Youngstown Daily Legal News

Report: Digital charter schools' education trails traditional brick-and-mortar schools

ELISSA COLLOPY
Special to the Legal News
Published: September 7, 2016

Virtual charter schools can give students who are falling behind in traditional schools a chance to find success in an alternative learning environment, or an opportunity for an education that is not otherwise available to them, proponents of the schools say.

However, a new study suggests that students in fully online schools learn less than students in traditional brick-and-mortar schools.

According to the study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Ohio has more than 35,000 students enrolled in virtual charter schools, making the state one of the country’s largest populations of full-time virtual students.

That number accounts for only two percent of the state’s total student population, according to 2012-13 school year data from the Ohio Department of Education, yet the online charter sector in Ohio is experiencing significant growth: a 60 percent increase in enrollment over the last four years, the study said.

Ohio has 24 e-schools, of which 12 are sponsored by the state, four are district-sponsored with no residency requirements, and the remaining eight district-sponsored schools limit enrollment to students in that district.

The study also explores whether virtual charter schools can fully replace the traditional school experience.

The author of the study, June Ahn, says the current virtual charter school model can’t do that.

Ahn, a professor at New York University, wrote that thinking of charter schools as complete alternatives to traditional schooling might even contribute to students’ poor academic performance.

“I think packaging this as a school might be setting us up for failure,” he said in reference to virtual schools. “School is a lot more than just putting content up online.”

In Ohio, students who want to take even one online course, whether it’s to make up for a failed course or to take an advanced course, must opt out of their local school entirely and take all online courses.

As a result, some students may not be getting the support needed for success in virtual charter school programs, the study said.

According to Ahn, virtual charter school students, especially those who enrolled due to falling behind, are missing out on what he called “the rich social ecosystem” of relationships with teachers and peers that could motivate and support their learning.

The study took a close look at the demographics of students enrolled in Ohio’s virtual charter schools and found the majority of students are low-achieving — meaning they are more likely to be designated as special education and more likely to have repeated a prior grade than their traditional school counterparts.

While some students may benefit from the flexible learning environment of online classes, others will continue to fail without someone to help guide their studies, said Ahn.

“If they failed in brick-and-mortar schools because they lack self-motivation, independent learning skills, parental support and/or a quiet, stable place to do schoolwork, they are even less likely to do well in a virtual school,” the study said.

The study listed several recommendations that have the potential to boost student achievement through online schools:

• Policy makers should adopt performance-based funding for e-schools. Implementing these policies would create incentives for e-schools to focus on academic progress and encourage them to recruit students likely to succeed in an online environment.

• Policy makers should allow students to choose courses based on their own interests and pace them according to their own needs.

Ohio recently enacted a provision requiring e-schools to offer an orientation course, which is a time for schools to set high expectations for students and let them know what would help them thrive in an online learning environment.

• Policy makers should support online course choice so that students interested in web-based learning aren’t limited to full-time options.

Currently, Ohio students considering digital learning are faced with either transferring to a full-time e-school or staying in their traditional school, according to the study.

[Back]