School Choice Offers Opportunity for the Teaching Profession

As technology changes and evolves, the world of education and teaching will undoubtedly change. Teachers across the country must stay ahead of the curve.

Although some teachers and the unions see school choice as foreboding for the public school outlook, school choice encompasses empowerment for the parent to choose an environment that employs teachers in all arenas. A new era has been ushered in for education. Once limited to rigid traditional school terms and schedules, teachers are employed in traditional public schools, charters, private schools, religious schools, and online schools just to name a few. Educators will in turn have choices themselves when deciding when, where and how to teach kids.

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The 2010 Student Readiness Report Identifies Trends Among Online Learners

Deatsville, AL (PRWEB) October 19, 2010
Distance learning continues to grow at an incredible rate. As more students begin to learn online, it becomes obvious that distance learning is a better fit for some students than others. Individuals considering distance learning desire to know if studying online will be a good choice for them. Schools which invest heavily in attracting new online students want to retain the students across their degree program. Both schools and students benefit when a student’s level of readiness for learning online is measured.

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Linden schools see high-tech improvements

LINDEN – In less than two months on the job, Linden Superintendent of Education Dr. Tyrone Smith has put in motion several new initiatives designed to help students interact with those outside school walls.

“We are using the distance learning labs and participating in the Amazing Kids penpal program,” he said. “We are communicating on paper as well as on computers to other school districts, other classrooms and other countries, finding out different cultures.

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More students taking up AP challenge

“The rigor that comes with it makes it tough day after day, but they really do work and try hard,” Powell said.

Systems like Dallas County Schools do no have AP teachers this year and rely on ACCESS Distance learning classes to offer advanced classes to students.

“There are a lot of classes that are available through ACESS,” said Dallas County Schools Superintendent Fannie Major-McKenzie.

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Reeltown High School to be featured Friday on CNN

Set your recording devices. The school in southern Tallapoosa County will be featured Friday morning on CNN, said principal Tom Cochran.

Cochran said he was informed last week that the news network would be featuring the school in a segment about Alabama’s ACCESS Distance Learning program, which offers students the option of taking classes online and through videoconferencing.

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Litchfield students have ACCESS to distance learning

“It’s better than a regular class,” said Aaron Phillips, an eighth-grader at Litchfield. “I can pick what I want to do, when I want to do it. I don’t have to do what everyone else is doing at the same time.”

The Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators & Students Statewide program through the state Department of Education provides classes and teachers, plus computer literacy skills, to students across the state.

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Summer school goes online

Schools and state governments have begun to take notice of the potential savings that virtual education can provide, with Florida, Arizona, and Alabama even establishing state-sponsored virtual school programs that offer courses to thousands of students a year.

The Florida Virtual School runs all year long, does not have a specific academic calendar, and has a staff of 1,000 full-time teachers that is on call seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., a significant shift for teachers used to working during typical schools hours from September to June. The school plans to enroll close to 240,000 students from 45 states and 30 countries this year, most of whom will only take a course or two with the school.

“We’re growing every year by 30 to 40%,” says Andy Ross, who is the chief sales and marketing officer at the Florida Virtual School. Ross claims that Florida Virtual School has saved Florida $22 million last year by offering its virtual courses to students.

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City school board approves online academic program

TUSCALOOSA | The Tuscaloosa City Board of Education unanimously approved a proposal Tuesday night to implement an online academic program that will allow students to earn credits on their own schedule.

During a board meeting, Zachary Barnes, the director of graduation success and dropout prevention for the school system, and Robert Coates, director of secondary education, spoke to the board about Bridgewater Academy, a fully accredited online school that allows students to have access course studies 24 hours a day.

As a credit recovery program, Bridgewater Academy makes earning course credits as simple as logging onto a website.

Barnes said that Bridgewater will not replace other programs the system uses for credit recovery, like Plato Learning.

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