Impact Report
Hoosier Academy
NEW APPROACH SPURS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH FOR STUDENTS
At any school, attendance and engagement are critical to student success. At the two online and blended schools K12 supports in Indiana, under the state-chartered Hoosier Academy, it was difficult for schools to measure and enforce attendance due to laws geared toward traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Once policies changed at the state level, leaders at the K12-powered schools developed and implemented new requirements to get students and parents on board with new, clear attendance policies and restructured instruction to improve outcomes. The new focus drove major gains among students.
To Improve Outcomes, School Leaders Identified the Following Objectives
Improving attendance and class participation
Using data to identify students in need of additional instruction
Deploying targeted individual and small-group instruction
Improving teacher effectiveness through professional development
“We individualize instruction for all students by understanding
where each student is academically, allowing success and then
together helping him/her achieve.”
—Julie Overholt, Deputy Vice President of School Services, Southern Region
(former Senior Director of Academic Services, North and Central Regions)
ATTENDANCE AND
ENGAGEMENT
To improve live attendance and engagement, Hoosier Academy implemented strict, school-wide policies from the start. By the end of the 2017–2018 school year, these policies increased live online synchronous session attendance.
TARGETED INSTRUCTION
AND USE OF DATA
Another key goal was to focus on small group instruction
based on skills and ability level.
ISTEP Passing Rates
Increase in Students Achieving Passing Grade
from 2016–2017 to 2017–2018
IMPACT OF THE CHANGE
As measured by MindPlay and Ascend
1.5
HOURS WEEKLY
Average time spent on MindPlay
and Ascend per student
152%
Average increase in attendance in live classroom instruction
1.1
Average grade level growth gained by all full-year students in English Language Arts
1.1
Average grade level growth gained by all full-year students in Math
