unfolding the story of learning coaches in cyber charter schools
DESCRIPTION
Descriptive study on learning coaches, that is parents who act as educational facilitators for their children who attend cyber charter schoolsTRANSCRIPT
Unfolding the story of learning coaches in cyber charter schools
Lisa Hasler WatersUniversity of Hawaii
Table of Contents
The Story LineThe Setting: cyber charter schoolsThe Back Story: parental involvement in children’s educationThe Characters: learning coachesThe Plot: what do they do and how?The Problem: challenges they faceThe Resolution: support, evaluate, maximizeThe Finale: conclusions
The setting: cyber charters
• What• Status• Effectiveness• Operations
The story lineCyber charters are publicly funded schools
that:Blend traditional, virtual and home schooling; Abide by state and federal school regulations, standards & testing;Partner (often) with for-profit EMOs;Assign teachers to students;
and, Engage parents to serve as educational facilitators,
Yet: Little is know about these learning coaches
The back story: parental involvement in
children’s educationStudies have shown links between parental involvement and student
achievement in traditional and virtual schools
Might be due to school-home partnerships, socio-economic statutes, parenting styles, expectations
HDS Model or Parental Involvement has 4 mechanisms of behavior: encourage, reinforce, model, instruct
The characters: learning coaches
Who are they?Why do they enroll
their children in these schools?
The plot: why, what and how
Why the concern?What exactly do they do?How do they support their
students?
Behaviors: Beyond the Model
They created a learner centric environment, that was:
Fueled by their awareness of the child and his needs, plus their own beliefs and the challenges they faced;
Enabled by the 4 behaviors included HDS Model: encouraging, motivating, reinforcing and instructing; plus,
Adapting and leveraging
Dimensionalized ExamplesBehavior Continuum of Examples
Encouraging Give high-fives Use of Kindle as reward
Reinforcing Use of online media Real life experiences
Modeling Show how to research and validate online
Practice work ethos
Instructing Guide on the side Help student connect lesson to his own life
Adapting Enable student to move during lesson
Alter daily schedule to focus on one lesson/day
Leveraging Engage family math expert
Rely on teacher as “go-to” person
Beliefs
• Ultimately responsible• Set expectations• Confident• Isolated
The problem: challenges they face
Shortage of timeDifficulty juggling multiple learnersLack of immediate access to teachersChallenges with discipline
The resolution
• Support• Evaluate • Maximize
The finale: conclusions
Harness
Learn
Evaluate
