Full-Time Virtual Schools: Enrollment, Student Characteristics, and Performance

• In Event: Virtual Schools in the United States 2014: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence

Abstract

Full-time virtual K-12 schools, also known as cyber schools or online schools, are schools that deliver all curriculum and instruction via the Internet and electronic communication, usually with students at home and teachers at a remote location, and usually with everyone participating at different times (Means, B. e al., 2010). Although increasing numbers of parents and students are choosing this option, little is known about virtual schooling in general, and very little about full-time virtual schools in particular (Watson et al., 2011, 2012). For example, information has not been available on such basic questions as the number of virtual elementary and secondary schools operating, the number of students enrolled in them, and the rate at which they have expanded. Moreover, despite a dearth of research evidence useful in shaping policy, many states have adopted legislation permitting full-time virtual schools or removing the caps that once limited their growth (SREB, 2013).
The primary goal of our study is to describe the education landscape of all full-time virtual schools in the U.S. for which data are available for the 2012-13 academic year and to provide an estimate of their growth. We raise three research questions. They include: (1) How many full-time virtual schools operate in the U.S.? How many students do they enroll? (2) What are the demographic characteristics of students enrolled in full-time virtual schools? Within individual states, how do demographic data differ for students enrolled in virtual schools and those enrolled in brick-and-mortar schools? (3) How do full-time virtual schools perform in terms of student achievement relative to other public schools?
Our study is based on publicly available data, collected, audited, and warehoused by public authorities. The scope of the study is limited to full-time, public elementary and secondary virtual public schools serving U.S. students. This includes virtual schools operated by for-profit Education Management Organizations (EMOs) as well as virtual schools operated by states or districts. Private virtual schools are excluded. Also excluded are schools offering a combination of full-time virtual programs and blended programs, unless it is possible to separate data for the full-time virtual school component. The primary sources for total enrollment and school performance data are state-level datasets, Common Core of Data (CCD), and school report cards for the 2012-13 school year. Aggregated data reflect weighted averages based on enrollment. That is, averages have been calculated so that the influence of any given school on the aggregated average is proportional to its enrollment. Comparisons are made to norms for all public schools in the United States.
The results of our comparisons using AYP, state ratings and on-time graduation rates suggest that virtual schools are not performing as well as brick-and-mortar schools. The two themes that run through our findings are: (1) the inadequacies of state data and accountability systems on virtual schools; (2) the insufficiency of state policies and authorizing practices to design new outcome measures appropriate to the unique characteristics of full-time virtual schools.

Authors

• Gary J. Miron, Western Michigan University

• Brian Horvitz, Western Michigan University

• Charisse Atibagos Gulosino, University of Memphis