University of Missouri High School
Website: http://muhigh.missouri.edu/
Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MU_High_School
Contact:
Dr. Kristi Smalley, Principal
Mizzou K-12 Online/MU High School
Columbia, MO 65211
573-882-4054
[email protected]
Mission:
The mission of the University of Missouri High School is to provide distance learning courses, through a variety of delivery methods, that will complement traditional high school curricula and provide an accredited online high school diploma program for independent learners of all ages seeking an alternative to traditional high school attendance. If you need to earn high school credits, or complete an online high school diploma you can choose from more than 180 online courses for high school and even college credit; core classes, electives and languages.
Location: Columbia, MO On campus with 9 full-time employees and 40 part-time teachers
Awards:
http://muhigh.missouri.edu/awards2000.aspx
Phone interview conducted on: 8-8-13
Questions
1. How is your school accredited?
The University of Missouri High School is accredited by AdvancED and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI). They also offer AP courses and are NCAA approved.
2. Where does funding for your school come from?
Entirely tuition-based
3. What is the tuition for your school?
$165 per half-unit course; also $25 admin fee
They also offer semester-based courses, which include more teacher interaction and real-time interaction. Those are $300.
http://muhigh.missouri.edu/enrollment-fees-high-school.aspx
4. Is there an application fee?
$25
5. Do you offer financial aid?
No
6. What grade levels do you offer?
Elementary–high school + dual enrollment in MU college courses (K–16)
Our elementary and middle school courses can be used to supplement the curriculum of private, public, or charter schools or for enrichment purposes, remediation, or instead of summer school.
Most students are in the middle and high school areas—not much interest at the elementary level
7. Are there age restrictions?
No age restrictions, not tied to public school funding
8. What is the current enrollment of the school? How many are seniors?
Because we are open enrollment, it is hard to track. Students can take as long as they want to complete a course.
They track statistics by fiscal yr. In the last fiscal year, they had 7000 students, mostly mid/high.
9. Are courses organized in classes with fixed start/stop dates or are they independently paced?
Most are self paced; 20 of the semester courses are offered in fall and 20 in spring
10. What requirements do you have for teachers? State certification for high school? Virtual Teacher certification?
About Our Faculty
Most are Missouri certified; they have one Chinese teacher who is certified elsewhere b/c Missouri doesn't certify for Chinese. They have a couple of college professors who sometimes help with grading.
11. How are teachers paid? Are they paid only when students complete a course? Does that impact the rigor of the course or the strictness of grading?
Three instructors are salaried. The rest are part time; reimbursed per lesson or exam. The semester course instructors receive an additional stipend per head count. Determined once the refund period has expired, but not dependent on whether students complete the course.
12. What are your short-term goals for the school?
Trying to keep high quality while still maintaining, given the huge influx of competition from for-profit providers.
It's a cut throat industry right now, with many for-profit providers heavily influencing the business, lobbying for changes, without a lot of monitoring
13. What is your long-term vision for the school?
Our goal is to uphold our rigor and add to the research and credibility of the university.
We are also considering expanding to foreign markets.
90% of students are taking courses for transfer credit to a U.S. school; may partner more with international schools and our diploma program.
14. Where does your curriculum come from? (Who builds it?)
We commission teachers to build courses according to guidelines we establish in house—they are all Missouri certified. Some are the same who serve as instructors.
15. How would you describe the philosophy behind your content development?
We use the Missouri standards and Common Core for new course development. We are college prep; basically designed to serve as a typical classroom learning experience that is subject and grade appropriate to meet the standards.
16. Who maintains your curriculum? How involved are your teachers in the course curriculum?
We have an instructional design staff who edit, design, and maintain the courses.
17. What LMS do you use?
We have a proprietary system for our independent courses. We use Moodle for the semester courses, so teachers of those courses have slightly more flexibility to contribute/change the content, but it is primarily handled in house. We are morphing into more teacher interaction, development, and input.
18. How involved are your teachers in student interaction? How do they communicate with students (email, chat, phone, face-to-face) and how often?
The Semester teachers use chat, discussion forums, and hold real-time virtual classes that students are required to attend a certain percentage of.
There is not as much interaction in the self-paced courses.
19. How much professional development do your teachers receive?
It depends—they all get an orientation. Staff is here to help. Our full-time teachers can go to conferences. Many work in public schools and so have the benefits of their school training. We occasionally recommend webinars and iNACOL seminars for them to attend.
20. Describe the application process for students.
For students who are looking for credit for transfer, they fill out a form (paper, online, or fax), and submit to us. We verify that the school will give the student permission for the course, and then admit them to the course.
The application process for diploma students is two-fold: 1) They apply and our counselors evaluate how many credits will be needed and work out a graduation plan. 2) We discuss the plan with students, and then they can enroll.
21. What are the most common challenges your students face?
Making sure they understand all our directions and policies! Very often, students don't read the "fine print." For example, a student may be very excited and enroll expecting to whip through a course in a week without understanding that we require six weeks minimum participation (NCAA requirement). Other students don't understand that we require all exams to be overseen by a certified proctor. Still other students struggle with the increased freedom, flexibility, and responsibilities. Online courses are not for everyone. We have resources called, "Is online right for you?", but getting students to take the time to really think through the decision is sometimes a challenge.
22. What are the biggest challenges your school faces?
As mentioned earlier, the explosive growth of for-profit providers. We strive to stay viable and maintain the rigor of our courses, but it's tough to compete with those that are "diploma mills."
23. How do your students compare to those in brick-and-mortar schools? (statistics on graduation rate, college acceptance, SAT/ACT/AP Scores, etc.)
MU High School's online students in the class of 2012 averaged a composite score of 25.9 on the college prep exam, more than four points above the state average, 21.6. MU High School students who took online high school classes scored an average of 28.1 in reading, 27.0 in English, 23.2 in math, and 24.7 in science.
We are consistently very good/above state averages in everything when we get accurate standardized tests results. These are hard to come by for our independent students who transfer course credits to another school.
24. How would you describe the students who attend your school? Honestly speaking, what would you say brings most of your students to your school? Is it their option of last resort?
We have a little bit of everything. The only thing that really defines our student is the certain lack of definition! Some are really bright and want to blaze ahead. Others are desperate for credit recovery. Some are in rural districts, where there are not enough options, so they come to us to take AP courses or courses they couldn't get in their area. Some are students who travel--perhaps military. Others are athletes, actors, musicians, or other students whose professional ambitions necessitate more flexibility of schedule than a brick-and-mortar school can provide.
25. Does MU provide virtual clubs or opportunities for students to meet physically?
From website:
UM Global Academy students are encouraged to contribute to their local community via volunteering activities, internships or local projects. Our full time students commit to participate in at least one local community-based "service learning" project during their high school career.
Each online classroom experience is designed to foster the development of academically-based friendships. Online classrooms allow you to work with your international peers, creating a truly global learning experience. In addition, our online newspaper features stories and articles contributed by classmates from all over the globe, enabling you to interact across cultures and share in student life from a global perspective.
From Dr. Smalley:
In addition, we have an on-site graduation one time per year. All of the graduates from that year are invited to attend. out of 80–100, we usually have a group of 15–20 or so who attend. It's a nice way for our students to experience the reward of all their hard work. Most are from the Missouri area, but we sometimes get students who travel from far away. Some of our adult students appreciate the experience.
Video Channel
26. How would you describe the teachers attracted to online teaching?
Much like our students, the teachers come from a variety of backgrounds and have different reasons for wanting to teach online. Some used to work full time and now stay at home; some are retired teachers; some moonlight for us after their full-time teaching job. There is really no set formula.
27. How would you say your teachers compare the online teaching experience to the F2F teaching experience?
There are advantages and disadvantages to both. For example, there is not so much classroom management in the online environment, but it may be more difficult to get certain concepts across without the face to face. Some teachers are surprised to see how large the time commitment is. Also, because our courses are developed in advance and must be in place from beginning to end b/c of the open enrollment policy, it is more difficult for teacher to adapt on the fly. That is changing a little bit, though, especially for our semester courses.
28. Examples of universities that have accepted your students?
http://muhigh.missouri.edu/high-school-colleges.aspx
29. Could you recommend a couple of students I could interview about their experiences?
Yes, but because of FERPA regulations, I will have to check with them first and have them connect with you rather than provide you with their information.
[She referred the following students, who all granted me an email-based interview: K. Raw, C. Olson, A. Dizdarevic]
30. What other online high schools would you recommend I interview?
North Dakota Center for Distance Education, which is another university-based model
Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MU_High_School
Contact:
Dr. Kristi Smalley, Principal
Mizzou K-12 Online/MU High School
Columbia, MO 65211
573-882-4054
[email protected]
Mission:
The mission of the University of Missouri High School is to provide distance learning courses, through a variety of delivery methods, that will complement traditional high school curricula and provide an accredited online high school diploma program for independent learners of all ages seeking an alternative to traditional high school attendance. If you need to earn high school credits, or complete an online high school diploma you can choose from more than 180 online courses for high school and even college credit; core classes, electives and languages.
Location: Columbia, MO On campus with 9 full-time employees and 40 part-time teachers
Awards:
http://muhigh.missouri.edu/awards2000.aspx
Phone interview conducted on: 8-8-13
Questions
1. How is your school accredited?
The University of Missouri High School is accredited by AdvancED and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI). They also offer AP courses and are NCAA approved.
2. Where does funding for your school come from?
Entirely tuition-based
3. What is the tuition for your school?
$165 per half-unit course; also $25 admin fee
They also offer semester-based courses, which include more teacher interaction and real-time interaction. Those are $300.
http://muhigh.missouri.edu/enrollment-fees-high-school.aspx
4. Is there an application fee?
$25
5. Do you offer financial aid?
No
6. What grade levels do you offer?
Elementary–high school + dual enrollment in MU college courses (K–16)
Our elementary and middle school courses can be used to supplement the curriculum of private, public, or charter schools or for enrichment purposes, remediation, or instead of summer school.
Most students are in the middle and high school areas—not much interest at the elementary level
7. Are there age restrictions?
No age restrictions, not tied to public school funding
8. What is the current enrollment of the school? How many are seniors?
Because we are open enrollment, it is hard to track. Students can take as long as they want to complete a course.
They track statistics by fiscal yr. In the last fiscal year, they had 7000 students, mostly mid/high.
9. Are courses organized in classes with fixed start/stop dates or are they independently paced?
Most are self paced; 20 of the semester courses are offered in fall and 20 in spring
10. What requirements do you have for teachers? State certification for high school? Virtual Teacher certification?
About Our Faculty
Most are Missouri certified; they have one Chinese teacher who is certified elsewhere b/c Missouri doesn't certify for Chinese. They have a couple of college professors who sometimes help with grading.
11. How are teachers paid? Are they paid only when students complete a course? Does that impact the rigor of the course or the strictness of grading?
Three instructors are salaried. The rest are part time; reimbursed per lesson or exam. The semester course instructors receive an additional stipend per head count. Determined once the refund period has expired, but not dependent on whether students complete the course.
12. What are your short-term goals for the school?
Trying to keep high quality while still maintaining, given the huge influx of competition from for-profit providers.
It's a cut throat industry right now, with many for-profit providers heavily influencing the business, lobbying for changes, without a lot of monitoring
13. What is your long-term vision for the school?
Our goal is to uphold our rigor and add to the research and credibility of the university.
We are also considering expanding to foreign markets.
90% of students are taking courses for transfer credit to a U.S. school; may partner more with international schools and our diploma program.
14. Where does your curriculum come from? (Who builds it?)
We commission teachers to build courses according to guidelines we establish in house—they are all Missouri certified. Some are the same who serve as instructors.
15. How would you describe the philosophy behind your content development?
We use the Missouri standards and Common Core for new course development. We are college prep; basically designed to serve as a typical classroom learning experience that is subject and grade appropriate to meet the standards.
16. Who maintains your curriculum? How involved are your teachers in the course curriculum?
We have an instructional design staff who edit, design, and maintain the courses.
17. What LMS do you use?
We have a proprietary system for our independent courses. We use Moodle for the semester courses, so teachers of those courses have slightly more flexibility to contribute/change the content, but it is primarily handled in house. We are morphing into more teacher interaction, development, and input.
18. How involved are your teachers in student interaction? How do they communicate with students (email, chat, phone, face-to-face) and how often?
The Semester teachers use chat, discussion forums, and hold real-time virtual classes that students are required to attend a certain percentage of.
There is not as much interaction in the self-paced courses.
19. How much professional development do your teachers receive?
It depends—they all get an orientation. Staff is here to help. Our full-time teachers can go to conferences. Many work in public schools and so have the benefits of their school training. We occasionally recommend webinars and iNACOL seminars for them to attend.
20. Describe the application process for students.
For students who are looking for credit for transfer, they fill out a form (paper, online, or fax), and submit to us. We verify that the school will give the student permission for the course, and then admit them to the course.
The application process for diploma students is two-fold: 1) They apply and our counselors evaluate how many credits will be needed and work out a graduation plan. 2) We discuss the plan with students, and then they can enroll.
21. What are the most common challenges your students face?
Making sure they understand all our directions and policies! Very often, students don't read the "fine print." For example, a student may be very excited and enroll expecting to whip through a course in a week without understanding that we require six weeks minimum participation (NCAA requirement). Other students don't understand that we require all exams to be overseen by a certified proctor. Still other students struggle with the increased freedom, flexibility, and responsibilities. Online courses are not for everyone. We have resources called, "Is online right for you?", but getting students to take the time to really think through the decision is sometimes a challenge.
22. What are the biggest challenges your school faces?
As mentioned earlier, the explosive growth of for-profit providers. We strive to stay viable and maintain the rigor of our courses, but it's tough to compete with those that are "diploma mills."
23. How do your students compare to those in brick-and-mortar schools? (statistics on graduation rate, college acceptance, SAT/ACT/AP Scores, etc.)
MU High School's online students in the class of 2012 averaged a composite score of 25.9 on the college prep exam, more than four points above the state average, 21.6. MU High School students who took online high school classes scored an average of 28.1 in reading, 27.0 in English, 23.2 in math, and 24.7 in science.
We are consistently very good/above state averages in everything when we get accurate standardized tests results. These are hard to come by for our independent students who transfer course credits to another school.
24. How would you describe the students who attend your school? Honestly speaking, what would you say brings most of your students to your school? Is it their option of last resort?
We have a little bit of everything. The only thing that really defines our student is the certain lack of definition! Some are really bright and want to blaze ahead. Others are desperate for credit recovery. Some are in rural districts, where there are not enough options, so they come to us to take AP courses or courses they couldn't get in their area. Some are students who travel--perhaps military. Others are athletes, actors, musicians, or other students whose professional ambitions necessitate more flexibility of schedule than a brick-and-mortar school can provide.
25. Does MU provide virtual clubs or opportunities for students to meet physically?
From website:
UM Global Academy students are encouraged to contribute to their local community via volunteering activities, internships or local projects. Our full time students commit to participate in at least one local community-based "service learning" project during their high school career.
Each online classroom experience is designed to foster the development of academically-based friendships. Online classrooms allow you to work with your international peers, creating a truly global learning experience. In addition, our online newspaper features stories and articles contributed by classmates from all over the globe, enabling you to interact across cultures and share in student life from a global perspective.
From Dr. Smalley:
In addition, we have an on-site graduation one time per year. All of the graduates from that year are invited to attend. out of 80–100, we usually have a group of 15–20 or so who attend. It's a nice way for our students to experience the reward of all their hard work. Most are from the Missouri area, but we sometimes get students who travel from far away. Some of our adult students appreciate the experience.
Video Channel
26. How would you describe the teachers attracted to online teaching?
Much like our students, the teachers come from a variety of backgrounds and have different reasons for wanting to teach online. Some used to work full time and now stay at home; some are retired teachers; some moonlight for us after their full-time teaching job. There is really no set formula.
27. How would you say your teachers compare the online teaching experience to the F2F teaching experience?
There are advantages and disadvantages to both. For example, there is not so much classroom management in the online environment, but it may be more difficult to get certain concepts across without the face to face. Some teachers are surprised to see how large the time commitment is. Also, because our courses are developed in advance and must be in place from beginning to end b/c of the open enrollment policy, it is more difficult for teacher to adapt on the fly. That is changing a little bit, though, especially for our semester courses.
28. Examples of universities that have accepted your students?
http://muhigh.missouri.edu/high-school-colleges.aspx
29. Could you recommend a couple of students I could interview about their experiences?
Yes, but because of FERPA regulations, I will have to check with them first and have them connect with you rather than provide you with their information.
[She referred the following students, who all granted me an email-based interview: K. Raw, C. Olson, A. Dizdarevic]
30. What other online high schools would you recommend I interview?
North Dakota Center for Distance Education, which is another university-based model