Virtual Education Reporting and Funding: An Overview
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Enrollment and Completions
Students enrolled in virtual programs or courses offered by district virtual schools, virtual charter schools and Florida Virtual Schools (FLVS) are funded through the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). Funding is based on successful completions rather than enrollment and attendance (seat time). www.FLDOE.org
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Virtual Completions Defined
A ‘successful completion’ for virtual schools and programs is defined in terms of:
• Credit completions or
• Prescribed level of content that counts toward promotion. This means a student must: • Pass and/or earn credit for a course or • Master curriculum required for student progression to the next grade level. Students only generate funding for courses and curriculum they successfully complete whether they are promoted or not.
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Eligibility – S. 1002.455, F.S.
• District Virtual Instruction Program (VIP), full‐time virtual charter school, school district virtual course offering
• Enrolled & reported in October and February FTE surveys prior year
• Dependent child of a member of the United States Armed Forces who was transferred within the last 12 months to this state from another state or from a foreign country
• Enrolled during prior school year in a district VIP or full‐time FLVS
• Has sibling who is currently enrolled in a virtual instruction program and the sibling was enrolled in that program at the end of the prior school year
• Student is eligible to enter kindergarten or first grade
• Student is eligible to enter grades 2 through 5 and is enrolled full‐
time in a school district virtual instruction program, virtual charter school, or the FLVS
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Virtual Funding in the FEFP
• Districts and FLVS may report FTE for full‐time public virtual school students in all FEFP programs (Basic, ESE, Career Education and ESOL). This includes FEFP Programs 101‐103 (Basic), 111‐113 (Basic with ESE services), 254 and 255 (ESE), 130 (ESOL), and 300 (Career Education). • Funding for part‐time virtual students is limited to Basic and Career Education (FEFP Programs 101‐
103, 111‐113 and 300). www.FLDOE.org
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Estimated Virtual Full‐time Equivalent (FTE)
• During the school year, school districts, virtual charter schools and FLVS report enrollments which are used to estimate FTE during the year thereby allowing funds to flow throughout the year. • The FTE is trued‐up or adjusted following the reporting of performance for students at the end of the year. www.FLDOE.org
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FTE Surveys
• Students who were enrolled in district virtual instruction programs and virtual courses, virtual charter schools, district franchises of FLVS, FLVS PT (Flex) (grades K‐5) and FLVS FT are reported in the State Student Information Database in Surveys 1, 2, 3 and 4. • In Surveys 1, 2 and 3, students are reported with 0 FTE; however, the FTE is estimated based on this reporting. • The FTE generated by virtual students, based on successful completions, is reported in survey 4. • Students in FLVS PT (Flex) grades 6‐12 are reported in the survey (1, 2, 3 or 4) during which the student successfully completed the course or withdrew from the course.
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Reporting Completed Virtual Courses
• Students who complete a virtual course will be reported with the grade earned in the course (A‐F) in Survey 4. Students completing a virtual course with a grade of A‐D are considered successful completers and generate the appropriate FTE for the course. • Students who withdraw from or receive an F for a virtual course are unsuccessful completers and generate no funding. All virtual student successful and unsuccessful completions are reported in Survey 4. www.FLDOE.org
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Early Completion
• A student who completes a virtual course prior to the end of the school year can still generate funding for that course. • The FTE for the virtual course is reported in Survey 4 for funding through the FEFP
• The FTE is included in the limit of 1.0 FTE
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Non‐Completer Reporting
Virtual students who are enrolled during survey week in Surveys 2 and 3 and who have not yet completed a virtual course will be reported with a course status code of In Progress (IP) in the Course Grade field of the Student Course Schedule record format. www.FLDOE.org
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Reporting Withdrawn Virtual Courses
• Virtual students who were enrolled for more than 14 days and who did not complete a virtual course are reported with a WP (Withdraw Passing) or WF (Withdraw Failing) in the Course Grade Field of the Student Course Schedule format in Survey 4. These codes are used to indicate course status. Section 1003.437, F.S., defines grades of A‐F and I (Incomplete) only. Therefore, these course status codes should not be converted as such. The value of FTE is reported as 0.
• This reporting is solely for the purpose of calculating provider completion rates and does not impact funding
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Reported FTE Beyond Regular Term (180‐day)
• For a student who is enrolled in a virtual instruction program [schools 7001 (VIP private provider), 7023 (VIP district provider), 7004 (FLVS Franchise) or 7006 (District Virtual Course Offering)] or a virtual charter school, if the student is reported in Survey 2 or 3 and does not complete a virtual education course by the end of the regular school year, the course may be completed and reported no later than the amendment deadline for the final enrollment survey of the year (Survey 4).
• A student who has unsuccessfully completed a traditional or virtual instruction course during the regular school year and who must re‐take the course in order to be eligible to graduate with the student’s cohort may enroll in a virtual course offered by district‐provided virtual schools during the summer for credit recovery. Virtual charter schools may report FTE for their students who need to recover credits to graduate on time.
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Eligible FTE Beyond 180‐Day Term
• Students enrolled in Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and FLVS PT (Flex) programs may still be reported beyond the 180‐day school year.
• DJJ students generate FTE for successfully completed virtual courses during surveys 1 and 4. FTE generated is in addition to the 1.0 cap.
• Funding for DJJ and FLVS PT (Flex) students is not limited to credit recovery courses and courses not completed during the school year.
• FTE generated during surveys 1 and 4 by students who are not participating in DJJ summer programs is included in the 1.0 cap
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Course Credit Recovery or Completion
• Districts may only report FTE beyond the 180‐day school year for courses for credit recovery to graduate on time or to complete a virtual course taken during the school year.
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Maximum FTE/Recalibrated
• A student may be reported for greater than 1.0 FTE; however, the FTE will be recalibrated to 1.0 for use in the calculation of FEFP funding. • The FTE from surveys 1, 2, 3, and 4, including FLVS are recalibrated to 1.0 FTE (for all students except DJJ students)
• DJJ students are recalibrated to 1.0 FTE using FTE from surveys 2 and 3
• FTE generated during surveys 1 and 4 for DJJ students is not included in the 1.0 FTE cap
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Additional FLVS Courses
• For FTE reported for district students who take additional courses outside of the school day from FLVS:
• FLVS will report FTE for students who enroll directly in FLVS courses and who are not taking FLVS courses under contract with the school district to be offered on the public school campus. • The FTE that is used in the FEFP funding formula for one student who is a full‐time student in a school district and who also receives instruction from FLVS or another district may not exceed 1.0 FTE. Therefore, the FTE that is reported for funding will be recalibrated to 1.0 for the student and the funding will be distributed in proportionate shares to the school district and FLVS. www.FLDOE.org
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Excess Courses
• If a virtual education student successfully completes more than six courses or the prescribed level of content that counts toward promotion, the FTE associated with all of the courses should be reported. • For a student in which the reported FTE exceeds 1.0, the department will recalibrate the FTE to 1.0. • For example, if a student successfully completes seven courses, each course would be reported for 1/6 FTE for a total of 7/6 FTE. The department will recalibrate the FTE to 1/7 FTE per course for 7/7 or 1.0 FTE.
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Course Mix
• If a student in grades K‐5 is enrolled in a school district VIP the first semester and enrolls in a district brick and mortar school the second semester, the district will receive: • FTE for the successful completions of courses or the prescribed level of content that counts toward promotion for the first semester and • Seat time funding for the second semester. • The student may not generate more than 1.0 FTE for the school year.
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District Transfers
• If a student in a district’s VIP moves to another district before successfully completing the virtual courses or prescribed level of content: • District must enter into an agreement with the other school district
• Student may remain enrolled in the first district’s VIP, and the first district will receive funding if the student successfully completes the prescribed level of content or courses. • Districts and FLVS FT must report district virtual students in all applicable student information database formats and report in all survey periods as other district students.
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Multiple District Reporting
• For individual courses that students take from different districts, the district of instruction reports the FTE and each applicable database format required for funding.
• The student’s FTE that is generated through both districts is included in the limit of 1.0 FTE per student
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Virtual Learning Labs (VLLS)
• For students reported who take a virtual course from a computer lab or classroom at their school as part of their school‐day schedule:
• The district will report the applicable student database format records for students taking virtual courses from computer labs under contract by the school for that purpose during a designated period of the school day. www.FLDOE.org
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Course Reporting
• Students taking courses directly from district virtual instruction programs, other districts or FLVS on an individual basis are reported by the virtual school of instruction. www.FLDOE.org
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Online & Blended Courses
• The funding, performance and accountability requirements for blended‐learning courses are the same as those for traditional courses. • A blended learning course is defined as one in which the student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path and/or pace at a supervised brick‐and‐mortar location away from home. • For students who take online or blended courses from outside providers offered by their traditional school, for example, for credit recovery labs, the traditional school will report the FTE for these students.
• Not required to meet the eligibility requirements in section 1002.455, F.S.
• Must be full‐time public school students enrolled at that school.
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Online & Blended Courses (cont.)
• A student location data element for students taking an online course from a computer lab or classroom in a district school is included in the Student Course Schedule Record Format to indicate if a student is taking an online course from a virtual school using district school facilities during the regular school day. This description of this data element is located at the following website: http://fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/12026/urlt/1516‐
197241.pdf
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Teacher Records
• Districts will submit the Teacher Course reporting format in the DOE Student Information System for all courses taught by teachers who are hired by contracted virtual providers rather than the school district teachers. • The Florida Educators Certificate Number assigned by the Certification Section of the Florida Department of Education must be included or the record will be rejected. • If virtual students participate in the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR) reading assessment, the district must report selected elements in the Staff Demographic reporting format in the Staff Information System for the responsible reading instructor in Survey 8.
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Contracts
• If the district contracts with an approved provider to operate its virtual instruction program, the FEFP funding will flow to the school district. The school district and provider will determine in their contract how much of the funding per student completion the provider will receive.
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Virtual Education Contribution
• Districts and the FLVS are guaranteed a minimum funding amount of $5,230 per FTE for 2015‐16 and 2016‐17
• Florida Education Finance Program components include:
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Base funding (FTE x program weight x District Cost Differential)
Revenue from 0.748 Discretionary Millage Levy
0.748 Millage Compression
Reading Allocation
Instructional Materials categorical
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Multi‐Course Student Information
• To ensure accurate reporting and funding for all courses taken by a student, school districts and FLVS must verify the necessary information to track the student across districts and schools. At minimum, all parties must verify the student’s legal name, birth date, grade level and ensure the use of a common student identifier. www.FLDOE.org
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Expenditure Requirement
• For districts that contract with approved providers for full‐
time virtual instruction services, section 1002.45, F.S., requires funding over the contract price to be spent on the implementation of the school district’s digital classrooms plan pursuant to Section 1011.62, F.S. www.FLDOE.org
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Provider School Numbers
School 7001 is reserved for provider‐operated virtual instruction programs (VIPs). District‐operated VIPs are to use school number 7023. Please contact the Education Information and Accountability office in the department if your district is operating a VIP to activate this number: http://doeweb‐
prd.doe.state.fl.us/EDS/MasterSchoolID/index.cfm.
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