Single-district online learning programs were the fastest-growing sector of virtual learning in the United States in 2011. Whether it is to provide more options for students, keep more students from seeking virtual learning options outside the school district, or simply to move toward 21st-century teaching and learning, many districts are launching and sustaining their own virtual learning programs.
As districts move in this direction, they are taking a harder look at how they will evaluate their local models of virtual education, which is gaining popularity even though reviews on its effectiveness compared with that of more traditional approaches are still mixed.
鈥淒istrict administrators in close to half of all states know that they are losing students to online schools,鈥� says John Watson, the founder of the Evergreen Education Group, a Durango, Colo.-based organization that researches online learning, and an author of the , which tracks annual trends in online learning.
As districts without virtual learning options lose students to online programs, they also lose per-pupil enrollment aid, siphoning precious dollars from district budgets.
In addition, Watson says, plenty of successful blended and virtual learning options are now out there, making district administrators more confident about taking the leap to online education.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a plausible response to say, 鈥業t鈥檚 not time. It鈥檚 not proven yet,鈥� 鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that online and blended learning can work, and there are examples of it working.鈥�
Keeping students in the 36,000-student Aurora Public School district was a main impetus to opening , says Randy Wood, the principal of the school in Aurora, Colo.
鈥淲hen we first started, the superintendent came to me and said, 鈥榃e have 1,100 kids each year leaving the district to seek an online option,鈥� 鈥� he says. 鈥淲e felt we could provide something of high quality for our students that would keep them in the district.鈥�
The high school was launched in January 2010 with 50 students; it has since grown to two campuses and 230 full-time virtual students. (According to state law, the school can only admit 9 students or less from other districts.)
鈥淲e have students coming to us for a variety of reasons,鈥� says Wood. 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 kids that just want to accelerate their high school learning, kids who are working full time to support their families or themselves, or students with medical conditions.鈥�
The program uses a largely self-paced curriculum purchased from the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based curriculum provider e2020, and each student is required to come into one of the campuses at least twice a week, says Wood. Each campus has two full-time teachers to help students with academic work and career planning and to provide mentoring.
鈥淥ur teachers become more like counselors and mentors to these kids,鈥� Wood says.
In addition, he says, students who do not have Internet access are provided with a netbook and an Internet stipend. About 60 percent of the students take advantage of those resources, while 40 percent already had Internet access and computers to do their coursework.
To ensure quality and accountability at the school, APS Online, like all the high schools in the district, develops a Unified Improvement Plan based on scores from the 9th and 10th grade Colorado State Assessment Program tests as well as the act college-entrance exam, taken by all 11th graders in the state. This year, APS Online is working on improving science, math, and ACT scores in the school.
In Hershey, Pa., administrators in the 3,500-student Derry Township district opened the to help retain students in the district as well.
Started in fall 2011, the cyber school enrolled 14 students in grades 9-12 as of early 2012.
Once plans for the online school were under way, Joe McFarland, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the district, called all the district families that had moved their children to online programs elsewhere to inform them of the new option.
鈥淭hey wished this would have been an opportunity years ago,鈥� he says. Many of the students and parents were interested in the program, but did not want to switch back into the district because of concerns about how that might affect the students鈥� dates of graduation, he says. That鈥檚 one of the reasons the district is looking at expanding the online academy to middle school.
鈥淭hey can graduate with a Derry Township diploma and have that connection and opportunity to participate in some 鈥� extracurricular activities that they can鈥檛 if they鈥檙e outside the district,鈥� says McFarland.
The district did not launch the program on its own, however. Instead, it became a member district of the , or CAOLA, which serves 18 districts and schools in the Capital Area Intermediate Unit, a regional educational service agency in Pennsylvania.
Joining CAOLA made it possible for administrators in the Derry Township district to launch the school quickly and cost-effectively, says McFarland. (鈥淪chool Districts Team Up On Virtual Ed. Initiatives,鈥� this report.)
鈥淭he nice thing about the partnership 鈥� is that you have other people who are working through it as well, and you can share ideas and strategies,鈥� he says.
Because the school is so new, a formal evaluation process to determine the overall rigor of the courses has not been put into place yet, says McFarland. Eleventh-grade students鈥� Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores will be compared to those in brick-and-mortar schools for a gauge, and administrators in the online school are evaluating feedback from parents and students to determine the rigor of the courses as well.
The 8,000-student in Springfield, Ohio, recently began its own virtual academy for grades K-12. The decision grew out of feedback from the community about a need for more educational choices for students, says Superintendent David C. Estrop.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to create more choices and more opportunities for us to customize and personalize the educational program for students,鈥� he says.
After the district had established five separate academies for high schoolers鈥攖he Preparatory Academy for struggling students; the Exploratory Academy for students unsure of their intended academic focus; the STEM Academy for students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math; the Health and Human Services Academy; and the International Arts and Communications Academy, which includes the district鈥檚 International Baccalaureate program as well as world-language courses鈥攙irtual learning was a natural progression, says Estrop.
Although the Springfield district has offered Plato Learning courses for credit recovery over the past several years, this is its first foray into full-time online learning.
The virtual academy will use curriculum from the Jefferson County Education Service Center in Ohio, Estrop says.
鈥淲e sincerely believe that one size of learning no longer fits everyone鈥檚 needs,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e no longer stuck having to learn one way at one time.鈥�
The district, whose proportion of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 76 percent, underwent a major technology overhaul in the spring of 2010, says Estrop. Schools were outfitted with new hardware, software, and a beefed-up network, which allowed the district to begin setting the stage for virtual learning.
鈥淚f we think of the president鈥檚 goal of having everyone graduate, I don鈥檛 think it can be realized unless you have many choices in terms of how that can happen, and you provide flexibility to pick from among those choices,鈥� Estrop says.
The school is using a variety of measures to evaluate the quality of the courses, says Estrop, including students鈥� grades, performance on state assessments, and course completion rates, as well as enrollment, attendance, and discipline referrals. The school also tracks which students go on to IB or AP courses, as well as college or university programs, and it is examining feedback from parents and students to gauge their satisfaction with the program.
鈥楽tudents are Changing鈥�
Oregon鈥檚 20,600-student Hillsboro school district, just outside Portland, is gearing up to launch the in fall 2012.
鈥淭his whole thing started about three years ago, when the district decided to look at options,鈥� says Linda Harrington, the principal of the virtual school. 鈥淲e knew we needed to meet the needs of our students. Students are changing, life is changing, and technology is much different than it was even a short time ago.鈥�
After a community survey revealed that students and families were interested in online learning options, the district began working to make such options a reality.
鈥淲e know that there are a lot of kids who may have become disenfranchised or disengaged with the [traditional school model], so we want to make sure whatever we build is different enough so [students] feel re-engaged or re-energized,鈥� says Steve Larson, the district鈥檚 assistant superintendent for school performance.
To evaluate the online program, the district will be tracking course completion rates, student achievement on state assessments, as well as graduation rates, says Larson. In addition, the district will conduct evaluations of the program to hear feedback from teachers, parents, and students mid-year and at the end of the year, he says.
鈥淎s we move forward, we expect to develop specific performance indicators of the program to ensure adequate resource alignment,鈥� he says.
Many of the details about the Hillsboro Online Academy鈥攕uch as what curriculum students will use, what grades it will serve, and whether it will enroll students full time or part time鈥攈ave yet to be hammered out. But district leaders say they are working with the community, and other school districts, to determine the best course of action.
鈥淲e have the benefit of partnership,鈥� says Larson. 鈥淲e can tailor the experience to our district, but other districts in the state are moving as quickly as us, and we鈥檙e strong enough partners that we can start to count on each other for some of the back-end stuff.鈥�
For instance, he says, the district has been meeting with the nearby Portland and Beaverton school systems to talk about such options as buying curricula together for greater purchasing power.
鈥淲e would like to see that we don鈥檛 duplicate costs between districts that are a street away from each other,鈥� Larson says.
In fact, the biggest challenge in opening the Hillsboro virtual school, both Harrington and Larson say, are the budget cuts that have reduced the district鈥檚 general fund.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any other challenges than trying to do this in the context of budget reductions,鈥� says Larson. 鈥淓verything else is doable. We鈥檙e not finding anybody saying that this isn鈥檛 the right thing to be doing. It鈥檚 鈥楬ow fast can you get it up and running?鈥� 鈥�
