(a) The department shall, in cooperation with school districts, establish a virtual education consortium for the purpose of making virtual education and professional development resources available to students and teachers in the state. The department shall establish standards for consortium resources. The consortium shall create and maintain a database of virtual education courses for students, training in virtual instruction for teachers, and professional development courses for teachers of students throughout the state if the coursework curriculum meets the state standards established by the department. The database must be accessible to all school districts that participate in the consortium.
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Terms Used In Alaska Statutes 14.30.800

  • department: means the Department of Education and Early Development. See Alaska Statutes 14.60.010
  • state: means the State of Alaska unless applied to the different parts of the United States and in the latter case it includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
(b) For teachers delivering or facilitating virtual coursework to students through the consortium database, the consortium shall provide training and professional development on virtual instruction methods and the differences between virtual instruction and instruction offered in a classroom. A teacher may not provide instruction through a course for students that is in the database unless

(1) the teacher has completed the training or professional development provided by the consortium; or
(2) the consortium determines that the teacher’s previous experience has prepared the teacher to provide virtual instruction and the teacher demonstrates the skills necessary to provide virtual instruction.
(c) The consortium shall employ a reading specialist available to school districts to provide virtual intensive reading intervention services. The duties of the reading specialist include

(1) modeling effective instructional strategies for teachers by working regularly with students as a class, in small groups, or individually;
(2) coaching and mentoring teachers and staff in reading instruction with an emphasis on prioritizing time in a manner that has the greatest positive effects on student achievement;
(3) training teachers in data analysis and using data to differentiate instruction;
(4) leading and supporting reading leadership teams; and
(5) reporting on school and student performance to the department.
(d) The department may require a school district that participates in the consortium to pay a fee to the consortium. If the department requires a fee, the department shall establish the fee in regulations, based on a recommendation made by the consortium, and may adjust the fee annually as necessary. The fees must approximately equal the consortium’s prorated administrative costs related to reviewing and approving courses and maintaining the database.
(e) A school district that provides a course included in the database may charge a fee to the school district in which a student who takes the course is enrolled. The department shall establish the fee in regulations.
(f) The consortium may require, as a condition of participation, that school districts that provide courses or have students participating in courses included in the database under (a) of this section adopt the same school term and class schedule for all or part of a school day. The school term must meet the requirements of Alaska Stat. § 14.03.030.
(g) In this section, “virtual education” or “virtual instruction” means instruction delivered through telecommunications or another digital or electronic method.
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