Receiving Districts and Open Enrollment Charters Get Connected!
The TxVSN serves as a statewide course catalog for Texas public school districts and open enrollment charter schools. All courses offered through the TxVSN are provided by academically acceptable or higher school districts, recognized or higher open-enrollment charter schools, public or private institutions of higher education, or education service centers. All courses are led by an instructor that is Texas-certified in the course subject area and grade level and have completed a TxVSN approved professional development on effective online instruction.
Each course in the catalog is reviewed for alignment to the course TEKS and the North American Council for Online Learning National Standards of Quality for Online Courses. Once reviewed by TxVSN Course Review and approved by the Texas Education Agency, courses are added to the catalog. The catalog displays course description and objectives, associated technology specifications, schedule, assessments, costs, and other relevant data for each TxVSN provider’s courses. School personnel and students may review course options to select the course that best meets students’ needs.
Examine student and campus course needs
In anticipation of receiving courses through the TxVSN, a district or open enrollment charter school should examine its current or potential online course needs. Courses through the TxVSN may provide credit recovery or advancement for specific students, as well as, allow a district to expand local high school course offerings.
Equally important is a review of local policy related to online courses. For example, how many transfer credits are allowable for local high school students? How does an online course effect class rank for a student? How will TxVSN course availability be articulated to students? In some cases local policy may need to be revised or created specific to TxVSN online courses in order to maximize this option for students.
TxVSN Site Coordinator
Research indicates that having a local campus mentor for students taking online courses has a positive impact on student passing rate and overall success.
Each Receiver district or open enrollment charter school enrolling students in TxVSN courses should provide an individual employed by the school/organization to serve in the capacity of TxVSN Site Coordinator. The responsibility of the Site Coordinator is to advise and finalize enrollment, monitor student progress, proctor or arrange proctors for exams, and serve as a liaison between the student and online instructor. While it is not required that a professional counselor serve as the TxVSN Site Coordinator, counselors do have the knowledge and skills to effectively fulfill the role. It is possible to have a single district Site Coordinator, a Site Coordinator per campus, or multiple Site Coordinators per campus.
TxVSN Student Course Request (SCR).
The TxVSN Student Course Request serves the dual purpose of cataloguing online courses that students would like to take each semester as well as surveying students’ future online course interests. The completion of the SCR does not obligate the school or students to take an online course through the TxVSN, as only a Site Coordinator and Purchasing Approver can finalize a registration. However, the completion of SCR does assist the Texas Education Agency and the TxVSN Central Operations in long-term planning. District and open enrollment charter schools are strongly encouraged to have secondary students provide input via the SCR. In the event that students have course requirements that districts or open enrollment charter schools may need assistance in meeting, it is recommended that these students work with the designated Site Coordinator to complete the SCR.
Designate and register a district Purchasing Approver.
In order to purchase courses through the TxVSN, each district and open enrollment charter school should establish a TxVSN account with Central Operations at ESC Region 10. Establishing an authorized purchasing approver and preferred method of payment early on will expedite course purchase during peak registration periods. It is possible to have a single district central office purchasing approver or an approver per campus. It is recommended that central office and campus staff discuss which model works best with local purchasing procedures.
The purchasing approver plays a pivotal role in the enrollment process. Each time courses are purchased the TxVSN Purchasing Approver receives an email listing courses purchased, cost per course, as well as the associated campuses. The approver is prompted to approve or disapprove course purchase. If course purchase is approved, the approver enters payment information. When payment information is submitted course registration is finalized, an invoice is emailed to the approver, and the Site Coordinator and student are notified. If course purchase is disapproved, the course registration is cancelled and the Site Coordinator is notified.
TxVSN Receiving District or Open Enrollment Charter Agreement
The TxVSN Receiving District or Open Enrollment Charter Agreement outlines the roles and responsibilities of the receiving district, provider LEA, and the TxVSN. This agreement should be completed annually. While the agreement does not obligate a district or open enrollment charter school to take a course through the TxVSN, having a signed agreement in place will expedite the enrollment process when courses are needed for a student or campus.
TxVSN Receiving District or Open Enrollment Charter Agreement - This document is currently under revision due to new requirements mandated by HB 3646. As soon as this document has been updated it will be reposted to the web page.
Receiving District Pathway pdf
Student Agreement