You are here: Home / Archives for Home Page

“Cyber-Schools” Legislation Clears Another Hurdle in MI

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

LANSING, Mich. – More virtual schools could soon be reality in Michigan if a bill moving through the legislature clears one final hurdle. Senate Bill 619 would allow an unlimited number of full-time, for-profit online or cyber schools in the state. From the state board of education to Michigan’s two largest teachers’ unions, education advocates oppose the bill, although it has cleared committees in both the Senate and House and is now up for a House vote.

Michigan Education Association President Steven Cook says there is simply no reliable research to indicate that online schools produce results. In fact, he says, most studies show the opposite.

For the rest of the article, go to “Cyber-Schools” Legislation Clears Another Hurdle in MI

Filed Under: Home Page, online high schools Tagged With: , ,

COMMENTARY — Cyber schools: Show me the data

February 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The evidence is clear that educational management organizations are making a substantial profit. K12 Inc., one of the largest providers of virtual schools, had revenue of $522 million according to securities filings. Its net income after a series of acquisitions was $12.8 million and its CEO, Ronald J. Packard, earned $2.6 million in total compensation.

The fact that companies have figured out a way into public education as a way of making a profit wouldn’t disturb me if evidence showed they outperform traditional public schools. Instead, we see the national expansion of virtual schools with more than 200,000 students enrolled despite the absence of data on their effectiveness.

For the rest of the article, go to COMMENTARY — Cyber schools: Show me the data

Filed Under: Home Page, online high schools Tagged With:

Letter: Just asking, should students use virtual schools and do lessons on computer?

February 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

So Republicans want virtual schools where students stay home and do their lessons on a computer? What happens to the brick and mortar school buildings? Will they face the wrecking ball? Just asking.

Do the Republicans honestly think that every school building in Michigan will be shuttered while students do their lessons from home? Just asking.

Republicans also want charter schools whereby teachers get paid less and school owners would get paid more. Is this so that the school owners could pay for their extra homes, cars, vacation, furs, and so on with their extra profits? Just asking.

Why should our young potential teachers take extra profits? Just asking.

For the rest of the article, go to Letter: Just asking, should students use virtual schools and do lessons on computer?

Filed Under: bestonlinehighschools.com, Home Page Tagged With:

Letters: Online schools offer options to students, parents

February 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Michigan’s charter schools and online public schools are governed by independent, nonprofit school boards and are authorized by state-approved bodies. These schools are held to the same academic, fiscal, and accountability standards as other public schools, yet receive less in total taxpayer funds than traditional schools. Students are required to meet state accountability requirements and participate in state assessment tests just like their peers in traditional schools. For example, students at the school I lead, the Michigan Virtual Charter Academy (MVCA), participate in state tests annually proctored by our school’s state-certified teachers. Last year, students at MVCA scored 3% higher than their peer school districts.

The online school enrollment cap right now is keeping thousands of children trapped on waiting lists, unable to access these innovative public schools. Many of these children are dealing with serious situations, like bullying or special needs. Some are falling behind in their traditional school, while others feel held back. The qualities of online public schools — individualized learning, flexibility and self-pacing, one-on-one support from teachers, safe environments — is exactly the type of school some children need.

For the rest of the article, go to Letters: Online schools offer options to students, parents

Filed Under: Home Page, online high schools Tagged With: ,

Online Charter School Spending Trends

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A bill to increase the cap on the number of Michigan public school students who can participate in full-time, online charter “cyber schools” is now pending in the state House of Representatives. Based on committee hearings, some legislators seem particularly interested in how these schools spend their money.

It appears that most online charter dollars go for the same things as conventional brick-and-mortar schools. In both, instruction tops the list. The current budget for the Michigan Virtual Charter Academy devotes about 61 percent to instruction, compared to around 60 percent at conventional schools, according to the state Department of Education.

For the rest of the article, go to Online Charter School Spending Trends

Filed Under: Home Page, online high schools Tagged With:

Debate on cyber charter schools heats up as bill moves forward

February 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Patricia and Frankie Girardot say they like the flexibility that comes with online learning.

The Franklin siblings can take their classes when they want and advance to the next level when they’re ready — not when the rest of the class is ready.

“The learning is centered around kids and not around the teacher and how they want to run their classroom,” said Frankie, 12, a seventh-grader at Michigan Virtual Charter Academy (MVCA), one of two cyber charter schools in Michigan where students take all of their classes online.

A battle is heating up in Lansing over a proposal that would allow more students like the Girardots to enroll in cyber charter schools and allow far more of the schools to open in Michigan. State law enacted in 2010 allows only two cyber charters to exist and limits enrollment to 400 in the first year of operation and a maximum of 1,000 in subsequent years.

For the rest of the article, go to Debate on cyber charter schools heats up as bill moves forward

Filed Under: Home Page, online high schools Tagged With:

LETTER — America needs high-quality educational options like virtual school

February 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

For more than a decade, full-time online public schools have delivered an effective and highly successful education alternative that works for thousands of students nationwide. Connection Academy’s program is accredited by AdvancED, the world’s premier education accreditation organization. Our parent satisfaction levels are in the 95th percentile, and graduates of the program have gone on to some of the most prestigious universities in the country. We also have thousands of success stories that demonstrate how successful virtual schooling can be.

Here at MICA, we see first hand how students who were struggling in a traditional classroom are thriving in our virtual school setting. MICA delivers a high-quality, standards-correlated education that is personalized to each student’s needs and abilities.

For the rest of the article, go to LETTER — America needs high-quality educational options like virtual school

Filed Under: Home Page, online high schools Tagged With: , ,

Virtual Education Offers Global Opportunities for Students and Teachers

February 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Middle school students in California, for example, watched Chinese dancers perform during a recent virtual field trip. Some schools are even making virtual education with foreign educators a part of their curriculum.

In Michigan, educators have partnered with colleagues in China to offer virtual education exchange opportunities that allow students to communicate with each other, often through videos, online. During the next school year, students will have the chance to attend a real Chinese school, taking virtual classes according China’s time zone, at their own schools during the hours of 8 p.m. and 4 a.m.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual Education Offers Global Opportunities for Students and Teachers

Filed Under: Home Page, online high schools Tagged With:

Rep. McMillin: Districts don’t oppose virtual learning, they just don’t want charter schools offering parents choices

February 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Traditional K-12 districts don’t oppose virtual schools, they just don’t want charter school operators to be able to run them, state House Education Committee chairman Thomas McMillin said today.

His committee wrapped up testimony on a school choice package that includes lifting a cap on the number of “cyber” charters and expanding high school and college dual enrollment. McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, said the committee will likely vote next week to send it to the full House.

Testimony about cyber schools closed after discussing questions about the quality of instruction at two existing schools.

But leaders from several traditional districts also said they have – or want to offer – similar virtual schools, some even using the provider criticized for making large profits on the schools.

For the rest of the article, go to Rep. McMillin: Districts don’t oppose virtual learning, they just don’t want charter schools offering parents choices

Filed Under: bestonlinehighschools.com, Home Page Tagged With:

U.S., Chinese Schools Build Virtual Ed. Partnerships

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

For the past three years, starting in kindergarten, students in the Oxford district have opportunities to learn synchronously and asynchronously online with their Chinese peers.

“They make videos, send them over, pose questions, and talk about different things they like in America,” Mr. Skilling said, referring to the Oxford students.

For the 2012-13 school year, the district will launch a foreign-exchange program in which high school students in Michigan will attend the district’s international school in China full time, at set classroom times, via the Internet. The students will take virtual classes, at the high school building, from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m.

“A lot of American students choose not to do exchange programs because they don’t want to leave their peer group,” Mr. Skilling said. This alternative will allow those students to have an international experience without leaving their families and friends.

For the rest of the article, go to U.S., Chinese Schools Build Virtual Ed. Partnerships

Filed Under: Home Page, online high schools Tagged With:
« Older Posts