Searching for the reality of virtual schools--at a glance
You’re probably reading this on a screen – whether a monitor, a phone, or a tablet – providing more evidence that digital content is ubiquitous. Likewise, its place in public education is not a matter of debate; it is inevitable. But school leaders and education policymakers do need to consider how to manage the influx of online learning opportunities in order to make sure students get their full benefit and not end up lost in cyberspace.
K-12 online learning is growing rapidly. Many players see opportunities in this burgeoning market and are pushing states and districts to expand their offerings of virtual courses and schools. They include the ed tech community; major education think tanks; school choice and home school advocates; and online learning providers, including several major software companies.
Yet there is little solid research on the impact of online courses or schools. In writing this paper, we found a few examples of online learning having a positive effect, but most of what we were able to uncover is not encouraging. At least not yet. In order to assure the public, parents and students that online learning produces the results we want, it’s imperative for school leaders and policymakers to educate themselves.
Main findings
- Online courses and schools enroll a small fraction of the 52 million public school students, but they are rapidly gaining ground. In 2009-10, elementary and secondary students took approximately 1.8 million courses online. In addition, about 250,000 students were enrolled full-time in virtual schools in 2010-11, up from 200,000 the year before.
- The development, management and staffing of online courses and schools is supported by both public and private providers. For-profit companies K-12, Inc., and Connections Academy together enrolled nearly half of all