MN Online High School - Establish New Forms of Accountability for Schools

MNOHS is organized as an online community school, rather than a course vendor. The schools has invested in very low student-teacher and student-counselor ratios to have time to get to know each student and their individual learning needs.

However, developing a shared (institutional) view of each student was difficult.  The school manager, technology coordinator, executive director, and student intervention team (SIT, comprised of two counselors and two teachers) collaborated to build a complex set of processes, beginning with a weekly progress survey completed by each MNOHS teacher about each student he or she works with. The survey reports, including both academic concerns and kudos, are combined with data from other systems----using PowerPivot, conditional formatting, and other Excel native features—to create each student’s weekly profile. This becomes actionable data which guides the SIT in communicating with students, parents/guardians and MNOHS teachers about students’ successes and challenges, and in designing appropriate learning plans and interventions.

The school works continuously to improve these processes.  Most recently, the school has begun to review them through a restorative practice lens, with a goal of making school and schooling a more positive an experience for their students and families than it has been in the past.