Course Choice? Exploring Student Enrollment and Academic Outcomes in Online Schools

• In Event: 47.096 - MTCC Roundtable Session 20
  In Roundtable Session: 47.096-5 - Strategic Approaches to School Reform: Technology, Infrastructure, and Four-Day School Weeks

Abstract

Online schools (“e-schools”) are gaining popularity among K-12 students, yet we know little about the characteristics of students enrolled in these schools and their academic performance. This research gap is especially acute for e-schools that states and school districts are operating to supplement course offerings in traditional schools with online classes. Drawing on longitudinal data from 2007-08 to 2012-13, I analyze student course enrollment and outcomes in the College Prep Online School, an e-school operated by a mid-sized, diverse urban district. I find evidence of inequitable course access and educational outcomes, with lower achieving students enrolling in less rigorous online classes, experiencing higher rates of course incompletion, and lower achievement growth and grade point average scores than higher achieving students.

Author

• Ayesha Hashim, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill