#Virtual schools how to
#Virtual schools full

#Virtual schools how to

“Legislators did not necessarily think deeply about how to address remote learning needs, nor did they try to change the existing structure of virtual schooling,” the NEPC report reads. Three of them failed to muster enough votes to be enacted into law.Įven the flurry of state legislative activity in response to COVID-19 appears to have mostly discounted what little research there is on what does-and doesn’t-work in online learning. Over the past two years, for example, just four bills nationwide sought to improve monitoring of virtual course quality. Still, despite years of pushing from researchers and critics, efforts by state legislatures to overhaul how online schools are funded and held accountable appear to be waning. At the state level, Florida’s online schools appear to be doing rather well, with 16 of the 29 schools that received ratings earning an ‘A’ on the state’s accountability system. The news from NEPC wasn’t all bad: Blended schools tended to perform better than their virtual counterparts, the researchers found, and virtual schools operated by districts or non-profit groups tended to perform better than those operated by for-profit education management organizations. Those findings mirror years of academic research and journalistic investigations that have consistently pointed to a pattern of atrocious performance and financial mismanagement in this niche segment of the nation’s public education system. Less than 43 percent of full-time virtual schools with ratings by their state accountability systems were deemed acceptable. In 2019-20, the researchers found, the graduation rate in full-time virtual schools was just 54.6 percent, 30 points lower than the national rate. For the entirety of that time, the available evidence has pointed to poor academic performance across the sector.

NEPC has released annual reviews of K-12 online education for the past decade. While systematic data on virtual-school enrollments this school year are not part of the NEPC report because they are not yet available, anecdotal evidence hints at continued enrollment gains. An additional 306 “blended” schools, in which instruction takes place both online and face-to-face, enroll a combined 152,530 students.Īltogether, enrollment in the nation’s full-time virtual and blended schools is up by more than 50,000 students since 2017-18. K-12 public school students during the 2019-20 school year, the report found. It also offers support and advice for carers, parents and guardians of previously looked-after children.A total of 477 full-time virtual schools enrolled 332,379 U.S.

#Virtual schools full

It works to help young people achieve their full potential, and offers support and advice to those who care and work with them. It tracks educational progress, while supporting and monitoring work with children and young people in care. It works in close collaboration with colleagues across the authority, and also in partnership with the third sector. The virtual school team is a small, multi-disciplinary, team working to raise the educational attainment and attendance of children and young people. It does not replace the school or educational provision of children in care.Īll children in our care from the age of 2 and in education post-16, including university, are part of Central Bedfordshire’s virtual school.

The virtual school is not a teaching tool or environment. It is involved in, or promotes nationally and locally, various initiatives to support the educational achievement of children in care. The virtual school is an additional resource which exists to support and challenge all those involved in the education of children in care.

work closely with all those involved in the care and education of looked after children providing training and support to help understand the issues and challenges they face.

ensure that children in care access high quality learning.

promote high aspiration and raise achievement through challenge, support and targeted intervention.