in February 2021, and it shared insights from existing Michigan Virtual research on best practices related to K-12 online learning. New blog posts will be published monthly on the Michigan Virtual website throughout the spring and summer of 2021.
The final blog series to be written and published by Michigan Virtual will center on general innovations in education. Blog post contributors are being recruited to provide their perspective on innovative trends in education. One blog post has already been created focusing on the trend of design thinking and its application to educational settings. This post is scheduled for release in March 2021.
2(b)(i) – Develop and report policy recommendations to the governor and the legislature that accelerate the expansion of effective virtual learning in this state’s schools.
The virtual learning recommendations, shared by Michigan Virtual in December 2020, included six areas of opportunity. The first was to explore summer learning options to help mitigate learning loss related to the pandemic. The second was to resume legislative conversations about e-learning days to create greater flexibility for schools to move online in the event of school closures due to inclement weather or as a pandemic or outbreak precaution. The third recommendation was to allocate funding to redesign the state’s outdated Michigan Online Educator Certification System (MOECS). The fourth was to revisit retirement policies in the hopes of providing greater flexibility to hire teachers during crises such as the pandemic. The fifth was to change teacher effectiveness reporting responsibility — in the case of third-party online instructors — to the entity providing the instructors rather than the various schools who are contracting for them. The final recommendation was to modify the existing virtual learning data collection process to update the “virtual method” data field from the current options of Not Virtual, Blended Learning, Digital Learning, or Online Course to a reduced set of Not Virtual, Virtual – Credit Recovery, Virtual – Not Credit Recovery.
2(b)(ii) – Provide a clearinghouse for research reports, academic studies, evaluations, and other information related to virtual learning.
Michigan Virtual continues to maintain the nationally-recognized Research Clearinghouse, and there were 1,144 resources in the clearinghouse as of the publication of the Quarterly Newsletter in January 2021. The next quarterly newsletter is on schedule to be distributed in March 2021.
The execution of six research studies and the development of four blog post series are currently underway. When completed, these works will be published to the Michigan Virtual website and made available through the clearinghouse. Furthermore, the availability of these resources will be promoted through select social media channels by Michigan Virtual personnel.
Michigan Virtual staff are committed to the ongoing improvement of the Research Clearinghouse and have engaged with Web Ascender, a web development company, to help audit the current functionality and user experience of the clearinghouse website/platform. Once the audit is completed, a development plan will be put together to provide a new user experience and functionality to the clearinghouse and will be made available by October 2021.
2(b)(iii) – Promote and distribute the most current instructional design standards and guidelines for virtual teaching.
Michigan Virtual continues to promote and distribute the most current instructional design standards and guidelines for virtual teaching. Instructional design resources are continuously added to the Research Clearinghouse on a quarterly basis with specific resources being highlighted through the Quarterly Newsletter and in Michigan Virtual’s annual report to the state legislature.
Another way that Michigan Virtual is promoting and distributing instructional design guidelines and standards is through the delivery of presentations at Michigan-based education conferences. Michigan Virtual’s iPD team led two sessions at the Teaching for Today and Tomorrow conference that was held February 23, 2021 for educators in the state as a collaboration between MASSP and Michigan Virtual. The session titles and descriptions are as follows:
Practical Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Teaching Online
The teaching and learning landscape has drastically changed in the past year, as have the demands on teachers to learn and adapt quickly to online instruction. We’re here to help! In this session we will share tips, tools, and techniques that you can use for planning and teaching your online or hybrid classes. You’ll walk away from this session with ideas and access to resources you can start using today!
Using a Design Mind for Doing Learning Online
Teachers wear many hats. You might be the lesson planner, the learning facilitator, the feedback provider, the school-to-home intermediary, the colleague, along with many other responsibilities. In our current world, you are also likely designing online experiences for students to rise to the challenge of supporting students beyond the physical classroom. This session will focus on mindsets that can help guide decisions as you design online learning experiences.
Michigan Virtual is also making available several resources related to instructional design for schools seeking to develop their own digital content. The team has created resources to share out after the Teaching for Today and Tomorrow conference related to organizing digital content, tips for teaching live synchronous sessions, and digital tools. Additionally, as part of the team’s work on an onboarding course for instructors of Michigan Virtual partner schools, the team has created a number of resources that can be shared more broadly with instructors. A plan to make these resources to instructors is currently being developed.
Michigan Virtual continues to promote, maintain, and support free online professional development courses to train teachers in the instructional design of online content. Currently, Michigan Virtual is offering 77 free courses focused on instructional design and online learning. Each course provides SCECH credit, which are also processed by Michigan Virtual. Below are the Michigan Virtual offerings that are available to educators:
The Michigan Virtual team is also committed to training or coaching Michigan teachers on instructional design through live training sessions and/or an open “office hours” model. As of February 2021, the team has trained 48 teachers on instructional design through either live training sessions or open “office hours” coaching.
2(b)(iv) – In collaboration with the department and interested colleges and universities in this state, support implementation and improvements related to effective virtual learning instruction.
Beginning in April 2021, Michigan Virtual personnel will be communicating with various Michigan teacher and administrator preparation institutions to inform them of the various online resources and courses that can help pre-service teachers develop their knowledge and understanding of literacy, digital teaching and learning, and the myriad open educational resources that are available to support virtual teaching and learning.
The Michigan Virtual research team will also be providing opportunities for interested colleges and universities to collaborate and participate in research studies. The scheduled student-centered learning study is currently underway and the data collected from school leaders and teachers through an online survey and individual interviews are being compiled and analyzed. Once the findings of the study are documented, Michigan Virtual researchers will reach out to personnel at select colleges and universities to offer discussion related to the findings and the possibility of collaboration related to the dissemination of the findings to the greater Michigan educational community.
In an upcoming study scheduled to begin in March 2021, researchers at Michigan Virtual will contact personnel at institutions that offer teacher and administrator preparation programs to discuss partnering on a research project focused on school leaders’ visions of the future of education in Michigan. Partner responsibilities are expected to include such tasks as assistance with the development of data collection instruments, the collection of data through an online questionnaire and school interviews, data analysis, and/or report writing.
Additional collaboration with higher education is planned through the invitation of at least one member from a higher education institution to serve on Michigan Virtual’s Innovation Advisory Board to guide the development of Michigan Virtual’s innovation portfolio. This advisory board is currently being assembled with the expectation of meeting in late spring or early summer of 2021. Multiple higher education members from Michigan State University have expressed interest in serving on the board and are currently under consideration.
2(b)(v)- Pursue public/private partnerships that include districts to study and implement competency-based technology-rich virtual learning models.
The lead investigators of the Michigan Virtual research team have partnered with multiple organizations to conduct research studies that are highly relevant to Michigan schools and districts. Specifically, Michigan Virtual and the Michigan CoOp have joined forces to study how student-centered learning practices are being implemented in specific school districts within the state. In addition, the member school districts of the Michigan Competency Consortium are partnering with the Michigan Virtual research team to investigate the motivations for schools implementing competency-based education along with the challenges and best practices related to system-wide implementation. A third study that is focused on learning continuity within the state of Michigan is being supported by MEMSPA.
Michigan Virtual is continuing partnerships with MASA, MEMSPA, and MAC to help support the professional learning micro-credentialing effort through the development of micro-credentials focused on knowledge, skills, and experiences related to high-need areas. To date, activity within the MEMSPA membership includes 39 elementary schools that were enrolled via GRE into SEL: Module 1 and 45 administrators were enrolled in the Literacy & Leadership micro-credential series. Other activity includes the write-up of the Online Lessons with Littles courses to promote in their newsletter, as MEMSPA is looking to provide more resources and professional development for their preschool and lower elementary members. Michigan Virtual is also working with MEMSPA to create Challenge Coins, a form of recognition, to be given to micro-credential earners.
The existing MASA District Leadership Team micro-credential and the MASA Communications micro-credential have been redesigned, redeveloped, and re-released in the following series. The MASA District Leadership Team micro-credential (released in January 2021) is comprised of the following courses and micro-credentials:
The MASA Communications Micro-credential (released in December 2020) is comprised of the following courses and micro-credentials:
Moving forward, Michigan Virtual is continuing to work with MASA on a new series of human resource focused courses and micro-credentials, while work with MAC has been delayed due to shifts in work priorities caused by the pandemic.
Michigan Virtual has committed to maintaining membership in at least one national-level organization that advocates for and supports digital learning at the K-12 level. Currently, Michigan Virtual serves as an official supporting member of the Digital Learning Collaborative (DLC). In this role, members of the Michigan Virtual leadership team regularly contribute to the DLC leadership conversations and planning of events.
As part of the competency-based education research study being conducted by the Michigan Virtual research team, the lead investigator of the study is working closely with the Michigan Competency Consortium to help shape conversations and provide research resources to help the consortium advance their efforts. In addition, the director of the consortium has been contracted by Michigan Virtual to play a leadership role within Michigan Virtual as a learning strategist.
The Michigan Virtual Innovation Advisory Board is currently being assembled with the expectation of meeting in late spring or early summer of 2021. Efforts are underway to invite at least two members from the public or private sector to serve on the board.
2(b)(vi) – Create a statewide network of school-based mentors serving as liaisons between pupils, virtual instructors, parents, and school staff, as provided by the department or the center, and provide mentors with research-based training and technical assistance designed to help more pupils be successful virtual learners.
Michigan Virtual personnel continue to update and build training resources and content for mentors in the Online Mentor Network while simultaneously building and testing content within a mobile application to raise engagement and draw new network participants. In fall of 2020. internal staff met to discuss the next steps to support mentor development in the field, which included investigating the possible use of the SLIDE mobile app to facilitate professional development and training in the future. This tool could provide opportunities for ongoing communication and collaboration for mentors across the state. The group will have follow-up meetings to make final decisions and discuss options.
Additional efforts to support mentors includes the planning and execution of “Mentor Meet-up” trainings. Michigan Virtual staff are currently in the process of planning at least two trainings to be conducted by the end of summer 2021. The internal planning team has been working to address challenges related to the complicated schedules of the face-to-face mentors as they manage pandemic response requirements.
Michigan Virtual is also hosting two webinars for mentors of online learners, outlining strategies for providing support in online environments and providing opportunities for mentors across the state to convene and share in a virtual setting. In December 2020, a webinar titled, “Best Practices of Mentoring Online Students” was held with a focus on starting the year with clear expectations, getting students enrolled into courses smoothly, demonstrating the value of communication with students and teachers, and following through with student accountability and related student expectations. Throughout the webinar, the Michigan Virtual team provided many resources to support the effectiveness of the mentors. This webinar was available to both Michigan Virtual mentors as well as the general public. Planning for the second webinar to be conducted is currently in progress.
2(b)(vii) – Convene focus groups and conduct annual surveys of teachers, administrators, pupils, parents, and others to identify barriers and opportunities related to virtual learning.
Michigan Virtual typically collects feedback from key users and stakeholders through surveying, focus groups, and other means. Three remote focus groups with students enrolled in online course are planned for late Spring 2021.
In addition, all learners enrolled in Michigan Virtual professional and student courses (educators and students) are presented with an end-of-course questionnaire. Since October 2020, the Michigan Virtual professional learning questionnaire has received 6,740 responses. The student end-of-course questionnaire has received 2,304 responses in that same period (through January 2021).
An end-of-year survey is also distributed to mentors of students enrolled in Michigan Virtual courses. This survey will be administered near the end of the spring 2021 semester.
Barriers and opportunities related to virtual learning are also identified through Michigan Virtual’s execution of Mentor Advisory committee meetings. The first mentor committee meeting of the year was held in October 2020, and the majority of the committee membership was able to attend despite the unique circumstances created by the pandemic. The focus of this meeting was on the transition to the Brightspace learning management system, meeting students’ needs during a pandemic, providing support to students in remote learning environments, and engaging in a mentor support network during these difficult times. The second meeting of the committee will be held in late March or early April 2021.
2(b)(viii) – Produce an annual consumer awareness report for schools and parents about effective virtual education providers and education delivery models, performance data, cost structures, and research trends.
Michigan Virtual continues to host and update the Consumer Awareness Report twice annually. The fall 2020 update is complete, and the spring 2021 update is forthcoming. In addition to updating the report with the spring data, the spring report will also include data from the upcoming Effectiveness Report for the 2019-20 school year. The purpose of this resource is to make consumers aware of the status of online learning in Michigan. It is specifically designed to inform parents, school personnel, and school board members of the nature of virtual learning options, their effectiveness for Michigan students, the cost of these programs, and current trends related to virtual learning.
2(b)(ix) – Provide an internet-based platform that educators can use to create student-centric learning tools and resources for sharing in the state’s open educational resource repository and facilitate a user network that assists educators in using the content creation platform and state repository for open educational resources. As part of this initiative, the Michigan Virtual University shall work collaboratively with districts and intermediate districts to establish a plan to make available virtual resources that align to Michigan’s K-12 curriculum standards for use by students, educators, and parents.
Michigan Virtual continues to offer digital content from over 70 high-quality student courses at no cost to Michigan schools and districts. This effort is intended to help support educators and parents as a resource to support and supplement student learning throughout the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools and parents can access these resources from Michigan Virtual’s Free Learning Content website.
Michigan Virtual participates in the Michigan #GoOpen task force in collaboration with MDE and other Michigan stakeholders. Specifically, a Michigan Virtual staff member serves on the Michigan #GoOpen Strategy Team. This individual has been working with others to plan professional development for utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER) and training.
Michigan Virtual is hosting a course on its PLP where teachers can learn about the state’s #GoOpen initiatives. This course is free for educators to access and Michigan Virtual covers the cost of all related SCECH processing. To date, there are 5,235 enrollments in the course with a current total of 3,000 course completions.
Michigan Virtual also makes available various modules on the PLP that support educators in developing their own digital learning objects.
2(b)(x) – Create and maintain a public statewide catalog of virtual learning courses being offered by all public schools and community colleges in this state. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall identify and develop a list of nationally recognized best practices for virtual learning and use this list to support reviews of virtual course vendors, courses, and instructional practices. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall also provide a mechanism for intermediate districts to use the identified best practices to review content offered by constituent districts. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall review the virtual course offerings of the Michigan Virtual University, and make the results from these reviews available to the public as part of the statewide catalog. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall ensure that the statewide catalog is made available to the public on the Michigan Virtual University website and shall allow the ability to link it to each district’s website as provided for in section 21f. The statewide catalog shall also contain all of the following:
(A) The number of enrollments in each virtual course in the immediately preceding school year. (B) The number of enrollments that earned 60% or more of the total course points for each virtual course in the immediately preceding school year. (C) The pass rate for each virtual course.
Michigan Virtual continues to utilize internal and external resources to update and maintain functionality of the newly redeveloped statewide catalog. Staff members are continuously soliciting and acting on user feedback to bring new functionality to the system and to maintain a good and accessible user experience as well as support current course catalog needs. Updates to the backend interface of the statewide catalog were deployed by Web Ascender, a web development company under contract with Michigan Virtual, which places emphasis on system stability, usability, and live interaction with system data. The interface updates rolled out in February 2021, and continued maintenance and support of the system will be provided thereafter.
The inclusion of the ability for schools and districts to use the National Standards for Quality Online Courses when reporting their course reviews is part of the scope of work to update and maintain the statewide catalog. Specifically, the updates to the backend of the system offer expanded and more accessible functions for schools to filter and report by the standards.
The Michigan Virtual team also offers professional development courses to Michigan schools and districts specific to applying National Standards for Quality Online Courses when performing course reviews. Michigan Virtual currently offers the following professional development opportunities in the form of self-paced courses at no cost to school and districts:
Getting Started
Tweak your existing teaching practices for an online or blended environment in ways that align with National Standards for Online Learning (4 SCECH credits)
Course Content & Design
Apply National Standards for Quality Online Learning to online content as you begin to design, develop, and deploy blended and online learning (3 SCECH credits)
Assessment
Explore the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching and Courses to measure student progress in your online classroom (2 SCECH credits)
Meeting Needs
Recognize the National Standards for Quality Online Learning that help you better meet students’ needs online (2 SCECH credits)
Michigan Virtual continues to add online courses that have been successfully reviewed for quality to the statewide catalog. To date, 11 semester-length courses have been submitted to Quality Matters for recertification. These courses include the following: World History & Geography A, World History & Geography B, AP Physics 1A, AP Physics 1B, AP Environmental Science A, AP Environmental Science B, Anatomy & Physiology A, Anatomy & Physiology B, Oceanography A, Oceanography B, and Entrepreneurship. The Michigan Virtual team plans to submit an additional five semester-length courses that are currently in development through the Quality Matters review process in July and August 2021. These courses include Psychology, Employability Skills, AP Physics C Sem 1, AP Chemistry Sem 1, and AP Computer Science Principles Sem 1.
Recently, Michigan’s Section 21f legislation was modified to address the shift to pandemic learning in March 2020 as well as the continuation of the shift into the current school year. The changes to the legislation and their impact on other Section 21f resources developed by Michigan Virtual to support schools in their virtual programs have been updated and published to the Michigan Virtual website.
2(b)(xi) – Support registration, payment services, and transcript functionality for the statewide catalog and train key stakeholders on how to use new features.
Michigan Virtual continues to improve and update the statewide catalog to provide a better end-user experience. A public knowledge base for the statewide catalog is hosted in the Michigan Virtual website and is constantly updated as changes and new functions are introduced to the website. Any technical support required by users is handled through either the customer care or technology integrations teams at Michigan Virtual.
Michigan Virtual’s Customer Care Center is also available on business days from 7:30am – 5:00pm ET to answer calls and to respond to online support tickets that are submitted for the statewide catalog.
Michigan Virtual continues to use customer feedback to improve the functionality of and to add new features to the statewide catalog. As changes are implemented, the knowledge base and other technical documentation are updated and made easily accessible through the Michigan Virtual website.
2(b)(xii) – Collaborate with key stakeholders to examine district level accountability and teacher effectiveness issues related to virtual learning under section 21f and make findings and recommendations publicly available.
Michigan Virtual continues to evaluate its teachers using a modified Danielson rubric. The Student Learning Services team at Michigan Virtual began its annual evaluations in November 2020 to accommodate the needs of their expanded instructional staff, which now exceeds 230 teachers (part-time and full-time). The ongoing evaluation process will resume with the remainder of the teachers receiving their evaluation in April and May 2021. Aside from the formal evaluation process, Michigan Virtual support staff provide ongoing coaching walk-throughs to help support and engage instructional staff in best practices associated with teaching in a virtual environment.
Michigan Virtual has also developed and is currently implementing the ability to deliver a personalized professional development tool through the Michigan Virtual PLP that is aligned with the National Standards for Quality Online Learning. Integration work with 2gno.me will be completed by early March 2021, and the Michigan Virtual marketing and communications team is in the planning phase to message the opportunity to Michigan school districts and individual educators.
2(b)(xiii) – Provide a report on the activities of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute.
The 2019-2020 Institute Report was sent to the legislature in December 2020 and is also posted on the Michigan Virtual website as part of Michigan Virtual’s Annual Report.
The 2020-2021 report will be provided to the legislature in December 2021.
(3) To further enhance its expertise and leadership in virtual learning, the Michigan Virtual University shall continue to operate the Michigan Virtual School as a statewide laboratory and quality model of instruction by implementing virtual and blended learning solutions for Michigan schools in accordance with the following parameters:
(a) The Michigan Virtual School must maintain its accreditation status from recognized national and international accrediting entities.
The process for re-accreditation of the Michigan Virtual School has begun. The Student Learning Services internal team is actively engaged in collecting evidence to share with the Cognia review committee for their scheduled visit in March 2021. Internal training has been completed in preparation for this visit, and multiple meetings are scheduled in advance of the visit to ensure that the Michigan Virtual team is ready and resources are organized for review.
(b) The Michigan Virtual University shall use no more than $1,000,000.00 of the amount allocated under this section to subsidize the cost paid by districts for virtual courses.
In October 2020, Michigan Virtual’s board of directors approved its fiscal year 2021 budget fulfilling this benchmark.
Similarly, based on audited figures from the prior fiscal year, an independent third-party auditing firm concluded that Michigan Virtual adhered to this requirement for the 2019-20 school year.
(c) In providing educators responsible for the teaching of virtual courses as provided for in this section, the Michigan Virtual School shall follow the requirements to request and assess, and the department of state police shall provide, a criminal history check and criminal records check under sections 1230 and 1230a of the revised school code, MCL 380.1230 and 380.1230a, in the same manner as if the Michigan Virtual School were a school district under those sections.
Michigan Virtual is approved by the Michigan State Police (MSP) as a qualified entity to use the MSP Criminal History Record Internet Subscription Service (CHRISS) for fingerprinting for employment, assignment, or volunteer placement as authorized by the National Child Protection Act. Michigan Virtual works with its teachers and staff to complete background checks and MSP fingerprint checks through this process.
(4) From the funds allocated under subsection (1), the Michigan Virtual University shall allocate up to $500,000.00 to support the expansion of new online and blended educator professional development programs.
As part of a process to be more innovative and personalized in supporting Michigan teachers, Michigan Virtual has established virtual “office hours,” which connect teachers who have expertise in online and blended learning practices to other teachers seeking to develop their skills in this model of instruction. The purpose of this program is to allow teachers seeking assistance to select a topic of conversation and then provide access to an experienced teacher they can learn with. This service is free for educators, and it allows teachers the ability to receive some direct, one-on-one guidance and advice to help them improve their own practice.
Michigan Virtual is also planning to create a set of leadership micro-credentials focused on understanding and aligning the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching for principals and evaluators of teachers working in virtual learning settings. These micro-credentials are paired with access to the national standards-aligned resources through the 2gno.me personalized professional learning platform. Currently, the rollout of the training platform has been delayed to April 2021 due to some technical difficulties. The creation of the actual micro-credentials will be scheduled to allow for a pilot that coincides with the availability of the training platform.
(5) If the course offerings are included in the statewide catalog of virtual courses under subsection (2)(b)(x), the Michigan Virtual School operated by the Michigan Virtual University may offer virtual course offerings, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(a) Information technology courses.
(b) College level equivalent courses, as defined in section 1471 of the revised school code, MCL 380.1471.
(c) Courses and dual enrollment opportunities.
(d) Programs and services for at‐risk pupils.
(e) High school equivalency test preparation courses for adjudicated youth.
(f) Special interest courses.
(g) Professional development programs for teachers, school administrators, other school employees, and school board members.
As part of Michigan Virtual’s plan to conduct formal market research to identify the various needs of Michigan schools and districts that are specific to digital learning, staff members reached out to 19 schools and Intermediate School Districts in January 2021 to assess their general needs as well as needs that are specific to summer 2021 learning recovery. This outreach was accomplished via email and telephone calls, and the data collected are currently being compiled. During the months of March and April 2021, the data will be used to design and implement solutions for Michigan schools to address the summer learning needs of their students.
Michigan Virtual also completed a needs analysis related to its catalog of course offerings in the 2020-2021 school year in light of school districts’ requests for additional offerings in the context of specific delivery models for their students. The following needs were identified:
The Michigan Virtual team is in the process of updating the digital content and assessments of existing courses based on the needs of schools and districts identified through market research. As of March 2021, the team has realigned the Michigan Virtual Civics, Economics, and World History & Geography courses to align to the most recent Michigan Social Studies Standards and has also made updates to the course content where necessary. In addition, the team is redesigning the Michigan Virtual Employability Skills course to eliminate costly vendor content. The team is also redesigning its AP Chemistry courses to eliminate the need for schools to purchase a costly textbook and have instead adopted a College Board approved OER textbook.
(6) If a home-schooled or nonpublic school student is a resident of a district that subscribes to services provided by the Michigan Virtual School, the student may use the services provided by the Michigan Virtual School to the district without charge to the student beyond what is charged to a district pupil using the same services.
Michigan Virtual’s prices for 2020-2021 school year are the same for home-schooled and nonpublic school students as they are for district students using the same services. Pricing Information is available on the Michigan Virtual website.
(7) Not later than December 1 of each fiscal year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department that includes at least all of the following information related to the Michigan Virtual School for the preceding state fiscal year:
(a) A list of the districts served by the Michigan Virtual School. (b) A list of virtual course titles available to districts. (c) The total number of virtual course enrollments and information on registrations and completions by course. (d) The overall course completion rate percentage.
The 2019-2020 report on the Michigan Virtual School was sent to the legislature in December 2020 and is also posted on the Michigan Virtual website as part of Michigan Virtual’s Annual Report. The 2020-2021 report will be provided to the legislature in December 2021.
(8) In addition to the information listed in subsection (7), the report under subsection (7) shall also include a plan to serve at least 600 schools with courses from the Michigan Virtual School or with content available through the internet-based platform identified in subsection (2)(b)(ix).
Michigan Virtual is on schedule to serve a minimum of 600 schools throughout the 2020-21 school year. As part of this, Michigan Virtual continues to offer digital content from over 70 high-quality student courses at no cost to Michigan schools and districts as well as supporting free learning objects that were added to the Michigan #GoOpen website.
(9) The governor may appoint an advisory group for the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute established under subsection (2). The members of the advisory group shall serve at the pleasure of the governor and shall serve without compensation. The purpose of the advisory group is to make recommendations to the governor, the legislature, and the president and board of the Michigan Virtual University that will accelerate innovation in this state’s education system in a manner that will prepare elementary and secondary students to be career and college ready and that will promote the goal of increasing the percentage of citizens of this state with high-quality degrees and credentials to at least 60% by 2025.
Since this section pertains to the actions of the Governor’s office rather than Michigan Virtual, no plan has been created by Michigan Virtual.
(10) Not later than November 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a detailed budget for that fiscal year that includes a breakdown on its projected costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the anticipated fees to be paid by districts for those services. Not later than March 1 each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a breakdown on its actual costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the actual fees paid by districts for those services based on audited financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year.
A detailed budget breaking down 2020-2021 projected costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the anticipated fees to be paid by districts for those services was submitted by November 1, 2020.
The breakdown of Michigan Virtual’s actual costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the actual fees paid by districts for those services based on audited financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year was included for legislators in the same mailing as this update.
This report is being submitted in fulfillment of the following legislative directive:
The Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the legislature not later than November 1 of each year that includes its mission, its plans, and proposed benchmarks it must meet, which shall include a plan to achieve the organizational priorities identified in this section, in order to receive full funding for 2021-2022. Not later than March 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide an update to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on school aid to show the progress being made to meet the benchmarks identified.
Mission: Advance both learning and teaching through research, practice, and partnerships.
2(a)(i) – Test, evaluate, and recommend as appropriate new technology-based instructional tools and resources.
Michigan Virtual will explore different applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in the creation and deployment of instructional content in K-12 settings. A series of blog posts will be published documenting different tools and their application in creating pathways for teachers to use AI to achieve instructional goals in their online, blended, and traditional classrooms.
Michigan Virtual will also continue to participate in IMS Global as a contributing member to develop a deeper understanding of digital learner records and how it impacts the recognition and portability of student achievements and outcomes in K-12 settings. Comprehensive Learner Records (CLR), digital badges, and learning record stores are all technology infrastructure of a competency-based learning environment and enable the documenting and sharing of achieved competencies, skills, knowledge, and aptitudes of students. This allows for greater flexibility of instructional pathways and portability and recognition of achievements between providers, schools, and the workforce.
Expanding upon its membership role with IMS Global, Michigan Virtual will independently explore the use of learning record stores to increase the adaptability of instructional content delivery within Michigan Virtual courses and publish written recommendations on how these technologies might enable greater levels of student personalization and learning outcomes, in general.
Michigan Virtual will also develop and publish a blog series that focuses on the tools and resources educators can use to create competency-based, blended, or online learning environments.
Throughout 2019-2020, Michigan Virtual developed a mobile application to help students become successful online learners by providing useful content for students and mentors. This mobile application was made available to select school districts in the form of a pilot. Michigan Virtual will design and execute a focused research study to understand the benefits and value this resource brings to the pilot schools as well as its challenges and shortcomings in an effort to refine the application on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
2(a)(ii) – Research, design, and recommend virtual education delivery models for use by pupils and teachers that include age-appropriate multimedia instructional content.
In an effort to lead statewide conversations about the opportunities and benefits associated with digital learning in Michigan schools, Michigan Virtual will design and execute a research study that includes a large, statewide survey of Michigan schools’ and districts’ adoption of digital resources and their impact on learning in K-12 schools. By understanding the different learning models, motivations, catalysts, and barriers for schools and districts in Michigan, including those that emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan Virtual can then support schools by helping them understand what is working, what is not, where further research is needed, and identify policy needs.
Building off the 2019-20 abbreviated study on student-centered learning, Michigan Virtual will design and execute a new research study designed to interpret the ways in which schools are implementing student-centered learning along with the factors that impact the successful implementation of such practices. The research team will also develop recommendations and compile resources that can help school and district personnel overcome barriers to successful implementation.
As Michigan schools are increasingly incorporating online or virtual education into their academic programming, there is an increasing desire to understand the best practices for providing social and emotional learning (SEL) support for virtual learners. Michigan Virtual will lead a study that identifies best practices in providing SEL support and will share these emerging practices with educators throughout the state.
Michigan Virtual will intensify its support of Michigan schools and districts seeking to understand and implement competency-based education practices by executing a high-level research study that identifies the core components of competency-based education models as well as the ways in which schools and districts within Michigan and across the nation are designing and implementing effective models.
Michigan Virtual will also continue a collaboration with researchers Dr. Kerry Rice and Dr. Andy Hung from Boise State University on a research study that uses Michigan Virtual course data to develop early warning predictive models to accurately identify students at-risk of falling behind in their online courses. This collaboration will include a pilot study intended to test the model developed by Dr. Rice and Dr. Hung.
2(a)(iii) – Research, develop, and recommend annually to the department criteria by which cyber schools and virtual course providers should be monitored and evaluated to ensure a quality education for their pupils.
For the past two years, Michigan Virtual has been part of a national effort to update standards for quality online learning. This effort led to the release of the National Standards for Quality Online Learning (NSQOL) which includes quality standards for programs, teaching, and courses. As more and more schools and districts throughout the state of Michigan are including the online learning format in their academic programs, there is a related growing need to ensure students are receiving the highest quality of education in this format. Given this need, Michigan Virtual will offer to conduct reviews, with recommendations for improvement, of online learning programs at no cost to Michigan schools and districts. These reviews will be in alignment with research-based best practices for online learning as well the National Standards for Quality Online Learning.
2(a)(iv) – Based on pupil completion and performance data reported to the department or the center for educational performance and information from cyber schools and other virtual course providers operating in this state, analyze the effectiveness of virtual learning delivery models in preparing pupils to be college- and career-ready and publish a report that highlights enrollment totals, completion rates, and the overall impact on pupils. The report shall be submitted to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, the department, districts, and intermediate districts not later than March 31 of each year.
By March 31, 2021, Michigan Virtual will produce the Effectiveness Report in a form and method consistent with the past version, while being reflective of the impact of the existing COVID-19 pandemic, as it has been generally well-received and represents the most in-depth, state-level analysis of virtual course enrollments in the country. Like last year’s report, Michigan Virtual will also create an infographic summarizing key findings from the report. The report will be mailed to required recipients and published on the Michigan Virtual website. The report’s author will produce a recording that will be made available on-demand through the Michigan Virtual website.
2(a)(v) – Provide an extensive professional development program to at least 30,000 educational personnel, including teachers, school administrators, and school board members, that focuses on the effective integration of virtual learning into curricula and instruction. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute is encouraged to work with the MiSTEM advisory council created under section 99s to coordinate professional development of teachers in applicable fields. In addition, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute and external stakeholders are encouraged to coordinate with the department for professional development in this state. Not later than December 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall submit a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department on the number of teachers, school administrators, and school board members who have received professional development services from the Michigan Virtual University. The report shall also identify barriers and other opportunities to encourage the adoption of virtual learning in the public education system.
Michigan Virtual will continue to grow and advance its professional development services by gathering and acting on feedback from the field, from individuals currently taking professional development courses, and also from individuals who may be seeking professional development in the future. Michigan Virtual will also develop new partnerships with schools or educational groups to provide professional learning to groups while integrating professional learning communities to build engagement. The Michigan Virtual professional development platform will be continuously improved through course updates, new courses, and pilots to explore opportunities for more competency-based learning at scale.
In affiliation with the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (a state virtual school network), Michigan Virtual will also develop and maintain a personalized professional development platform that allows schools and districts to connect their teachers directly to resources aligned to the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching to support online and blended learning pedagogies. The system will provide individualized assessments for teachers and a collection of resources aligned to areas of growth for the user.
Michigan Virtual will continue to host the annual event called Collaboration of the Minds (COM). COM is an annual professional development conference that serves as an opportunity to bring the large remote teaching staff of Michigan Virtual, many of whom have full-time teaching positions in local school districts, together to learn, explore, and collaborate with each other. This is an opportunity for all instructors to meet face-to-face or virtually and provides time for like-content instructors to explore best practices and strategies for supporting students. The event introduces new learning in the virtual environment, training in best practices, and collaboration time to explore with fellow instructors. The event also includes a mentor workshop to support the needs of this unique group.
Michigan Virtual will continue to fulfill the requirement of the PD report through the publication of its annual report.
2(a)(vi) – Identify and share best practices for planning, implementing, and evaluating virtual and blended education delivery models with intermediate districts, districts, and public school academies to accelerate the adoption of innovative education delivery models statewide.
Michigan Virtual developed a series of guides related to online learning, which are made available to students, parents, teachers, mentors, school administrators, and school board members. Michigan Virtual will review and update the content of these guides as needed and make this content available to the public through the Michigan Virtual website.
With the COVID-19 related school closures in spring 2020, schools were pushed to adopt emergency remote instruction and student support. Michigan Virtual will conduct a research study that seeks to understand the learning continuity plans formulated by districts, as well as teacher, parent, and student perceptions of how these plans were executed. This research study draws on original MVLRI research as well as published research by researchers at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. These resources will be reviewed and synthesized to bring out a more comprehensive understanding of the experience of transitioning to remote learning from stakeholders.
While Michigan Virtual has published several resources that focus on serving special education students in an online environment, some of them are in need of updating. Michigan Virtual will design and execute a study that aims to update the research and best practices and present findings in a way that is easy for educators to apply to their practice. The overarching goal of this study is to produce a suite of resources on best practices for providing special education accommodations to online learners. These resources will be both foundational and practical, designed for schools serving K-12 online students with disabilities.
Michigan Virtual will also offer support to Michigan schools and districts by developing a consulting model that shares research-based best practices with school leaders and teachers. The scope of consulting services will include support for schools and districts seeking to design, implement, and/or maintain student-centered digital learning programs.
During fiscal year 2021, Michigan Virtual will publish a blog series that shares stories of how educators are implementing student-centered learning practices into their classrooms. In addition, a second blog series will be published focusing on providing guidance to school leaders on how to design, implement, and maintain digital learning programs to meet the instructional needs of their unique school communities. A third blog post series that provides summaries of recent research related to online and blended learning programs will be published to help educators stay abreast of the latest findings related to instructional strategies and program design. Finally, a fourth blog series featuring innovations in education will be published by Michigan Virtual. This series will include a wide variety of education-related topics aimed at expanding the vision of teachers and school leaders. All blog posts will be published on the Michigan Virtual website.
2(b)(i) – Develop and report policy recommendations to the governor and the legislature that accelerate the expansion of effective virtual learning in this state’s schools.
Michigan Virtual will provide feedback on current virtual learning policies and make recommendations that will accelerate the use of effective virtual learning in the state.
2(b)(ii) – Provide a clearinghouse for research reports, academic studies, evaluations, and other information related to virtual learning.
Michigan Virtual will maintain the existing clearinghouse website and add additional resources to the website throughout the fiscal year. Currently, the nationally-recognized clearinghouse acts as an aggregator of K-12 online and blended research and key publications. To date, there are over 1120 resources cataloged in the clearinghouse. On a quarterly basis, Michigan Virtual will email a clearinghouse newsletter to the MVLRI mailing list and share it via social media outlets to highlight new resources added during that time period.
2(b)(iii) – Promote and distribute the most current instructional design standards and guidelines for virtual teaching.
Michigan Virtual will maintain and update the instructional design guidelines and standards tagged in the Research Clearinghouse. Michigan Virtual will also promote the National Quality Standards for Online Teaching, National Quality Standards for Online Programs, and National Quality Standards for Online Courses which will all help to inform Michigan-based work in the area of online and blended learning.
Michigan Virtual is committed to helping Michigan educators develop their skills and abilities in designing and delivering quality digital learning experiences for students. Therefore, Michigan Virtual will also submit at least two presentation proposals to Michigan-specific education conferences to promote and share best practices related to instructional design and standards of quality. In addition, a minimum of six resources related to instructional design will be made available to all Michigan schools that are working toward developing and delivering their own digital content to students.
Michigan Virtual will offer free online professional development courses on instructional design through its Professional Learning Portal. This offering will help schools as they continue to navigate the challenges associated with the increased need for virtual or remote learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michigan Virtual instructional designers will also support Michigan teachers directly in their transition and implementation of remote learning. This will be accomplished by providing live, synchronous instructional design training sessions for teachers as well as an online “office hours” model where teachers are able to sign up for individual or group coaching from a Michigan Virtual instructional designer.
2(b)(iv) – In collaboration with the department and interested colleges and universities in this state, support implementation and improvements related to effective virtual learning instruction.
Michigan Virtual will make available a wide variety of online resources and courses to institutions that operate teacher and administrator preparation programs. These resources, which include digital content and professional learning related to early literacy, online, blended, and student-centered learning, and the use of open educational resources, will be available to colleges and universities through Michigan Virtual-hosted environments. In some cases, these resources may be made available in university-hosted environments.
Michigan Virtual values partnerships with colleges and universities for the execution of the planned research studies related to teaching and learning. During the 2021 fiscal year, researchers at Michigan Virtual will contact personnel at institutions that offer teacher and administrator preparation programs to discuss partnering on research projects related to student-centered learning and school leaders’ visions of the future of education in Michigan. Partner responsibilities may include such tasks as assistance with the development of data collection instruments, the collection of data through an online questionnaire and school interviews, data analysis, and/or report writing.
Furthermore, Michigan Virtual is interested in collaborating with colleges and universities in ways that drive innovation in education across the state. Michigan Virtual will be forming an Innovation Advisory Board with the intent of including representatives from higher education institutions that operate teacher and/or administrator preparation programs.
2(b)(v)- Pursue public/private partnerships that include districts to study and implement competency-based technology-rich virtual learning models.
Michigan Virtual’s research team will seek partnerships for specific research studies that will be conducted during the 2021 fiscal year. Lead investigators of Michigan Virtual research studies will conduct outreach to relevant public and private organizations to form research partnerships that provide guidance and/or assistance with the design and execution of studies related to competency-based, technology-rich learning.
Michigan Virtual will also maintain existing partnerships with specific educational organizations to support efforts related to professional learning micro-credentials. Through collaboration with the educational organizations, Michigan Virtual will continue to support the design, development, and delivery of micro-credentials focused on knowledge, skills, and experiences related to high-need areas.
Michigan Virtual will continue to lead conversations about digital learning throughout the state of Michigan. Maintaining memberships and affiliations with national digital learning organizations such as the Digital Learning Consortium and Aurora Institute will help gain insight into other state and national trends as they relate to key issues in digital learning, policy development, and program best practices, in general. Michigan Virtual will gather and share such information with schools and districts throughout the state as they continue to implement digital learning opportunities for their students.
Michigan schools and districts continue to discuss and consider the merits and challenges of implementing competency-based learning models, and Michigan Virtual has prioritized its own work to be able to better support schools in this process. Key personnel within Michigan Virtual will engage with schools and districts throughout the state to help facilitate conversations related to competency-based education, providing thought leadership in this effort.
As Michigan Virtual develops its innovation portfolio, it will seek participation from a variety of external stakeholders to bring diversity of thought to the process. Michigan Virtual will actively solicit participation on its Innovation Advisory Board from organizations in both the public and private sectors.
2(b)(vi) – Create a statewide network of school-based mentors serving as liaisons between pupils, virtual instructors, parents, and school staff, as provided by the department or the center, and provide mentors with research-based training and technical assistance designed to help more pupils be successful virtual learners.
Michigan Virtual will continue to provide a critical service to schools by highlighting the importance of mentors in online learner success. The Online Mentor Network, the primary hub for more than 400 active mentors across the state to connect and access resources and guidance, will continue to widen its reach and grow its list of valuable assets while also experimenting with alternative delivery models such as a mobile application.
Michigan Virtual staff will also conduct face-to-face and virtual live, synchronous events and webinars allowing mentors to go deeper in the examination of their practice and make connections with one another.
2(b)(vii) – Convene focus groups and conduct annual surveys of teachers, administrators, pupils, parents, and others to identify barriers and opportunities related to virtual learning.
Michigan Virtual will collect feedback from key users and stakeholders through surveying, focus groups, and other means. Student focus groups will center on the student experience in online learning, their motivations for taking an online course, and their preferences for online or in-person learning. The results will help Michigan Virtual refine its offerings and identify opportunities to improve online learning for students.
Surveys will be used with students and professionals to focus on the learner experience, their motivations, and opportunities for Michigan Virtual to improve its offerings and the outcomes for learners. The professional learning survey results will be filtered by the learner’s role (teacher, administrator, support staff, etc.) to help identify and understand opportunities that may be unique to each role.
Michigan Virtual will also survey mentors of online students and conduct advisory committee meetings to learn from the field, gathering information on what supports work best for students in online learning and what doesn’t work in terms of supports, content, and systems.
2(b)(viii) – Produce an annual consumer awareness report for schools and parents about effective virtual education providers and education delivery models, performance data, cost structures, and research trends.
The Consumer Awareness Report is available as an important link on Michigan’s Online Course Catalog homepage with sections devoted to background, providers, delivery models, performance data, cost structures, research trends, conclusions, and resources. Including the Consumer Awareness Report resource as part of the Micourses website provides high visibility for parents, students, and schools exploring Section 21f options. Data on areas such as the school districts that are putting courses in the catalog, the distribution of courses by ISD, PSA, LEA, and the Michigan Virtual School, and disaggregation by key variables such as who is providing the content or the instructor, are updated once in the fall and once in the spring to reflect the changes in those two enrollment windows. Other data throughout the report are also updated on an ongoing basis with a particular emphasis on the fall and spring updates.
2(b)(ix) – Provide an internet-based platform that educators can use to create student-centric learning tools and resources for sharing in the state’s open educational resource repository and facilitate a user network that assists educators in using the content creation platform and state repository for open educational resources. As part of this initiative, the Michigan Virtual University shall work collaboratively with districts and intermediate districts to establish a plan to make available virtual resources that align to Michigan’s K-12 curriculum standards for use by students, educators, and parents.
Michigan Virtual will continue to offer digital content from over 70 high-quality student courses at no cost to Michigan schools and districts. This effort is intended to help support educators and parents as a resource to support and supplement student learning throughout the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools and parents can access these resources from Michigan Virtual’s Free Learning Content website.
Michigan Virtual acts as a close partner with the Michigan Department of Education and the #GoOpen Michigan Strategy Team to make available a common Open Educational Resources system throughout the state. On the GoOpenMichigan website, educators can access open educational resources for modification and use in the classroom. In addition to providing leadership on the platform, Michigan Virtual also creates free learning objects for the platform, having contributed over 1,000 learning objects to the platform to date.
Michigan Virtual also supports educators in the creation and sharing of digital learning objects by providing courses on its Professional Learning Portal. These courses provide training to educators on how to develop their own learning objects as well as learning more about open educational resources, including how GoOpenMichigan can be leveraged for their classrooms.
2(b)(x) – Create and maintain a public statewide catalog of virtual learning courses being offered by all public schools and community colleges in this state. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall identify and develop a list of nationally recognized best practices for virtual learning and use this list to support reviews of virtual course vendors, courses, and instructional practices. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall also provide a mechanism for intermediate districts to use the identified best practices to review content offered by constituent districts. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall review the virtual course offerings of the Michigan Virtual University, and make the results from these reviews available to the public as part of the statewide catalog. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall ensure that the statewide catalog is made available to the public on the Michigan Virtual University website and shall allow the ability to link it to each district’s website as provided for in section 21f. The statewide catalog shall also contain all of the following:
(A) The number of enrollments in each virtual course in the immediately preceding school year. (B) The number of enrollments that earned 60% or more of the total course points for each virtual course in the immediately preceding school year. (C) The pass rate for each virtual course.
During the 2020 fiscal year, Michigan Virtual redeveloped portions of the statewide catalog to improve performance and user functionality. Moving forward into the 2021 fiscal year, this functionality will be maintained and improved upon as needs arise. Such functionality will include the ability for schools to use the National Standards for Quality Online Courses developed in 2019.
Michigan Virtual has developed a series of four asynchronous professional development courses housed on its Professional Learning Portal in an effort to help schools understand ways in which they could develop high-quality online courses for students. These courses, aligned to the National Standards for Quality Online Courses, are titled: Online National Standards 1: Getting Started; Online National Standards 2: Course Content & Design; Online National Standards 3: Assessment; and Online National Standards 4: Meeting Needs, and they will be made available at no cost to all Michigan schools throughout the duration of 2021 fiscal year.
Michigan Virtual will also continue its commitment to modeling and disseminating quality practices for online learning by providing free, asynchronous online professional development courses on the National Standards for Quality Online Learning. Michigan Virtual will also submit a minimum of five semester length courses and 10 course renewals to Quality Matters for independent course-quality reviews.
Lastly, Michigan Virtual will revise the documentation that is specific to Section 21f made available through the statewide catalog website. These revisions will reflect recent legislation that was passed by the Michigan legislature during the summer of 2020.
2(b)(xi) – Support registration, payment services, and transcript functionality for the statewide catalog and train key stakeholders on how to use new features.
Michigan Virtual will continue to support the registration, payment services, and transcript functionality of the catalog. This includes providing technical and customer support for users of the statewide catalog. Michigan Virtual will also continue to maintain a public facing knowledge base allowing catalog users to browse for instant help.
2(b)(xii) – Collaborate with key stakeholders to examine district level accountability and teacher effectiveness issues related to virtual learning under section 21f and make findings and recommendations publicly available.
Michigan Virtual will continue to implement the modified Danielson evaluation rubric with all instructors both full- and part-time (a minimum of 150 instructors). This effort allows Michigan Virtual to continue its effort to support district level accountability and teacher effectiveness issues.
Michigan Virtual will work with the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (state virtual schools) and Quality Matters to provide resources aligned to the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching for delivery through a self-assessment based personalized professional learning platform. This platform will be available to educators and districts interested in aligning their professional development activities towards best practices in online learning through the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching domains and indicators.
2(b)(xiii) – Provide a report on the activities of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute.
Submit required reports detailing Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute activities.
(3) To further enhance its expertise and leadership in virtual learning, the Michigan Virtual University shall continue to operate the Michigan Virtual School as a statewide laboratory and quality model of instruction by implementing virtual and blended learning solutions for Michigan schools in accordance with the following parameters:
(a) The Michigan Virtual School must maintain its accreditation status from recognized national and international accrediting entities.
Michigan Virtual is accredited through Cognia. Michigan Virtual will complete any necessary requirements from Cognia to maintain that accreditation.
(b) The Michigan Virtual University shall use no more than $1,000,000.00 of the amount allocated under this section to subsidize the cost paid by districts for virtual courses.
Michigan Virtual will pass a board-approved budget that caps appropriation spending for Michigan Virtual School to no more than $1M.
(c) In providing educators responsible for the teaching of virtual courses as provided for in this section, the Michigan Virtual School shall follow the requirements to request and assess, and the department of state police shall provide, a criminal history check and criminal records check under sections 1230 and 1230a of the revised school code, MCL 380.1230 and 380.1230a, in the same manner as if the Michigan Virtual School were a school district under those sections.
Michigan Virtual will conduct background checks through a private security firm that uses the FBI’s LiveScan fingerprinting process to comply with these requirements.
(4) From the funds allocated under subsection (1), the Michigan Virtual University shall allocate up to $500,000.00 to support the expansion of new online and blended educator professional development programs.
Michigan Virtual will work with a design thinking firm to address areas, identified by the Statewide Learning Continuity workgroup, to develop, test, and pilot professional learning products and services focused on instruction in online and blended learning environments. These quick iterations of design, test, and build will provide opportunities to increase the reach and impact of both existing, and newly identified, professional learning programs for Michigan teachers.
Michigan Virtual will work with statewide organizations to create a set of leadership micro-credentials focused on understanding and aligning the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching for principals and evaluators of teachers working in online learning settings.
(5) If the course offerings are included in the statewide catalog of virtual courses under subsection (2)(b)(x), the Michigan Virtual School operated by the Michigan Virtual University may offer virtual course offerings, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(a) Information technology courses.
(b) College level equivalent courses, as defined in section 1471 of the revised school code, MCL 380.1471.
(c) Courses and dual enrollment opportunities.
(d) Programs and services for at‐risk pupils.
(e) High school equivalency test preparation courses for adjudicated youth.
(f) Special interest courses.
(g) Professional development programs for teachers, school administrators, other school employees, and school board members.
During the 2021 fiscal year, Michigan Virtual will be designing and conducting formal market research to identify the various needs of Michigan schools and districts that are specific to digital learning. This process will include extensive outreach to Michigan school and district leaders as well several Michigan-based educational organizations. The data collected through the market research will be analyzed, and decisions will be made by Michigan Virtual leaders relative to the need to redesign its existing digital content and assessments or the need to develop new content and assessments.
This effort to determine the adjustments needed to the digital content and related assessments is expected to be a multi-year process. This year, Michigan Virtual will continue to offer online courses and digital course content in a variety of ways that support schools’ and districts’ digital learning models. These offerings will include fully online courses taught by Michigan Virtual teachers, online courses that can be taught by a school district’s local teachers, and whole-school digital content options that support schools’ hybrid learning options implemented during the 2020-21 school year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These currents offering will be evaluated and refined throughout the 2021 fiscal year to meet the changing needs of Michigan schools and districts.
(6) If a home-schooled or nonpublic school student is a resident of a district that subscribes to services provided by the Michigan Virtual School, the student may use the services provided by the Michigan Virtual School to the district without charge to the student beyond what is charged to a district pupil using the same services.
Michigan Virtual will continue to adhere to this requirement. Michigan Virtual makes available its courses to Michigan home-schooled or nonpublic students at the advertised base rate. Michigan Virtual pricing is available to view on the Michigan Virtual Pricing page.
(7) Not later than December 1 of each fiscal year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department that includes at least all of the following information related to the Michigan Virtual School for the preceding state fiscal year:
(a) A list of the districts served by the Michigan Virtual School. (b) A list of virtual course titles available to districts. (c) The total number of virtual course enrollments and information on registrations and completions by course. (d) The overall course completion rate percentage.
Submit the report detailing Michigan Virtual School activities for 2020-21 school year as part of an annual report that also includes the Michigan Virtual’s professional development report specified under 2(a)(v) and the Institute annual report required under 2(b)(xiii) no later than December 1, 2021.
(8) In addition to the information listed in subsection (7), the report under subsection (7) shall also include a plan to serve at least 600 schools with courses from the Michigan Virtual School or with content available through the internet-based platform identified in subsection (2)(b)(ix).
Michigan Virtual plans to serve over 600 schools with online courses and free content as well as free learning objects created by Michigan Virtual and made available through the state’s GoOpenMichigan website. Michigan Virtual is currently working on maintaining a minimum of 1,000 Michigan Virtual-created learning objects into the website by the end of the fiscal year. The content is also available to website visitors without a registered account.
(9) The governor may appoint an advisory group for the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute established under subsection (2). The members of the advisory group shall serve at the pleasure of the governor and shall serve without compensation. The purpose of the advisory group is to make recommendations to the governor, the legislature, and the president and board of the Michigan Virtual University that will accelerate innovation in this state’s education system in a manner that will prepare elementary and secondary students to be career and college ready and that will promote the goal of increasing the percentage of citizens of this state with high-quality degrees and credentials to at least 60% by 2025.
Since this section pertains to the actions of the Governor’s office rather than Michigan Virtual, no plan has been created by Michigan Virtual.
(10) Not later than November 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a detailed budget for that fiscal year that includes a breakdown on its projected costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the anticipated fees to be paid by districts for those services. Not later than March 1 each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a breakdown on its actual costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the actual fees paid by districts for those services based on audited financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year.
Michigan Virtual will continue to submit the required materials in accordance with the identified deadlines.
For the 2020-21 school year, Section 98 of the State School Aid Act directs MVLRI to strengthen teaching and learning for K-12 education by supporting and accelerating innovation and providing leadership in online and blended learning.
MVLRI supports and accelerates innovation by:
This report is being submitted in fulfillment of the following legislative directive:
The Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the legislature not later than November 1 of each year that includes its mission, its plans, and proposed benchmarks it must meet, including a plan to achieve the organizational priorities identified in this section, in order to receive full funding for 2020-2021.
Mission: Advance K-12 digital learning and teaching through research, practice, and partnerships.
2(a)(i) – Test, evaluate, and recommend as appropriate new technology-based instructional tools and resources.
2(a)(ii) – Research, design, and recommend virtual education delivery models for use by pupils and teachers that include age-appropriate multimedia instructional content.
2(a)(iii) – Research, develop, and recommend annually to the department criteria by which cyber schools and virtual course providers should be monitored and evaluated to ensure a quality education for their pupils.
2(a)(iv) – Based on pupil completion and performance data reported to the department or the center from cyber schools and other virtual course providers operating in this state, analyze the effectiveness of virtual learning delivery models in preparing pupils to be college- and career-ready and publish a report that highlights enrollment totals, completion rates, and the overall impact on pupils. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall submit the report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, the department, districts, and intermediate districts not later than March 31 of each year.
As with the prior year, the entire report will be posted directly as a webpage on the Michigan Virtual website in addition to providing a .pdf format for downloading. Making the report available in this format will help users find the content more easily by improving search engines’ abilities to discover the findings and make them available to users. Putting the content directly into the website also helps meet web accessibility standards and provides a mobile-friendly version. Information about the report and how to view it online will be provided to the required subcommittee personnel and other government staff identified under this section.
2(a)(v) – Provide an extensive professional development program to at least 30,000 educational personnel, including teachers, school administrators, and school board members, that focuses on the effective integration of virtual learning into curricula and instruction. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute is encouraged to work with the MiSTEM advisory council created under section 99s to coordinate professional development of teachers in applicable fields. In addition, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute and external stakeholders are encouraged to coordinate with the department for professional development in this state. Not later than December 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall submit a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department on the number of teachers, school administrators, and school board members who have received professional development services from the Michigan Virtual University. The report must also identify barriers and other opportunities to encourage the adoption of virtual learning in the public education system.
2(a)(vi) – Identify and share best practices for planning, implementing, and evaluating virtual and blended education delivery models with intermediate districts, districts, and public school academies to accelerate the adoption of innovative education delivery models statewide.
2(b)(i) – Develop and report policy recommendations to the governor and the legislature that accelerate the expansion of effective virtual learning in this state’s schools.
2(b)(ii) – Provide a clearinghouse for research reports, academic studies, evaluations, and other information related to virtual learning.
2(b)(iii) – Promote and distribute the most current instructional design standards and guidelines for virtual teaching.
2(b)(iv) – In collaboration with the department and interested colleges and universities in this state, support implementation and improvements related to effective virtual learning instruction.
2(b)(v)- Pursue public/private partnerships that include districts to study and implement competencybased technology-rich virtual learning models.
2(b)(vi) – Create a statewide network of school-based mentors serving as liaisons between pupils, virtual instructors, parents, and school staff, as provided by the department or the center, and provide mentors with research-based training and technical assistance designed to help more pupils be successful virtual learners.
2(b)(vii) – Convene focus groups and conduct annual surveys of teachers, administrators, pupils, parents, and others to identify barriers and opportunities related to virtual learning.
2(b)(viii) – Produce an annual consumer awareness report for schools and parents about effective virtual education providers and education delivery models, performance data, cost structures, and research trends.
2(b)(ix) – Provide an internet-based platform that educators can use to create student-centric learning tools and resources for sharing in the state’s open educational resource repository and facilitate a user network that assists educators in using the content creation platform and state repository for open educational resources. As part of this initiative, the Michigan Virtual University shall work collaboratively with districts and intermediate districts to establish a plan to make available virtual resources that align to Michigan’s K-12 curriculum standards for use by students, educators, and parents.
2(b)(x) – Create and maintain a public statewide catalog of virtual learning courses being offered by all public schools and community colleges in this state. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall identify and develop a list of nationally recognized best practices for virtual learning and use this list to support reviews of virtual course vendors, courses, and instructional practices. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall also provide a mechanism for intermediate districts to use the identified best practices to review content offered by constituent districts. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall review the virtual course offerings of the Michigan Virtual University, and make the results from these reviews available to the public as part of the statewide catalog. The Michigan Virtual
Learning Research Institute shall ensure that the statewide catalog is made available to the public on the Michigan Virtual University website and shall allow the ability to link it to each district’s website as provided for in section 21f. The statewide catalog shall also contain all of the following:
2(b)(xi) – Support registration, payment services, and transcript functionality for the statewide catalog and train key stakeholders on how to use new features.
2(b)(xii) – Collaborate with key stakeholders to examine district level accountability and teacher effectiveness issues related to virtual learning under section 21f and make findings and recommendations publicly available.
Organizational Priority
2(b)(xiii) – Provide a report on the activities of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute.
(3) To further enhance its expertise and leadership in virtual learning, the Michigan Virtual University shall continue to operate the Michigan Virtual School as a statewide laboratory and quality model of instruction by implementing virtual and blended learning solutions for Michigan schools in accordance with the following parameters:
(a) The Michigan Virtual School must maintain its accreditation status from recognized national and international accrediting entities.
Michael Nauss at the MASA Mid-Winter Conference in January 2020 to discuss Cognia’s (formerly known as AdvancEd) plan to publicize the online learning standards expected for the upcoming Spring 2021 accreditation visit. Mr. Nauss indicated that he would notify Michigan Virtual personnel when the standards will be made available.
(b) The Michigan Virtual University shall use no more than $1,000,000.00 of the amount allocated under this section to subsidize the cost paid by districts for virtual courses.
(c) In providing educators responsible for the teaching of virtual courses as provided for in this section, the Michigan Virtual School shall follow the requirements to request and assess, and the department of state police shall provide, a criminal history check and criminal records check under sections 1230 and 1230a of the revised school code, MCL 380.1230 and 380.1230a, in the same manner as if the Michigan Virtual School were a school district under those sections.
(4) From the funds allocated under subsection (1), the Michigan Virtual University shall allocate up to $500,000.00 to support the expansion of new online and blended educator professional development programs.
(5) If the course offerings are included in the statewide catalog of virtual courses under subsection (2)(b)(x), the Michigan Virtual School operated by the Michigan Virtual University may offer virtual course offerings, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
| MTA Requirement | Course Offerings | Possible Credits |
|---|---|---|
English Composition, plus a second semester of English Composition or Communications | ENG 101 + ENG 102 | 6 |
| Two Social Science courses in two disciplines | Two of the following: GEO 233, HIS 150, PS 101, (PSY 180 or PSY 220 or PSY 230 or PSY 260), SOC 101 | 6- 8 |
| Two Humanities and Fine Arts courses in two disciplines | ART 120 and either HIS 101 or HIS 102 | 7 |
| Two Natural Science courses, one with Lab | Two of the following: BIO 101, BIO 110, GEO 101 | 7-8 |
| One Mathematics course | MTH 104 or MTH 113 or MTH 120 | 4 |
| Minimum of 30 Total Credits | Nine Total Courses | 30-32 |
(6) If a home-schooled or nonpublic school student is a resident of a district that subscribes to services provided by the Michigan Virtual School, the student may use the services provided by the Michigan Virtual School to the district without charge to the student beyond what is charged to a district pupil using the same services.
(7) Not later than December 1 of each fiscal year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department that includes at least all of the following information related to the Michigan Virtual School for the preceding state fiscal year:
(8) In addition to the information listed in subsection (7), the report under subsection (7) shall also include a plan to serve at least 600 schools with courses from the Michigan Virtual School or with content available through the internet-based platform identified in subsection (2)(b)(ix).
(9) The governor may appoint an advisory group for the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute established under subsection (2). The members of the advisory group shall serve at the pleasure of the governor and without compensation. The purpose of the advisory group is to make recommendations to the governor, the legislature, and the president and board of the Michigan Virtual University that will accelerate innovation in this state’s education system in a manner that will prepare elementary and secondary students to be career and college ready and that will promote the goal of increasing the percentage of citizens of this state with high-quality degrees and credentials to at least 60% by 2025.
(10) Not later than November 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a detailed budget for that fiscal year that includes a breakdown on its projected costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the anticipated fees to be paid by districts for those services. Not later than March 1 each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a breakdown on its actual costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the actual fees paid by districts for those services based on audited financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year.
Section 98 of the State School Aid Act directs Michigan Virtual through its research institute, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute (MVLRI), to address a variety of tasks to strengthen teaching and learning for K-12 education. Michigan Virtual’s mission is to advance K-12 digital learning and teaching through research, practice, and partnerships. This document provides an update on the plans and benchmarks sent to the legislature in November 2018. For simplicity, updates are included after each legislative directive.
(1) The Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the legislature not later than November 1 of each year that includes its mission, its plans, and proposed benchmarks it must meet, which shall include a plan to achieve the organizational priorities identified in this section, in order to receive full funding for 2019-2020. Not later than March 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide an update to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on school aid to show the progress being made to meet the benchmarks identified.
The original plans and benchmarks document was provided to the legislature in November. This document serves as the March 1 update and completes this legislative directive.
2(a)(i) – Test, evaluate, and recommend as appropriate new technology-based instructional tools and resources.
This fall, Michigan Virtual created an easy-to-use template for educators to work through as they share their stories about using technology in the classroom to serve the needs of students. Throughout the year, we plan to use this process to produce a dozen blog posts that showcase how actual teachers are using various tools in their classrooms and their recommendations on what they are finding useful. Three blog posts have been completed and published to the Michigan Virtual website. The three blogs focus on teacher perspectives around developing a choice-based classroom to promote student agency, using video-making software to teach challenging course material to asynchronous students, and using online calendars to schedule face-to-face time to practice a new language.
In November, Michigan Virtual published a new podcast episode on student engagement, and a second podcast, Student Agency and Google Classroom, was published in February. The Michigan Virtual professional learning podcast has since been rebranded as the Digital Backpack podcast and moved to a different hosting site; guests and topics are being solidified for the remaining upcoming podcast episodes to be produced this year. Once the podcasts are published, a new SCECH-bearing course will be developed for the Professional Learning Portal.
2(a)(ii) – Research, design, and recommend virtual education delivery models for use by pupils and teachers that include age-appropriate multimedia instructional content.
Michigan Virtual continues to explore a wide array of tracking variables gathered in LMS repositories. High school-level mathematics courses in 2016-17 academic year were selected for the study focus and gradebook data were processed to create student trajectory data within a semester window. To identify meaningful subgroups of learners based on their learning behaviors, a growth mixture modeling is being used. The analysis will be completed by May and a report will be published this summer.
As an extension of work done in the 2017-18 year, Michigan Virtual is collaborating with Dr. Kerry Rice and Dr. Andy Hung of Boise State University to refine models to identify early warning indicators of student success or failure in their online courses, an expanded data set was shared with the researchers in November 2018. For 2018-19, this research was expanded to include course enrollments from prior school years. The expanded model will then be tested on data from another school year. Following completion of this multi-year project, Michigan Virtual will post a webinar to the MVLRI website this fall.
In exploring methods to monitor progress on professional learning, Michigan Virtual staff collected network and text data from discussion forums housed in two virtual professional communities and analyzed data using Social Network Analysis, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, and word-cloud. A research paper will be presented at conferences in March and April. A publication focused on practical implications is expected to be published this spring.
Michigan Virtual launched two pilots of the NuTeacher app: one with the Lansing School District’s New Teacher Network Initiative, and another with Michigan Virtual’s student learning instructional staff. Through the pilots, content was developed to facilitate two different leadership book studies. Feedback from pilot users has been incorporated into numerous continuous updates to the application, and more formal feedback is being collected from the groups to help refine and improve user experience. A pilot is being developed with the Brighton School District shared services program for teacher professional development of their 300 shared services teachers throughout the state.
Schools that elect to purchase Evolution Labs products from Michigan Virtual are asked to complete a short adoption survey approximately 8 weeks after they begin using the product or products that they purchase. The brief survey asks them which products they use, their satisfaction level with each product that they use, and what could be done to improve their satisfaction. They are also asked to describe their strategies for implementing the products and to provide a Net Promoter Score (NPS). Thus far we have provided the survey to four schools. Results have been mixed and our sales team is following up with schools to find out more about each implementation.
Staff completed preliminary research on effective communication practices among students and instructors. Data from student end of course surveys (Fall semester 2017-18) were examined using a variety of statistical tests, including factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, its post-hoc test, and effect size estimation. Dependent variables included final grades, course engagement indicators (course access count and duration), student perceived course quality, and student course satisfaction. As independent variables, the study used grouping variables by which students were categorized based on their report on communication practices (e.g., Yes vs. No to welcome messages by the instructor) and preference of communication tools (e.g., least vs. most preferred “Messaging Tools”). With some significant findings from the preliminary study, data collection for the final research with “Messaging Tools” embedded into Blackboard has started. A report detailing the findings from both studies will be published this summer.
2(a)(iii) – Research, develop, and recommend annually to the department criteria by which cyber schools and virtual course providers should be monitored and evaluated to ensure a quality education for their pupils.
Michigan Virtual staff, along with staff from MDE, have actively participated in the revision of the National Standards for Online Programs, Online Teaching, and Online Course Standards led by the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance and Quality Matters. The standards for programs and for teaching are scheduled to be published in February. The course standards work has begun and is tentatively scheduled for release in fall 2019. Upon their release, Michigan Virtual will promote the updated standards on its website, in presentations and newsletters, and in meetings with the many partnerships it maintains within and beyond Michigan.
Michigan Virtual has also worked closely with MDE to coordinate and clarify communications to the field about online learning. An example of this has been collaboration about the messaging and raising awareness of the Early Literacy Essential Practices online modules. Michigan Virtual and MDE will also be meeting soon to discuss the findings of the latest Effectiveness Report and strategize about mechanisms to improve student performance.
Another spring meeting with MDE will be to share information with the department about Michigan Virtual’s program reviews. Michigan Virtual offers supplemental online program reviews to Michigan school districts for the purpose of reviewing their programs in the areas of: content procurement and monitoring practices, instructor training and communication, mentor training and student support techniques, student selection processes, parent communication and support, and overall program evaluation. Reviews collect survey and interview data from online programs and culminate in reports that include written feedback on the strengths and opportunities for further development in each of the focus areas as well as more than 60 resources schools may utilize to increase program effectiveness. A rubric is included as a resource for school leaders to reflect on the structure and implementation of online courses in their schools. Michigan Virtual invites schools to participate through Michigan’s education organizations’ newsletters, at presentations, on its website and through individual invitations to participate.
2(a)(iv) – Based on pupil completion and performance data reported to the department or the center for educational performance and information from cyber schools and other virtual course providers operating in this state, analyze the effectiveness of virtual learning delivery models in preparing pupils to be college- and career-ready and publish a report that highlights enrollment totals, completion rates, and the overall impact on pupils. The report shall be submitted to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, the department, districts, and intermediate districts not later than March 31 of each year.
Work is currently underway for the 2017-18 Effectiveness Report. A presentation will be given to MDE and CEPI in March to gather feedback and receive their permission to release the report. The report will be made publically available through the MVLRI website in March. We have recently updated the 2016-17 Effectiveness Report webpage to contain all of the information for the report directly inside the webpage rather than in a .pdf format. This change will help users find the content more easily by improving search engines’ abilities to review the findings. Putting the content directly into the website also helps meet web accessibility standards as well as providing a mobile-friendly version. We expect to use this new format for the upcoming report. Information about the report and how to view it online will be provided to the required subcommittee personnel and other government staff identified under this section.
A summary infographic and cover letter will be mailed to superintendents and high school and middle school principals in April providing easy-to-consume key findings and communicating how to access the full report. A free webinar in April will be recorded and posted on the website for on-demand viewing.
2(a)(v) – Provide an extensive professional development program to at least 30,000 educational personnel, including teachers, school administrators, and school board members, that focuses the effective integration of virtual learning into curricula and instruction. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute is encouraged to work with the MiSTEM advisory council created under section 99s to coordinate professional development of teachers in applicable fields. In addition, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute and external stakeholders are encouraged to coordinate with the department for professional development in this state. Not later than December 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall submit a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department on the number of teachers, school administrators, and school board members who have received professional development services from the Michigan Virtual University. The report shall also identify barriers and other opportunities to encourage the adoption of virtual learning in the public education system.
In the first five months of the fiscal year, Michigan Virtual has had over 19,000 online professional learning enrollments in its Professional Learning Portal. We are on pace to surpass the 30,000 enrollment target.
Michigan Virtual continues to host and support the website to support the dissemination of the Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy. Each of the Literacy Essentials courses, spanning pre-K, K-3, and schoolwide, are currently live on the Professional Learning Portal. As of mid-February, there have been 9,354 enrollments in the Early Literacy courses since October 1, 2018.
Michigan Virtual has also been active training teachers in our Collaborative model. Currently, Michigan Virtual has developed a Collaborative Partnership model with four different unique school districts / Intermediate School Districts throughout the state. Thirty-three teachers have been trained and coached over the duration of the agreements. We have provided a total of 11 face-to-face professional development opportunities between all partnerships; developed, provided, and facilitated online onboarding courses for all teachers; and provided individual coaches for each teacher to act as a means of direct support and mentorship. We’ve also offered bi-monthly professional development webinars directly aligned with national standards for quality online teaching, with topics including, but not limited to: academic integrity, online accessibility and student accommodations, differentiation, automated communication, effective feedback, quality announcements, formative assessment, student engagement, and learning management system efficiencies as well.
Michigan Virtual’s annual Collaboration of the Minds professional learning conference is scheduled for July 31-August 1, 2019, and its theme will be personalization. This event brings together all Michigan Virtual instructors for two full days of training, team building, learning and collaboration. This year, the Professional Learning Services team will join us in opening the second day of the event up to all teachers across the state. In addition, we will host mentors for their own version of Collaboration of the Minds. This effort is designed to help foster the spirit of collaboration, learning together and developing a greater understanding of personalization to support students across the State.
The 2017-18 professional development report was published as part of Michigan Virtual’s Annual Report, and the 2018-19 report is on track to be submitted no later than December 1, 2019.
2(a)(vi) – Identify and share best practices for planning, implementing, and evaluating virtual and blended education delivery models with intermediate districts, districts, and public school academies to accelerate the adoption of innovative education delivery models statewide.
Michigan Virtual’s Guides to Online Learning provide key definitions, research findings and practical strategies for what kind of preparations and support systems are necessary to ensure students succeed in their online courses. They are free and downloadable on our website. Most recent is the Administrator Guide to Online Learning which was supported and promoted by MASA, MASSP, MEMSPA, and MAISA. The guides are used by other states and countries and can be customized. Michigan’s education organizations promote the guides to their memberships and provide presentation opportunities for Michigan Virtual staff at their member functions. The guides are reviewed annually and updates are published as research is expanded and new tools and resources are produced in the field. Alternative formats are being explored, such as a mobile application, for the purpose of expanding use of the best practices published in the guides.
The National Standards for Quality Online Learning programs and teaching were released on March 1, 2019. The National Standards for Quality Online Learning Course Standards review began in February 2019 and are expected to be released in the fall of 2019. Michigan Virtual has been heavily involved in the creation of each of these standards, including having members on the leadership and working groups. Michigan Virtual promotes the standards on its website, in presentations and newsletters and in meetings with the many partnerships it maintains within and beyond Michigan.
Offers to conduct Supplemental Online Program Reviews for Michigan schools free-of-charge are published on our website, in our newsletters and via publication announcements distributed monthly. Several of Michigan’s education organizations communicate to their memberships about the opportunity. The Michigan Department of Education also recommends the reviews to schools. Invitations to 194 individual schools in Michigan were sent in January 2019. All Michigan schools were sent a letter in fall 2018 enclosing Michigan’s K-12 Virtual Learning Effectiveness Report 2016-17 and included information about the Supplemental Online Program Reviews.
Michigan Virtual will be delivering seven presentations at the annual MACUL (Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning) conference in March. The MACUL conference has approximately 5,000 attendees and is the state’s premier educational technology professional learning conference. Session titles include: 10 Innovative Tech Tools You Can Bring into Your Classroom Tomorrow, Expectations vs. Reality of Online Teaching, High School Online Learners Share Their Stories, You Get Three Wishes from the PD Genie: What Are They?, Unlocking Personalized Learning for Students, Social-Emotional Learning Enters the Digital World, and How the G Suite for Education Can Help You Personalize Your Classroom. A lab session entitled It’s Time to Get Smart: Bringing PD to Your Smartphone will also be presented.
Michigan Virtual delivered presentations to 6 different groups in Michigan covering a range of topics. For example, Erin Luckhardt presented “Tech Tools: Find the Right Fit for your Classroom” at the Michigan Association of Non-public Schools (MANS) Education Conference. Ken Dirkin presented “The MASA Micro-Credential: Crafting Your District’s Communications Plan” at the MASA Midwinter Conference. Presentations were also provided at MASB and MEMSPA annual conferences. Online and blended learning presentations were given at Alpena Schools and Cabrini High School.
Our Blended Learning Live! two-day program supports school-based or district-wide teams as they develop an implementation plan for virtual and personalized learning models at the systems-level. An event is scheduled for April 9-10 at Kent ISD. A face-to-face training on personalized learning is being planned for the summer at an ISD.
2(b)(i) – Develop and report policy recommendations to the governor and the legislature that accelerate the expansion of effective virtual learning in this state’s schools.
Our virtual learning recommendations were enclosed with this report. They included three areas of opportunity. The first was to coordinate with the Department to create a one-hour or less training for mentor teachers and look for ways to encourage and promote the training. The second was to assist MDE in creating examples on how to collect parental consent in line with requirements of Section 21f of the State School Aid Act. The final recommendation was to explore with the Department and CEPI the possibility of modifying an existing virtual learning field that schools are required to report to the State. The focus would be on making the item easier to report accurate data on, reduce the number of potential responses from four to three, and increase the usefulness of the data received.
2(b)(ii) – Provide a clearinghouse for research reports, academic studies, evaluations, and other information related to virtual learning.
Because the Clearinghouse is always archiving new research-based resources, MVLRI creates and sends out a quarterly newsletter that highlights five new resources and documents progress toward the 100 newly-added resources. The Institute sent out its quarterly newsletter December 2018 which highlights select resources. Each newsletter is sent out with links to sign up for information on how to stay up to date with our latest publications, guides, blogs and research for online and blended learning. As of February 22nd, the Clearinghouse contains information on 968 items.
2(b)(iii) – Promote and distribute the most current instructional design standards and guidelines for virtual teaching.
Research on instructional design guidelines and standards is key to the meaningful design of online and blended learning environments for K-12 students. Because of this, Michigan Virtual adds relevant articles and reports in the Clearinghouse and continues to tag with keywords including “instructional design” and “standards” to highlight continued work being done in the field regarding these two topics. To date, there are 60 resources tagged with these keywords.
Michigan Virtual has also been active in the National Standards for Quality Online Learning updates. One aspect of our participation has been to help conduct the literature review of existing research pertaining to the design of quality online courses. This literature review has helped to inform the standards with research-based principles.
Another effort, to create an online course on instructional design, is in the planning and early design stages. Two instructional designers have been assigned to the project, and they are working on the initial design of the course including writing the course objectives and outline. It is anticipated that the design phase of the project will be completed by March 30, with development taking place in April and May and deployment of the course in the PLP by June 30, 2019.
2(b)(iv) – In collaboration with the department and interested colleges and universities in this state, support implementation and improvements related to effective virtual learning instruction.
In spring 2019, Michigan Virtual is planning to send a communication to the deans at each of the teacher preparation programs at Michigan public universities on how they can use Michigan Virtual professional learning content and courses in their college courses to help teachers learn how to teach in online and blended environments. Opportunities to collaborate on Literacy Essentials, online and blended learning, leadership micro-credential courses and classroom practices, and courses focusing on the use of open educational resources developed in partnership with Michigan Department of Education and the #GoOpen initiative will be available. Michigan Virtual will also offer to coordinate access to the content as well as provide technical support materials for self-hosting by the college or university.
Michigan Virtual is also working on teacher effectiveness challenges that impact online instructors, particularly those working with Michigan Virtual related to the current reporting system for teacher effectiveness. Currently, local schools are required to identify the Michigan Virtual teacher as the teacher of record for their local ‘count day’ reporting. Due to this requirement, Michigan Virtual teachers appear to have taught at dozens upon dozens of schools across the State in a single year. In addition, each of those local schools is required to provide an effectiveness rating for the teacher. While Michigan Virtual currently conducts annual evaluations of its teachers and reports them to the local school, there is nothing currently preventing a school from assigning its own rating.
An additional challenge is in the multiple ratings that a teacher can receive in one year when they work for a local school and Michigan Virtual (or other similar service provider). A local school may rate a teacher lower than Michigan Virtual leading to potential issues when removing the teacher due to effectiveness. Likewise, Michigan Virtual may rate a teacher lower than the local school leading to a group of alternative problems. Neither of these scenarios is ideal for the State or the teacher. The possible identification of a ‘virtual’ rating and a ‘traditional’ rating may be a resolution.
2(b)(v) – Pursue public/private partnerships that include districts to study and implement competency-based technology-rich virtual learning models.
Michigan Virtual partnered with the development firm Wondercert to create and invest in a micro-credential platform that will meet the needs of Michigan stakeholders through management of learners, issuers, and reviewers. A design sprint to identify user personae and desired feature sets took place during the week of January 21, 2019. Development of the platform is currently in early stages; once the platform has been launched, Michigan Virtual will initiate a promotional effort to encourage issuers and earners to explore and use the platform. Platform requirements will be delivered to Michigan Virtual late 2nd quarter, and prototype developed by September 30, 2019.
In the fall of 2018, Michigan Virtual met with key stakeholders including representatives from Michigan Data Hubs to discover and learn what connections currently exist and validate the concept and approach to developing a connection between our systems and theirs using the Ed-Fi standards. We are currently reviewing agreements with Ed-Fi to begin development work this spring.
2(b)(vi) – Create a statewide network of school-based mentors serving as liaisons between pupils, virtual instructors, parents, and school staff, as provided by the department or the center, and provide mentors with research-based training and technical assistance designed to help more pupils be successful virtual learners.
In February, Michigan Virtual mailed postcards to over 2,000 Michigan mentors that shared five ways mentors could take their mentoring skills to the next level. One of the five ways is to join our online community of mentors which has over 250 members.
Michigan Virtual staff are currently scheduling face-to-face trainings for mentors for spring and fall of 2019, including introductory-level trainings to be hosted at ISDs, as well as “Site Institute” trainings to be hosted at schools to showcase their online learning programs and share and gain insights with attendees. Attendees at previous trainings overwhelmingly requested trainings be available at the beginning of the academic year.
Updates to online training materials included review and updates to the Online Mentor Community ensuring reports and other assets reflect the most recent information available. The Online Mentor Training course and resources have also been reviewed and modified to include up-to-date information.
Michigan Virtual, through its Outreach Coordinator – Mentors and Outreach Coordinator – Special Populations, provides training, resources, and consultations to mentors throughout the school year specifically focused on increasing student achievement in online learning.
2(b)(vii) – Convene focus groups and conduct annual surveys of teachers, administrators, pupils, parents, and others to identify barriers and opportunities related to virtual learning.
Michigan Virtual is currently working with Public Sector Consultants to collect data from 600 adults and 400 college students to publish its annual findings on the attitudes and awareness of online learning. The survey instruments were finalized, and data collection occurred in mid-February. Data are currently being analyzed, and it is expected that the publication will be posted on the MVLRI website in early March.
Efforts are also underway to collect end of course data for students. A survey tool was updated by a committee this year to ensure the feedback collected could be applied to course development, instructor practices and overall customer care. As of the end of semester one, we have over 360 student responses. Over 50% of respondents have only taken one online course. When asked about their experience, 86% shared they were highly satisfied. The majority of students prefer communication in the form of email and 99% of students reported their instructor was respectful and caring. We anticipate more responses at the end of the year and will be further promoting the survey to encourage greater participation.
Michigan Virtual staff have completed two student focus groups, one at Northville High School and the other at Chelsea High School. Two more focus group sessions are planned in the spring.
Michigan Virtual also distributes an end-of-course survey to its adult learners each time they successfully complete a course enrollment through the Professional Learning Portal. Survey question topics include learner satisfaction with the course, likelihood of recommending the PLP to a colleague, and general qualitative feedback collected through open text entry. For the current fiscal year, we have received over 1,700 responses to the survey; 92.49% of responses indicate a satisfying experience. Each response is associated with a specific course within the portal, and course feedback is reviewed by the Professional Learning Services and Instructional Product Development teams on a weekly basis to inform improvements and enhancements to the course catalog.
Michigan Virtual has also updated an instrument last used in 2012 to collect information from the Michigan Association for Secondary School Principals. The survey, which we plan to disseminate in coordination with one or more educational organizations, collects feedback from schools on their satisfaction with online course vendors, their criteria for selecting among online providers, and their anticipated needs and use of online learning in the near future. It is expected that the survey will go out to respondents in the next couple of months and be published in the summer or early fall.
2(b)(viii) – Produce an annual consumer awareness report for schools and parents about effective virtual education providers and education delivery models, performance data, cost structures, and research trends.
Michigan Virtual continues to host and update the Consumer Awareness Report twice annually. The fall update is complete, and the spring update is forthcoming. In addition to updating the report with the spring data, the spring report will also include data from the upcoming Effectiveness Report for the 2017-18 school year. The purpose of this resource is to make consumers aware of the status of online learning in Michigan. It is specifically designed to inform parents, school personnel, and school board members of the nature of online learning options, their effectiveness for Michigan students, the cost of these programs, and current trends.
2(b)(ix) – Provide an internet-based platform that educators can use to create student-centric learning tools and resources for sharing in the state’s open educational resource repository and facilitate a user network that assists educators in using the content creation platform and state repository for open educational resources. As part of this initiative, the Michigan Virtual University shall work collaboratively with districts and intermediate districts to establish a plan to make available virtual resources that align to Michigan’s K-12 curriculum standards for use by students, educators, and parents.
Michigan Virtual has been supporting the #GoOpen Michigan initiative through work in the areas of vetting content and professional development. Utilizing resources provided by the #GoOpen Michigan professional development group, Michigan Virtual has built an online course that provides educators with State Continuing Education Clock Hours. This course is accessible through a resource toolkit created by the REMC Association of Michigan for use by educators around the state.
In addition to staff members serving on the strategy and subcommittee teams, Michigan Virtual has been uploading content to the platform. Since October 1, 2019, Michigan Virtual has added 254 learning objects in the math, science, computer science, English, and world language subject areas to the #GoOpen Michigan platform. The learning objects target both elementary and secondary learners. At present, Michigan Virtual has over 600 learning objects on the platform. Another set of 250 learning objects are planned for transferring to the #GoOpen Michigan platform by March 31, 2019.
Along with sharing the open educational learning objects on #GoOpen Michigan, Michigan Virtual recently launched a free course focused specifically on open educational resources and the #GoOpen Michigan initiative. To date, over 200 people have enrolled in the course.
2(b)(x) – Create and maintain a public statewide catalog of virtual learning courses being offered by all public schools and community colleges in this state. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall identify and develop a list of nationally recognized best practices for virtual learning and use this list to support reviews of virtual course vendors, courses, and instructional practices. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall also provide a mechanism for intermediate districts to use the identified best practices to review content offered by constituent districts. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall review the virtual course offerings of the Michigan Virtual University, and make the results from these reviews available to the public as part of the statewide catalog. The Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute shall ensure that the statewide catalog is made available to the public on the Michigan Virtual University website and shall allow the ability to link it to each district’s website as provided for in section 21f. The statewide catalog shall also contain all of the following:
(a) The number of enrollments in each virtual course in the immediately preceding school year.
(b) The number of enrollments that earned 60% or more of the total course points for each virtual course in the immediately preceding school year.
(c) The pass rate for each virtual course.
The statewide catalog website allows the district catalog manager to manually create or update the course review results or to create performance data for a school year in individual courses through the interface. Michigan Virtual collects performance data in bulk from participating districts and uploads that data into the statewide catalog database each summer.
A transition plan to incorporate the National Standards for Online Courses into the statewide catalog has been created. After the standards are published in 2019, the new standards will be added to the catalog so that schools can choose to use them. Dependencies exist between the currently published standards and the updated standards which will result in both versions existing in the statewide catalog for an undetermined period of time.
As of March 1, 2019, three Michigan Virtual courses have been reviewed and approved by Quality Matters. One additional course is currently in the QM review process. The remaining six courses are on schedule for review and approval by September 30, 2019.
2(b)(xi) – Support registration, payment services, and transcript functionality for the statewide catalog and train key stakeholders on how to use new features.
Michigan Virtual provides personalized support to users of the statewide course catalog. User support includes creating new district catalog administrators and new vendors, uploading completion data, providing database support for reporting and for managing course offerings. Training is provided as requested and a webinar recording is accessible as a training resource. More than 50 knowledge base articles are maintained which include step-by-step instructions for districts on how to allow and accept enrollments through the statewide catalog, how to manage payment options, and how to communicate student performance through the system.
2(b)(xii) – Collaborate with key stakeholders to examine district level accountability and teacher effectiveness issues related to virtual learning under section 21f and make findings and recommendations publicly available.
Administrators at Michigan Virtual developed and piloted a modified Danielson evaluation rubric in the 2017-18 school year evaluation cycle with a small group of full-time instructors. Based on the results of the pilot and feedback from instructors and administrators, the evaluation rubric was further honed to better represent best practices in online teaching. The 2018-19 evaluation cycle will see the rollout of the Danielson rubric to all Michigan Virtual instructors, both full-time and part-time, with the goal of continuous improvement in online teaching practices.
The part-time instructors have been uploaded into the Frontline System which we will be using to deliver the evaluation. We have shared with them a copy of the modified Danielson Rubric on at least two occasions so they are aware of the criteria. Instructors have created their accounts and we will begin conducting the formal evaluation process in late March/early April.
The evaluation effort has not solely focused on Michigan Virtual teachers. Through the Collaborative partnerships that Michigan Virtual has established, we have provided support services and resources to Gull Lake Schools, St. Clair County and Lakeshore Schools. These resources are provided in an effort to help support the local evaluation of teachers working in an online format for the local school or system of schools. Our goal is to establish additional Collaborative partners in this format and provide similar resources by the fall of 2019. Michigan Virtual staff have also presented on its teacher evaluation system during a webinar and conference session.
Michigan Virtual staff continue to work closely with MDE and CEPI around online learning quality assurance measures. A meeting next month will occur to share findings of the latest Effectiveness Report and discuss what steps can be taken to improve student learning outcomes.
2(b)(xiii) – Provide a report on the activities of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute.
The 2017-18 report on the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute was sent to the legislature in December 2018 and is also posted on the Michigan Virtual website as part of Michigan Virtual’s Annual Report. The 2018-19 report will be provided to the legislature in December 2019.
(3) To further enhance its expertise and leadership in virtual learning, the Michigan Virtual University shall continue to operate the Michigan Virtual School as a statewide laboratory and quality model of instruction by implementing virtual and blended learning solutions for Michigan schools in accordance with the following parameters:
(a) The Michigan Virtual School must maintain its accreditation status from recognized national and international accrediting entities.
Michigan Virtual has maintained its accreditation from AdvancED. Language is prominent on the student page of Michigan Virtual website that informs visitors about the statewide laboratory and quality model of instruction and the AdvancED accreditation. In addition, we also share about using an independent third-party, Quality Matters, to conduct quality reviews of many of our courses. These quality control measures are part of what makes Michigan Virtual courses different than many other providers.
(b) The Michigan Virtual University shall use no more than $1,000,000.00 of the amount allocated under this section to subsidize the cost paid by districts for virtual courses.
On October 5, 2018, the Michigan Virtual Board of Directors approved a budget for FY19 that allocated no more than $1M to subsidize the virtual school. Similarly, based on audited figures from the prior fiscal year, an independent third-party auditing firm concluded that Michigan Virtual adhered to this requirement for the 2017-18 school year.
(c) In providing educators responsible for the teaching of virtual courses as provided for in this section, the Michigan Virtual School shall follow the requirements to request and assess, and the department of state police shall provide, a criminal history check and criminal records check under sections 1230 and 1230a of the revised school code, MCL 380.1230 and 380.1230a, in the same manner as if the Michigan Virtual School were a school district under those sections.
Michigan Virtual is approved by the Michigan State Police (MSP) as a qualified entity to use the MSP Criminal History Record Internet Subscription Service (CHRISS) for fingerprinting for employment, assignment, or volunteer placement as authorized by the National Child Protection Act. Michigan Virtual is working with its teachers and staff to complete background checks and MSP fingerprint checks through this process.
(4) From the funds allocated under subsection (1), the Michigan Virtual University shall allocate up to $500,000.00 to support the expansion of new online and blended educator professional development programs.
Michigan Virtual partnered with the development firm Wondercert to create and invest in a Micro-credential platform that manages learners, issuers, and reviewers. A design sprint to identify user personae and desired feature sets took place during the week of January 21, 2019. Development of the platform is currently in early stages; once the platform has been launched, Michigan Virtual will initiate a promotional effort to encourage issuers and earners to explore and use the platform. Platform requirements will be delivered to Michigan Virtual late 2nd quarter, and prototype developed by late 3rd quarter 2019. Promotion of the platform will coincide with its official launch.
Even though the new Micro-credential platform is not developed, Michigan Virtual has been active in developing Micro-credentialed courses. Michigan Virtual has engaged with partners including the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association, the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators, and the Michigan Assessment Consortium to build and host micro-credentialed learning experiences, including courses on leadership and literacy, school mission and vision, district communication plans, and conducting comprehensive needs assessments. To date, seven micro-credentialed courses have been launched in the PLP, with nearly 35 more courses at various stages of development.
Michigan Virtual also launched two pilots of the NuTeacher app: one with the Lansing School District’s New Teacher Network Initiative, and another with Michigan Virtual’s student learning instructional staff. Through the pilots, content was developed to facilitate two different leadership book studies. Feedback from pilot users has been incorporated into numerous continuous updates to the application, and more formal feedback is being collected from the groups to help refine and improve user experience. A pilot is being developed with the Brighton School District shared services program for teacher professional development of their 300 shared services teachers throughout the state.
In the fall of 2018, Michigan Virtual met with key stakeholders including representatives from Michigan Data Hubs to discover and learn what connections currently exist and validate the concept and approach to developing a connection between our systems and theirs using the Ed-Fi standards. We are currently reviewing agreements with Ed-Fi to begin development work this spring.
(5) If the course offerings are included in the statewide catalog of virtual courses under subsection (2)(b)(x), the Michigan Virtual School operated by the Michigan Virtual University may offer virtual course offerings, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(a) Information technology courses.
(b) College level equivalent courses, as defined in section 1471 of the revised school code, MCL 380.1471.
(c) Courses and dual enrollment opportunities.
(d) Programs and services for at‑risk pupils.
(e) High school equivalency test preparation courses for adjudicated youth.
(f) Special interest courses.
(g) Professional development programs for teachers, school administrators, other school employees, and school board members.
Michigan Virtual is interested in adding multiple computer programming course to our catalog. Five computer programming courses from three different course providers have been evaluated. Three courses were recommended for acquisition: Intro to Java Programming, JavaScript Game Design and Procedural Programming. Michigan Virtual also engaged in discussions with the Pinckney Cybersecurity Training Institute (PCTI), a provider of CISCO coursework related to computer networking, cybersecurity, and the Linux operating system. The proposed partnership would provide for PCTI to offer statewide enrollment in a fully-virtual version of their program with enrollment and course management administered by Michigan Virtual. These courses support the development of three coherent information technology (IT)-related pathways of study to prepare students for one or more industry-recognized certification exams. Proposed Pathways for students to design their 4-year plan are in development.
Work to develop six new world language courses this year is on pace. Three world language courses are complete, including German 2A, French 2A, and Japanese 2A. The remaining three (German 2B, French 2B, and Japanese 2B) will be completed by July 2019.
In December 2018, Michigan Virtual completed development of a credit recovery version of its Algebra 1A course and acquired a second model for credit recovery in Algebra 1A from Florida Virtual (Global School). Michigan Virtual has participation agreements with ten schools or school districts in Michigan providing each school with scholarships to enroll students in these courses and authorizing Michigan Virtual to determine the random placement of students within the two courses for the purpose of testing both course models. The pilot runs from January 21, 2019 to June 7, 2019.
Michigan Virtual evaluated seven middle school elective courses from two course providers during October-December 2018. Two courses, Character Education and Computer Basics, are scheduled for review by subject matter experts who will recommend content revisions to complement the instructional model within the course as well as address potential web accessibility concerns. One or both courses will be available for the 2019-20 school year.
In addition to adding new courses, Michigan Virtual has been active in revising and updating some of its existing courses. Fourteen courses have been identified and are in various stages of the review and update process. All are on schedule for completion and will replace the existing versions for the start of the 2019-20 school year.
A review of legislative and policy implications has been conducted for the potential introduction of statewide dual enrollment course offerings in the Michigan Virtual catalog. Exploration with Michigan State University and St. Clair Community College led to proposals being sent to the interim president at Michigan State and the current president at St. Clair Community College. A meeting was held on February 21, 2019 with Dr. Deborah Snyder, President, and her team at St. Clair Community College to discuss possibilities for dual enrollment courses for the 2019-20 school year.
(6) If a home-schooled or nonpublic school student is a resident of a district that subscribes to services provided by the Michigan Virtual School, the student may use the services provided by the Michigan Virtual School to the district without charge to the student beyond what is charged to a district pupil using the same services.
Michigan Virtual’s prices for 2018-19 school year are the same for home-schooled and nonpublic school students as they are for district students using the same services. Pricing Information is available on the Michigan Virtual website.
(7) Not later than December 1 of each fiscal year, the Michigan Virtual University shall provide a report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the department that includes at least all of the following information related to the Michigan Virtual School for the preceding state fiscal year:
(a) A list of the districts served by the Michigan Virtual School.
(b) A list of virtual course titles available to districts.
(c) The total number of virtual course enrollments and information on registrations and completions by course.
(d) The overall course completion rate percentage.
The 2017-18 report on the Michigan Virtual School was sent to the legislature in December 2018 and is also posted on the Michigan Virtual website as part of Michigan Virtual’s Annual Report. The 2018-19 report will be provided to the legislature in December 2019.
(8) In addition to the information listed in subsection (7), the report under subsection (7) shall also include a plan to serve at least 600 schools with courses from the Michigan Virtual School or with content available through the internet-based platform identified in subsection (2)(b)(ix).
To date for the 2018-19 school year, Michigan Virtual has served 603 Michigan schools with online courses for students. The Michigan Virtual’s Online Orientation Tool (OLOT) continues to be accessed by about a hundred schools as efforts are underway to provide more accessible content through the #GoOpen Michigan platform.
#GoOpen Michigan hosts over 600 resources and learning objects from Michigan Virtual and has over 1000 active users.
As of March 1, 2019, 254 learning objects in the math, science, computer science, English, and world language subject areas have been moved to the #GoOpen Michigan platform. The learning objects target both elementary and secondary learners. The next set of 250 learning objects will be transferred to the #GoOpen Michigan platform by March 31, 2019.
(9) The governor may appoint an advisory group for the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute established under subsection (2). The members of the advisory group shall serve at the pleasure of the governor and shall serve without compensation. The purpose of the advisory group is to make recommendations to the governor, the legislature, and the president and board of the Michigan Virtual University that will accelerate innovation in this state’s education system in a manner that will prepare elementary and secondary students to be career and college ready and that will promote the goal of increasing the percentage of citizens of this state with high-quality degrees and credentials to at least 60% by 2025.
An advisory group has not been appointed by the governor.
(10) Not later than November 1 of each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a detailed budget for that fiscal year that includes a breakdown on its projected costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the anticipated fees to be paid by districts for those services. Not later than March 1 each year, the Michigan Virtual University shall submit to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on state school aid, the state budget director, and the house and senate fiscal agencies a breakdown on its actual costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the actual fees paid by districts for those services based on audited financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year.
A detailed budget breaking down 2018-19 projected costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the anticipated fees to be paid by districts for those services was submitted by November 1, 2018. The FY19 projected costs are also available online. The breakdown of Michigan Virtual’s actual costs to deliver virtual educational services to districts and a summary of the actual fees paid by districts for those services based on audited financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year was included in the same mailing as this update.
For the 2018-19 school year, Section 98 of the State School Aid Act directs MVLRI to strengthen teaching and learning for K-12 education by supporting and accelerating innovation and providing leadership in online and blended learning.
MVLRI supports and accelerates innovation by:
For the 2017-18 school year, Section 98 of the State School Aid Act directs MVLRI to strengthen teaching and learning for K-12 education by supporting and accelerating innovation and providing leadership in online and blended learning.
MVLRI supports and accelerates innovation by:
For the 2016-17 school year, Section 98 of the State School Aid Act directed MVLRI to strengthen teaching and learning for K-12 education by supporting and accelerating innovation and providing leadership in online and blended learning.
For the 2015-16 school year, Section 98 of the State School Aid Act directed MVLRI to address 20 tasks to strengthen teaching and learning for K-12 education.
For the 2014-15 school year, Section 98 of the State School Aid Act directs MVLRI to address nearly 20 tasks to strengthen teaching and learning for K-12 education. Toward that end, staff has responsibilities as summarized in the items below. (For exact language, please see the legislation.)
For the 2013-14 school year, Section 98 of the State School Aid Act directed MVLRI to address over a dozen tasks to strengthen teaching and learning for K-12 education.
We’re sorry to inform you that we have reached capacity for several of our Semester 1 and Trimester 1 courses. You’ll notice when attempting to enroll students in our Student Learning Portal that some courses are unavailable. While we are no longer accepting new enrollments for these courses at this time, many courses continue to remain open for enrollment.
With many students across the state 100% remote, demand for our online courses is greater than ever before. Because every course we offer is taught by a Michigan-certified teacher, this high volume of enrollments has created capacity issues for our teachers who provide each and every student with individual feedback.
While the Michigan Virtual team anticipated and planned for significant increases in student enrollments this Fall, the increased demand we’ve experienced has been unprecedented. As a result, we are taking steps to hire even more part-and full-time teachers to support larger numbers of student enrollments for Semester 2 as well as for Trimester 2 and 3.
For schools that still need online learning options this year, please fill out the form at the bottom of our virtual pathways page to meet with someone to discuss other solutions. While some of our teacher-led courses are full, we may still have the capacity to help you in upcoming terms or can discuss timing to implement a whole-school or collaborative program in which local teachers from your school/district use our online course content to teach students. We also have free course content and resources available for you to use.
We know this is an incredibly stressful time for all, and we’re sorry if the courses you’re looking for are unavailable. We never want to turn away a student who wants to learn from us. Our top concern, however, is student success, and we have a policy to not take on additional enrollments if we cannot guarantee that all students will have a quality online learning experience.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate the unusually high volume of enrollments we are receiving.
