The Great Equalizer

7/30/2019 The Great Equalizer

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POLICY PAPER

September 2013 No. 1302

The Great Equalizer: How Online Learning

Promises Every Student an Excellent Education

by Casey Given

Over the last decade, online learninghas brought school choice to newrontiers. Tanks to the Internet, a qualityeducation is a click away or thousands o

students who were previously unsatisedwith their brickandmortar public school.Unortunately, this progress has met withconsiderable challenges. Several statesstubbornly reuse to expand educationalreedom online. In act, many conservativeeducational reormers are even scalingback their states existing online programs,oen in the name o preserving localcontrol or district school boards. Tispolicy brie traces online learnings past

developments, present political challenges,and uture prospects. It urges innovationin student perormance evaluations andstate authorization to combat the currentdeceleration o online learning options.Aer all, no control is more local thanparents choosing the best educationalopportunities or their child.

Tearing Down the Walls of the

Traditional Classroom

With stagnating test scores and graduationrates, American parents have had a loto cause to be pessimistic about publicschooling over the past halcentury.Fortunately, a glimmer o hope hasstarted to shine over the past two decadesor American schoolchildren. School choicehas empowered millions o students rom

lowincome amilies or ailingpublic schools with access to a highquality education.

Be it public school choice through charterschools and open enrollment or privateschool choice through vouchers and taxcredits, educational reedom has improvedso many youngsters lives. Te successo school choice is backed by hard data,too. More than twothirds o studies aer2001 have concluded that charter schoolstudents make similar or signicantlybetter test score gains than their districtschool companions.1 Te results have been

so positive that one widelycited StanordUniversity study that initially criticizedcharter schools or their lack o academicprogress had to revise its thesis aerwitnessing signicant gains.2

Despite the encouraging accelerationo choice, an excellent educationunortunately remains out o reach or toomany American schoolchildren. Manystudents have special circumstances that

hinder access to their states school choiceoptions. For example, charter schools tendto be concentrated in urban areas, leavingchildren in rural and suburban towns withlittle option but to attend their local publicschool regardless o its academic quality.Even in areas with a decent amount oeducational options, public and privateschool choice programs are still subject to

School choice

has empowere

millions of

students from

low-income

families or

failing public

schools with

access to a

high-quality

education.


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enrollment caps, leaving many students outo luck. As a result, thousands o studentsacademic ate is determined by lottery,as tragically documented in movies likeWaiting for Superman.

Fortunately, the Internet has shown great

potential to make Horace Manns amousdescription o education as the greatequalizer a reality.3 While technologyhas played an important role in educationsince the advent o television, access tosuch learning aids were limited to physicalclassrooms up until the 1990s. It wasntuntil the turn o the century that growingaccess to the Internet nally made distancelearning a reality. oday, online learning

transcends school choices physicalboundaries and enrollment constraints bybringing access to educational reedom atthe click o a mouse.

The Status of Online School Choice

in the States

While every state oers some sort oonline learning, the size and scope o theseprograms vary widely between states andeven school districts. Broadly speaking,though, online learning today can beclumped into two basic categories.

First, ulltime virtual schools completelysupplement a students education in abrickandmortar public school with one ina virtual classroom. ypically, these onlineacademies are operated and regulated ascharter schools in a state, with a portiono a students per pupil unding ollowing

him or her to the new school. 30 states oerstatewide ulltime virtual schools as oAugust 2013.

Second, blended learning programscomplement a students education at abrickandmortar public school with onlineclasses at a virtual school. Most oen,these programs are targeted at high schoolstudents to expand their learning in subject

Today, online

learning

transcends

school choices

physical

boundaries

and enrollment

constraints by

bringing accessto educational

freedom at the

click of a mouse.

SAE

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

Caliornia

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

ennessee

exas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

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SAUS OF ONLINELEARNING BY SAE


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areas that their school may not oer such asoreign languages and Advanced Placementcourses. 35 states oer statewide blendedlearning programs as o August 2013.

Tese two types o online schools can beauthorized either on the state or local level.

Indeed, a variety o dierent administrativecombinations can be seen across thecountry. o untangle this web o virtualschool choice, the nearby chart displayswhat type o online learning is available ineach state and what level o governmentsuch programs are administered.

The Virtual School Slowdown

Although states have generally embraced

online learning, the past ew years haveseen a sea change in attitudes towardsvirtual school choice. Recently, manystates have stalled or even rolled backimplementation o online learning, usuallyciting poor perormance on standardizedtests as justication or scrutiny. Tissection catalogs the recent disappointmentsweve seen in the past year, many o whichwere led by conservative policymakers.

New Jersey: Just months beore thestates rst two ulltime virtual schoolswere scheduled to open, RepublicanEducation Commissioner ChristopherCer withdrew their state approval,citing insucient evidence thatonline learning improves studentperormance.4 O course, the evidencewill continue to be insucient in theGarden State unless Mr. Cer allowsonline school choice to proceed. Until

then, 1,000 students will continue tobe denied attendance at the school otheir choice.

Pennsylvania: Despite constituting onlyone percent o the states educationbudget, Pennsylvanias virtual schoolsace severe threat o unding cutsrom the states Republicancontrolled

General Assembly.5 While cuts to publiceducation are absolutely necessaryconsidering the states bleak scalsituation, these cuts should be appliedacross all public schools equally andnot directly targeted at online learning especially since virtual schools inPennsylvania only receive 81% o astudents per pupil unding as it is.6

ennessee: Despite Republicantriecta House, Senate, and Governor,ennessee passed legislation restrictingenrollment in virtual schools this pastlegislative session. Te new law limitsregistration in every virtual school inthe state to 1,500, with modest increases

i perormance requirements are met.

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Virginia: Despite its responsibility to

educate 1.3 million students, Virginiascharter laws are so weak that there areonly our o the schools in the state.8Sadly, one o the our closed this year,denying choice to 425 students in OldDominion. Carroll Countys schoolboard shut down the states onlyonline academy.9

All our states cited student perormanceconcerns as justication or halting orhindering expansion o virtual schoolchoice. While its absolutely critical orvirtual schools to be held accountable orproviding students a quality education,its also important to keep in mind thecircumstances that cause students topursue online learning in the rst place.Te overwhelming majority o students

that transer rom a district school toa virtual school have parents who aredissatised with the education their childwas receiving at their local brickandmortar public school. As a result o theacademic damage done to these students bysuch ailing institutions, they are oenyears behind grade level and perormpoorly on evaluation metrics like Adequate

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Yearly Progress (AYP). Consequently,virtual schools are oen wrongullydepicted as ail actories that do notimprove students education.

Indeed, this problem is not exclusive tovirtual schools, either. Charter schools and

even brickandmortar public schools areoen criticized or poor AYP perormance.Part o the problem stems rom the actthat AYP is an unrealistic measuremento learning.10 Adequate Yearly Progressas dened by No Child Le Behind is abenchmark percentage o students in aschool that are expected to meet prociencystandards on a state standardized testin a given year. No Child Le Behind,

as originally passed, envisions 100% ostudents in public schools receiving ederalunds to be procient in reading andmathematics by 2014. Tis impossible goalmeans that the bar by which virtual schoolsare measured and all public schools orthat matter is raised every year.

Instead o onesizetsall evaluations likeAYP, states could more eectively evaluatevirtual schools perormance by ocusing

on progress rather than benchmarks. Tatis to say, states should evaluate whether astudents knowledge has improved ratherthan i their knowledge is sucient to passa state standardized test. One such ormo evaluation is the valueadded model,where a students test scores are comparedat the beginning and end o a school yearto determine i theyve made academicprogress.11 Such progressbasedevaluations would shine a light on virtual

schools eectiveness without penalizingthem or accepting students who arebehind grade level.

Georgias Model for Promoting

Online School Choice

Although the last year has seen a numbero disappointments or virtual schools, one

recent development in Georgia may be agood model or how education reormerscan promote online school choice in theuture. Over the past ew years, Georgiahas trailblazed bold school choice reorms.Tanks to the eorts o their GeneralAssembly, Peach State children have accessto over 200 charter schools, includingnumerous virtual academies.12 A largepart o the credit or Georgias extensiveonline school choice belongs to the GeorgiaCharter Schools Commission, a state boardwith authority to establish charter schoolsin local districts that are hostile to schoolchoice. Te Commission established 16charter schools as o 2011, including twovirtual academies.

Unortunately, in May o that year, theGeorgia Supreme Court declared theCommission unconstitutional, claimingthat [n]o other constitutional provisionauthorizes any other governmental entityto compete with or duplicate the eorts olocal boards o education in establishingand maintaining general K12 schools.13Fortunately, Georgians understand theimportance o school choice to a quality

education. In November 2012, Georgiavoters restored the Commissions authorityby passing a constitutional amendmentvia ballot.14

Other states can learn rom Georgiasexample. Despite all the obstacles, schoolchoice remains popular among parentsand taxpayers across the country. Sowhen education reormers nd localeducation agencies hinder school choice

being hindered in their state, they caneasily turn to legislation, ballot initiatives,or constitutional amendments to secureschool choice on the state level. A charterschool authorizing board like Georgiascan ensure all students have access toa ulltime virtual school in their state.While district ocials may object that suchstateauthorized schools compete with their


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Instead ofimpeding on

local control,

state-created

virtual schools

would only add

more education

choice for

parents to sele

the best schoolfor their child.

Endnotes:

1 Charter School Achievement: What We Know, National Alliance or Charter Schools (April 2009), http://www.publiccharters.org/data/les/Publication_docs/Summary_o_Achievement_Studies_Fih_Edition_2009_Final_20110402222331.pd.

2 National Charter School Study 2013, Center or Research on Education Outcomes, Stanord University (2013),http://credo.stanord.edu/documents/NCSS%202013%20Final%20Dra.pd.

3 Education then, beyond all other devices o human origin, is the great equalizer o the conditions o men, the balancewheel o thesocial machinery. Horace Mann

4 Jessica Caleati, Decision to halt states rst online charter schools draws criticism rom parents, praise rom pols, NJ.com, (June30, 2013), http://www.nj.com/news/index.ss/2013/06/decision_to_halt_states_rst_online_charter_schools_draws_criticism_rom_parents_and_praise_rom_la.html.

5 Auditor Jack Wagner Says Fixing PAs Charter School Formula Could Save $365 Million a Year in axpayer Money, PennsylvaniaDepartment o the Auditor General (June 20, 2012), http://www.auditorgen.state.pa.us/department/press/wagnersaysxingpa%E2%80%99scharterschoolormula.html.

6 Priya Abraham and Elizabeth Steele, Cyber School Funding in Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Foundation (May 30, 2012),http://www.commonwealthoundation.org/research/detail/cyberschoolundinginpennsylvania.

7 Governor Signs Virtual Schools Legislation, NewChannel5.com (May 16, 2013),http://www.newschannel5.com/story/22276865/governorsignsvirtualschoolslegislation.

8 James P. Massie III, Massie: Education plan ocuses on charter schools, Richmond imes-Dispatch (January 27, 2013), http://www.timesdispatch.com/opinion/theiropinion/columnistsblogs/guestcolumnists/massieeducationplanocusesoncharterschools/article_bc01644a5f05384a97d1cc4a2e56004.html.

9 Michael Allison Chandler, Virginias rst statewide virtual school likely to close, Te Washington Post(May 1, 2013),http://articles.washingtonpost.com/20130501/local/38950588_1_virtualschoolscarrollcountyschoolboardnorthernvirginia.

10 Adequate Yearly Progress, Education Week (August 3, 2004), http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/adequateyearlyprogress/.

11 Marcus A. Winters, ransorming enure: Using ValueAdded Modeling to Identiy Ineective eachers, Manhattan Institute orPolicy Research (September 2012), http://www.manhattaninstitute.org/html/cr_70.htm#.UgugkW0pimE.

12 Chartering in Georgia: Te Charter School Division Annual Report or 20112012, Charter School Division (2012), http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ExternalAairsandPolicy/communications/Documents/Georgia%20Charter%20Schools%20Annual%20Report%2020112012.pd.

13 Maureen Downey, Breaking news: Georgia Supreme Court strikes down Charter Schools Commission in 43 vote, Atlanta Journal-Courier(May 16, 2011), http://blogs.ajc.com/getschooledblog/2011/05/16/breakingnewssupremecourtstrikesdowncharterschoolscommissionin43vote/.

14 Georgia Charter Schools, Amendment 1 (2012) Ballotpedia (2013),http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Georgia_Charter_Schools,_Amendment_1_%282012%29

authority, such commission schools canbe unded and administration on the statelevel like in Georgia so that none o theburden alls upon local education agencies.Instead o impeding on local control,statecreated virtual schools would onlyadd more educational choice or parents toselect the best school or their child.

Accelerating into the Future of

Virtual School Choice

While cyber school choice has acceleratedat an impressive rate over the past decade,it has hit a speed bump in the past year.However, this years slowdown is a smallobstacle compared to the unprecedented

progress school choice has made recently,with online learning existing in all 50 statesat some state or local level. In act, thisspeed bump is arguably the result o howar educational reedom has come, withgroundbreaking progress like Georgias

being met with legal challenges.

Nevertheless, the obstacles to online schoolchoice require much work ahead. Educationreormers should urge their elected ocialsto stand or virtual school choice. Onlinelearning programs should be expanded

into ulltime virtual schools, preerably onthe state level. Enrollment caps should belied to ensure that every student has anopportunity to succeed. Legal and politicalchallenges against educational reedomshould be thwarted. Finally, and perhapsmost importantly, perormance evaluationsshould be reormed in a way that is bothair to the unique challenges virtual schoolstudents ace and equally applied to all

types o public schools district, charter,and virtual. It is not until all our hurdlesare cleared that education will truly bethe great equalizer delivering everystudent an excellent education regardless osocioeconomic status.