Idaho Digital Learning Academy Adopts Starfish to
Identify Struggling Students in Online Courses
Virtual Learning Organization Enhances Support
Services for At-Risk Students
ARLINGTON, Va. – June 1, 2009 – Starfish
Retention Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of student
success systems, announced today that Idaho Digital
Learning Academy (IDLA) has selected Starfish® to
accelerate the identification of at-risk students and
then connect those students to support resources that
can assist when help is needed most.
Founded in 2002, IDLA is a state virtual school
established by the Idaho legislature to provide Idaho
students with greater access to a diverse assortment of
courses. The virtual school was created to address the
educational needs of all Idaho students: traditional,
homeschooled, at-risk, gifted and adult learners.
Serving almost 10,000 enrollments in the 2008–2009
school year, IDLA offers online courses to students as a
means of recovering academic credit, resolving schedule
conflicts so that students can maintain a job while
completing their studies, getting ahead in coursework,
or accessing a course that is not available at their
local school. Nearly 98 percent of the state’s local
school districts participate with IDLA, with the
majority of students taking an IDLA course from a
school-based computer lab during their regular school
day.
IDLA selected Starfish to help identify students who
are struggling with their coursework or need additional
services to help them be successful. “In an online
class, there is no ‘back row’ from which a teacher can
draw in a disinterested student. One of the best ways to
gauge student engagement is to keep track of how often
they log in to their online courses. Unfortunately, this
is also one of the greatest challenges,” said Ryan
Gravette, technology director for IDLA. “With Starfish,
we will know this in real time, and be able to reengage
students and get them back in the class.”
Given the asynchronous class style of online courses in
which students are logging in at a time that best meets
their personal schedule, classroom tracking can be
difficult and time consuming. Starfish will immediately
notify the appropriate IDLA team members (e.g., teacher,
site coordinator, parents, even the student) when a
student has not logged in to the course management
system (e.g., Blackboard) for more than seven days. In
addition, Starfish will communicate a similar concern
when a student receives two consecutive progress reports
with a score of less than 70 percent.
“The impact of Starfish on the IDLA organization is
going to be very large. We are changing the way we work
and the way we go about identifying our at-risk
students, and helping them accomplish their goals,” said
Gravette. “Starfish is giving us a chance to build
better relationships with students, and communicate to
them that someone cares, someone is paying attention and
wants them to be successful.”
Accessible with a single log-in to an institution’s
course management system (e.g., Blackboard, WebCT or
Angel), Starfish EARLY ALERT™ is an early warning and
student tracking system that makes it possible for
instructors, advisors and academic staff to identify
at-risk students in real time. Starfish CONNECT™, an
education networking support system, helps students
access a personal contact list of instructors, advisors
and counselors who are dedicated to helping them
succeed. Together, the systems generate valuable
performance data for the institution, including resource
utilization, that helps optimize future service
offerings.
“Starfish Retention Solutions is excited to be working
with Idaho Digital Learning Academy,” said David Yaskin,
CEO and founder of Starfish Retention Solutions. “The
virtual K–12 school community is rapidly growing to
respond to the diverse needs of students across the
country. IDLA has long been a recognized leader in
offering effective technology solutions to its students.
Starfish will enable the organization to know in real
time which students need attention, providing the
personal connection that students at a distance need to
be successful.”
About Starfish Retention Solutions
Starfish Retention Solutions is a leading provider of
student success systems. The company offers a collection
of software solutions that harness the power of the
campus community in order to engage, motivate and
graduate more students – securing valuable tuition
revenue through student retention. Specifically, the
solutions help institutions identify at-risk students in
real time, based on their daily course work performance,
and then connect them to the resources designed to help
(e.g., advising or tutoring) – all while assessing which
services and interventions are working. For more
information, please call 703.260.1186 or visit
www.starfishsolutions.com.
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