Alternative Instructional Strategies and Delivery
Environment for High School Students
Carol M. Shepherd
National University
Introduction
The progression from high school to college or university is a challenging move, fraught with anxiety and trepidation on the part of many students. However, if students have already taken Advanced Placement (AP) courses, online or onsite, they will be better able to make a smooth, seamless, non-stop transition from high school to college. Studies have shown that they will also experience greater success in college. Thus, they will be able to alleviate much of the stress that commonly accompanies the change involved with such a move, to focus on more important matters and adjust easily to their new environment.
Background
The concept of the Advanced Placement program in the United States began in the 1950’s, as the result of two similar projects which were provided monies by the Fund for the Advancement of Education of the Ford Foundation (Santoli, 2002). The first project was headed by John Kemper, the headmaster of the Andover Academy. The purpose of the program was to enable the students to get college credit while they were still in high school. The second project was named the Kenyon Plan. This evolved through collaboration between high school teachers, university professors, and representatives from Educational Testing Services. The group developed courses and tests for the assessment of students’ learning. The prototypes of these courses were administered to students in 1954. In 1955 the College Board assumed control of this, and it became known as the Advanced Placement Program. The keys to its success are the course syllabi and high standards of the program. As of 2000, over one-half of all United States high schools offered Advanced Placement courses (Santoli, 2002). However, they usually only offer about five of the possible thirty-three courses available. With a busy schedule of academics, athletics, and other obligations, many students have difficulty scheduling those AP courses which are offered in their schools.
In today’s global economy, where 80 per cent of jobs require postsecondary education, it is important that students have access to a variety of Advanced Placement courses, whether face-to-face in an onsite school or virtual via online delivery. Students should have the option of choosing the delivery method. United States Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings states that students must have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement courses in high school, in order to have the skills needed to succeed in the future (Patrick, 2006). These courses must be offered to all students, in all areas, instead of rationing opportunity only to those who have these courses readily accessible.
According to a recent Gallup Youth Survey, one-half of United States teens are now taking honors or Advanced Placement courses. There is much competition to get into colleges. The survey indicated that there is a significant correlation between academic course work, academic achievement, and motivation. The group surveyed was composed of thirteen through seventeen year-olds. In the survey, 57% felt they were near the top or above average in class standing. Of this group, 78% took honors or Advanced Placement courses. Motivation was correlated to taking challenging classes. The 62% of students taking AP courses who were internally motivated planned to attend college full-time. The 36% taking AP courses who were externally motivated (encouraged by parents or others) planned to attend college part-time (“More U. S. Students”, 2004).
Since many students find it difficult to schedule the AP courses offered during the traditional school day, they are taking these courses online. Schank (2000) notes that the primary, most significant change in education in the 21st century is the creation of online courses. This technological development has shifted the responsibility for teaching academic subjects from the teacher, who has become more of a facilitator of the learning process than an instructor, to the student. This represents new roles for the instructor and the learner. To meet the challenges of this change, numerous institutions are implementing programs in an effort to effectively meet the needs of the population.
In 2000, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Microsoft teamed together in a research project to create new technologies for learning. The goal was to improve models of information-technology related to teaching models and educational tools for university education. This I-Campus alliance involved cooperative projects incorporating students, faculty and researchers at MIT and Microsoft. Microsoft pledged to allocate $25 million over six years to fund this alliance. The purpose of the project was to study new pedagogical approaches. Information technology concepts and methods of university education would be integrated. The changing environment of university education would be studied (“News Update,” 2000).
Kaplan Educational Centers joined with Apex Online Learning, and began to offer Advanced Placement Test Preparation courses for AP exams. Available in the spring of 2000, the AP prep courses offered were U.S. Government and Politics, Statistics, Calculus AB, Macroeconomics and Microeconomics (“News Update,” 2000).
Virtual High Schools Offer AP Courses
Kentucky has been a leader in developing innovative educational strategies in an effort to raise the level of student achievement. In 1992 the state experienced a major overhaul in educational practices. As a result of this reform, there has been an extensive amount of technology utilized in the schools (“Case Study,” 2002).
The Kentucky Virtual High School (KVHS) began in 2000. The purpose of founding this school was to overcome challenges facing the offering of a quality education to all students, as many of the communities are spread out over an expansive area and unable to adequately staff the schools with qualified personnel. Some Kentucky schools are geographically isolated. In addition, not all students in all parts of the country live in close proximity to a school. The goal was to provide equitable access to a high quality, diverse curriculum for all, especially students who would not have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement courses (“Case Study,” 2002). This goal has been successfully addressed through the development of KVHS.
Kentucky Virtual High School and Apex Learning have worked together to create an Advanced Placement Program, which has been integrated into the KVHS online school’s offerings. A specific, rigorous criterion was established for the AP Academy. The online Advanced Placement instructors must be certified Kentucky teachers, who work in compliance with the state’s standards. They undergo customized training to enable them to be as successful in an online class as they are in a traditional setting. Online teaching, as well as online learning, represents new roles for the teachers as well as the students. The local school and KVHS administrators have the software and the technology to weekly access data to enable them to follow each student’s progress. To maintain student motivation, each student must have access to technical support and to student services, to quickly resolve problems, from registration concerns to issues with an instructor. This support is provided twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, through a help center (“Case Study,” 2002).
KVHS established the Kentucky Advanced Placement Incentive Program. This plan provided for an additional number of students to be successful. More than one hundred students were awarded scholarships for online AP courses for the 2000 – 2001 school year. The same number of scholarships was planned for 2001 – 2002 (“Case Study,” 2002). The funding for these scholarships was through local city budgets and personal resources. This initiative also supports professional development for teachers, counselors and administrators.
Another online high school, Florida Virtual School, accommodates grades nine through twelve. It is the nation’s largest statewide online public high school. Started in 1997, the Florida Virtual School is state funded. Students are able to take regular courses, honors courses, and AP courses. The purpose of this school is to enable students to make up credits, accelerate their academic program, take courses not offered at the home school, and take courses while traveling. There are eleven Advanced Placement offerings. Florida pays the yearly $8 million to operate and provide free instruction to 1.3 million middle school and high school students in the state (Symonds, 2003). It creates enriching opportunities for students in rural areas, at schools unable to provide AP instructors for the classes. The students are able to register for online courses that will carry them through high school graduation directly to college. This virtual high school also serves to enhance the education of home-schooled students, as well as those students living in rural communities. The motto of the school is “Any time, any place, any path, any pace” (Charp, 2002).
As an anecdote to illustrate this point of any time, any place, Dell’Angela (2002) writes of a straight-A student who lived in a small, rural town in Illinois. Her high school did not offer the Advanced Placement macroeconomics class she wanted to take in her senior year. She thought the course would give her an advantage when she began college, and felt she could successfully squeeze an online class into her busy schedule filled with academics, sports, and theater productions. Those students in the Illinois Virtual High School must take an orientation before enrolling in a course, so they will know what to expect in regard to workload. This is an important measure to foster student success.
Apex Learning is a provider of virtual school solutions for K – 12 institutions. The online program used is Class Tools, which offers lessons and assessment tools to Advanced Placement educators. It also provides supplements for an AP course, and assists new AP instructors in building quality courses. Apex provides multimedia tutorials, grading rubrics, and a grade book, as well as online access to assignments, independent studies, asynchronous discussions, and other aids (“Online AP Course,” 2000). For each Advanced Placement course, Apex provides a teacher’s guide, testing supplements, overviews of all lessons, and a practice final exam in the style of the actual AP exam. The Advanced Placement courses offered are Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Statistics, Calculus AP, and U.S. Government and Politics (“Online AP Course,” 2000).
The formation of new partnerships is a marketing tool and a method of expansion utilized by Apex. In 2000, in a partnership with the University of Washington, ten new online courses were created for high school students. Through a partnership with Power – Glide, three online foreign language courses were created for high school students, in addition to an Advanced Placement Spanish Exam Review. In the Advanced Placement Spanish online class, students record and listen to audio files of themselves, then submit the files to the online instructor for evaluation. These are experienced online language teachers (“Partnerships Expand,” 2001). For seven years Apex has been offering online AP foreign language courses, in addition to Latin I and Latin II for the regular high school students. Apex is now offering other courses to high school students (“Partnerships Expand,” 2001).
Smarthinking, another organization, is a provider of online tutoring and academic assistance. The communications are synchronous, asynchronous, and prescheduled online tutoring sessions. Smarthinking archives all interactions between teachers and students, to enable access and sorting for future reference for both students and the institution itself. This includes teachers and administrators. The learning organization is working with consortia in California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland and New Jersey (“Partnerships Expand,” 2001).
Studies of Efficacy of Online Instruction vs. Onsite Instruction
In a review of the text by White & Weight, The Online Teaching Guide: A Handbook of Attitudes, Strategies, and Techniques for the Virtual Classroom, 2000, Beall (2003) notes that online teaching is similar to classroom teaching, in that teaching is a means of interpersonal communication. However, well-implemented online courses require more of everything: time, thought, effort, communication, feedback, and explanation. This also involves attention to design and reworking context type as well as effective delivery practices.
In a study to determine the efficacy of online instruction in comparison to onsite instruction, Weems (2002) compared two sections of beginning algebra, one online and one onsite. The dependent variable of primary interest was math achievement. Other variables were student attitude toward mathematics, reasons for selecting the online class instead of the onsite, and critiques of the online format. The study showed that there was no significant correlation between the exam averages for the two formats. Interestingly, there was a significant decrease in the performance of the online students from the first of three exams to the last, whereas the onsite students exhibited a relatively level grade average for that period. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding their attitude toward mathematics. Of the students, 94% indicated overall satisfaction with taking the course online, and 84% said they would take an online course again in the future (Weems, 2002).
Results of the study indicated that a positive aspect of taking an online course is that the student has greater control over the learning situation, which is not solely determined by the instructor. Another advantage is the convenience of personal time management. A disadvantage of taking an online course is that it is very easy to get behind in the work, through procrastination. A negative aspect of an online course is that there is a lack of interpersonal student interaction. Also missing from such a class, among other things, is the students’ ability to observe the instructor modeling responses and techniques.
Aitken and Shedletsky (2002) use online academic discussion to enable students to articulate ideas and learn new information, as well as find other students who agree with their ideas, and to exchange information, test ideas, and discover others’ ideas. A significant advantage of the electronic course environment is that all online activity is in one place: email, syllabus, course readings, glossary, assignments, tests and grades. The researchers began studying computer-mediated communication twenty years ago. They have participated in more than fifty educational and non-educational discussion groups, and have compiled ideas for effective computer discussion. Aitken and Shedletsky have found that students are able to develop a sense of belonging and connection through online discussions. This sense of community is essential, to avoid the problem of students who feel somehow disconnected by distance education. Online discussion groups conform to the same kinds of norms and rules as in any group. Those students who participate successfully develop greater self-acceptance and learn new skills, which ultimately enhance their communication in other social interactions.
These researchers find their students provide thoughtful analyses in online discussions. They theorize that online courses tend to have an improved quality of course discussions. Students have a sense of anonymity online, which enables them to speak more freely than when facing an instructor and other students. Conversely, since words submitted in these discussions remain for the duration of the course, students are more cautious and thoughtful with their statements (2002). These are powerful arguments for offering Advanced Placement courses online for high school students.
Aitken and Shedletsky (2002) noted a number of communication characteristics in online discussion groups. In regard to self-exploration, the researchers found that the use of the computer enhances student awareness of the information processing aspects of communication, such as the use of inference and implication, and the meaning of words and phrases. This encourages the mind to contemplate the message, as well as the metamessage.
In their research dealing with the e-learning environment, Kim and Lee (2002) found that collaborative reflection is a key success factor. Such reflection causes an individual to perform an internal exploration. The collaborative aspect involves learner-to-learner interaction, thus requiring clear communication between participants. This interaction provides students with the multiple perspectives of peer learners, and encourages communication between peers in the learning community. Collaborative reflection in an electronic environment allows students to articulate various ways of thinking and to develop divergent thinking styles. They have the opportunity to review multiple points of view, and to build and modify their own opinions. Kim and Lee found that students elaborate more on the learning processes than when they reflect alone. This collaborative reflection is essential in making the learning activities desirable and productive. Such emphasis on Bloom’s Taxonomy and higher level thinking is vital for articulation in Advanced Placement courses. To develop self-reflective and critical thinkers, strategies must be modeled, scaffolded and taught by experts competent in the use of emerging technologies who have utilized best practices of literacy instruction (Kymes, 2005).
Demand for Advanced Placement Online Offerings
Today, universities and their partners are spending increasingly greater amounts of money on developing online courses. The courses most in demand in the universities at present are freshman introductory courses, or Advanced Placement courses, taken by high school students. The most requested courses are Calculus, Biology, Physics, Economics, and Psychology, the same courses taken in traditional high schools as Advanced Placement courses (Shank, 2000). The availability of these courses online is a boon for schools that are not able to offer these AP courses for their students. Even though there is still a debate over whether teaching an AP course online is as effective as teaching in the traditional classroom, there is strong demand from students to take these courses (CollegeData, 2006).
There are distinct Advanced Placement implications for college admissions, as well. Evidence of AP courses on a high school transcript gives applicants a greater chance of admission to college. Even though the students might not have passed the AP exam, colleges feel that these applicants will be better prepared for college, and have better study skills, than other students. Research has shown that students who have taken AP courses in high school have a greater tendency to attend their college courses, complete college, and even go on to graduate studies (Santoli, 2002). This is definitely an economic advantage for colleges, which experience a considerable drop-out rate during and after the freshman year.
Santoli (2002) searched the literature and studied the effects of Advanced Placement courses on students. Research has shown that the advantages for participation extend beyond college admission factors. The grouping of students for these courses benefits the higher level students, who have a greater opportunity to be challenged educationally. Studies have shown that students in the AP classes feel they have the best instructors. Perhaps this is a legitimate concept. The teachers of AP courses generally hold at least a master’s degree in the area of specialization. They are more prepared for their instruction, and have higher expectations and goals for the Advanced Placement students. Research has shown that students taking AP courses online often score higher on tests than those taking the courses onsite (Carnevale, 2002; Pape, 2005; Patrick, 2006).
Economics of Social Justice
Weems (2002) voices a concern that the push for online courses offered by universities is from forces outside academia. There is much public pressure to make education available anytime, anywhere. This move to technology and the offering of university classes online is not as a result of the usual change through research within the academic community, but from a non-traditional perspective, and thus may be tainted as a result of special interests. These are legitimate concerns. In addition, there is a perception by the general public that communities offering a greater number of AP courses have better schools. This is an economic factor in the housing arena. People are more likely to move into an area where the schools are good, or perceived to be good, and may be willing to pay considerably more for a house in these areas (Weems, 2002).
Conversely, what happens to students living in poorer areas? There have been a number of lawsuits, by minority and low-income groups, declaring unfairness in regard to educational opportunities (Dolan, 2003). In 1998, Francisco Hernandez, working at the University of California in Santa Cruz, proposed offering online courses to meet the needs of high school students denied access to Advanced Placement courses because of geography. He felt this rendered them severely disadvantaged in regard to getting admitted to college. Forty students enrolled the first year through the University of California at Santa Cruz. Five years later, there were 6,000. In Hernandez’ program, students are provided with cyber mentors, university students who know the subject matter and also provide support through advice and encouragement, to help these high school students succeed in the AP courses. The leaders and staff of this project are Latino, but the project is accessible to all students. Of the student population, thirty percent are Latino (Dolan, 2003).
In partnership with the University of California College Prep (UCCP), the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) at the University of California, San Diego is offering economically disadvantaged students the opportunity to take AP courses online at no cost to the students. This project also assists underserved high schools by making AP courses more accessible to the students. The pass rate for the 2006 summer classes was 98 per cent. The goal of this program is to prepare low-income, first-generation students for higher education success, including graduate school (Sykes, 2006).
A 2002 study in the American Educational Research Journal indicated that there are social barriers faced by some minority students in regard to taking Advanced Placement courses. Some are discouraged by teachers and counselors. Others are reluctant due to social and peer pressures, not wanting to be the unique diverse member in the class. Some choose to stay in the courses with their friends (“More U.S. Students”, 2004). Many high schools in low-income areas cannot attract teachers trained to teach the AP courses. Even when they do, the poorer students cannot afford to pay for the Advanced Placement tests. The United States Department of Education provided $15 million in 2000 to pay for the test fees of disadvantaged students. In California, $30 million has been paid to expand the Advanced Placement program online (Santoli, 2002). Many other states have similar grants.
Online Advanced Placement courses offer a distinct advantage for students in rural areas. Students in some of these remote areas have limited opportunities to take Advanced Placement courses. If offered, they would have the opportunity to take these courses online. They would then be better prepared for college (Van Horn & Myrick, 2001). Students can take courses across the nation, with no distance boundaries. They can work on these courses in school, after school, at home, in a library, and other places with Internet capabilities. Although this access may not necessarily be readily available, more and more communities are working toward having this electronic situation available for students. Funding for these courses is provided in various ways, such as government grants, payment by school boards, and payment by individuals. This is a viable alternative to traditional schools and learning methods, and provides opportunities where there may have been none.
In schools faced with cutting programs due to budget restraints, outsourcing instruction has become an option. Students can take accredited Advanced Placement courses online when no onsite instructor is available, or when there are fewer students than required to constitute a traditional class. There are many options, such as state, district, and university courses, as well as virtual school consortia and private, for-profit educational opportunities. Approximately 50,000 students enrolled in online courses in the 2001-2002 school year. By 2006 it is anticipated that the majority of high school students will have taken an online course (Solomon, 2003).
Recent and Future Growth
Students indicate online courses can be as effective as or better than onsite (Charp, 2002). Graduate universities and e-learning programs are successful and expanding. There is presently a lack of sufficient evidence on the value of e-learning for undergraduate and high school students (Charp, 2002). However, it is recognized that online education offers courses not available onsite, providing more choices for learners. E-learning opportunities are consistently growing and evolving. There is a prediction that by the year 2005, 90% of American universities will offer at least one course online (Charp, 2002). Online high schools in Massachusetts, Kentucky, Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan, Florida and California are presently in operation or are under consideration.
The Arkansas legislature appropriated $11 million for the 2004-2005 school year. For 2005-2006, $6 million more has been budgeted. This is enriching the state’s curriculum by offering Advanced Placement courses online (Metzger, 2004). Georgia has instituted a program across the state, an e-learning initiative, for students who cannot take AP courses at their own schools (Jacobson, 2004). The Maryland Virtual Learning Opportunities Program offers Advanced Placement courses. The program lost state funding, but has kept operating with federal money (Hoff, 2004). The Mississippi Online Learning Institute, opened in 2002, is an online high school. It provides primarily Advanced Placement courses, and by 2004, enrolled 315 students. There are plans for expansion (Richard, 2004). In Oregon, there are eight district-sponsored online schools offering Advanced Placement courses (Borja, 2004).
Global competitiveness is driving the desire of many countries to educate students to prepare them for the 21st century economy. Asia’s strategies have been well developed from kindergarten through higher education and workforce development. India and China are focusing on e-learning as a means to reach students who would otherwise not have access to the best schools and teachers (Patrick, 2006). The United Kingdom is creating an International Baccalaureate (IB) online program that will reach twenty-two countries, to enable students to complete a full diploma online. Students and schools will have the choice of courses and teachers to complete graduation requirements to attain an International Baccalaureate degree (Patrick, 2006).
Conclusion
When it first began, AP courses were available to only eleventh and twelfth graders. Today, the courses are available to qualifying ninth and tenth graders as well. Interestingly, sophomore girls exhibit the highest confidence levels and greatest academic awareness. Research has shown that the younger students score higher on the AP exams than the older high school students, in the same subjects (Santoli, 2002). In grades nine through twelve an increasing number of students are taking the Advanced Placement courses. It is perceived as an educational advantage, and that advantage is supported by research. Students who take online AP courses score higher in the final tests than do students who take the courses in traditional schools (Mupinga, 2005). It is also an economic advantage for students and their families, as they will be required to pay less for tuition in college.
In his article dealing with education for the 21st century, Shank (2000) notes that technology is precipitating a fundamental reshaping of the American educational system. This change is being spearheaded by the creation and delivery of online courses. Live videoconferencing enables students to access a centralized pool of tutors. Thus, one-on-one tutoring services will by available to students through videoconferencing. Learning centers will provide assistance to all students, regardless of their location. Teachers are becoming the facilitators for learning. This represents new roles for the instructor and the learner.
Kymes (2005) suggests the use of online think-aloud strategies to promote greater levels of success in student information seeking and student comprehension. Developing students who are critical thinkers and self-reflective requires modeling on the part of educators, who must guide the students, model, and scaffold the techniques of the think-aloud process. These online instructors must be familiar with both the existing and emerging technologies, and incorporate best practices of online instruction.
In the future, students will be able to take their complete freshman year of college online while in high school, and receive college credit. No Advanced Placement tests will be needed. Students will be able to take the same courses as college freshmen, and get the same credit (Shank, 2000). Even today, a number of colleges will accept younger students who have not yet completed high school.
There is concern among certain educators that the technology-driven virtual learning may result in auto-responsive robosapiens and the creation of socially isolated nerds (Fuller & Soderlund, 2002). The environment of online courses is very different from present-day centers of learning. The university as a self-contained center of learning exists no longer (Fuller & Soderlnd, 2002). The new internet dialogues between teacher and student and student and student are not conducted in an academic classroom context, but in isolation.
While studies have been done regarding college students and online learning, there has been very little research, if any, conducted regarding the positive and negative effects of online learning among high school students, particularly those taking Advanced Placement courses. There is a need for further study in this area. It would be interesting to see if there is a significant positive or negative correlation between students in college who had taken AP courses online while in high school, compared to a similar group who had taken the courses onsite while in high school. Their academic success as well as their social adaptability could be measured to see if the groups were significantly distinct from each other.
Computer technology, distance learning, and online courses provide multiple means for high school students to explore college and career opportunities. In addition, the same technology enables students from rural areas, as well as those from minority or low-income areas, where schools are unable to recruit and retain qualified specialized instructors, to take courses in specialized areas as well as Advanced Placement courses. This is a means of leveling the field of opportunities for all students, from all areas of the country, and all countries of the world, so that no student is left behind in the pursuit of a quality education.
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