ASU Prep Digital
Arizona State University — Goal 2 Initiative ASU Prep Digital
ASU Prep Digital is an accredited online K-12 school where learners can take a single online course or enroll in a full-time, diploma-granting program. ASU Prep Digital is responsive to many challenges facing the K-12 school system. The initiative seeks solutions to provide high-quality online education for students for whom in-person learning is not an option (including during the pandemic), and to design such options around the needs of the student though adaptive courseware and personalized instruction. In doing so, ASU Prep Digital can fill gaps in curriculum and course offerings to ensure every student at every high school has access to the courses required for college-readiness and admission.
The initiative offers opportunities for K-12 students to engage with college coursework before college admission, and ways to support teachers across the state and country to build their confidence and skills in online teaching.
ASU Prep Digital serves K-12 students and families in Arizona, as well as nationally (e.g., state partnerships in Utah, North Dakota, and Hawaii) and internationally. During the pandemic, ASU Prep Digital grew to serve approximately 42,000 students around the country and internationally, through fulltime enrollment, partnership with schools, and content licensing. The scale of current and future impact is in the tens of thousands of students, as well as thousands of teachers and schools. ASU Prep Digital also serves teachers directly by providing professional development through Arizona Virtual Teacher Institute.
Initiative Differentiators
ASU Prep Digital provides a unique pairing of "high-tech" and "high-touch" experiences. It invests in next-generation courseware and adaptive learning tools, while also ensuring development of peer-to-peer and teacher-to-peer relationships.
ASU Prep Digital is part of ASU, which allows it to offer a path toward college admission and the chance to earn concurrent high school and university credit, thereby reducing the time and cost to earn a degree. College credit is provided at no cost to learners, thanks to partnerships among ASU, governments, and schools. Students develop a sense of belonging with and connection to a university experience, due to early access to college courses, university faculty, and co-designed content.
As part of the Taskforce, ASU will continue to grow ASU Prep Digital's impact on students and teachers in Arizona, nationally, and internationally. ASU will do this through Prep Digital's Arizona Virtual Teacher Institute, a state-wide "Math Momentum" initiative, and support of K-8 curriculum (prior to the pandemic, Prep Digital was primarily a high school curriculum).
Key Interventions and Milestones
ASU Prep Digital operates the Arizona Virtual Teacher Institute (AVTI), created in the summer of 2020 to prepare Arizona teachers to thrive in the new reality where online instruction is part of every school plan. The training is provided at no cost to schools or teachers through the investment of the Arizona Department of Education, the Governor's Office, Helios Education Foundation, and Arizona State University. As of May 2021, AVTI has trained more than 11,250 teachers in more than 1,165 schools and has partnered with more than 370 school districts across the state. During the pandemic, ASU Prep Digital saw 700% enrollment growth and implemented K-8 curriculum within a month to serve students who were not able to attend in-person schooling.
Programming will be updated to support teachers as they transition back to in-person instruction; training topics will support blended and technology-rich instruction and personalized learning.
This Fall, ASU Prep Digital is launching a partnership with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to provide capacity in improving K-12 math outcomes. The ADE is specifically leveraging ASU Prep Digital to be a capacity engine in middle school mathematics to provide more instructional minutes, diagnose learning loss, and design personalized solutions for school districts to support students as they grow from individual points of readiness. This partnership, made available to public schools statewide, is focused on lifting up schools in order to prevent enrollment decline and support schools in their ability to implement innovative school improvement plans.
Expected Impact
ASU Prep Digital will reach 42,000 students around the country and internationally this year. By 2026, they plan to reach 60,000 students worldwide. Through the next year, AVTI will increase its reach to 20,000 teachers and 1,500 schools. This summer, Math Momentum will serve around 2,000 students from 14 schools across AZ. Moving forward, the program will serve 4,000 students each year across the state.
