Alternative Learning Experience Programs

File: IGBI-R:

The following procedures shall apply to alternative learning experience programs.

Written Plan Requirements

Every student enrolled in the program shall have a written student learning plan that is developed by a certificated teacher that defines the requirements of an individual student's alternative learning experience. The written student learning plan must include at least the following elements:

    1. A schedule of the duration of the alternative learning experience, including beginning and ending dates;
    2. An estimate by a certificated teacher of the average number of hours per week the student will engage in learning activities to meet the requirements of the written student learning plan. This estimate must consider only the time the student will engage in learning activities necessary to accomplish the learning goals and performance objectives specified in the written student learning plan;
    3. A description of how weekly direct personal contact requirements will be fulfilled; "Direct personal contact" means a one-to-one meeting between a certificated teacher and the student, or, where appropriate, between the certificated teacher, the student, and the student's parent. Direct personal contact can be accomplished in person or through the use of telephone, e-mail, instant messaging, interactive video communication, or other means of digital communication. Direct personal contact must be for the purposes of instruction, review of assignments, testing, evaluation of student progress, or other learning activities or requirements identified in the written student learning plan, and must at minimum include a two-way exchange of information between a certificated teacher and the student. All required direct personal contact must be documented;
    4. A description of each alternative learning experience course included as part of the learning plan, including specific learning goals, performance objectives, and learning activities for each course, written in a manner that facilitates monthly evaluation of student progress. This requirement may be met through the use of individual course syllabi or other similarly detailed descriptions of learning requirements. The description must clearly identify the requirements a student must meet to successfully complete the course or program. Courses must be identified using course names, codes, and designators specified in the most recent Comprehensive Education Data and Research System data manual published by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction;
    5. Identification of the certificated teacher responsible for each course included as part of the plan;
    6. Identification of all instructional materials that will be used to complete the learning plan;
    7. A description of the timelines and methods for evaluating student progress toward the learning goals and performance objectives specified in the learning plan; and
    8. Identification of whether each alternative learning experience course meets one or more of the state essential academic learning requirements or grade-level expectations and any other academic goals, objectives, and learning requirements defined by the school district. For each high school alternative learning experience course, the written student learning plan must specify whether the course meets state and district graduation requirements.

Enrollment Reporting Requirements

Effective the 2011-12 school year, the full-time equivalency of students enrolled in an alternative learning experience must be determined as follows:

The school district must use the definition of full-time equivalent student in WAC 392-121-122 and the number of hours the student is expected to engage in learning activities as follows:

    1. On the first enrollment count date on or after the start date specified in the written student learning plan, subject to documented evidence of student participation as required by WAC 392-121-106(4), the student's full-time equivalent must be based on the estimated average weekly hours of learning activity described in the student's written student learning plan.
    2. On any subsequent monthly count date, the student's full-time equivalent must be based on the estimated average weekly hours of learning activity described in the written student learning plan if:
      1. The student's progress evaluation pursuant to subsection (4)(c) of this section indicates satisfactory progress; or
      2. The student's prior month progress evaluation pursuant to subsection (4)(c) of this section indicates a lack of satisfactory progress, and an intervention plan designed to improve student progress has been developed, documented, and implemented within five school days of the date of the prior month's progress evaluation.
    3. On any subsequent monthly count date if an intervention plan has not been developed, documented, and implemented within five days of the prior month's progress evaluation, the student's full-time equivalent must not be included by the school district in that month's enrollment count. Enrollment of part-time students is subject to the provisions of RCW 28A.150.350, and generates a pro rata share of full-time funding.
    4. The enrollment count must exclude students meeting the definition of enrollment exclusions in WAC 392-121-108 or students who have not had direct personal contact with a certificated teacher for twenty consecutive school days. Any such student must not be counted as an enrolled student until the student has met with a certificated teacher and resumed participation in their alternative learning experience or is participating in another course of study as defined in WAC 392‑121‑107;
    5. The enrollment count must exclude students who are not residents of Washington state as defined by WAC 392-137-115;
    6. The enrollment count must exclude students who as of the enrollment count date have completed the requirements of the written student learning plan prior to ending date specified in the plan and who have not had a new written student learning plan established with a new beginning and ending date that encompasses the count date.

Documentation

The district will keep on file in the appropriate school building, and have available for audit, documentation of all hours of learning activities used to determine the student’s FTE including the following:

    1. For students in grades K-8, written statements from the student’s parent(s) or guardian or other person designated by the written plan. These statements shall be submitted monthly, or more often at the discretion of the district staff, and shall list those hours that the student has engaged in planned learning activities while not in the presence of district staff. Reported hours shall be used to determine the FTE of the student;
    2. For students in grades 9-12, the student, and/or the student’s parent(s) or guardian, or other person designated by the written plan, written statements on a monthly basis, or more often at the discretion of the district staff. Such statements shall list those hours that the student has engaged in planned learning activities while not in the presence of district staff. Reported hours shall be used to determine the FTE of the student.
    1. The district of the student's physical residence, and shall establish procedures that address, at a minimum, the coordination of student counting for state funding so that no student is counted for more than one full-time equivalent in the aggregate including, but not limited to:
      1. When a resident district and one or more nonresident district(s) will each be claiming basic education funding for a student in the same month or months, the districts shall execute a written agreement that at minimum identifies the maximum aggregate basic education funding each district may claim for the duration of the agreement. A nonresident district may not claim funding for a student until after the effective date of the agreement
      2. When a district is providing alternative learning experiences to nonresident students under the school choice enrollment provisions of RCW 28A.225.200 through 28A.225.230 and WAC 392-137, the district may not claim funding for the student until after the release date documented by the resident district.

Approved:
09/02/97

Revised:
08/09/10
07/30/12

Student raises hand while teacher talks to class