Horizons program to continue from reserves after budget denial; PRISMS VR pilot shows engagement gains

Board staff told the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board that the legislature approved the board’s $3.3 million state‑agency budget request but denied a separate $3.4 million request to fund Horizons (the board’s Horizon digitally enhanced campus program). Staff said the Horizons program will continue to operate from prior cash reserves and the agency’s rollover funds and that the board will reapply in next year’s budget cycle.

“While the Oklahoma legislature accepted our state agency request in full, the $3.4 million for Horizons was denied,” a budget presenter told the board. Staff said Horizon leaders will begin the next budget cycle in September and plan to submit a revised request during the next session.

Program leaders reported operational and impact metrics for the 2023–24 academic year. The Horizon consortium provides AP courses and a range of digitally delivered courses to districts statewide; presenters said approximately 192 students completed AP courses through Horizon last year and that third‑party vendor arrangements served more than 23,000 student enrollments (the packet figure was corrected during the presentation). Presenters said the program’s subsidies and negotiated vendor pricing saved Oklahoma districts an estimated $2,247,488 in costs for third‑party courses last year; speakers calculated a subsidy cost of about $900,000 and estimated the per‑student subsidy at roughly $40 for third‑party vendor courses while noting AP is free to member districts. Presenters said Horizon membership expanded to about 370 school districts (up from about 196 the prior month) after a bulk agreement with OPSRC.

The board heard a detailed PRISMS (VR) pilot evaluation conducted in partnership with several districts. PRISMS presenters said the pilot delivered 8,140 VR lessons in math and science across participating sites; 28 days of coaching and in‑class professional development were provided and 66 teachers used the PRISMS pedagogy with roughly 2,716 active student licenses (about 3,889 student licenses counted across math and science in the program year). Key findings included:

- Student surveys: about 83.7 percent of students agreed with the statement “What I learned in math class is useful and important.” About 84.7 percent agreed they were able to work with peers on important problems; 80.1 percent said they believed the VR activity could be of value to them. - CFU (checks for understanding) formative scores varied by site. Examples given: Kingfisher Junior High averaged about 78 percent proficiency on CFUs; Tahlequah sites reported CFU averages in the low‑to‑mid 70s; Tulsa Street School reported about 63 percent; Union schools exceeded the 80 percent target in some grades. - Implementation lesson: Prisms staff and teachers emphasized that fidelity to the lesson arc — a short VR session followed by teacher‑led synthesis and peer work — produced better outcomes.

Jill Bowman, introduced during the meeting as the Horizon assistant director now hired full time, described her role leading teachers and curriculum design. “Students learn best when they know their teacher and they feel valued and important,” Bowman told the board, and she described building a team of Oklahoma educators to design AP and higher‑level curriculum for Horizon.

Presenters emphasized the program’s structural efficiencies (an estimated baseline saving of about $160 per student when comparing the number of students served to baseline costs) and said Horizon will host a summit in March for members and vendors. Speakers said further efficacy research collected with outside partners (WestEd was mentioned as a research partner for PRISMS) is in progress but that the legislative funding cut may limit the scope of future research projects.

Board members thanked the presenters and asked staff to pursue renewed budget requests and to share updated 2024–25 assessment data when it becomes available.