Arkansas Department of Education Distance Learning Center

The Arkansas Department of Education Distance Learning Center (ADE Distance Learning Center or ADE DLC) is a provider of real-time or synchronous elementary and secondary education classes for students throughout the state of Arkansas. The DLC currently teaches classes to almost 3,200 students, located at more than 100 schools around the state.

The ADE DLC is a part of the Arkansas Department of Education, as its name implies. However, the fiscal agent for the ADE DLC is Dawson Educational Services Co-op, based in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The day-to-day operations of the DLC are overseen by a Program Coordinator and an Instructional Coordinator. There is a Personnel Policies Committee, elected by the teachers, that works to improve the personnel policies of the ADE DLC. The ADE DLC employs 25 teachers, all Highly Qualified (as outlined by the No Child Left Behind Act) in the subject areas that they teach.

The Arkansas Department of Education has established official rules and guidelines regarding distance learning in Arkansas. Specifically, there are three guidelines:

The ADE Distance Learning Center has the following four Foundational Commitments, which summarize its purpose:

These Foundational Commitments are closely correlated to the four Distance Learning Focus Areas of the Arkansas Department of Education.

In 2000, Jim Boardman, then Assistant Commissioner of Information Technology for the Arkansas Department of Education, created a distance learning program under the Arkansas Department of Education that would provide Arkansas students with course content aligned to the Arkansas Curriculum standards and that would also provide the course content required by the state for high school graduation. At this time, there were two other distance learning providers in the state, but none with this specific objective. Administrators were hired to establish the foundation for such an institution, and in May 2001, the first teachers were interviewed and hired. The first group of teachers included one math teacher, one English and journalism teacher, and five Spanish teachers.

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