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While public education experts have been debating which priorities weighed most heavily in the second round of the federal Race to the Top grant awards, a review by an online education group shows most of the 10 winners submitted strong online-learning proposals.

Susan D. Patrick, the president of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, or iNACOL, said released by the Vienna, Va.-based group highlighting the virtual-learning components in all 19 round-two finalists鈥� applications shows the winners鈥攏ine states and the District of Columbia鈥攚ere ready to use the grant money to offer more online opportunities and to make needed policy changes.

Further, she said, those changes are happening in regions that traditionally have been hesitant to embrace online learning. While all 16 state members of the Southern Regional Education Board, which has succeeded in encouraging its members to embrace online learning, make up more than half the 27 states with statewide virtual schools, Ms. Patrick said she was more encouraged by the applications from outside that region.

鈥淔lorida certainly has been a leader [in online education] for a long time,鈥� Ms. Patrick said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not new information. So it was really nice to see Massachusetts, New York, and some others move not only in the direction of online learning, but to be considering the policy shifts.鈥�

Using funds under the 2009 federal economic-stimulus law, the U.S. Department of Education has awarded a total of $4 billion to 12 winners in the two rounds of the Race to the Top competition, which is intended to spur state efforts that mesh with Obama administration priorities for improving K-12 education. (鈥淩ace to Top Now Faces Acid Test,鈥� Sept. 1, 2010.)

Competency-Based Focus

Many of the policy shifts Ms. Patrick referred to involve replacing traditional seat-time requirements鈥攚hich mandate the hours a student must spend in class to gain credit for a course鈥攚ith competency-based requirements that allow students to progress at varying paces through a course depending on their mastery of the subject.

Massachusetts鈥� application highlighted existing efforts to direct federal stimulus aid toward creating competency-based online courses and 鈥渂lended鈥� learning courses, which mix face-to-face and virtual lessons, both for alternative school students. New York is cited in the iNACOL report for the statewide technology plan it adopted in January that calls for offering all students online and blended learning opportunities.

Georgia鈥檚 plan indicated an interest in completely replacing seat-time standards, both in online and regular classes, while both Ohio鈥檚 and Rhode Island鈥檚 applications pointed to similar, already-established systems.

Erin Hames, the chief of staff for the Georgia department of education, suggested that momentum to consider proficiency-based standards has grown not only because new methods such as online learning can make differentiated instruction easier, but also because states are under financial pressure to direct instructional resources more efficiently, particularly for students who need remedial help.

鈥淭here are a lot of options for remedial study, but many of them are very, very costly,鈥� Ms. Hames said. 鈥淚f we can remediate students and get them prepared for exams in half the time, at half the cost, that鈥檚 a huge benefit for us鈥攏ow more than ever.鈥�

In Ohio鈥檚 application, the state鈥檚 Credit Flexibility Plan, which is being extended to all the state鈥檚 schools for the first time this fall, allows students to gain high school credit through alternative experiences that include online learning, internships, educational travel, or dual enrollment in a college course.

Ms. Patrick did not say she believed the Race to the Top evaluators were looking specifically for those policy shifts. But Thomas D. Rutan, Ohio鈥檚 associate director of curriculum and instruction, said he wouldn鈥檛 have been surprised.

鈥淚 can only surmise that it was certainly looked upon favorably,鈥� Mr. Rutan said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of like a new arsenal for the schools to provide opportunities for students to do things that were not previously available. Online learning is the classic example.鈥�

Options for Students

Mr. Rutan reasoned that online and blended learning would be favorite options for students who utilized the course-flexibility policy. He pointed to the launch this school year of the OhioLearns! Gateway program, an extension of a state program initially geared to Ohio鈥檚 postsecondary institutions, which will provide all high school students with a catalog of 40 Advanced Placement courses from which to choose. The launch follows the state鈥檚 promise in its Race to the Top application to use funding from the grant to offer AP courses to underserved student populations.

Of the other winning states that promised specific online course offerings, Ms. Patrick noted, many did so with a focus on the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, fields.

Georgia鈥檚, Maryland鈥檚, and New York鈥檚 applications all refer to using online classes both as professional development to prepare more STEM instructors and as courses for students. Maryland鈥檚 plan includes the use of the federal money to develop eight STEM courses over four years for the state鈥檚 virtual high school, either directly or through a contractor. Ms. Patrick suggested that states might be turning to online education because of a dearth of qualified STEM instructors in brick-and-mortar schools.

Colleen P. Semeret, Maryland鈥檚 assistant state superintendent for instruction, said such thinking wasn鈥檛 the impetus for her state鈥檚 focus on STEM in online education.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a very logical assumption, but that wasn鈥檛 first and foremost in our minds,鈥� said Ms. Semeret. She added that one of the most practical reasons for Maryland to teach STEM subjects online would be to connect students in its rural districts with a wealth of in-state STEM resources clustered near the nation鈥檚 capital.

鈥淎ll of this online [focus] is not just online-learning courses for kids,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 really online resources for teachers to be able to open up their classrooms.鈥�

Georgia鈥檚 Ms. Hames said STEM courses may be a more natural fit for online learning because the range of proficiency among students is very broad, with many mastering concepts at an advanced pace and many others in need of remedial study.

Early Adopters

Themistocles Sparangis, the chief technology director for the 678,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District, said he also noticed the STEM trend in iNACOL鈥檚 document. But Mr. Sparangis, whose district utilizes a variety of online-learning providers, said that鈥檚 not a sign that states believe the STEM subjects are uniquely suited to online education.

鈥淒oes online education help STEM any more or less than language arts or anything like that? I don鈥檛 think so,鈥� Mr. Sparangis said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the fact that science and math and technology tend to go hand in hand. 鈥� I think it鈥檚 because the people involved are already early adopters [of online learning].鈥�

Mr. Sparangis said that, while iNACOL鈥檚 review of Race to the Top applications may be eye-opening for general followers of education policy, its findings should not be surprising to those already working within virtual education.

Ms. Patrick, however, expressed enthusiasm at the quality of virtual education features within the applications and even surprise at those from states such as Hawaii, which was the only state to include provisions about building cloud-computing-based online resources for teachers.

Jayne James, the senior director of educational leadership at the International Society for Technology in Education, or ISTE, said the winning Race to the Top applications show that online learning is 鈥渃oming of age.鈥� But she also cautioned that the states鈥� plans for online learning were only plans.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a really great opportunity to connect with teachers in a relevant and contextual way, and in an online way,鈥� Ms. James said of the online-learning plans for the grant competition. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be exciting to see the results of their efforts.鈥�