Center for Public Education Releases Report on Online Education

There has been a bit of discussion in this region, and throughout the U.S., about the potential value of online education. A recent Center for Public Education report examined different aspects of this resource.

Some of the findings of this report include:

• 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 full-time online students in 2010-11.
• Funding for online learning varies by state, and ranges from 70 to 100 percent of state and local per pupil rates. The impact on district funds also varies by state. In some states, districts are billed for each student enrolled online. In addition, accounting for the actual cost of virtual courses and schools is often lacking.
• The jury is still out on the effect of online courses on K-12 student achievement. The U.S. Department of Education reviewed existing research and found a modest positive impact of online courses, but cautioned that the findings were based mostly on results for post-secondary students.
• Emerging reports show a troubling overall picture of poor performance and low graduation rates for full-time online students. Two small-scale studies found positive effects for elementary students, suggesting that parental supervision could be an important factor.
• There needs to be a clearer accountability path for online learning, especially in regard to monitoring student progress and performance as well as accounting for the cost of virtual schooling.

Report summary:

Center for Public Education: Searching for the reality of virtual schools--at a glance

Media report:

Education Week: Virtual Education Lacks Accountability, NSBA Report Argues (23 MAY 12)

To access the complete report, please visit:

Center for Public Education: Searching for the Reality of Virtual Schools (May 2012)

Background information:

Center for Public Education