When a student needs help with a particular skill or concept or needs general additional support, the AoEO teacher will provide one-on-one instruction as needed. Both teacher and parents may request and schedule the one-on-one teaching.

Students who need intensive tutoring in addition to the one-on-one sessions may use extracurricular credits to provide private tutoring.

Attendance is counted in the following ways:

• • • Attendance in AoEO synchronous (live) classes.
    • Attendance in individual regular check-ins and conferences.
    • Attendance via weekly emails to your teacher.
    • Completion and documentation of work through identified curricula. (Send in your required assessments and homework submissions, etc.),
    • Attendance and participation in online courses.
    • Depending on the curriculum, activity logged into an online curriculum portal.

Students who fail to meet the attendance expectations will be issued a warning letter. If attendance does not come into compliance, they may be dismissed from school.

If your child is ill, on vacation, or will not be attending for family or personal reasons, please email your child’s Coordinator (elementary, MS, or HS) so that the Coordinator is aware of the absence in advance.

Intake Specialist.
After your child is enrolled, the Intake Specialist provides orientation and assessment and assigns your child’s grade placement and teacher(s). The Specialist will communicate with you during that process and work with you, your child, and the AoEO teacher to review individual aptitudes and needs, develop the individualized learning plan, and select curriculum or individual courses and programs within the AoEO-approved framework. The Specialist is available for continued consultation and assessment throughout the school year as needed.

AoEO Teacher.
As in traditional schools, the AoEO teacher is your child’s principal instructor and provides supervision and accountability while working with you as your child’s learning coach(es). The teacher directs individualized instruction, coordinates with parents, provides support, takes attendance, fosters student involvement, assesses learning, evaluates instruction, reports outcomes, and works with administration to ensure effective learning management and progress. Teachers are also available to provide one-on-one instruction and enjoy working with you.

Synchronous Master Teacher.
For courses delivered through synchronous instruction, the online instructor authorized by the course provider delivers primary, interactive (live) instruction. Synchronous instructors (such as publisher-authorized instructors or dual credit college professors) are specially qualified in the particular courses they teach.

Asynchronous Master Teacher.
Many AoEO-approved courses include asynchronous online or video instruction, meaning the lessons are pre-recorded and may be accessed on demand at any time (or in alternative formats if connectivity issues cannot be resolved). On-demand providers may use various instructional formats such as traditional classroom or studio-based settings. Asynchronous instruction works well within AoEO’s virtual system because AoEO teachers are familiar with the courses they oversee and provide guidance, accountability, and support. The instructors selected by the providers are experienced educators with expertise in the courses, subject matter, and grade levels they teach.

Learning Coach.
That is you—the parent. Your duties include organization (tracking assignments and maintaining project deadlines); creating and maintaining a learning space that is free of distractions and conducive to study; coordinating and assisting the AoEO teacher with learning activities including homework, tutoring, practice, and reinforcement; developing time management schedules; communicating with the AoEO teacher about assessment, progress, and comprehension; advocating for your child; encouraging engagement; and remaining actively involved.

You may participate in primary subject instruction to the extent approved by the AoEO team in conjunction with your student’s ILP. The ILP and instructional responsibilities may be reviewed and adjusted throughout the school year as appropriate. Either you or an AoEO teacher or team member may request review and possible adjustment if circumstances warrant.

The AoEO teachers are your child’s primary provider and resource for individualized instruction, learning, and growth. They conduct daily group instructional sessions, conduct supplemental individual or group teaching sessions throughout the week, provide feedback regarding submitted work and assessments, are available for individualized teaching and assistance on request, and generally supervise and support learning as contemplated in the ILP.

Instructional functions include:

• • • Conduct three to four (3 - 4) live instructional classes each week with ten sessions total available each week (daily morning and afternoon session, the number may vary by grade level and/or subject);
    • Coordinate, review and supervise synchronous and asynchronous master teacher instruction;
    • Send weekly newsletters to all families and students;
    • Connect individually with each student at least once every week via email, phone, text, or Google Meet;
    • Track student attendance;
    • Assign grades and providing feedback work submissions and assessments; and
    • Collaborate with parents on student progress or past due work submissions.

Supervisory and support functions include:

• • • Improve learning by planned instruction (make sure students are enrolled in appropriate courses, etc.),
    • Diagnose learning needs (if your student is struggling with a specific concept or skill – e.g., long division, etc.);
    • Prescribe content delivery through class activities (in addition to coursework, teachers host Zoom calls and other supplement activities);
    • Assess learning (reviewing test scores, grading, etc.);
    • Report outcomes to administrators and parents and responding to any questions; and
    • Evaluate instructional outcomes and effectiveness. (We’re here to help you!)

Basic requirements include:

• • • Communicate at least weekly with your child’s AoE Online teacher (this is significantly greater communication than the “once a year” or “once a semester” parent-teacher conferences in traditional brick-and-mortar schools);
    • Submit student coursework for younger students and monitor submissions for older students,
    • Provide organization, time management, and a structured environment conducive to learning,
    • Inform teachers or appropriate staff of any absences, needs, etc., and
    • Advocate for your child.

AoEO is a private school and is ultimately responsible for providing and controlling the basic “floor” requirements for delivery of instruction and learning. But there is no “ceiling” on how much you may be involved, and we welcome and encourage your participation in the learning process.

You will always be responsible for basic administrative tasks such as keeping your student on task with the curriculum scope and sequence, communicating with the AoEO teacher, recording and reporting attendance and learning activities, and uploading your student’s work for evaluation. You will also be responsible for “ordinary” parental support and involvement that would be typical if your child were enrolled in a traditional “brick and mortar” classroom.

However, the extent of your involvement with primary instruction as learning coach will depend on the collaborative decisions you make with the AoEO team when creating your student’s ILP. Individual student characteristics are critical when selecting the curriculum and mode(s) of primary instruction that best promote his or her success. AoEO’s innovative range of options for curricula and delivery of primary instruction are designed to achieve the best possible match for each student’s individual learning style, aptitude, age, interests, independence level, etc.

So generally, the more synchronous or asynchronous primary instruction provided by AoEO teacher(s) in the ILP, the less you will need to be involved. The greater your own involvement with primary instruction, the greater your time commitment. Again, the overall ILP design and the extent of your role as learning coach will be collaborative decisions made during the intake process, and may be revisited and adjusted throughout the year as appropriate.

AoEO teachers will provide specific instructions at a beginning-of-year conference. Basic requirements include:

• • • Check AoEO school email daily for announcements, updates, and teacher communications;
    • Attend regularly scheduled check-ins;
    • Communicate individually with the AoEO teacher to provide work progress at least once per week (meetings are one-on-one in addition to live class attendance and work submissions);
    • Submit all assessments and work products as directed by AoEO teacher in the individualized learning plan and at check-ins; and
    • Achieve coursework completion benchmarks set by the AoEO teacher.

Like other traditional educational programs and the Wisconsin statutes that govern them, AoEO’s foundational core curricula reflect the “Carnegie unit,” a concept developed by the  Andrew Carnegie Foundation in the early 20^th Century in an effort to provide uniform standards for structuring educational content and measuring outcomes.

Perhaps reflecting the extraordinary economic achievements of Carnegie and other 19^th and early 20^th century industrialists who conceived of workers more or less as mechanical components in mass production processes (Charlie Chaplin’s famous Modern Times), a “Carnegie unit” was basically the unit of educational “content” in a particular subject that its developers conceived should be customarily taught to “average” students of a particular age in class periods of 40 - 50 minutes per day over a 170 - 180 day school year – approximately 120 hours of “seat time.”

Current state statutes and regulations still reflect that “seat time” concept, requiring public and private choice schools to provide at least 1,050 hours of “direct pupil instruction” in grades 1 - 6, and at least 1,137 hours of “direct pupil instruction” in grades 7 - 12. Enacted in the 1970s and 80’s, those statutes reflect conceptions of education from the late 19^th Century much more than from the late 20^th Century, and are essentially meaningless amid the 21^st Century explosion of technology, complexity, specialization, and communications and media channels.

Obviously, those statutory “seat time” standards don’t reflect individual student aptitudes or interests, nor do they explain what “direct pupil instruction” might consist of. For example, “direct” instruction is not limited only to teachers talking directly to student because the public school regulation itself provides that hours of instruction “include recess and time for pupils to transfer between classes, but do not include the lunch period.”

The more recent virtual public charter school statute was enacted in 2008 after extended litigation established that DPI did not have standards defining “direct” instruction, had no data measuring how much of it took place in schools and, in fact, had never even attempted to define it or study how much of it there might be. The 2008 statute simply provides that public virtual schools must “ensure that its teachers are available to provide direct pupil instruction” for the 1,050 hours in grades 1 - 6 and the 1,137 hours in grades 7 - 12.

The Carnegie Foundation itself has led in recognizing that the early “seat time” conception of Carnegie units is ill-suited to the 21^st Century. Its 2015 report states that “policymakers, philanthropic organizations, and educators themselves” wish to “promote deeper learning among a wider range of students” and are “pressing for educational models” that are “defined by learning outcomes, not ‘seat-time’ requirements.” Those leaders recognize that in light of “new insights into student learning, advances in technology, and . . . escalating costs,” the new models seek to make education “more effective, more equitable, and more efficient.”

AoE Online provides one kind of innovative “new model” that the Foundation describes. It combines the best of traditional curricular structure and content with a range of models for delivering primary instruction that families can choose based on individual learning styles, capabilities and interests. AoEO’s pre-approved curricula provide traditional content in the arts and sciences that is the common grounding for successful American citizenship whether or not a student is college-bound, but its range of options for primary instruction and rates of learning provide individualization and flexibility that give each student and family the best chance for success in mastering those core capabilities and knowledge.

Generally, parents submit the student’s work to AoEO teachers or ensure that students do so. Teachers are responsible for assessing the work and assigning and reporting grades to AoEO administration.

At the beginning-of-year conference, AoEO teachers discuss with you a plan and schedule for course completion that becomes part of your student’s ILP and provides specific requirements for work and assessment submissions. The schedule and your student’s progress through it will be reviewed at check-ins. Contact your student’s teacher(s) with any questions regarding work submissions.

Work Submission Requirements by Grade Level:

• Elementary and Middle School (MS): One (1) assessment per core subject per month must be submitted.

• High School (HS): One (1) weekly work sample per core subject must be submitted each week, in addition to one (1) assessment per core subject per month.

These required submissions ensure accountability, appropriate pacing, and accurate academic evaluation.

Using your child’s iPad or other device, you (or your child) can easily photograph assessments and work samples and submit them through the Google Classroom portal. This process may feel overwhelming if you have multiple children enrolled in AoEO, so please reach out — we are happy to help.

In addition to the daily synchronous instructional sessions, check-ins, etc., families should be in direct contact with AoEO teachers and personnel at least weekly. If you are planning a vacation or other hiatus in regular school activity, please let your teacher know so that the teacher and administration can plan accordingly.

Whenever possible, prior to the start of the school year, we personally deliver Welcome Kits (technology, AoE “swag,” and other goodies!) to your home or a mutually convenient location in your area. After that, we will be in touch by phone, computer, email, text, social media, whatever works best for you!