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Spring 2018 High School Credit Recovery Briefing

MTDA Microphone Graphic 600 Wide

Spring 2018 High School Credit Recovery Briefing
for
Counselors, Administrators and Site Facilitators

Are you new to the MTDA credit recovery program or have you not utilized credit recovery in more than a year?  Please contact our support desk to schedule a call to talk about the format and the requirements for support for local schools!

Notice to students and parents: This information is intended for distribution through districts and may contain details that do not apply to your local district’s program.  If you are interested in enrolling in courses with Montana Digital Academy, your first contact should be with the counseling department or administration of your local school to discuss what is available locally.

On November 13, 2017, we will open student enrollment for the Spring 2018 semester classes. We realize that this has been a rather confusing year with all of the budget uncertainty. How that will be resolved remains to be seen, as the legislature heads into a special session. MTDA remains a candidate for an additional cut, per the budget rules passed by the 2017 Legislature.

What we want to convey to all of the schools and students we serve is that in spite of the budget challenges we have been able to efficiently manage MTDA resources so that we are in a position to meet the needs of your students this spring. We continue to ask you to assist us in making the best use of MTDA resources by thoughtfully and deliberately enrolling students that you feel will be successful in online classes. While there still is uncertainty in what the near and/or long-term future will bring, with respect to budget cuts and funding levels, we do know that we will be able to manage the 2018 spring term to allow us to fulfill your enrollment needs.

Note: This information is accurate at the time of publication.  We will keep this page up to date with changes and announcements as necessary.

Program Details

Schedule

  • Please download a copy of our academic calendars now!  Click HERE.
  • Open enrollment for credit recovery orientation opens on November 13, 2017.  All enrollments on November 13 and after are considered Spring 2018 enrollments.
  • Deadline for Spring Enrollment: March 29, 2018 (students enrolled before this date will be expected to complete before the end of the Spring semester; after this day, all enrollments become Summer 2018 enrollments.)
  • Last day for Spring semester: May 25, 2018.
  • End of Extended Spring Semester (extended semester available by application only): June 8, 2018 (no extensions available after this date, no exceptions)

Orientation

  • All students new to the MTDA credit recovery program must complete the mandatory Orientation program.  The program is called “Credit Recovery Orientation” in GeniusSIS and must receive a “pass” to be able to enroll in content specific programs.  Once a student takes and completes the orientation, they do not need to complete it again.
  • The orientation program is approximately 2-3 hours of engagement time, dependent on student skill, reading level and motivation.  Students that do not complete orientation in a reasonable amount of time should be considered high need enrollments and provided additional direct support locally.

Registration

  • Please review our student registration page in the Site Facilitator handbook for information on data collection, entrance counseling, and student registration.  That page is here: link.

Program Information

  • Our course list for 2017-2018 is here: LINK.

Program Changes and Updates

  • MTDA’s resource limits demand that we more aggressively enforce our enrollment limitation policies for students that show a pattern of unsuccessful credit recovery courses.  Please contact MTDA support if you run into an enrollment restriction so we can discuss your plan for student success with students in this situation.

Online Training Available to Facilitators and Local Support Staff

In preparation for the upcoming semester, MTDA has created two self-paced orientation workshops to help Site Facilitators and Local Support staff understand their role and expectations in this program. We have partnered with OPI’s online learning network, The Learning Hub, to provide this training as well as the opportunity to receive renewal credit. To get started, navigate to the website HERE.  Choose either the Site Facilitator or Local Support Orientation.

End of Semester Information and Procedures

Please review this information carefully as our process has changed to facilitate focusing on active credit recovery students at the end of the semester.

The Spring 2018 High School Credit Recovery program ends on May 25, 2018. Please view the steps below for local support and/or site facilitators to help MTDA close out the semester.

First, if you have any student enrolled in a credit recovery course that is no longer attending school, inactive, or otherwise not going to finish up, please put in a drop request for those students as soon as possible. This action helps the MTDA staff focus our attention on students that are active and attempting to finish up the course.

Second, if you have a student that is active and needs extra time to complete the course, you may request an extension on May 28, 2018.  The extension request is due to us on May 30, 2018. Click below to access the form:

Spring 2018 Credit Recovery Extension Form

Please be mindful when utilizing requests.  As there are just two weeks left, the two-week extension is designed for students that are on track to finish with less than a module to complete.  We will not check a student’s progress before granting the extension, but, ask you be in communication with your local student.

Note: All extension requests are granted. However, you must request the extension by May 30, 2018, at 5 pm. Otherwise, enrollments will be dropped. Again, this helps our staff focus on active enrollments in active programs.

The final late-finish deadline for courses is Friday, June 8, 2018 at 5pm.  There is no extension available beyond this date.

Third, please note that a student must complete the entire course to qualify for credit. MTDA teachers or support staff are not able to excuse assignments due to pending deadlines.

Questions?

If you have any questions, PLEASE don’t hesitate to contact the help desk, support@montanadigitalacademy.org, or, contact our office via phone, 406-203-1812.  We want to help you implement this in your school!