In the virtual world of Wisconsin Virtual School, a Coach is someone in the district who gives support to students who are taking virtual courses online through WVS.

Our experience at Wisconsin Virtual School (WVS) shows that it is critical to the success of most students in an online environment to have someone monitoring their progress locally. If the student had difficulty being motivated to do assignments in a traditional educational setting, he or she may have equal difficulty being motivated to do online course work. In an online course, the student must complete assignments and communicate with the teacher on a regular basis in order to complete the course. Many students need a little prodding to be sure they are moving forward toward course completion. Student contact and encouragement are the most important responsibilities of the Coach.

A Coach could be anyone at your school district that would be willing to help support the online student's needs. It could be a teacher, school counselor, or other appropriate staff. For instance, it may be logical for a math teacher to be the Coach for students who are taking an online math course, an English teacher for students taking English courses, and so on. Or, the district may prefer to have one person, such as a counselor, monitor all of the students who are taking WVS courses. It is up to the school district to decide which approach will work best for their students' needs.

Being an effective Coach does not need to be time-consuming. Coaches receive a weekly progress report that provides a quick snapshot of the student's current progress in the course.  If the student is not doing assignments, then the Coach will need time with the student to determine issues and solutions.