Course Provider Caveats

In an effort to highlight some "must know" facts and features about our various course providers, we've compiled them here for you.

If you have additional provider caveats you think should be shared with your Course Support peers, or if you would like to participate in a provider-specific Course Support orientation, please contact Leslie St. Pierre, Online Courses Manager, at Leslie.StPierre@k12.wa.us.

Apex Learning

  • Auto withdrawal policy:
    Teacher/Mentors of any student not actively participating in their online course in the last 21 days will receive an auto-email from Apex Learning prompting intervention from the mentor to get the student back on track. If the inactive student does not participate in the online course within 7 days of the receipt of that email, s/he will automatically be withdrawn from the course.
  • Books:
    Apex orders materials opted for purchase by the DLD Registrar upon receipt of registration; materials are sent to the Teacher/Mentor's attention at the school.
  • Course Support roles:
    Typically, Apex asks schools to designate a school Site Coordinator in addition to a Mentor for each subject your students are enrolled in. The DLD has designated Registrars as site coordinators; Teacher/Mentors are assigned to students by the Registrar just like in other courses.
  • Grades and progress information:
    Apex's mentor logins give Teacher/Mentors and Site Coordinators access to grades and progress information.
    • Although Teacher/Mentors have access to enrollment and grade info for any students taking an online class that falls in the same subject area as the Teacher/Mentor's assigned students, it's only necessary for Teacher/Mentors to access information about students who are assigned to them.
    • Site Coordinators are able to view grade and progress information for all of the school's students.
  • Registration confirmations:
    Apex emails your students their account information, including login and start-up instructions; Teacher/Mentors and Site Coordinators receive separate emails that include Mentor and Coordinator login information which provides access to student account info within the Apex system.
  • Science labs:
    Labs are a required part of all AP science courses (in accordance with the College Board's guidelines). Most online AP courses offer students the choice between conducting hands-on lab experiments in the high school science lab or completing dry/virtual labs. Some colleges will only grant credit to students who have completed the hands-on labs and may require a completed lab manual as proof of actual lab experiments. Contact the college(s) for complete credit requirements. For all science courses that include activities to be done in a laboratory setting, Apex Learning requires that students do these activities online in a laboratory setting while supervised by a staff person qualified to supervise laboratory activities. To find out more about the labs and lab materials go to http://support.apexlearning.com, choose the product you are using and click on Get Started, then on Course and Lab Materials.
    • Comprehensive and Essentials science students conduct experiments in the high school lab and at home. School personnel must supervise the labs at school, and students should follow all normal safety precautions for the at-home labs (no adult supervision required). For a list of required lab materials and equipment, go to http://support.apexlearning.com, choose the product you are using and click on Get Started, then on Course and Lab Materials.
    • If a school is unable to provide the required lab access and supervision, the lab requirements can be waived; however, it is at the discretion of the college with whom the student requests Advanced Placement to accept or reject the AP credit.

Aventa Learning

  • Books:
    Aventa orders materials opted for purchase by the Registrar upon receipt of registration; materials are sent to the Teacher/Mentor's attention at the school.
  • Exam proctoring:
    In order to maintain the integrity and security of their credit recovery courses, Aventa has added passwords to ALL unit and final exams. Aventa course instructors will NOT give the password to the student. Teachers will give the password only to the Teacher/Mentor. Teachers will email the passwords to each mentor as students enroll. However, if mentors do not receive an email in time for a student to begin an exam, email the course instructor to request it.
  • Grades and progress information:
    In addition to emailing Teacher/Mentors with access to a course observer feature and online grade tracking system, Aventa Learning sends student progress reports to the student's assigned Teacher/Mentor, by email, every two weeks.
    • Teacher/Mentors have access to a resource center within Blackboard which contains all of the information needed by mentors to do your job. To access the resource center, go to www.aventalearning.com/login and use the following log in: Username – mentor; Password – mentor.
    • Registration confirmations:
      Aventa emails students their account information, including login and start-up instructions; Teacher/Mentors receive a copy of those welcome messages.

Internet Academy (IA)

  • Auto withdrawal policy: Any student failing to complete the required Internet Academy student orientation within the first two weeks will be put on notice to be automatically withdrawn by the Internet Academy for inactivity in their online course. Teacher/Mentors assigned to these students will receive an email from the Internet Academy, prompting intervention to keep the student enrolled in the course.
  • Books:
    IA courses generally link to required reading online, or require students to read materials readily accessible at local and school libraries. Neither the DLD nor IA orders these print materials for your students.
  • Course Support roles:
    Typically, IA does not work with Teacher/Mentors, communicating instead with students' parents; however, IA considers DLD Teacher/Mentors the primary adult contact for students. IA instructors often engage parents, though, when parent contact information is provided during the registration process.
  • Email:
    After students have retrieved their IA "welcome" email messages and login instructions from their DLD email accounts, all correspondence with IA teachers from students should take place through the internal email system within the IA learning platform (Angel LMS). Students continue to use their DLD email accounts to communicate with their assigned DLD Tutors.
  • Grades and progress information:
    IA will email the Teacher/Mentor instructions on setting up an Insight Account. The Insight account allow the Teacher/Mentor to track student progress giving access to the students current grades, log data, syllabi, and course content. Teacher/Mentors may add additional students to their Insight account provided the Teacher/Mentor has the student's IA User ID and originating passwords.
  • Registration confirmations:
    IA emails students their account information, including login and start-up instructions; a copy of this email is sent to the Teacher/Mentor and parents.

Spokane Virtual Learning (SVL)

  • Books: SVL courses generally link to required reading online, or require students to read materials readily accessible at local and school libraries. Neither the DLD nor SVL orders these print materials for your students.
  • Grades and progress information: SVL sends student progress reports to the student's assigned Teacher/Mentor, by email, every two weeks.
  • Registration confirmations: SVL emails students their account information, including login and start-up instructions; Teacher/Mentors receive a copy of those welcome messages.

VHS

  • Books:
    Required books and materials are sent to the VHS-eligible Teacher/Mentor at the school one week after the course start date. Books can be tracked via the VHS media tracking system on the VHS website.
  • Course Support roles:
    Once Teacher/Mentors have successfully completed the VHS Course Support Training and have signed the VHS participant agreement, they are given VHS login credentials and activated in the VHS system.
  • Grades and progress information:
    Student grades and progress information can be accessed via the VHS online grading system on the VHS faculty website.
  • Registration confirmations:
    VHS does not send registration confirmations and login information to the students. This information can be located within the DLD registration system in the registration roster under "Existing Registrations." Registrars should email VHS login and start date information to students' DLD email accounts upon registration.