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Online K-12 School Leaders Discuss Policy ‘Roadmap’
January 23, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
“Last year alone 16 states passed legislation related to online learning. We’re expecting just as many this year,” she said. “It’s about access, it’s about quality and it’s about creating new learning models.”
Patrick says right now 33 states allow full-time online learning programs. 55 percent of all public school districts offer online classes or online learning programs.
Last fall some of Colorado’s full-time online schools came under scrutiny for poor student performance, high dropout rates and inefficient use of taxpayer dollars.
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Online schools to get more state oversight
The state Board of Education is tightening the screws on cyber-schools that critics say have been fleecing the state by collecting money but delivering sub-par education to an ever-increasing base of students who get their instructions online rather than in a classroom.
According to an AP article in December, more than 14,000 Colorado K-12 students are expected to be taught online this year. Private companies that run these cyber-schools—some of which are for-profit—recruit students as young as kindergarten age and they receive the same per-pupil rate from the state as traditional schools that teach kids face-to-face; Colorado is expected to spend about $85 million this year teaching kids online.
But a 2010 Board of Education report shows much of this money is spent with little oversight or accountability, making state officials wonder if taxpayers are getting what they’re paying for. According to the AP, the Board of Education found that test scores for online students are below average, dropout rates can be as high as 50 percent and—in one instance—the student-to-teacher ratio was as high as 317 to 1. Online schools are paid by the state for the entire school year, even if a student drops out after registration enrollment is tallied on Oct. 1.
For the rest of the article, go to Online schools to get more state oversight
Report Finds More Virtual K-12 Students Are Falling Behind
The number of private companies operating full-time online K-12 schools in Colorado and other states continues to grow. Meantime, student performance is declining. That’s according to a new report by the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado.
In Colorado, online K-12 schools came under scrutiny last fall for poor student performance and millions earned by for-profit companies. Colorado Senate President Brandon Shaffer has said he plans to introduce legislation to keep a closer watch on the state’s online K-12 schools.
For the rest of the article, go to Report Finds More Virtual K-12 Students Are Falling Behind
