Summer school had developed a reputation as “easy” at Temecula Valley Unified School District high schools. Word was that students needing to recover credits could breeze through online courses. Teachers complained that lack of challenge devalued the diploma other students worked hard to earn.

“Our teachers complained that students could complete other online summer school courses in a matter of hours. They felt that compromised the value of our high school diploma.”

   — Dianne Vaez,
        K–12 Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Director

Administrators decided the solution was to increase course rigor. After an evaluation of alternatives, Apex Learning was chosen because of its challenging coursework and ability to engage students with relevant content and frequent assessment. In 2008, Temecula Valley offered three summer school sessions for credit-recovery students at two high schools using Apex Learning online courses for the first time. Non-graduating seniors and credit-deficient rising seniors were given priority.

Students Earning Credits Necessary to Graduate

“These are students who didn’t succeed in a traditional classroom environment. The Apex Learning digital curriculum allowed them to work at their own pace to complete challenging coursework and earn the credits they needed.”

   — Dianne Vaez

Students found Apex Learning curriculum to be noticeably more rigorous, but they overwhelmingly rose to the challenge. During the 2008 summer school session, 56 students each took up to four courses over the 20-day period. All of the work and assessment was completed online. Unit-level diagnostic assessments helped students focus their study efforts. Frequent formative assessments integrated throughout the courses gave students confidence and prepared them to demonstrate what they learned on summative assessments.

All seven non-graduating seniors who participated in the 2008 summer school program earned the credits necessary to receive their diplomas. Each of the 56 summer school students completed and passed at least one course.