AESS
Guide
Introduction
This AESS guide has been created to assist an ES in understanding the
different options available to our students and the additional ES duties required
by contract with this option for additional ES pay. While going through the
guide, it is helpful to have a generic copy of the AESS forms (A and B or C)for
referral, but the copy printed from ES WEBfiles must be used when completing
the contract with a parent.
This guide is
divided into three sections. The first section gives an overview of the
different options involved in AESS and the responsibilities of both the parents
and the ES in each option. The second section is a guide to help you get
started meeting with your students as well as the required job responsibilities
in working with the AESS students. The third section has helpful tips and
optional forms you can use in working with your AESS students.
This guide
contains helpful information/form suggestions that may be useful in working
with any of your students, not just those who have chosen the instructional
funds AESS service option.
Overview
There are three options of ES involvement (AESS A, B, or C). When
signing up students for AESS, the ES, parent and student must determine which
option would work best for the student/family. Each option requires additional
funds from the IF (instructional fund) budget to fund their chosen option. The
more involvement the ES has, the more funding deducted from their IF
(instructional funds) account. Late enrollees are limited each year to AESS
option C, and duties are chosen and agreed to by contract.
Option A
(There may be specific modifications to the information befow for
specific school programs using AESS A in their program. See your program
information for specifics that may be different than the typical AESS A listed
below.)
- Open to
all grade levels
- The ES
will meet with the student and parent face to face for at least 30 minutes
per week or 1 hour every other week (This time is in addition to the time
spent for the LR meeting). This meeting time may be spent evaluating
student work, giving instruction, consulting with parents, observing
student activities, explaining assignments, etc. Choosing to meet once a
week or every other week should be decided in consultation with the parent
based on the student’s needs.
- In option
A, the parent must be present at all meetings.
- The
parent can ask for assistance from the ES in choosing curriculum, if the
parent wishes.
- The ES
will give written assignments for the student's daily work.
- The ES
will be available to give instruction during scheduled meetings or via
email or phone as needed (during his/her scheduled office hours that must
be posted on the General Info sheet).
- The
parent is primarily responsible for the grading of the student's work as
well as day to day teaching and evaluation of daily work. The ES will be
available to consult with the parent when needed in the evaluation of the
student's progress and assigning of grades.
- The ES
will review the student's progress with the student and parent at every
meeting.
- The ES
must have a mid-semester consultation with both the parent and student on
the student's progress.
- The
student signs in the AESS box once at the first AESS meeting and the form
is dated in the AESS box each time the ES visits. The parent must sign the
attendance form at the end of each LR period.
Option B
- Open to 7th
to 12th grade levels, as long as the student is capable of independent
work.
- The ES
meets with the student face to face for at least one hour per week. (This
time is in addition to the time spent for the LR meeting). This meeting
time may be spent evaluating student work, giving instruction, consulting
with parents, observing student activities, explaining assignments, etc.
- The ES
will hold meetings in a public location unless the parent agrees to be
present at the time of the meeting in their home.
- The ES
chooses the curriculum.
- The ES
gives written assignments for daily work.
- The ES
collects and evaluates daily work and grades tests and quizzes.
- The ES
will be available to give instruction during scheduled meetings or via
email or phone as needed (during his/her scheduled office hours).
- The ES
evaluates student's progress and assigns grades as needed.
- The ES
reviews student progress with the student at each meeting.
- The ES
will consult at mid- semester with the student on their progress.
- If the
parent is not involved in the meetings, the ES and student only sign the
Attendance form. The student signs in the AESS box once at the first AESS
meeting and the form is dated in the AESS box each time the ES visits. (Multiple
signature lines on the rollsheet are for more than one AESS student in the
family). The parent signature line is left blank, although the parent can
sign the rollsheet, if they are present at the meetings.
Option C
Option C is only chosen for students who enroll for 2nd
semester only. These are the options that may be chosen by contract between ES
and parent:
- Open to 9th
to 12th grade students only, as long as the student is capable of
independent work.
- Meet with
student face to face for at least one hour per week or two hours every
other week. (This time is in addition to the time spent for the LR
meeting). This meeting time may be spent evaluating student work, giving
instruction, consulting with parents, observing student activities, explaining
assignments, etc.
- Choose
curriculum
- Give
written assignments for daily work
- Collect
and evaluate daily work, grade quizzes and tests
- Give
instruction at scheduled meeting or via email or phone as needed. (The ES
may establish reasonable office hours for accepting calls.)
- Evaluate
student progress and assign grades as needed
- Review
student progress with student at every meeting
- Consult
at mid-semester with student on student's progress
- Student
may meet alone with ES only in a public location or Parent will be present
at all meetings held in the home
- Parent
will participate in choosing to start or terminate an AESS option for
their student
- Parent
may be involved and responsible for the day to day student work and day to
day teaching
Summary of Option Differences
Option A/B/C
- Parental
Involvement: More /Minimal/
Choice by contract
- Grades
Work: Parent Grades Work /ES
Does All the Grading/Choice by
contract
- Evaluates
Work: Parent/ ES/ Choice by contract
- Chooses
Curriculum: Parent /ES
Chooses Curriculum/Choice by
contract
- ES
Assistance: All options can ask for ES Assistance during ES office hours.
- Each
ES, in all options A, B, or C, can decide whether to do the LR and turn in
the attendance sheet each visit, or only once within a 20 day time period.
Required
Job Responsibilities
Getting
Started
Before meeting with an AESS family, take the time to familiarize
yourself with some of the curriculum available for independent study students.
For example, some vendors who have materials geared toward Independent Study
students are: Starline, AGS, Globe Fearon, Steck Vaughn, Division of
Independent Study (North Dakota),
University of Nebraska/Lincoln Independent Study High School, Wieser, etc.
There are also wonderful and inexpensive online vendors available such as: ALEKS
and Brain X. You can find further information about the vendors listed as well
as additional vendors on the approved vendor list.
Before going to the home, have some generic curriculum and assignments
ready for the student to work on while they wait for their curriculum to
arrive. Some suggestions can be found on the Curriculum webpage under Curriculum ideas for newly
enrolled students and in the “Free internet educational website links by grade level” section.
At the first meeting
Complete the following:
- Additional
ES Service Contract with selected option indicated. This form
is in ES WEBfiles, view/active students, then click on the student detail
link.
- Review
responsibilities of the chosen option with parent/student
- Discuss
student's plans after High School (using the GRA form) and review prior
transcript to selecting courses and curriculum.
- Review the
courses that will be required to graduate per the student's desired course
of study
- Determine
what courses the student will take for the current semester.
- Make
recommendations of curriculum appropriate to the student's course of
study. Discuss what work could be required in each course to determine
what to require for that individual student.
- Determine
the student's learning style using one of the various assessment tools
such as PLS (Performance Learning Systems).
- Collect
all contact info for the student
- Explain
truancy and its consequences for the student
- Schedule
the SCANTRON assessments to help determine appropriate curriculum
Leave the student with assignments and your next meeting date, along
with your contact info.
After the first meeting
Once educational materials are received, determine how many credits
the book or workbook are worth (keep in mind 15 hours = approximately 1 credit;
a typical years textbook is worth 10 credits; a typical ˝ year course is worth
5 credits, etc.).
Once you determine how many credits each book is worth, create a plan
for the semester. List each class the student is taking and then next to each
class, list the work the student will be required to do in order to receive grades
and credits. Estimate when the student should complete the text, and how much
should be completed each week. Determine
additional appropriate assignments based on your initial discussion with the
student.
At your next meeting with the parent/student, go over the classes for
the semester, the books/ workbooks he/she will be using and what will be
required in order for them to receive full credit. Also, determine how grades
will be assigned. Have the student, parent and yourself sign this
"semester plan" you have created for the student.
Once you have determined the semester plan, break the requirements
down into monthly or weekly assignments sheets that you can give to your
students (see sample forms in Helpful Organization
Forms (Optional) or create your own).
Your weekly/bi-weekly meetings may occur in the student's home only if
a parent/guardian/caregiver is present. If a responsible adult will not be
present at the meeting, the meeting must occur in a public place (library,
restaurant, etc.). The parent and ES will work together to determine a suitable
location for the meetings.
Helpful Suggestions
- Make a
photocopy of all the table of contents before you give students their
books. Using the table of contents will help when you are working on their
learning records
- Review
Scantron scores to determine appropriate curriculum
- Examples
of curriculum to use-
v
For the "Foundation" (Basic) course of
study students could be using workbooks from Starline, Steck Vaughn, AGS, Wieser
or any other "high interest catalog".
v
For the "General" course of study a
student could order books and study guides from any regular school curriculum
catalog, Starline, or online curriculum such as ALEKS or Brain X.
v
For "College Bound" students make sure
to select books found in the A-G book listing (after the school is a WASC
candidate).
- If a
student is having difficulty staying motivated, enlist the parents to help
with creating an appropriate incentive program.
- While
planning the student's course of study, things you may want to address are
test preparation, study skills and developing job skills.
- ES's who
work with AESS students should watch for opportunities to learn how to
better serve "at-risk" students, such as attending workshops or
reading books.
Example of a Semester Plan
(This example is for a student on a
"foundation" course of study):
Fall 200X Courses:
(5 credits) English 9A- Chapters 1-15 in AGS textbook
Read the novel Great Expectations and complete novel guide with
illustrations.
(5 credits) PE- Complete 5 hours each week of activity, keep a log of
the date of each activity, what the activity was and hour long you did the
activity. Project: Take at least 6 pictures of your self doing activities over
the course of the semester, and write a paper for each picture on what activity
you did, what you learned, and how you progressed over the semester.
(5 credits) World History- Complete entire World History Steck Vaughn workbook
Watch 5 videos on World History and write a one-page summary of each
video. Complete Map Skills Handouts
(5 credits) Math- ALEKS online class—complete ˝ of course
(5 credits) Earth Science- Complete chapters 1-15 in worktext. Write
out answer to all questions and complete all chapter tests. Take unit exams at
our meetings when ready. Select one project in the book to complete.
(5 credits)- Health- Complete online course.
(5 credits) Photography- take Vendor Course on PO-
must maintain positive attendance. At the end of a semester student must turn
in a 3-page paper explaining all he/she learned in photography, and provide all
coursework to the ES.
I agree that the above requirements need to be met in order to receive
full credit and a passing grades in all the above classes.
Date: ____________________
Student___________________________________________________
Parent____________________________________________________
ES_______________________________________________________