But alternatives for districts themselves are popping up. School superintendents and their administrative colleagues from around the region heard about one — Virtual Learning Network Partners (VLN) — at The Consortium for Public Education’s March 26th district leadership meeting.

Also on the agenda was an overview of a new approach to curriculum, instruction and assessment that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) created; and a presentation about Skills for Life and the LifeSkills Training curriculum for promoting healthy lifestyles that the Consortium offers schools in cooperation with Tobacco Free Allegheny.

VLN helps schools adapt their own curricula for online use and make it available over the Internet. By doing so, the company enables districts to offset funding losses and “eliminate the remediation challenge” that often exists when students return to their bricks-and-mortar schools, said Dr. Alex Stone, who founded VLN about two years ago. The company piloted its technology in Charleroi School District and has since rolled it out to a dozen others. Dr. Stone noted that his company also aims to help districts broaden their academic offerings with a menu of additional courses so that even students in conventional classrooms can study subjects not taught in their districts.

Along with Dr. Stone, Dr. Paul Rach, a former Yough School District superintendent and Distinguished Educator, briefed the group on creating Standards Aligned Systems (SAS) consistent with goals PDE has established and Cindy Thomas, Executive Director of Tobacco Free Allegheny, discussed the important role healthy habits play in student achievement.

Dr. Rach told attendees that PDE’s SAS approach is best viewed as a “common framework for continuous improvement” in schools and districts. It emphasizes core ideas and concepts that all kids should master in key subject areas.

Ms. Thomas said that although the incidence of smoking has declined, it remains a significant problem, particularly among youth. She also noted that nicotine has effects on the adolescent brain that should make it a concern for all schools.

In addition to hearing presentations, attendees took some time to familiarize each other with Consortium programs in which their schools participate. With color-coded circles on nametags showing their districts’ current choices, the administrators were able to identify peers who could fill them in on ones their schools might like to add.

The district leaders also provided the Consortium with feedback on ideas for future partnerships and discussions. Among their top priorities were:

• Student achievement
• Using data for improvement in student achievement and for other benchmarking
• Standards and/or using the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Standards Aligned Systems model and working together as districts on best practices for implementation
• Recognizing and connecting to local resources
• Sharing best instructional and/or administrative practices
• Building social capital and community engagement