school courses and the full-time TxVSN Online Schools (OLS) program for grades 3–12.
In SY 2013–14 the TxVSN served 5,708 supplemental course enrollments, an annual decrease of 50%, and 10,258 full-time students, an annual increase of 22%. Texas passed legislation effective in SY 2013–14 that gave students the option to take up to three year-long funded TxVSN courses each year, although with restrictions, as well as a bill that expanded existing options for competency-based learning options. Texas also has some districts running online programs including those in Houston, Katy, Plano, and Irving, as well as a consortium of several small rural districts in east Texas known as SUPERNet.HB1926 (2013)440 amended the legislation authorizing the TxVSN such that from SY 2013–14 students can take up to three year-long supplemental online courses or the equivalent each year funded by their district or open-enrollment charter school, with restrictions. Courses must be taken as part of the student’s normal course load, which is defined as seven credit hours per instructional year; a student may enroll in additional courses but may be required to pay. Districts and open-enrollment charter schools may deny a student’s enrollment request if the district or school offers a substantially similar course, and have discretion to select the course provider for the course a student requests. Additional highlights of HB1926 (2013) include:
• Added the option—outside the TxVSN—for a school district or open-enrollment charter school that seeks to inform other districts or schools of the availability of a distance learning course to submit information about the course for publication by the TEA.
440 HB1926 (2013); retrieved June 13, 2014; http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/83ccrs/HB1926.PDF
HB1926 (2013)
NONE SOME SOME SOME MOST MOST
Availability
Does this state have…
Y NStudent choice for publicly funded fully online schools?
Student choice for publicly funded supplemental online courses?
SVS or another publicly funded option for private / homeschool students?
Prior public school attendance requirement for online schools?
Online caps by class, school, district, or statewide?
PD requirement for online teachers?
State approval process for online providers?
State approval process for online courses?
Online learning requirement for students?
End-of-course exams?
Separate state reporting of online course enrollments?
Texas
DIGITAL LEARNING STATE SNAPSHOT
The Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN) served 5,708 course enrollments in SY 2013–14, a drop of 50% from the previous school year. Funding is based on successful course completion (grades 9–12).
experience offering online courses to middle or high school students by demonstrating student success in course completion and performance. Criteria for these entities will be released in SY 2014–15.
• Included entities that provide professional development courses as eligible TxVSN course providers.
• Required districts and open-enrollment charter schools to send a copy of the written local policy providing students with the opportunity to enroll in TxVSN online courses to parents of every middle and high school student at least once per school year.
• Allowed the TEA to enter into reciprocity agreements with other states to facilitate expedited course approval; courses must be evaluated to ensure compliance with state law and curriculum standards.
It also required all course providers to apply for renewed course approval to coincide with revisions to the required curriculum at least every 10 years.
• Prohibited course providers from offering inducements for student enrollment.
• Clarified additional details about each course that must be published on the TxVSN website, including aggregate student performance.441
• Directed the commissioner to study the network capabilities of each school district by December 1, 2015.
Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 70442 provides the Commissioner’s Rules guiding the TxVSN and went into effect in February 2013. It included the following:
• The maximum enrollment cap for fully online schools was removed.
• Eligible districts and open-enrollment charter schools (most districts and schools in the state, based on meeting the required accountability rating) do not need to go through a lengthy application and approval process, but rather can notify TEA annually that they intend to open/operate a virtual school.
Three districts opened new TxVSN online schools in fall 2013, per waiver of the commissioner of education, with a fourth planning to begin serving students in fall 2014.443
Also passed in 2013, SB1365444 expanded existing opportunities for students in grades K–12 to earn credit for courses or accelerate on the basis of an examination using one of four exams selected by a school district board of trustees, including AP® exams, those administered through the “College-Level Examination Program,” or other exams approved by the local board of trustees. Students who receive credit for the course are not required to take an end-of-course (EOC) exam.
Online programs
Course enrollments have fluctuated significantly since TxVSN launched in January 2009, hitting their peak in SY 2010–11 with 22,910 but then dropping by 76% in SY 2011–12 with the elimination of allotment funding for catalog course fees.445 Some TxVSN scholarship funds were made available for a limited time from October 2011 through summer 2013 and enrollments increased 102% in SY 2012–13. Enrollments subsequently dropped again by 50% to 5,708 in SY 2013–14.446 TxVSN OLS is a fully online program for public school students in grades 3–12. Seven schools were authorized by the TEA to offer fully online
441 Course catalog; retrieved July 30, 2014; https://www.mytxvsn.org/CourseCatalog.aspx. Aggregate student performance is not available as of August 2014.
442 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 70; retrieved June 13, 2014; http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter070/ch070aa.html
443 The waiver is related to a clause in HB1926 that states “districts or open-enrollment charter schools may decline to pay for more than three year-long online courses, or the equivalent, per student each instructional year unless a student was enrolled in a full-time online program that was operating on January 1, 2013.”
444 SB1365 (2013); retrieved June 13, 2014; http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/SB01365F.htm
445 SB1 (2011); retrieved June 13, 2014; http://www.journals.senate.state.tx.us/sjrnl/821/pdf/82S106-28-F.PDF
programs through the TxVSN OLS program in SY 2013–14: one charter school and six independent school districts (ISDs). There were 10,258 students served in grades 3–12 in SY 2013–14; a 22% annual increase.
Enrollments have grown steadily since maximum enrollment caps were eliminated in 2013. In addition, the TEA has authorized Hallsville ISD to begin serving students through its Virtual High School in SY 2014–15.
One particularly large consortium is SUPERNet, which offers supplemental online courses to students at no cost to 20 rural districts who pay a membership fee; most courses are built by local teachers, and some courses are offered through TxVSN to allow students outside the consortium to enroll in them. SUPERNet served 714 course enrollments in SY 2013–14, a drop of 3% from the previous year; a small percentage of those enrollments may overlap with TxVSN enrollments.
State policies
Outside the TxVSN, districts may use outside providers and courses at their discretion, and must assure that a course meets all the state curriculum requirements in order to award credit.
Funding through the TxVSN: Students participating in online courses or programs offered through the TxVSN are not required to be physically present at school to be eligible to generate Foundation School Program (FSP) funding.
Grades 3–8, TxVSN Online Schools: Students generate state FSP funding based on successful program completion and promotion to the next grade level. Students must demonstrate academic proficiency by earning a minimum passing grade of 70% or above on a 100-point scale, sufficient for promotion to the next grade level. Funding is equivalent to state funding for a student enrolled full time in a traditional classroom. If a student successfully completes their grade-level instructional program and is promoted to the next grade, the school receives full funding; if the student does not, the school receives no funding.
Grades 9–12, TxVSN catalog and Online Schools: State funding is generated when a student successfully completes and earns credit for a course, which is defined as having demonstrated academic proficiency by earning a minimum passing grade of 70% or above on a 100-point scale.
A student taking one or more courses through the TxVSN catalog may count their participation toward eligibility for part-time or full-time FSP funding, presuming the student successfully completes the course. Districts may not count more than three year-long TxVSN courses, or the equivalent, per student per school year toward FSP funding eligibility. Authorized full-time TxVSN online schools are exempt from this funding limitation. Students enrolled in a TxVSN online school are funded at one of three levels: if the student completes at least five credits, the school receives full funding; if the student completes at least three credits, the school receives partial funding; and if the student completes fewer than three credits, the school receives no funding.
No funding is provided for students who register for a TxVSN course but are not enrolled in a Texas school district or open-enrollment charter school (other than students in foster care or certain dependents of military personnel).
Funding outside the TxVSN: For districts to receive state funding for online courses outside the TxVSN, students must be physically in attendance at school and meet the normal attendance accounting rules of the state. A student may generate either part-time or full-time FSP funding.
TxVSN course providers offer courses and are responsible for instruction. Receiver districts (student’s home district) approve their students’ TxVSN course requests (and have the ability to deny those course requests as per HB1926), provide ongoing support to local students enrolled in TxVSN courses, and award credits and diplomas. Districts and open-enrollment charter schools serving as TxVSN course providers may seek a waiver from the TxVSN course review and approval process administered by the TEA, but they must certify that the district or charter has verified that each course meets 100% of all TxVSN course standards. As of July 2014 no districts or charter schools have yet applied.
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