“The research and best practices guidance QM provides is invaluable. In addition to our own teaching practices, it gives us trusted guidance on how to ensure the highest possible quality in our online programming.”Tabitha A. Mancini, Director of Winston Online
As the profile of synchronous online learning continues to grow in K-12 schools, many QM members have begun to use QM Standards to guide their approach for this modality. One such organization is Winston Prep, a network of schools that serve learners with learning differences such as dyslexia, executive function challenges (ADHD) and more. Winston Prep offers in-person courses, as well as both synchronous and asynchronous online learning to more than 500 students across the United States. In order to serve these learners with quality online learning, the organization relies on QM’s quality assurance processes.
Most of the Winston Prep's core classes are offered synchronously online. “The online modality has given us the opportunity to offer flexibility to our students in scheduling and the types of programs we can offer, leverage assistive technologies, and deepen our ongoing, in-the-moment instruction around digital and media literacy, which is heavily infused into our programming,” says Tabitha A. Mancini, Director of Winston Online. Winston’s model is also highly responsive, utilizing a unique approach in which course content and delivery adapt fluidly to learner needs and preferences, with myriad opportunities for individual attention.
Winston uses the QM K-12 Rubric to make decisions about how these courses are designed and adapted to learners. “We highly value the rubrics provided by QM,” says Mancini. “They help us articulate our processes and maintain consistency with our procedures.” Even though the organization takes a unique, tailored approach to learning, the QM K-12 Rubric provides a strong backbone of quality. “The research and best practices guidance QM provides is invaluable,” she says. “In addition to our own teaching practices, it gives us trusted guidance on how to ensure the highest possible quality in our online programming.”
Interested in using QM to develop more individualized learning at your organization? Professional development sessions like Learning is Not a Spectator Sport: Make it Active, Applying Universal Design for Learning, and Synchronous Online Teaching can help you get started. Contact us today to discuss your options.
