Evaluation of the Star Schools Projects [This report has been divided into a number of separate web pages for browser-loading ease. You may view (and select) the contents by section title from the Contents, or click on the "Next" button at the bottom of each page.] Cycle Three Projects by Diane Manuel, SWRL In Cycle Three of the Stars Schools program, eight projects were funded. Five of the projects were previously funded in prior years. Two projects were funded for the first time in 1992. One of them, the Iowa project, was funded as a special statewide demonstration effort; therefore, it does not have partners from outside the state. Patterns and Trends Course Offerings. Much of the programming offered in the third cycle of Star Schools is supplemental middle school instruction. In the first two funding cycles, 50 percent of the course offerings were in high school mathematics, science, or foreign language. In contrast, the number of elementary and middle school courses in math and science has increased, with 30 percent of the programming currently targeted to the younger students. The number of high school classes in the areas of foreign language, science, mathematics, and advanced placement have decreased by at least half. During the 1993-94 academic year, only one project will offer math and science courses to high school students. The data on course offerings indicate a change in the focus of the Star Schools program in line with the change in language in the 1991 reauthorization. Originally, the program was designed to provide access to students, primarily in rural areas, unable to receive science and mathematics courses, including AP course. The second cycle of funding added a second focus to the original emphasis; providing urban students with access to enrichment opportunities that they would not normally have, both through student- oriented programs and activities designed to improve teaching. The reauthorization stimulated increased attention to "integrating programs into the class curriculum," which seems to have had the effect of increasing the number of supplemental offerings at the elementary and middle school levels. The Star Schools program includes few programs that integrate distance learning into high school class curricula. As the Star Schools program currently stands, enrichment opportunities for both rural and urban student are expanding, particularly in the areas of math and science at the elementary and middle school levels. The largest decrease in course offerings is the area of full course math and science at the high school level. During the first funding cycle, project primarily funded high school math, science, and foreign language courses. The full courses previously offered by projects included physics, chemistry, calculus, algebra II, probability and statistics, discrete math, and AP math and science. Only one project continues to offer these math and science courses through the Star Schools program. There were only one high school science course and one AP mathematics course offering during 1992-93. There are no high school science or AP math courses being offered during 1993-94 academic year. However, one newly funded project is providing supplemental math and science instruction at the high school level. There are two reasons for the decrease in high school math and science courses. First, of the Cycle Three projects, only two focus on high school instruction. When the Department of Education selected the Cycle Three projects for funding, the changed legislative emphasis tended to increase the number of projects with elementary or middle school programming. Six of the eight projects are designed to provide distance learning to elementary and middle school populations. Second, according to project staff members, it is easier to sustain elementary and middle school course enrollments than it is to maintain high school enrollments in science and mathematics courses. Only one project is providing such programs during the 1993-94 academic year. In contrast, enrollment in high school foreign language courses has been stable. The two projects offering foreign language courses have successfully provided foreign language instruction to thousands of high school students. The languages offered include Japanese, Russian, Spanish and Latin. At this stage of the study, only speculation about the reasons is possible. The survey included in Phase 2, particularly information gained from comparison schools about course taking patterns, will allow more fully developed interrelations. However, it may be that the decreased demand for high school level math and science reflects greater school capacity to offer such curses. An equally plausible, although contradictory explanation, is that there is a decline in the number of rural student interested in challenging course work in math and science. A third explanation may be that stand alone science and math courses have a higher per unit cost than other courses so it takes greater enrollment to sustain them. This issue will be explores during Phase 2. In addition to elementary and middle school math and science instruction, there has been an increase in the availability of vocational and learning skills courses. These courses are targeted to adults as well as middle grade and high school students. Consistent with he Star Schools Program Assistance Act goals to provide literacy skills and vocational education, the projects include such classes as General Equivalency Diploma (GED), English as a Second Language (ESL), and career/vocational instruction. One project has organized vocational and literacy skills classes through community groups and uses school facilities to provide instruction to parents and community leaders. These classes are often offered at untraditional times, such as early in the morning or early evening, thus giving people who work an opportunity to attend. Another project has expanded its community focus while using non-Star School program funds to supports its traditional offerings. Technology Use Cycle Three projects also expanded the types of technology being used. This expansion is most notable in the newly funded projects, but previously funded Star Schools projects are also adding new technologies. One new project uses electronic technology to provide supplemental math and science instruction to middle school students. The other new project relies on a fiber optics network. The more experienced projects have also added new technologies. One has adopted a compressed data transmission system to increase interaction between students and their distance learning teachers. Another plans to pilot test an electronic network to encourage teacher and student interaction. Finally, one project, which has always used multiple technologies, has added technologies particularly appropriate for reaching community groups. Star Schools Audiences and Partner Organizations. In Cycle Three, projects not only changed course offerings but also altered their partnership arrangements in order to serve community-based organizations and increase their focus on elementary and middle schools. New partners included additional states and school districts, community-based organizations, and broadcast television. One reason projects involved different types of partners from earlier cycles is that the audiences they targeted were also different. For example, one project, which had historically provided programs to urban areas, expanded to include rural locations. In contrast, another project, which had provided services mostly to rural areas, targeted an urban community. In the latter case, the project not only developed new partnerships but also added new programs, including ESL courses, to appeal to the new audiences. Star Schools projects formed partnerships with organizations that have equipment that enables them to reach additional audiences without engendering costs for satellite dishes and other equipment. Two projects formed new partnerships with cable television operators and public broadcasting stations. These partners serve as downlink sites and broadcast Star Schools courses and supplementary activities over a wide geographic area. Receiving sites need only cable access, not satellite dishes, to participate. Another project extended its audience through partnerships with community-based organizations. Although local schools remain the receiving sites, the project recruited community-based organizations to participate in instructional activities with an initial focus on parents of students participating in middle school program activities and community leaders. For the 1993-94 academic year, the projects plans to expand its program offerings to include modules and courses for adults, such as GED preparation and Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes, and recruit participants through community-based organizations. Also included in the target audience are religious school through the local archdiocese. The project reported difficulties in reaching and working with the community-based organization. Community agencies have different levels of familiarity with and commitment to the use of technology in meeting their objectives. Consequently, implementation was difficult. According to project staff members, they and the new community partners did not agree about which organization should be responsible for particular activities. Community agencies had different priorities from one another and the project. Project staff members found themselves cultivating relationships among educators, parents, district personnel, older people, and out-of-school youth. The skills required to create collaboration are very different from skills required to develop and produce distance learning instructional programs. As a result, project staff face great challenges in meeting the needs of new audiences. The process and relationship issues were exacerbated by the programming and equipment needs of the community-based agencies. In one project organizations requested community ESL and basic skills programs, which project staff was unable to develop until the 1993-94 academic year. Additionally, projects experienced problems in getting equipment installed and operational in a timely fashion. The installation and operation of equipment is an ongoing issue experienced by all projects, especially the two newly funded projects. When projects attempt to serve new audiences, the equipment problems have particularly negative effects because the newcomers expect activities and programs to be delivered as promised. When delays occur, the project loses credibility and has no historical relationship on which to draw to gain continued support. Even more important than equipment were the human resource networks, which played a pivotal role in the degree to which the projects were able to accomplish their objectives. Almost all projects experienced some difficulty in maintaining effective and productive relationships with partners who were responsible for broadcasting or distributing distance learning activities. The relationship problem is well illustrated by the limited ability of projects to provide exact course enrollment information. By analyzing project documents, we can estimate that at least 93,000 students received distance learning instruction through the Star Schools program during the 1992-93 school year. However, the majority of projects have difficulty in retrieving information about classroom participation and enrollment in each course. Most projects maintain contact at the school district level and provide few guidelines related to information gathering either to district administrators or to distance learning instructors. The lack of enrollment and participation information has potentially serious consequences for Star Schools projects. Keeping track of enrollment enables projects to assess their "market." That is, if projects had good enrollment tracking systems, they would have early warnings of changes in priorities among receiving sites. If they find enrollments in particular courses decreasing, as they did in high school mathematics and science, they can solicit input about the reasons for the decline. Armed with such knowledge, they might be able to adjust their programming to serve their markets better--and not be in the position of canceling courses. More positively, if projects include an ongoing needs assessment effort, they can develop new courses and lay the groundwork for work with new audiences so that when programs are offered, there will be fewer problems than encountered. General Star Schools Projects Funded During Cycles 1-3 PROJECT CYCLE 1 CYCLE 2 CYCLE 3 Black College Satellite Network (CETC & USEN) no yes yes Iowa Statewide Fiber Optic Project no yes yes Massachusetts Corporation for Educational Communications (MCET) no yes yes Midlands Consortium yes no no Pacific Northwest Educational Telecommunications Partnership (STEP/Star) no yes yes Satellite Educational Resources Consortium (SERC) yes no yes St. Lawrence Seaway Telecommunications Collaborative no no yes Technical Education Research Consortium (TERC) yes no no Telecommunications Education for Advances in Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) & Apollo no yes yes TI-IN United Star Network yes no no   References Drexler, N. G., & Kapitan, R. 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