K-12 virtual schooling’s rapid growth continues, but state policy remains muddled. More ominously, many state funding decisions are disappointingly unrelated from quality, performance, or demand for these programs.
In states like Missouri, state-run virtual schools that are funded by appropriations outside of the traditional funding formulas are easy targets for budget-cutters.
Other state programs, for example in [...]
All Posts Tagged: 'Virtual Schools'
The Muddled State of K-12 Virtual Learning Policy
A National K-12 Virtual School? Not Likely.
One of the big recommendations from “Expanding Choice in Elementary and Secondary Education,” the new Brookings Institution report, is to help establish national virtual schools:
To support the development of that sector of schooling, we recommend that Congress authorize the establishment of accrediting bodies for online K-12 education, incentivize states to participate in these accrediting efforts, [...]
Bricks-and-Mortar Money for Virtual Schools?
It’s worth keeping an eye on what’s happening to virtual schools in Georgia. Last week, a group of charter schools bypassed the traditional route to charter authorization and sought to be funded exactly like any other public school in the state. (For the record, Georgia has 122 charter schools but only one virtual charter school.)
We’ve [...]
Act Now to Comment on the National Broadband Plan for Education
Open educational resources, online learning, technology-enhanced assessments, better data to inform instruction, online professional teaching communities, and a whole host of promising initiatives rest on the assumption of adequate and fully accessible Internet connections. Getting education right in the National Broadband Plan, now under development by the FCC, is essential.
There are a whole host of [...]
Assault on Online Learning? Not Really.
“A largely unnoticed assault upon the nation’s vibrant market in online learning” is how Rick Hess, writing for the National Review Online, characterizes the Obama Administration’s proposal to spend $500 million over ten years to develop online high school and college courses. Hess argues that there is already a robust private market and invokes the [...]
Education as a Consumer Good
Last week, Education Sector hosted “School Choice a la Carte”, an online discussion about expanding school choice beyond the ‘brick and mortar’ options that are usually discussed (e.g., traditional public schools vs. charter schools) to allow for even more customization and choice in education. Much of the discussion focused on the opportunities this type of [...]
Open Thread: Radical Choice?
Our fascinating discussion on the future of educational choice winds up today (read the transcript). In the discussion, a couple of different threads are coming together.
The first is that there is enormous potential for more personalized learning and the educational landscape is changing—rapidly. Tom Vander Ark opened up the discussion with his prediction that [...]
Is School Choice Passe?
What if educational choice meant every student could have a personalized educational experience? Today and tomorrow, our panelists debate the premise that our current focus on choice between schools (Public or private school? Charter or neighborhood school?) is a very limited way of thinking about educational choices.
Tom Vander Ark, of Vander Ark/Ratcliff Partners and former [...]
More on Open Content, Digital Textbooks
Here’s a nice primer from the Education Commission of the States that outlines various state initiatives and explains the differences among traditional, digital, and open textbooks. This is an important and emerging trend that we should embrace, rather than fear.
Don’t Fear Open Content, Eduwonk
It sounds like my colleague Andy really wants to believe in open educational resources. But, his usually healthy skepticism has him equivocating instead:
The risk here is quality. There is something to be said for a formal editorial process in news-reporting and in education publishing and media. I’m not one of those who thinks that all things open-source are unreliable, but [...]
The Terrible Power of Dumb Ideas
In a canny act of preemptive self-parody, Tom Friedman begins today’s column as follows:
I was at a conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, a few weeks ago and interviewed Craig Barrett, the former chairman of Intel, about how America should get out of its current economic crisis. His first proposal was this: Any American kid who [...]
The Realities of Disruptive Innovation
Many thanks to Cathy Cavanaugh and Erik Black for their thoughtful guest post below reviewing Gene Glass’s policy brief, “The Realities of K-12 Virtual Schooling.” As virtual schooling becomes increasingly prominent, it will rightfully deserve increasing amounts of scrutiny and attention. This is all good if the focus is on ensuring good outcomes for the [...]
Guest Blog: The Realities of K–12 Virtual Education
“The Realities of K–12 Virtual Education” is a policy brief released this month (April 2009) by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. Written by education policy expert Gene Glass, the brief summarizes the growth in virtual schools over the past decade and discusses questions of costs, funding, and quality before recommending regulation, [...]
Update on Florida Legislation to Curtail Virtual Schooling
On Monday, I wrote about pending legislation in Florida that would severely curtail educational choices available through the public, state-run Florida Virtual School. The bill would eliminate enrollment in any elective courses and funding for any courses beyond a standard six periods. Students would no longer have an option to take electives, including some AP [...]
A Move to Limit Educational Choice in Florida
While reformers hope that the country’s fiscal crisis will lead to much needed educational changes, there’s at least one move underway to do the exact opposite. Under the guise of budget cuts, the Florida legislature is attempting to severely curtail educational choices available through the state-run Florida Virtual School (see page 12 of bill text).
If [...]
The Test for Cyber Schools
Interesting article in today’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on the fate of Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools—publicly funded, fully online schools that students “attend” on a full-time basis. With over 19,000 students, the state is a bellwether for the growth of cyber charter schools. Many of these schools are facing renewal decisions at the end of their five [...]
Investing in the Downturn
Budget cuts and fights to preserve funding will dominate the headlines for at least the next year. But, sometimes, even in a downturn, it’s important to invest new funds in particularly promising areas. It’s why even in the face of massive financial uncertainty, GM is doing what it can to continue investments in ideas such [...]
Schools left out of technological innovation?
If it takes a village to raise a child, that village might become increasingly virtual. Technology is making it easy to create learner-centered networks. Several developing projects aim to maximize the power of networks and improve learning. TeamPlay Foundation uses software to link students with a network of mentors. The mentors help students set goals [...]
Another Step into the Mainstream
The Southern Regional Education Board launches its Online Teachers Web site. SREB was one of the first mainstream educational policy organizations to focus on building high quality virtual schooling options. The number of southern states with strong state virtual schools is no coincidence.
Teaching in the Digital Age
Earlier this month, the Quick & Ed team discussed (here and here) what schools might look like in the future, as online learning continues to take hold. Today, the Washington Post takes a look at how virtual learning changes how teachers teach. According to the article, online teaching jobs can be highly competitive – because [...]
Lowering Student Loan Default Rates: What One Consortium of Historically Black Institutions Did to Succeed 
College and Career-Ready: Using Outcomes Data to Hold High Schools Accountable for Student Success
03/19/10 | Ben Miller is quoted on college graduation rates and the NCAA Tournament in the Detroit Free Press.
03/19/10 | Linda Perlstein links to Education Sector's "College- and Career-Ready" event.
03/17/10 | Ben Miller's column on graduation rates and NCAA Tournament eligibility is mentioned on The Wall Street Journal's The Daily Fix.
03/17/10 | Kevin Carey's critique of Diane Ravitch's latest book is quoted in Doublethink's Conventional Folly blog.
03/15/10 | Ben Miller pens an op-ed for US News & World Report on using graduation rates to determine NCAA Tournament eligibility.