The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

A new trend in education is online learning. Students are able to “choice out” to different programs within the state. Predictions say in 10 years, 50 percent of education seeking students will be using online programs, or an alternate learning experience (ALE). This will be a change in the appearance of the educational process.

Wahkiakum School District Superintendent Bob Garrett said whether or not the district is in favor of it, other districts are establishing programs. They usually get started by the supporters saying there needs to be an alternative program for dropouts.

There is good reason for this program, he continued. For whatever reason the kids that are dropping out aren’t finding success in a traditional school setting; this program allows those who choose to come back and try again to earn their diploma.

Districts that refuse to accept the fact that online education is a growing trend and is here to stay run the risk of losing students.

“The reality is, there is nothing we can do to stop it,” Garrett said. “If a student walks into the office and says, ‘here is my choice form, I am going to go to the ‘achieve online program,’” there is nothing that can be done. Students can choose an online program from almost any district in the state.

Garrett said it is his hope that those teachers receiving a reduction in force (RIF) could do some of the instructing. The businesses that create the online programs hire teachers, who can be located anywhere.“It’s not only finding a way to develop more revenue for the school district, it is also a way to keep more people employed,” he said.

In order to get the information about the alternative program out to the public, Garrett said the district needs to get its website up and running. Unfortunately, the student who initiated the website has moved out of district. Garrett said he would be contacting someone to work on the website.

A few students registered at Wahkiakum are trying the online program to see how well it works. Garrett said the nice thing about it is this district doesn’t lose any money because the students didn’t go elsewhere to try the program. The students that are using the ALE’s will be able to provide feedback as to what works and what doesn’t so things can be improved and draw in students statewide.

There are a multitude of reasons a student may want to go into an online program, Garrett said. Some may have issues with the pace of the classroom curriculum, but online, they are able to go at their own pace.

The Wahkiakum School District contracts with OdysseyWare to provide the online programs. The school has been using the option of online learning for the last several years as part of the credit recovery program.

The school has to pay around $600 for each workstation; there are only five stations available at one time. So if the kids all wanted to get online at 10 p.m., someone would likely be bumped off.

“As the program grows, we do imagine we will have to buy more workstation seat positions,” Garrett said.

A drawback of the ALE program is if the student was allowed to do everything online, like testing, it would be nearly impossible to tell if it was the student doing the work. Local students are required to return to the school for testing purposes, Garrett said.

Wahkiakum High School Principal Loren Davis said another benefit to ALE is many elective programs are offered that aren’t available in a traditional school setting. It also paves the way for more individualized learning, especially as class sizes grow.

Garrett said the district's administrative staffing level make it difficult to produce an ALE program. He said he believes it to be in the district's best interest to find a way to operate the program by reducing the high school principal salary and combining it with a part time position that will oversee the ALE program.

While it won’t save a lot of money, Garrett said, the hope is the program can be marketed well to capture local students and attract others from around the state.