A Study of ONLINE LEARNING: Perspectives of Online Learners and Educators

Transcription

1 A Study of ONLINE LEARNING: Perspectives of Oie Learers ad Educators October 2012 Report to the Coorado Departet of Educatio Uit of Oie Learig

2 O behaf of the Coorado Departet of Educatio, Uit of Oie Learig ad the Schoo of Pubic Affairs, Uiversity of Coorado Dever, we wish to tha the Coorado Legacy Foudatio ad the Doe Kay Foudatio for their support of this research. A Study of ONLINE LEARNING: Perspectives of Oie Learers ad Educators October 2012

3 Tabe of Cotets I. INTRODUCTION... 1 Purpose of the Study... 1 Bacgroud... 1 II. METHODOLOGY... 2 Sape Studets, Parets, Educators... 2 Istruets... 4 III. FINDINGS... 5 A. FINDINGS High Schoo Studets ad Parets... 5 Tie i Oie Schoo... 5 High Schoo Studets/Parets: BRICK AND MORTAR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE... 6 High Schoo Studets/Parets: DECISION TO ATTEND AN ONLINE SCHOOL... 9 High Schoo Studets/Parets: PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN AN ONLINE SCHOOL Grades, Course Copetio ad Overa Progress Schoo Supports ad Activities Motivatio ad Focus Satisfactio COMPARISON OF BRICK AND MORTAR AND ONLINE SCHOOLS Studets Oy COMPARISON OF 9 TH AND 12 TH GRADE LEVEL STUDENTS B. FINDINGS Descriptio of A Paret Survey Respodets A Parets: BRICK AND MORTAR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE A Parets: DECISION TO ATTEND AN ONLINE SCHOOL How Heard About Oie Schoo Eroig i Oie Schoo Reasos for Choosig Oie Schoo Characteristics of Successfu Oie Studets A Parets: PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN AN ONLINE SCHOOL Grades, Course Copetio ad Overa Progress Oie Curricua Schoo Supports ad Activities Motivatio, Focus ad Couicatio Satisfactio A Parets: COMPARISON OF ONLINE AND BRICK AND MORTAR SCHOOLS Grades Motivatio, Focus ad Couicatio C. KEY FINDINGS List of Tabes ad Figures Appedices Studet Survey, Paret Survey (Egish/Spaish) Iterview Protoco (Teacher/Pricipa

4 I. INTRODUCTION Purpose of the Study The adscape of Coorado s oie schoos has experieced draatic chages i recet years. The uber of oie schoos has icreased ad studet eroet has grow fro 3,248 i to 16,464 i Additioay, studet deographics have shifted. Studets eroed i oie schoos i cosisted priariy of white studets ad few were eigibe for Free ad Reduced Luch. Currety, the proportio of racia/ethic groups i oie schoos ore cosey represets the statewide distributios. Further, i 2003, the aority were studets i eeetary grades. By 2011, high schoo studets were the aority of eroed studets. 1 Deographic chages, icreased eroet ad poor studet perforace i soe of Coorado s oie schoos are partiay resposibe for the ivey debate cocerig the faiures ad successes of oie schooig, proptig severa recet studies of oie earig. The Coorado Departet of Educatio ased the Ceter for Educatio Poicy Aaysis, i the Buecher Istitute for Goverace, Uiversity of Coorado Dever to coduct a study to gai a better uderstadig of oie earig ad previous experieces i bric ad ortar cassroos fro the perspective of high schoo studets ad parets of studets i idergarte through 12 th grade. Bacgroud Across the coutry, oie educatio has experieced pheoea growth over the ast decade. I 2010, the Natioa Associatio for Idepedet Schoos (NAIS) coducted a survey of oie schoos, reportig that twothirds (65%) of oie progras offer oie courses to provide resources that the bric ad ortar schoos woud ot otherwise offer; eary haf (48%) offer casses to serve acceerated or advaced studets ad a equa uber to eet studets specia eeds. We over three quarters (83%) offer oie earig to erich or suppeet curret curricua. 2 Accordig to Coorado egisatio, a Oie Progra is defied as a o reigious, ad o sectaria fu tie oie educatio progra that deivers istructio by a state certified, highy quaified teacher to a studet through techoogy, via the Iteret. It does ot icude suppeeta oie progras. Suppeeta oie progras offer oe or ore oie courses to studets to auget their educatio progra. A oie studet ust be a residet of Coorado, verified by docuetatio. A sige district oie progra oy serves studets who reside withi a sige schoo district; a uti district oie progra serves studets draw fro two or ore schoo districts. As i bric ad ortar schoos, the head cout of oie studets taes pace each year o October 1. The oie schoo curricuu is aiged with Coorado Mode Cotet Stadards, assesset fraewors, ad is cosistet with grade eve expectatios. Various assessets are used by teachers ad staff to obtai iforatio o studet earig, oitor studet progress, idetify achieveet ad curricuar gaps ad to refie istructio. The oie progra eets idustry accepted accessibiity stadards ad appropriate access for earers with specia eeds. Techoogica support structures ad progras are i pace to reduce barriers to earig for a studets. I additio, oie progras ust copy with a statutory requireets. Oie schoos i Coorado are fu tie, sequetia schoos with their ow adiistratio, budget ad 1 Coorado Departet of Educatio. Uit of Oie Learig. 2 Uiversity of Forida Virtua Schoo Data Cearighouse. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 1

5 accoutabiity, ad a the budgets ad accoutig records are trasparet ad ope to the pubic. A fu tie studet wi receive fudig if the studet has a schedue that provides a iiu of 360 hours of istructio. Reguar assesset of a studet s acadeic progress by a site coordiator is required. Additioay, studet perforace is assessed based o Coorado s stadards based assesset, CSAP, ow TCAP. Metorig services deeed ecessary for a participatig studet are aso avaiabe. 3 I 2012, the Iteratioa Associatio for 12 Oie Learig (inacol) reported that the curret U.S. average per pupi expediture for a fuy oie progra is $6,400 ad $8,900 for a beded earig ode. inacol reported a average cost of $10,000 per studet for traditioa bric ad ortar schoo odes. I states such as Coorado that aow for fu tie oie earig, fudig is oray based o the uber of studets eroed. inacol reports that Coorado fuds fu tie oie schoos at a state set, per pupi iiu eve for oie studets. 4 II. METHODOLOGY Sape Studets, Parets, Educators The study expored the experieces of high schoo studets ad parets of studets across grades 12 i oie earig ad their ost recet experiece i bric ad ortar schoos. To provide additioa cotext, the researchers iterviewed pricipas ad teachers i oie schoos, as we. We idetified a sape of schoos that woud best represet a cross sectio of Coorado s oie schoos. First, we deveoped a categorizatio of schoos based o three variabes: 1) sige/uti/uti charter; 2) existece of ESP; 3) schoo perforace. We attepted to seect oe schoo fro each category, ad ore i those istaces where there were ay schoos i oe category. Additioay, we tried to icude a of the very arge schoos for efficiecy. The researchers deveoped a atrix to icude descriptive variabes such as district, pupi cout, years i operatio, iproveet pa ad grade eves served, ad tested whether the sape of schoos yieded a proportio o each of the descriptive variabes that was roughy i ie with the tota popuatio of schoos. Utiatey, the idetified sape of oie schoos had to agree to participate i the study. Those schoos are: Braso Schoo Oie edcsd Coorado HOPE Oie Learig Cao Oie Acadey Ediso Acadey Isight Schoo Coorado Cavert Grade River Virtua Mote Vista Oie Coorado Virtua Guided Oie Acadey Southwest Coorado 3 Coorado Departet of Educatio. (2009). Rues for the adiistratio, certificatio ad oversight of Coorado oie progras. Dever, CO: Coorado State Board of Educatio 4 Iteratioa Associatio for K 12 Oie Learig. Fast Facts About Oie Learig. February Buecher Istitute for Goverace 2

6 Studets ad parets did ot copete surveys fro every schoo i the sape ad studets ad parets fro oie schoos that were ot i the idetified sape copeted surveys. Tabe 1 shows the uber of respodets ad their oie schoo. Tabe 1. Oie Schoos of Studet ad Paret Respodets Studet Respodets Paret Respodets Oie Schoo Frequecy Percet Frequecy Percet Guided Oie Acadey Learig (GOAL) Acadey Isight Schoo of Coorado Coorado Virtua Acadey (COVA) , HOPE Oie Learig Acadey Co Op Acadey Oie Braso Schoo Oie edcsd Coorado Cyberschoo Grade River Virtua Acadey Cao Oie Acadey Coorado Cavert Acadey Coorado Coectios Acadey Southwest Coorado eschoo PSD Goba Acadey ACHIEVE Ceter Virtua Acadey Provost Acadey Coorado Oie APS Oie Buea Vista Oie Acadey Deta Couty Virtua Acadey DPS Oie High Schoo Eg@ge Oie Acadey JEFFCO's 21st Cetury Virtua Acadey Word Acadey Tota 1, ,982* * Parets = 2 issig schoos Sevetee educators were iterviewed 5 teachers ad 12 pricipas. Teacher respodets provided the ost detaied resposes. However, the researchers chose to iit the uber of teacher iterviews after the first five because resposes were eary idetica i toe ad cotet. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 3

7 Istruets Oie schoo staff ased studets ad parets to copete surveys fro id August through eary Septeber The studet ad paret surveys icuded idetica questios that addressed egth of tie ad reasos for choosig a oie schoo, respodets ost recet experieces i a bric ad ortar schoo, ad for those who were ot ew to oie earig, their experieces i their oie schoo i the previous year. Parets were abe to copete a survey i either Egish or Spaish. I the sprig of the schoo year, the researchers coducted iterviews with pricipas ad teachers fro the sape of schoos to expore siiar issues ased of studets ad parets, but fro the perspective of schoo staff. We ased, fro their experiece, why parets ad studets choose oie schoos, what types of studets do they fee are successfu i oie earig, ad probed for their thoughts about how studets perfor i a oie schoo who are ot successfu i a traditioa settig. Schoo staff aswered questios about their curricuu, eroet processes, how studets ad parets couicate with teachers ad what they fee are the stregths ad chaeges of their oie schoo. Fiay, iterviewees coeted o what is sti eeded i Coorado with regard to oie earig. The surveys ad iterview protocos ay be foud i the Appedices. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 4

8 III. FINDINGS Soe survey respodets did ot aswer every questio. Additioay, soe questios sorted out respodets. For exape, studets ad parets ew to oie earig did ot aswer questios about their previous experiece i oie schoos. As a resut, the percetages reported i each sub sectio of the report, i tabes ad i graphs represet oy those peope who aswered the particuar questio ad ot the tota uber of respodets. I other words, uess otherwise oted, the percetages do ot icude issig resposes. A. FINDINGS High Schoo Studets ad Parets I this sectio, we report o the fidigs for studets ad parets of studets i high schoo (grades 9 12). The studet fidigs are highighted, ad where the fidigs of parets of high schoo studets depart substatiay fro the studet fidigs, we describe these differeces. There are a tota of 1,247 high schoo studets ad 778 high schoo parets. Tie i Oie Schoo The sight aority of studets ad high schoo parets are i their secod year or ore i a oie schoo. Tabe 2 shows that approxiatey haf have bee i oie schoos for two years or ore. Tabe 2. Tie i Oie Schoo Studets Parets Frequecy Percet Frequecy Percet Just startig this year Secod year i a oie schoo Third year or ore i a oie schoo Tota Figure 1. Grade Leve High Schoo Studet ad Paret Respodets The aority of studets are i the upper grades 11 th ad 12 th grade; the saest uber of studets are i 9 th grade. 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Grade Leve High Schoo Studet ad Paret Respodets 12.7% 20.7% 19.5% 28.7% 28.7% 26.4% 35.3% 22.0% Studet Respodets Paret Respodets 6.1% 9th 10th 11th 12th Not sure 0.0% Buecher Istitute for Goverace 5

9 The greatest proportio of studets ust startig oie schooig is 9 th graders. Tabe 3 shows that of studet respodets, as the uber of studets ew to oie earig decreases, studets grade eve icreases. Paret respodets reported about haf of their studets i grades 9 11 were i their first year ad haf had bee i oie earig for two years or ore, athough as expected, they reported fewer 12 th graders were i their first year versus i oie for two years or ore (copare 32.9% to 67.1%). Tabe 3. Tie i Oie Learig ad Grade Leve Studet Respodets Tie i Oie Learig Grade Leve 9 th 10th 11th 12th Not sure Tota Just startig this year % 56.4% 51.6% 37.2% 54.3% 48.6% This is secod year or ore % 43.6% 48.4% 62.8% 45.7% 51.4% The survey ased if studets have a earig disabiity. Sighty ore tha oe i te studets (11.8%) reported they have a earig disabiity copared to 15.7 percet of parets who reported their high schoo studet has a disabiity. Just four parets of high schoo studets copeted the survey i Spaish. High Schoo Studets/Parets: BRICK AND MORTAR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE We ased if respodets had ever atteded a bric ad ortar schoo, ad if so, to describe their experieces durig their ost recet year. Neary a studets (90.8%) reported they had atteded a bric ad ortar schoo at soe tie as did parets of high schoo studets (93.6%). Studets ad parets were ased to rate how studets were doig i their ast bric ad ortar schoo regardig their overa grades, ad specificay their ath, aguage arts ad sciece casses. We aso ased how respodets fet studets were doig sociay. Respodets used a 1 5 ratig scae where 1 idicated very bady ad 5 idicated very we. Oe quarter (25.2%) of the studet respodets reported they were ot doig we i schoo overa (a ratig of 1 or 2), whie 46.5 percet fet they were doig we (a ratig of 4 or 5). Studets reported doig ess we i ath, foowed by sciece ad aguage arts. The paret fidigs irrored this patter, athough paret respodets teded to rate their high schoo studets perforace ower, o average, tha did the studet respodets. Neary two thirds (64.8%) of studets reported they were doig ust fie sociay (a ratig of 4 or 5), whie oy haf (49.9%) of parets said their chid was doig we sociay. Tabe 4 gives the studet ad paret respodets average scores. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 6

10 Tabe 4. Perforace i Last Bric ad Mortar Schoo Studets Parets N Mea N Mea How were you/your chid doig i schoo overa (grades)? How were you/your chid doig i your ath casses? How were you/your chid doig i your sciece casses? How were you/your chid doig i your aguage arts casses? How woud you say you/your chid were doig sociay? A arge uber of studets idicated that they had itte otivatio ad had troube stayig focused o their wor i their bric ad ortar cassroos. Neary three quarters (70.2%) of studets reported very ow to oderate eves of otivatio for doig their cass wor, specificay, 16.1 percet reported they were ot otivated at a. Siiary, three quarters (73.1%) of studets said it was very hard to oderatey hard to stay focused. Paret survey fidigs showed eary idetica resuts regardig studets otivatio ad abiity to focus i the cassroo. Studets ad parets reported how satisfied they were with the aout of couicatio that studets had with their teachers, where 1 was ot satisfied at a ad 5 was very satisfied. Neary haf (46.6%) of the studets idicated they were ot satisfied (a ratig of 1 or 2) ad we over haf (60.2%) of parets were ot satisfied. Fewer parets tha studets reported they were satisfied with the eve of couicatio that studets had with teachers (copare 19.5% to 26.4%). Studets ad parets were ased if studets had faied ay casses i the ost recet year they were i a bricad ortar schoo ad if they had ever bee suspeded or expeed. There were substative differeces betwee the resposes of studets ad parets to these questios. Athough the paret ad studet respodets were ot ecessariy reportig o the sae studets, we ca get a sese of the geera differeces i either owedge or perceptios betwee the two groups. May ore studets tha parets reported that studets had faied ay casses or had bee suspeded/expeed fro schoo, athough parets reported a higher uber of faied casses tha did studets. The aority (57.0%) of studets ad ess tha haf (48.7%) of parets reported that studets had faied ay casses. The uber of faied casses i their ost recet year i a bric ad ortar schoo raged fro oe to ie or ore. Overa, oe third (33.6%) of studet respodets reported they had faied oe to two casses (parets reported 40.1%) ; two thirds (66.5%) had faied fro oe to six casses (parets reported 75.9%). Just 6.1 percet of studet respodets reported they had faied ore tha six casses i their ast bric ad ortar schoo. Fuy 27.3 percet of studets ad eary oe i five (17.8%) of parets were ot sure of the uber of faied casses. As Tabe 5 shows, the proportio of studets who reported they had faied casses icreased as their satisfactio with teacher couicatio decreased, that is, three quarters (73.7%) of studet respodets who reported they were ot at a satisfied aso reported havig faied casses, whie ust oe third (31.7%) who were very satisfied with their couicatio with teachers faied ay casses. The fidigs for paret respodets show the sae patter. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 7

11 Tabe 5. Faied Casses ad Satisfactio with Teacher Couicatio Studet Respodets Did you fai ay casses i the ost recet year you atteded a bric adortar schoo? Whe you were i a bric ad ortar schoo, how satisfied were you with the aout of couicatio you had with your teachers? 1 Not satisfied at a Very satisfied Tota Yes % 64.7% 53.6% 46.1% 31.7% 57.1% No % 35.3% 46.4% 53.9% 68.3% 42.9% Tota % 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% More studets tha parets reported suspesios ad expusios i their ast bric ad ortar schoo. Over oe quarter (29.7%) of studets copared to 16.9 percet of parets reported that the studet had bee suspeded or expeed at soe tie. Ceary, abseteeis is a ris factor for course copetio ad high schoo graduatio. Studets ad parets were ased if studets had bee abset fro schoo for ore tha five to six days each seester i their ost recet bric ad ortar schoo. Studets ad parets report very differet icidece ad reasos for studets abseces. Neary two thirds (61.8%) of studets said they had bee abset for ore tha five to six days, whie sighty ess tha haf (49.4%) of the parets reported their studet had bee abset for ore tha five to six days each seester. Figure 2. Reasos for Abseces i Bricad Mortar Schoo Reasos for Abseces i Bric ad Mortar Schoo 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Probes at hoe was oe of the top four reasos studets gave for their abseces, whie parets reported probes at hoe uch ess ofte tha did studets. The top four reasos studets gave for their abseces were iess foowed by probes Iess Probes at hoe Fet usafe/buyig Physica/eotioa disabiity Faiy resposibiities Trasportatio probes Probes with frieds Job Sports Other 10.1% 2.7% 6.4% 13.9% 6.1% 5.6% 5.1% 2.7% 4.5% 2.7% 3.2% 3.6% 2.8% 0.3% 1.3% 1.5% 26.1% 22.6% 34.3% Studet Respodets Paret Respodets 44.5% Buecher Istitute for Goverace 8

12 at hoe, buyig ad physica or eotioa disabiities. Parets top four reasos for studets abseces were iess, buyig, physica or eotioa disabiities ad probes with frieds. A uber of studets ad parets (14.7% ad 9.1% respectivey) wrote i a reaso for issig schoo other tha the categories provided i the survey. Of the studets who provided a additioa aor reaso for issig schoo i their ost recet bric ad ortar schoo, the aority said they sipy did ot wat to go, did ot ie schoo, sipped schoo frequety ad were ot otivated to atted. Studets reported havig probes with teachers, ofte describig how they coud ot get aog with their teachers, ad therefore, did ot wat to go to schoo. A few studets said teachers ad pricipas buied the. A uber of studets issed schoo due to eta heath issues such as depressio ad axiety. Others reported they had behaviora issues at schoo icudig hagig out with the wrog crowd. A uber of studets said they were pregat i their ost recet year i a bric ad ortar schoo, ad soe studets said they fet ie a faiure, fet aoe, ad they were ot gettig the hep they eeded at schoo. A sa uber of studets reported that faiy issues were resposibe for their abseces. Very few studets issed schoo because they were struggig acadeicay. Parets echoed ay of the studets reasos for issig schoo. However, ore parets tha studets reported probes with teachers ad the schoo overa. May parets said that teachers were ea to their chid, teachers did othig to hep their chid whe they eeded it, ad whe there were aor issues, the schoo did othig to sove the probes. A arge uber of parets reported their chid was buied at schoo, which ofte caused the chid to becoe so axious either they begged to stay hoe fro schoo or they sipped casses. Siiar to studets, parets said their chid was bored or sipy did ot wat to go to schoo. Soe described that istead, their chid ade the choice to ust, hag out with frieds. May parets said their chid suffered fro axiety, depressio or was bi poar. A few had faiy issues, such as a sic paret or a father i priso. A few parets reported their chid was pregat, ad a surprisig uber of parets said that their chidre issed schoo due to faiy trave ad vacatios. High Schoo Studets/Parets: DECISION TO ATTEND AN ONLINE SCHOOL We ased studets ad parets about how they heard about their oie schoo ad why they chose to participate i oie earig. Geeray, studets ad parets used the sae resources to obtai iforatio about their oie schoo. Both studets ad parets heard about their oie schoo uch ore ofte fro a fried or faiy eber tha fro soeoe or soewhere ese (68.6%, 44.5% respectivey). After frieds ad faiy, both groups eared about their schoo ost ofte fro the iteret foowed by teevisio/radio, or a teacher or adiistrator at their bric ad ortar schoo. Soe studets ad parets reported they had eared about their schoo soe other way. Studets teded to idetify a pubic veue such as a shoppig a, whie parets were icied to report that they sipy started researchig possibe optios, without idetifyig their iforatio sources. May parets had oder chidre i oie schoos. Oe studet eared of his/her schoo fro the Coorado Departet of Educatio s aua oie schoo report. Studets ad parets described the reasos they decided to atted a oie schoo, usig a 1 5 scae to rate the iportace of these reasos, where 1 is ot iportat at a ad 5 is very iportat. The top three Buecher Istitute for Goverace 9

13 ost iportat reasos studets gave for attedig a oie schoo are reated to schoo success. Their ost iportat reasos are: 1) they ie the choice of casses that are avaiabe; 2) they wat to graduate eary, ad 3) studets wat casses to ove faster tha they did i their bric ad ortar schoo. However, the fourth ad fifth ost iportat reasos overa were that studets were faig behid i their casses ad they eeded to chage soethig ad studets eeded to ae up credits for casses they had faied. Parets top choice for attedig a oie schoo was the sae as the studets reaso both groups ie the choice of casses that are avaiabe. Parets reaiig top two choices differed aredy fro studets choices. Parets reported they have cocers about the eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos, foowed by choosig a oie schoo as a aterative to hoe schooig. Tabe 6 gives the average score give by studets ad parets. Tabe 6. Iportace of Reasos for Attedig Oie Schoo Studets Parets Mea Lie the choice of casses avaiabe oie Wat to graduate eary ad ca do that faster at a oie schoo Wat casses to ove faster tha i bric ad ortar cassroos Was faig behid i casses ad eeded to chage soethig Need to ae up credits for faied casses Wat to tae specific coege prep courses that were uavaiabe i previous bric ad ortar schoo Need fexibe schedue because of faiy resposibiities Chose oie schoo as aterative to hoe schooig Did t fee cofortabe or fit i at bric ad ortar schoo Need a fexibe schedue because of wor Have cocers about the eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos Need casses to ove at a sower pace tha i a bric ad ortar cassroo Was gettig ito troube at previous bric ad ortar schoo Need to ae up credits because of district trasfer Preparig for GED Have physica or eotioa disabiity that ade it difficut to ear i bric adortar schoo Have other specia eeds Live i a isoated area ad it is hard to get to the bric ad ortar schoo We ased studets ad parets to describe other iportat reasos why they decided to atted a oie schoo. Soe of the additioa reasos for choosig a oie schoo were the sae reasos that studets gave for their ow attedace rates i their recet bric ad ortar schoo. I additio to those reasos give above, studets said they chose a oie schoo ost ofte due to probes with teachers, priariy where they were Buecher Istitute for Goverace 10

14 struggig acadeicay ad ot gettig ay hep. The secod ost ofte give reaso was sipy coveiece ad the eed or desire to have a fexibe schedue. Additioa reasos i order of frequecy are: Catch up o course credits/graduate eary Faiy issues icudig pregacy Buyig/socia issues Fewer distractios Did ot ie bric ad ortar schoo/ac of otivatio Heath issues Other tie coitets Behaviora issues Parets echoed these fidigs, athough they reported probes with teachers ad with the schoo overa, uch ore ofte tha did studets. High Schoo Studets/Parets: PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN AN ONLINE SCHOOL We ased returig oie parets ad studets a series of questios about their experieces i their oie schoo ast year. Grades, Course Copetio ad Overa Progress First, parets ad studets reported how the studet perfored i their oie schoo overa, how they did sociay, ad specificay, how they did i their ath, aguage arts ad sciece casses. They used a 1 5 scae where 1 idicated very bady ad 5 idicated very we. Soe studets ay ot have tae a oie ath, aguage arts or sciece course i their previous year. I these cases, we provided the optio to choose Not Appicabe. Geeray, studets reported doig we i a of these areas over haf of the studets reported a ratig of 4 or 5. However, paret respodets gave higher ratigs overa tha did studet respodets. Studets reported doig ess we i their ath casses ad better i their aguage arts casses tha i the other areas, athough the differeces are iia. Tabe 7 shows the average scores based o the 1 5 scae. Tabe 7. Perforace i Oie Schoo i Previous Year Studets Parets Mea How did you/your chid do i oie aguage arts casses? How did you/your chid do i oie schoo overa (grades)? How did you/your chid do i oie sciece casses? How woud you say you/your chid did sociay sice taig oie casses? How did you/your chid do i your oie ath casses? Buecher Istitute for Goverace 11

15 Next, studets ad parets were ased if studets had faied ay oie casses ast year ad if they fee they are aig progress i their oie progra. A substatiay saer proportio of studets said they had faied oe or ore of their oie casses copared to the proportio of studets who reported they had faied casses i their ost recet bric ad ortar schoo: copare 29.0 percet to 57.0 percet. Additioay, of studets who had faied casses, the uber of faied casses is ower i their oie schoo ast year tha they reported faiig i their ast bric ad ortar schoo. Over haf (57.2%) faied oe to three casses i their oie schoo versus 66.3 percet i their ost recet bric ad ortar schoo, ad, ust 3.3 percet had faied ore tha six oie casses copared to 14.6 percet who had faied that uber of casses i their ost recet bric adortar schoo. However, ore tha oe third (34.8%) of studets were ot sure of the uber of oie casses they had faied ast year. Geeray, paret respodets showed siiar resuts, athough fewer parets tha studets were usure of the uber of casses their chid had faied (copare 14.7% to 34.8%). The aority of studets ad parets fee studets are aig good progress i their oie progra. Usig a 1 5 scae where 1 was very poor progress ad 5 was very good progress, over two thirds (68.6%) of studets ad three quarters (74.8%) of parets reported good to very good progress (a score of 4 or 5), whie ust percet of studets ad parets reported poor to very poor progress (a score of 1 or 2). Schoo Supports ad Activities Extracurricuar activities beefit studets sociay, acadeicay ad physicay. A eeet of the curret debate i the fied of oie earig is soe cocer that oie studets do ot have eough access to various activities icudig direct support fro withi the oie schoo, for exape, eough teacher support ad access to extracurricuar activities, such as fied trips, cubs ad sports activities. As expected, fewer studets ad parets reported havig eough access to sports ad arts activities, ad a greater uber of studets ad parets were cofortabe with their access to techoogy ad their teachers. Additioay, the survey specificay ased respodets how satisfied they are with the aout of couicatio studets have with their teachers, where 1 is ot at a satisfied ad 5 is very satisfied. I cotrast with their experiece i bricad ortar schoos, studets ad parets are very satisfied with the couicatio with their teachers the average ratig is 4.24 to 4.37 based o a 1 5 scae. Just oe i twety studets ad parets (5.5% ad 4.8% respectivey) are ot satisfied with the couicatio with their teachers. Figure 3 describes the percetage of studets ad parets that reported studets have eough access to the isted supports ad activities. I ost areas, the aority of respodets report havig eough access to the various schoo supports ad activities, athough parets reported ore access to a uber of activities tha did studets. More parets tha studets fee that studets have eough access to advaced paceet casses, fied trips, socia evets, cubs, arts activities, studet couci ad eough support fro a guidace couseor. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 12

16 Figure 3. Access to Oie Schoo Supports ad Activities Access to Oie Schoo Supports ad Activities 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Teacher support for your schoo wor Techoogy (coputer, Iteret, software) Variety of casses Guidace couseor support 95.8% 95.7% 94.8% 96.0% 88.5% 89.4% 86.0% 92.9% Iteractio with cassates/other studets Advaced paceet casses 73.3% 74.1% 71.2% 83.0% Fied trips Socia evets such as pro ad other daces, schoo parties, etc. Cubs Sports activities Arts activities such as theater or usic casses 50.2% 49.5% 48.3% 57.2% 46.5% 54.2% 61.5% 67.3% 68.3% 77.5% Studet Respodets Paret Respodets Studet couci 41.1% 66.1% Motivatio ad Focus Sef otivatio ad the abiity to focus are chaeges faced by studets i a situatios. Studets reported that feeig otivated to atted ad copete schoo was ofte so difficut that they sipy stopped attedig their bric ad ortar schoo. We ased studets ad their parets to rate the studets eve of sef otivatio to do their oie cass wor ad their abiity to stay focused whe doig their wor oie. Studets have a itte ore troube stayig focused tha feeig otivated whie doig their oie cass wor. Neary three quarters (72.4%) of studets reported they were otivated to copete their cass wor (a score of 4 or 5). Agai, the respodets used a ratig scae of 1 5 where 1 was ot otivated at a ad 5 was very otivated. Less tha oe i te (8.5%) studets reported they had very itte otivatio or were ot otivated at a. Studets rated their abiity to stay focused sighty ower tha their otivatio to do their cass wor. The sae uber of studets (8.7%) said it was hard stay focused (a score of 1 or 2) as reported very itte otivatio, whie two thirds (65.3%) reported it was easy to stay focused (a score of 4 or 5). Parets reported eary idetica resuts. Satisfactio We ased if studets ad parets are satisfied, overa, with their oie progra, ad if they thi that oie earig is a better fit for the tha a traditioa bric ad ortar schoo. Studets reported a high rate of satisfactio with their oie progra. The great aority of studets ad parets (83.1% ad 88.1% Buecher Istitute for Goverace 13

17 respectivey) gave a ratig of 4 or 5 where 1 is ot satisfied at a ad 5 is very satisfied. Over three quarters of studets (78.5%) ad 89.1 percet of parets thi that oie earig is a better fit tha a traditioa bricad ortar schoo, athough eary oe i five (17.2%) studets ad oe i te (9.6%) parets are ot sure. We ased studets ad parets to describe what they ie best ad ie east about their oie schoo. By far, fexibiity is what studets ad parets reported they ie best about their oie schoo. Next, studets fee their oie schoo has o distractios, or east ay fewer distractios tha they experieced i their bricad ortar schoo. After fexibiity, parets reported that the oie teachers are what they ie best. Parets said their oie schoo has great teachers, teacher support, effective teacher couicatio, idividuaized hep ad access to their teachers. Siiary, severa thigs that studets ie about their schoo is reated to teachers. Studets reported they have great teachers, they have a ot of couicatio with their teachers, ad ore tha aythig ese they receive idividuaized hep fro their teachers. Soe studets reported the best thig about their oie schoo was the curricuu, ad others reported they ie the fact that their otivatio to do their schoowor has icreased. The foowig are eeets of their oie schoo that parets reported they ie best after oie teachers, i order of frequecy: Curricuu Fewer distractios Paret ivoveet Icreased studet otivatio Everythig Hep with specia eeds No hoewor Of the studets ad parets who aswered the questio about what they ie east about their oie schoo, the greatest proportio said there was othig they ied east, foowed by the ac of socia iteractio. The foowig are additioa eeets that studets do ot ie about their oie schoo i order of frequecy: Techoogy probes No extracurricuar activities Too ay requireets Lac of otivatio Too difficut Teacher quaity Lac of teacher accessibiity Stadardized testig Too easy Buecher Istitute for Goverace 14

18 Surprisigy, a uber of parets reported o fexibiity as soethig they ied east about their chid s oie schoo. The foowig are additioa eeets that parets do ot ie about their oie schoo i order of frequecy: More requireets Curricuu Techoogy No fexibiity Lac of couicatio, geeray Lac of extracurricuar activities Stadardized testig Paret ivoveet Lac of otivatio Lac of hep with specia eeds Lac of support Bad teachers No hads o activities COMPARISONS OF BRICK AND MORTAR AND ONLINE SCHOOLS STUDENTS ONLY We copared studet perforace i their ast bric ad ortar schoo to their perforace i their oie schoo o a uber of factors, such as faied casses, couicatio with teachers, otivatio ad focus, ad how studets were doig i specific subects ad i schoo overa. I every area of studet perforace, save how studets are doig sociay i oie copared to their bricad ortar schoo, studets reported they are doig far better i their oie schoo. These differeces betwee oie ad bric ad ortar schoos are statisticay sigificat. 5 Tabe 8 gives the average scores based o a 1 5 scae where 1 is very bady ad 5 is very we. The average scores preseted i Tabe 8 are differet fro the averages reported i each sectio above because of the differeces i sape size. We copared paired sapes. Therefore, the uber of studets that provided a aswer to the questios regardig their bric ad ortar experiece had aso to provide a respose to the sae questio regardig their oie schoo ast year. 5 These differeces are sigificat at the.01 eve for a areas other tha how studets are doig sociay, where the differece is sigificat at the.05 eve. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 15

19 Tabe 8. Copariso of Studet Perforace i Oie/Bric ad Mortar Schoos, Paired Sapes Studet Respodets Bric ad Oie Mortar N Mea Mea How were you doig i schoo overa (grades)? How woud you say you were doig sociay? How were you doig i your ath casses? How were you doig i your aguage arts casses? How were you doig i your sciece casses? Studets are highy ad sigificaty ore iey to be otivated to do their wor ad to stay focused o their cass wor i their oie progra tha they were i their bric ad ortar schoo. 6 The average scores are based o the 1 5 scae. Tabe 9. Copariso of Motivatio ad Focus i Oie/Bric ad Mortar Schoos, Paired Sapes Studet Respodets Bric ad Mortar Oie N Mea Mea How otivated were you to do cass wor? Were you abe to stay focused o your cass wor? Aso sigificat was the substative differece i studets satisfactio with the aout of couicatio they had with their teachers i their bric ad ortar ad oie schoos. 7 Based o a scae of 1 5 where 1 is ot at a satisfied ad 5 is very satisfied, studets average satisfactio score for teacher couicatio i their oie schoo was 4.24 copared to 2.62 i their ost recet bric ad ortar schoo. The aority of studets who reported cass faiures i their bric ad ortar schoo were o oger faiig casses i their oie schoo (58.6%). 8 However, there were a uber of studets who had faied casses i their ost recet year i a bric ad ortar schoo, who aso faied casses i their oie progra (41.4%). As expected, studets who were doig we, overa, i their bric ad ortar schoo were ore iey to have chose their oie schoo because they wated to tae courses that prepared the for coege ad that were uavaiabe i their previous bric ad ortar schoo. O a scae of 1 5 where 1 was ot doig we at a ad 5 was doig very we i schoo, 58.7 percet of studets who reported doig we i schoo (a score of 4 or 5) 6 These differeces are sigificat at the.01 eve. 7 This differece is sigificat at the.01 eve. 8 This reatioship is sigificat at the.01 eve. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 16

20 rated the avaiabiity of oie coege prep courses as very iportat. 9 Siiary, studets who reported doig we i schoo rated their abiity to graduate eary as a very iportat reaso for attedig a oie schoo. 10 Pricipas ad teachers i oie schoos irrored these decisios studets ade for choosig a oie schoo. Through iterviews, schoo staff reported that oie schoos provide high schoo studets the opportuity to graduate studets who, for a variety of reasos, are ot abe to succeed i traditioa high schoos, for exape: Studets who are ucofortabe ad/or uhappy i traditioa high schoo because they are beig buied, eed casses to ove at a ower or faster pace or have difficuty focusig i cass Studets who eed a ast chace because they have faied everywhere ese... oie schoo is successfu for soe but ot ost of these studets, because studets eed to be sef otivated ad idepedet earers to succeed i oie schoos. Star studets who caot atted traditioa schoos because they are traveig for sports, usic, etc. Studets with physica or eotioa probes who have difficuty fuctioig we i a cassroo COMPARISON OF 9 TH AND 12 TH GRADE LEVEL STUDENTS I order to target appropriate supports ad services for youger ad oder studets who atteded a oie schoo ast year, we expored studets reasos for choosig oie earig ad their perforace ad perceptios about their oie earig experiece i the previous year. The researchers foud statisticay sigificat differeces betwee grade eves ad reasos for choosig oie earig. Nith grade studets were sigificaty ore iey to rate cocers about the eviroet i their bric ad ortar schoo, feeig ie they did ot fit i ad preparig for the GED as iportat reasos for choosig a oie schoo. 11 Seiors were far ore iey tha 9 th graders to rate the foowig as iportat reasos for choosig a oie schoo: Fae behid i casses i bric ad ortar schoo Wated casses to ove faster tha they did i their bric ad ortar schoo Needed to ae up credits for faied casses Needed to ae up credits because of district trasfer Needed a fexibe schedue because of wor Needed a fexibe schedue due to faiy resposibiities 12 There were o sigificat differeces betwee grade eves ad studets oie schoo perforace i the previous year, or were there ay differeces i studets ratig of their overa progress i the oie progra. 9 This reatioship is sigificat at the.01 eve. 10 This reatioship is sigificat at the.05 eve. 11 These differeces are statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve, other tha ot fittig i which is sigificat at the.05 eve. 12 These differeces are statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 17

21 However, 12 th graders were sigificaty ore otivated to do their oie cass wor tha were 9 th grade studets. 13 There were differeces i a coupe of areas across grade eves ad studets perceptio of access to schoo supports ad services. Seiors were ore iey tha 9 th graders to fee they had eough access to a variety of casses ad youger studets (9 th graders) were sigificaty ore iey tha 12 th graders to report they did ot have eough support fro a guidace couseor. B. FINDINGS Descriptio Of A Paret Survey Respodets This sectio discusses survey resuts for a parets ad copares resuts for parets of eeetary ad secodary schoo studets. It aso presets the perspectives of a sape of oie pricipas ad teachers ad how they reate to parets views. The percetages for each questio are based oy o those parets who aswered that questio. A tota of 1,982 parets of studets i idergarte through 12 th grade copeted surveys. The great aority of parets 85 percet (1,685 parets) said that their chid has atteded a bric ad ortar schoo i the past. Oy 297 parets said their chid has ever atteded a bric ad ortar schoo. Sighty ore tha haf (51.6%) of parets report that their chid is a returig oie studet, whie eary haf (48.4%) said that their chid is ew to oie schooig. As Figure 4 shows, the greatest proportio of respodets had chidre i 7 th, 8 th, 10 th ad 11 th grades, whie the saest proportio of respodets had chidre i idergarte ad first grades. Figure 4. A Parets Studets Grade Leve Overa, ore tha two thirds (69.7%) of parets have chidre attedig secodary schoo, whie ess tha oe third (30.3%) have eeetary schoo studets. Kider (77) First (72) Secod (104) Third (103) Fourth (109) Fifth (131) Sixth (152) Seveth (214) Eighth (228) Nith (161) Teth (223) Eeveth (223) Twefth (171) A Parets Grade Leve 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 3.9% 3.7% 5.3% 5.2% 5.5% 6.7% 7.7% 10.9% 11.6% 8.2% 11.3% 11.3% 8.7% 13 This differece is statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 18

22 A Parets: BRICK AND MORTAR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE 14 As we woud expect based o the previous high schoo paret fidigs, a parets were ot particuary happy with their chid s experiece i a bric ad ortar schoo. They fet their chidre were ot otivated or focused o their wor, ad that they did ot couicate eough with their chid s teacher. A substatia iority faied at east oe course ad ay were abset fro schoo ore tha 5 6 days each seester, priariy because of iess. Parets rated how their chid did i their ast bric ad ortar schoo o a 5 poit scae, where 1 is very bady ad 5 is very we. As Tabe 10 shows, o average, parets reported that their chid was doig soewhat we i each of the rated areas. Tabe 10. A Parets: Ratig of Chid s Perforace i Last Bric ad Mortar Schoo N Mea How was your chid doig i schoo overa (grades)? How was your chid doig sociay? How was your chid doig i his/her ath casses? How was your chid doig i his/her aguage arts casses? How was your chid doig i his/her sciece casses? Approxiatey haf of parets said that their chid did very we i each area (ratig of 4 or 5), whie approxiatey oe quarter said that their chid did very bady (ratig of 1 or 2). Parets of eeetary schoo studets rated their chid s perforace i every area sigificaty higher tha parets of secodary schoo studets, athough a average ratigs for both groups are beow very good (ratig of 4 or 5). 15 Parets gave ower ratigs o average to their chid s otivatio ad focus whie i bric ad ortar schoo. Usig a 5 poit scae where 1 is ot otivated at a ad 5 is very otivated, the average score for otivatio is More tha two fifths of parets (43.1%) said that their chid was ot otivated at a (ratig of 1 or 2) to do cass wor i their ast bric ad ortar schoo. Further, usig a 5 poit scae where 1 is very hard to stay focused ad 5 is very easy to stay focused, the average score for abiity to stay focused whe doig wor i cass is Fuy haf (50.3%) of parets said that their chid foud it very hard to stay focused (ratig of 1 or 2) whe doig wor i cass. Parets aso rated their satisfactio with the aout of couicatio they had with their chid s teachers i their ast bric ad ortar schoo. Usig a 5 poit scae where 1 is ot at a satisfied ad 5 is very satisfied, 14 The questios about their chid s experiece i bric ad ortar schoo were copeted oy by parets whose chid had atteded bric ad ortar schoo. 15 A differeces betwee eeetary ad idde schoo parets are statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 19

23 parets average satisfactio score is oy 2.42, with ore tha haf (57.3%) idicatig they are ot at a satisfied with the aout of couicatio (ratig of 1 or 2). Parets of eeetary schoo studets reported that, o average, their chidre were ore otivated to do cass wor: copare 2.97 with Eeetary parets aso were sigificaty ore satisfied with the aout of couicatio they had o average with their chid s teacher(s): 2.58 versus Parets of eeetary schoo chidre aso reported that their chidre foud it easier to stay focused o average 2.70 versus 2.57 but this differece was suggestive at the.10 eve. Neary oe third (31.7%) of parets reported that their chid faied a cass i his/her ost recet year i bricad ortar schoo. Of these chidre, approxiatey oe i four (24.8%) faied oe cass, ad 27.8 percet faied two casses. Sighty ess tha haf (47.4%) faied three or ore casses i their ost recet year i bricad ortar schoo. I additio, oe i eight (12.5%) parets reported that their chid had bee suspeded or expeed fro bric ad ortar schoo. Fuy two fifths (41.3%) of parets said that their chid was abset fro schoo ore tha 5 6 days each seester i their ost recet bric ad ortar schoo. Parets were ased to idicate the aor reaso their chid issed schoo. By far the ost frequet reaso was iess, cited by 43.8 percet of parets. Sixtee percet (16.1%) said their chid issed schoo because of buyig or because he/she fet usafe at schoo. Cosistet with their higher ratigs of their chid s perforace, eeetary schoo parets were sigificaty ess iey to say that their chid faied ay casses i the ost recet year he/she was at a bric ad ortar schoo: copare 13.1 percet with 37.2 percet. They are haf as iey to say that their chid was ever suspeded or expeed fro bric ad ortar schoo 6.4 percet versus 14.1 percet. They aso are substatiay ess iey to say that their chid was abset fro schoo ore tha five to six days each seester i his/her ost recet bric ad ortar schoo: copare 33.9 percet with 43.3 percet. 17 Both eeetary ad secodary studets issed this uch schoo priariy because of iess. Secodary schoo studets were soewhat ore iey to iss schoo because they fet usafe at schoo ad/or were buied: 16.8 percet versus 13.1 percet. A Parets: DECISION TO ATTEND AN ONLINE SCHOOL How Heard About Oie Schoo Parets heard about oie schoos fro a uber of differet sources, but priariy fro a fried or faiy eber (42.3%), the Iteret (33.0%) ad teevisio/radio (29.3%). They were uch ess iey to hear about oie schoos fro a fyer (4.6%) or a evet hed by their chid s oie schoo (3.2%). Iterestigy, oy five percet (5.4%) heard about oie schoo through a teacher or adiistrator at their chid s bric ad ortar schoo. 16 Both of these differeces betwee eeetary ad secodary schoo studets are statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve. 17 A of these differeces betwee eeetary ad secodary schoo studets are statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 20

24 Parets of eeetary ad secodary schoo studets predoiaty heard about oie schoos fro the sae three sources, i the sae order, as a parets: fro a fried or faiy eber, the Iteret ad teevisio or radio. Eroig i Oie Schoo Whie iterviews with teachers ad pricipas did ot address aretig strategies, we did as about schoos eroet processes. The iterviews idicate that a uber of oie schoos educate parets ad studets about the requireets of oie schooig. Schoos wat faiies to ow that oie schoo is as rigorous as bric ad ortar schoo so that they ca ae a ifored decisio about whether or ot oie schoo is a good fit. May oie schoos have paret ad studet orietatios, ad soe schoos require parets ad studets to ear about oie schoo by tryig it out ad doig soe wor oie. For exape, oe schoo ass studets to copete a questioaire desiged to hep both studets ad the schoo deterie if the studets are good cadidates for oie earig. They are required to copete the questioaire before they are aditted. It ass studets if they are abe to wor idepedety, if they ie worig o coputers, are good with coputers ad are good at scheduig their ow tie. Based o the resuts, the schoo discourages studets who are ot a good fit ad couses the to thi hard about startig the oie progra. At aother schoo, the pricipa eets with parets idividuay, oe o oe: Hopefuy, through face to face eetigs ad visitig with each paret ad expaiig the dedicatio it taes to be a oie studet, they have a idea if it is right for their id or ot. Oe schoo created a eroet ii cass that teaches the sis oie studets eed. The short (5 6 hours) cass is required as a coditio of eroet: Studets have a wee to copete the cass. It is a opportuity for studets to experiece what it taes to be a oie studet ad to deostrate that they have the otivatio ad foow through to be oie studets. A pricipa stressed the iportace of settig cear expectatios. This schoo ass faiies to sig a studet perforace agreeet. Faiies atted a adatory orietatio sessio where they ear how the earig process wors, ad they tae a ii oie course which icudes a quiz, ive istructioa sessio, eaiig the teacher, etc. O the first day of schoo, the ids are ready to go.. Oe schoo ass parets to copete a oie for ad to sed the chid s birth certificate ad iuizatio records. The paret fis out a questioaire about the chid s eeds ad their idea about how oie earig wors, ad the the schoo cas the paret to discuss their chid s particuar eeds. The pricipa said, At that poit, soe parets bac out because it s too uch wor. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 21

25 Oe teacher stressed that their schoo tries to educate faiies we before they sig up o what the oie progra etais ad o the eve of paret ivoveet that is required: Oie is ot for every studet or every paret. Our earig guides have a ot of support but it is a huge coitet, it is a fu tie ob for ost parets. We have a earig guide cass to give parets a feeig of what this oos ie before they ero their chid. As a chid gets oder, the paret ay ot be a earig guide but parets eed to ae sure that their chid copetes wor. There is a ot ore idepedet earig i oder grades, but parets sti eed to be aware if their chid is doig wor ad stayig caught up. Whie severa oie pubic schoos said that their schoo is required to accept everyoe who wats to atted, other schoos said that they strogy suggest studets who are ot a good fit for oie schoo go esewhere. Reasos for Choosig Oie Schoo Parets were give a series of reasos why their chid ight have decided to atted a oie schoo ad ased to rate each reaso o a 5 poit scae where 1 is ot iportat at a ad 5 is very iportat. Parets oy rated oe reaso cocers about the eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos as very iportat (ratig of 4 or 5) o average. The three ost iportat reasos o average are: 1. Parets have cocers about the eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos (4.00) 2. Parets or their chid ie the choice of casses avaiabe oie (3.90) 3. Parets or their chid chose oie schoo as a aterative to hoe schooig (3.50) As Figure 5 shows, a other reasos are rated as cosideraby ess iportat o average. It is iportat to ote that 17.5 percet of parets said that their chid has earig disabiities. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 22

26 Figure 5. A Parets Reasos for Choosig Oie Learig A Parets' Reasos for Choosig Oie Learig Have cocers about eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos Lie choice of casses avaiabe oie Chose oie schoo as aterative to hoe schooig Wat casses to ove faster tha i bric ad ortar cassroos Did t fee cofortabe or fit i at bric ad ortar schoo Was faig behid i casses ad eeded to chage soethig Wat to graduate eary ad ca do that faster i oie schoo Need casses to ove at sower pace tha i a bric ad Wat coege prep courses uavaiabe i previous bric ad Need fexibe schedue faiy resposibiities Need fexibe schedue wor Physica/eotioa disabiity difficut to ear i bric ad Have other specia eeds Need to ae up credits for faied casses Was gettig ito troube at previous bric ad ortar schoo Live i a isoated area ad it is hard to get to the bric ad Need to ae up credits because of district trasfer Preparig for GED Parets of eeetary ad secodary schoo studets give the sae three reasos, i the sae order of iportace, for why their chid decided to atted a oie schoo. However, parets of eeetary schoo studets give sigificaty higher iportace ratigs to cocers about the eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos (4.18 versus 3.92) ad choosig oie schoo as a aterative to hoe schooig (3.62 versus 3.45). Further, as we woud expect, there are statisticay sigificat differeces betwee the groups i their ratigs of a uber of reasos, athough oe of these reasos are rated as particuary iportat by either group. Parets of secodary schoo studets say every oe of the foowig reasos is sigificaty ore iportat tha did parets of eeetary schoo studets: Your chid did t fee cofortabe or fit i at his/her bric ad ortar schoo (2.97 versus 2.47) Your chid was faig behid i his/her casses i bric ad ortar schoo (2.98 versus 2.28) Your chid wats to graduate eary ad ca do that faster at a oie schoo (2.67 versus 2.18) Parets or their chid wat specific courses that prepare hi/her for coege that were uavaiabe i his/her previous schoo (2.50 versus 2.03) Your chid eeds to ae up credits for casses that he/she faied (2.01 versus 1.23) Your chid eeds to ae up credits because he/she trasferred fro aother district (1.39 versus 1.16) Your chid was gettig ito troube at his/her bric ad ortar schoo (1.72 versus 1.46) Your chid eeds a fexibe schedue because of wor (2.12 versus 1.96) Your chid is preparig for the GED (1.25 versus 1.12) Buecher Istitute for Goverace 23

27 We ased teachers ad pricipas worig i oie schoos for their perspectives of why parets ad studets choose oie schoos. Geeray, they beieve that parets ad chidre eed ore optios tha those provided by bric ad ortar schoos. Severa expicity said that parets choose oie because they wat to hoe schoo but are ot cofortabe doig it aoe: parets who worry about the schoo eviroet but do t wat to hoe schoo. These faiies wat teacher support. Further, parets are ooig for schoos where they have cotro over what is happeig to their ids. They aso said that oie schoo is a good optio for studets with heath probes who iss a ot of schoo because oie schoo is fexibe i ters of schedue; the sae is true of faiies who trave a ot. Severa iterviewees said that parets choose oie schoo for chidre with autis or Asperger s Sydroe. Oe teacher said that they have faiies i sa couities who choose oie schoo i the years that they perceive that the oy teacher for their chid s grade eve is a bad teacher. The sae teacher said that 25 percet of faiies eed oie schooig for reigious reasos: Musis ad Jehovah s Witesses do ot ceebrate birthdays, hoiday parties or do the pedge of aegiace, so the chidre are ostracized i traditioa schoo. Oe pricipa stated that soe studets choose oie schoo, because they wat the opportuity to review ateria i a way that is difficut i a traditioa eviroet. A certai type of studet eeds to hear iforatio repeatedy ad have it deivered i differet ways with differet istructioa strategies. With digita iforatio, they ca go faster or sower earig is very idividuaized. Iterviewees ade a distictio betwee why eeetary ad secodary faiies choose oie schoo. Severa teachers reported that oie schoos are a good optio for parets of eeetary schoo chidre who wat to eep their chidre cose. They beieve that choosig oie schoo is ore about the parets eeds tha the studets. These parets do t wat their chidre to grow up too fast by beig exposed to the rea word too eary. This view is cosistet with the reasos rated as ost iportat i the paret survey: parets are cocered about the eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos. It shoud be oted that teachers ad pricipas uderstad that this choice wors oy if parets are wiig to put i the tie ad effort to be their chid s earig parter. Parets reay wat high ed ivoveet with their studets they wat to be very ivoved i their educatio. They are ot quite ready to et their ids go to their eighborhood schoo. Teachers ad pricipas thi that secodary schoo studets, particuary high schoo studets, choose oie schoo for differet reasos tha eeetary schoo parets ad studets. They beieve that oie schoo offers a opportuity to graduate for a uber of groups of studets who are uabe to succeed i traditioa bricad ortar high schoos. As reported previousy, teachers ad pricipas idetified a uber of types of studets as faig ito this group, icudig: Buecher Istitute for Goverace 24

28 Studets who are ucofortabe ad/or uhappy i traditioa high schoo because they are beig buied, eed casses to ove at a sower or faster pace, ad/or ca t focus i bric ad ortar casses. Studets who eed a ast chace because they have faied everywhere ese a whoe group of ids for who pubic schoo has ot wored out. Schoo staff stress that soe of these studets are successfu i oie schoo but ost are ot because studets eed to be sefotivated ad idepedet to succeed i oie schoos. Star studets who caot atted traditioa schoo because they are traveig for sports, usic, or other activities. For exape, oe teacher reported: A of y faiies have activities soccer, church, aother aspect of sociaizatio i their ives. Chidre eed sports, Browies, etc., so they have a eeet outside of what oie schoos offer. Teachers ad pricipas views geeray are cosistet with the paret survey fidigs secodary schoo studets are ore iey tha eeetary schoo studets to choose oie schoos because they did t fee cofortabe or fit i at their bric ad ortar schoo or were faig behid i bric ad ortar schoo ad eeded to chage soethig. Characteristics of Successfu Oie Studets We ased oie teachers ad pricipas to idetify the characteristics of successfu oie studets. Iterviewees repeatedy stressed the iportace of paret support, especiay for eeetary schoo studets but to soe extet for studets i a grades. Successfu ids are ids with parets who are very excited about a hoe based opportuity, aways couicatig with teachers, very ivoved i their chid s educatio. There is a three way chai of couicatio: betwee teacher ad studet, studet ad paret ad paret ad teacher. The ai equaizig factor is supportive parets. I high schoo, studets ca do it theseves if sefotivated, but i the ower grades a supportive faiy is critica. Kids vary so uch but the ost successfu have paret ivoveet i their educatio. We cout o a partership with parets. It oos very differet i eeetary, idde ad high schoo, but eve high schoo parets eed to chec i with their studet. The ore ivoved the paret is, the better the studet does. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 25

29 They aso ephasized that studets eed to be otivated to succeed i oie schoo, ust ie they have to be otivated i bric ad ortar schoo. Athough oie schoo does ot require studets to adhere to the sae schedue, it requires as uch wor as traditioa schoo: We get studets who thi it s easier tha traditioa schoo, ad the fid it s ot easier ad i fact that it s harder to sate by uder the radar because teachers have cotact with every sige studet. The ost successfu studets are sef otivated ad have a treedous aout of paret support. Chidre have to ear to be orgaized. It is a good esso i tie aageet ad oe that serves the we ito aduthood. Coo characteristics of successfu studets are a high degree of otivatio, sef discipie ad ivoved parets who assist with providig structure ad accoutabiity. Oie schoos wor for soe studets who were struggig i bric ad ortar schoos, but certaiy ot for a studets. We graduate soe ids who woud t have graduated otherwise. I other cases, studets are struggig with soethig outside of schoo ad do t do better i oie tha they did esewhere because they are sti facig soe chaeges such as substace abuse. But soeties the ast resort wors for studets ad they graduate. Studets who are ot successfu i a oie eviroet ofte have a history of ot beig successfu i a traditioa eviroet. Staff at a uber of oie schoos said that, whe studets are usuccessfu at their schoos, they ecourage the studets to go to a bric ad ortar schoo. A Parets: PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN AN ONLINE SCHOOL We ased parets of returig oie studets a series of questios about their chid s experiece i oie schoo ast year. 18 Grades, Course Copetio ad Overa Progress Tabe 11 shows that parets beieve their chid perfored very we i oie schoo ast year. Usig a 5 poit scae, where 1 is very bady ad 5 is very we, o average, parets beieve that their chid perfored very we (ratig of 4 or 5) i each area. Approxiatey four fifths of parets said their chid was doig very we 18 A tota of 931 parets, or 51.6 percet of parets who tod us whether or ot their chid had bee i oie schoo before, said that their chid is returig to oie schooig, whie 875 parets said their chid is ew to oie schooig. Oe hudred ad sevety six (176) parets did ot te us whether or ot their chid had previousy atteded oie schoo. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 26

30 (ratig of 4 or 5) i each area, whie fewer tha te percet said their chid was doig very bady (ratig of 1 or 2). Tabe 11. A Parets: Ratig of Chid s Perforace i Oie Schoo Last Year N Mea How did your chid do i his or her oie schoo overa (grades)? How woud you say your chid did sociay sice taig oie casses? How did your chid do i his or her oie ath casses? How did your chid do i his or her oie aguage arts casses? How did your chid do i his or her oie sciece casses? Whie both eeetary ad secodary schoo parets say that their chid is doig very we o every perforace easure, parets of eeetary schoo chidre are sigificaty ore iey to say that their chid is doig very we i each area. Neary oe i eight parets (12.1%) said that their chid faied a oie cass. Of these chidre, ore tha oethird (35.9%) faied oe course, oe quarter (25.0%) faied two courses, ad the reaiig 39.1 percet faied three or ore courses i oie schoo ast year. O average, parets were very positive about their chid s overa progress i their oie progra. Usig a 5 poit scae where 1 is very poor ad 5 is very good, the average ratig was 4.36, or very good (ratig of 4 or 5). Oy oe eeetary schoo paret said that their chid faied a oie cass, whie approxiatey oe i six (16.5%) secodary schoo parets reported that their chid faied at east oe oie cass. Of this atter group, ore tha oe third (35.6%) said their chid faied oe oie cass, oe quarter (24.4%) said their chid faied two courses, ad 40 percet said their chid faied three or ore oie casses. Oie Curricua Iterviews with teachers ad pricipas worig i oie schoos idicate that the oy siiarity i curricua across oie schoos is that a curricua eed to be aiged with state stadards. At oe extree, soe oie schoos create their ow curricuu. I these cases, the curricuu is very, very fexibe ad ca be adusted to best eet idividua studets eeds. Oe schoo has iceses to various oie progras ad purchases pieces of differet curricua. Teachers write their ow auas ad put it a together because o oe curricuu wors copetey. At the other extree, the oie schoo buys a curricuu ad uses it as is. For exape, K 12 Schoos use this approach. A uber of oie schoos are extreey coitted to taiorig their curricuu to eet the eeds of idividua studets. These teachers ad pricipas ta about caterig to each idividua studet. They wat to aow ore advaced studets to wor ahead of their grade eve, ad aso to aow studets who have fae behid grade eve to ear i a way that heps the catch up. For exape, oe schoo ust copeted a professioa deveopet sessio with teachers o how to idividuaize the earig experiece as uch as possibe to provide a authetic earig experiece that deas with each chid as a idividua based o their persoaity ad earig stye. Oe teacher uses bacboard to give differet assigets to differet studets. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 27

31 Sice the studets oy see their ow assigets, they do t ow if they are doig extra wor because they eed hep i a specific area. Other oie schoos, whie fexibe, do ot et studets wor ahead of their grade eve. Soe of the fexibe schoos buy curricua, whie others desig it theseves. Severa iterviewees said that their ath progra is based o assessets, ad that studets are paced at the appropriate istructioa eve ad give reediatio uti they reach grade eve. Our schoo is abe to adust our curricuu for idividua studet eeds because we have sa cass sizes. My idde schoo casses have ess tha 10 studets, ad y high schoo casses rage fro to 30 studets. If studets ca t fid resources to do research I hep the, ad if a studet is havig troube uderstadig a cocept after usig a avaiabe resources I ta to the studet for as og as I eed to. I ve chaged assigets for studets; for exape, rather tha aig a studet who has troube writig a three page paper, I et hi do a poster or a PowerPoit presetatio. Our curricuu is very fexibe! The schoo purchases a curricuu but we ca chage thigs. Curricuu is idividuaized for gifted ad taeted as we as for specia educatio. Oie teachers are versed i idividuaized earig. This year we ve give teaches free rei ad we do a ot of idividuaizatio for the ids. It is way ore fu for teachers ad a better earig experiece for studets. We desig our ow curricuu, apped fro state requireets. It is very easy to taior to studet eeds. Teachers wor i teacher teas to deveop ad taior the curricuu. We parter with K 12, a aageet copay that aso provides curricua to schoos. We custoize the curricuu for every sige studet accordig to their eeds. We use a ath progra that is custoized for each studet. Studets tae a iitia assesset ad the the progra creates a custo pa for the based o where they are i the iitia assesset. Every four to six wees we reassess studets ad reove what they astered ad pu bac i what they are wea i. No two studets experiece the exact sae cass. Our biggest stregth i geera is that we have a highy idividuaized curricuu for each studet. The casses are astery based so they ca ove at a pace that wors best for the. Other oie schoos ore or ess foow the curricuu as is: We have had istaces of aterig the curricuu for SPED but for the ost part the curricuu stays the sae. A 8 th grade curricuu is a 8 th grade curricuu. What is idividuaized is that ids get to ear at their ow pace. The teachers are ust ow earig how to odify the curricuu ad assigets. A the teachers except oe are first year teachers who are hesitat to ae odificatios because they wat to eep the fideity to the progra. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 28

32 To the extet that parets who copeted surveys have chidre who are attedig schoos with ore fexibe curricua, it is possibe that their chidre are ore successfu i oie tha i bric ad ortar schoos because the schoo is adaptig the curricuu to best eet their chid s earig stye ad eeds. Schoo Supports ad Activities The great aority of parets beieve that their chid has eough access to iportat schoo supports: teacher support, techoogy, variety of casses, guidace couseors ad advaced paceet casses. More tha threequarters (77.7%) thi that their chid has eough iteractio with cassates/other studets i the oie eviroet. I additio, a aority of parets thi that their chid s oie schoo offers eough activities, for exape, fied trips, cubs ad socia evets. Tabe 12. A Parets: Eough Access to Supports/Activities Through Oie Schoo Schoo Supports ad Activities Percetage Teacher support for chid s schoo wor 96.5 Techoogy (coputer, Iteret, software) 96.4 Variety of casses 91.7 Guidace couseor support 87.7 Advaced paceet casses 82.6 Fied trips 82.4 Iteractio with cassates/other studets 77.7 Cubs 70.4 Socia evets such as pro ad other daces, schoo parties, etc Arts activities such as theater or usic casses 62.6 Studet couci 55.3 Sports activities 51.6 As Tabe 13 shows, parets of eeetary ad secodary schoo studets differed sigificaty i their perceptios of whether or ot their chid has eough access to severa schoo supports ad activities. Parets of a eeetary schoo chid are sigificaty ore iey to thi that their chid has eough access to a variety of casses, fied trips, iteractio with cassates/other studets ad arts activities such as theater or usic casses i his/her oie schoo. I cotrast, parets of a secodary schoo chid are sigificaty ore iey to thi that their chid has eough access to guidace couseor support ad studet couci. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 29

33 Tabe 13. Copariso of Eeetary/Secodary Parets: Eough Access to Supports/Activities Through Oie Schoo Schoo Supports ad Activities % of Eeetary Schoo Parets % of Secodary Schoo Parets Teacher support for chid s schoo wor Techoogy (coputer, Iteret, software) Variety of casses** Guidace couseor support** Advaced paceet casses Fied trips* Iteractio with cassates/other studets* Cubs Socia evets such as pro ad other daces, schoo parties, etc Arts activities such as theater or usic casses** Studet couci** Sports activities **Differece betwee eeetary ad secodary parets is sigificat at the.01 eve. *Differece betwee eeetary ad secodary parets is sigificat at the.05 eve. Oe of the aor cocers about oie schooig is that chidre do ot have eough iteractio with their cassates. The paret survey data show that the great aority of parets thi that this is ot a probe for their chid. Iterviews with a sape of oie teachers ad pricipas shed soe ight o this issue. As is the case for ost aspects of oie schooig, oie schoos vary greaty i their coitet ad efforts to faciitate socia iteractio aog studets. Soe oie schoos proactivey provide opportuities for studets to couicate both oie ad i perso, whie other schoos assue that studets have sufficiet socia opportuities outside of schoo. Teachers ad pricipas beieve that youger studets typicay get their socia eeds et through cotacts at church ad fro evets ad socia iteractios that their parets arrage for the. They thi that oder studets have friedship etwors that they aready have estabished, ad aso ae frieds through sports or other specia activities. Further, oder studets ay have eft bric ad ortar schoo because they were havig probes with other studets. The iterviews with teachers ad pricipas idicate that oie schoos vary greaty i their coitet ad abiity to provide opportuities for studets to iteract with each other. Soe schoos assue that studets have sufficiet iteractio opportuities outside of schoo, whie others try to differig degrees to provide studets with opportuities to couicate with each other. Iteractio taes differet fors i differet schoos, party because studets ay be geographicay distat fro each other. For exape, oe schoo has a socia etwor that ets studets couicate with each other they use it withi the schoo was to create groups ad cassroos so that studets have the chace to sociaize. This schoo aso has optioa othy fied trips ad weey or bi weey i perso study sessios at which studets are wecoe to coe ad sociaize. Aother schoo has a weey oie asseby ad, at east oce a wee, a ive istructioa sessio where the ids ca chat, ta o the icrophoe, ad ta durig ad Buecher Istitute for Goverace 30

34 after cass. Oce a oth we have a socia activity ie bowig, fa festiva, or pro, ad oce a oth studets get together with advisor groups to do activities ie pizza parties ad visits to the useu. Oe schoo has cubs for secodary schoo studets ad othy hies ad picics, whie the eeetary schoo hods cutura evets. Sice they are a sige district schoo, a of the studets are oca ad ca participate i these activities. Oe pricipa of a 12 schoo bristed at beig ased how oie studets get their socia eeds et: This is oe of the biggest iscoceptios of oie schoos. We provide a uber of socia activities ad eve have a pro. They have sa group get togethers. Kids coaborate a the tie i oie schoo sessios, we have 102 cubs that ids ca oi, we have studet goveret ad we have traditioa sociaizatio opportuities. Kids ca be i a cub with ids i aother coutry. Kids couicate over Faceboo, they text ad they istat essage. I do t thi that the Iteret coectio is differet tha rea word coectio to ids. Despite the pethora of opportuities for studets to iteract, this pricipa oted that ost of their faiies have Boy Scouts, Gir Scouts, church ad other activities. Kids who were buied especiay had too uch socia draa i high schoo, they do t wat that draa. They have frieds outside of schoo ad wat to ear i schoo. Other pricipas voiced the beief that studets do ot eed to iteract with other studets because they have ape opportuities to sociaize outside of schoo: Most studets are ivoved i church activity ad they sociaize there. A sociaizatio is outside of schoo. We preset a curricuu ad couseig but that s as far as it goes for us. Motivatio, Focus ad Couicatio O average, parets are very positive about their chid s otivatio, focus ad especiay the aout of couicatio they have with their chid s teacher(s). Usig a 5 poit scae were 1 is ot otivated at a ad 5 is very otivated, parets rate their chid s otivatio to do his/her oie cass wor as 4.04 o average, or very otivated (4 or 5 ratig). They are sighty ess positive about their chid s abiity to stay focused whe doig wor oie. Usig a 5 poit scae where 1 is very hard to stay focused ad 5 is very easy to stay focused, the average score is 3.93, or aost very easy to stay focused. Parets give couicatio a extreey high ratig. O a 5 poit scae where 1 is ot at a satisfied ad 5 is very satisfied, parets average satisfactio with the aout of couicatio they have with their chid s teacher(s) is 4.49, or very satisfied. Parets of eeetary ad secodary schoo studets rate their chid s otivatio to do oie wor ad abiity to stay focused whe doig wor oie siiary. Athough both groups are very satisfied with the aout of couicatio they have with their chid s teacher(s) o average, eeetary schoo parets are sigificaty ore satisfied: copare 4.67 with We ased teachers ad pricipas how studets ad parets couicate with oie teachers. Soe schoos set a iiu requireet for how ofte teachers eed to couicate with studets ad/or parets oce Buecher Istitute for Goverace 31

35 a wee, twice a oth, oce a oth whie other schoos eave it to the teacher s discretio: Teachers couicate whe they eed to, if the studet is havig probes. The aout of couicatio aso depeds o the studets ad their prefereces: Soe studets do a awesoe ob ad couicate directy very rarey because they do t eed hep ad uderstad what they are doig. Others couicate daiy with teachers with questios ad coets. They vaue that iteractio. Siiar to other aspects of oie schooig, there is a great dea of variety i how ad how ofte teachers couicate with studets ad parets ad how ad how ofte studets ad parets couicate with teachers. May schoos are proactive about reachig out to studets, particuary those who are ot doig we. For exape, oe pricipa said that their schoo has a hot ist, which is a spreadsheet with studets curret average i each cass ad overa average. They sort this ist fro ow to high ad have differet coors to aert the to studets with a probe. A studet with a probe i oy oe cass ows to wor with their teacher, but if a studet is struggig i a casses I eed to be aware. We reay target studets i red i the hot ist for couicatio, ad teachers, couseors ad I wor with the. Oe 8 pricipa stated: Couicatio icreases earig. We do a treedous aout of couicatio with parets. This schoo uses virtua cassroos, ad studets are required to be i the virtua cassroo twice a wee for at east oe hour. Parets eet teachers i the virtua cassroo so the teacher ca show parets the wor their chid has copeted. The pricipa reported: We ecourage as uch couicatio as the paret is cofortabe with. Soeties parets wat ess couicatio fro teachers. Aother pricipa said that, if a paret cas, the teacher eeds to respod withi 24 hours. Soe schoos go beyod couicatio to provide additioa services to studets. For exape, oe high schoo has acadeic coaches who eet face to face with studets ivig i their couities. The coaches hep studets with career pas: coege, iterships, vocatioa traiig, etc. They aso offer i perso tutorig. I additio, this schoo has wrap aroud services provided by couseors ad itervetio speciaists. If a studet is ot egagig i schoo, they eet directy with the faiy ad the acadeic coach ad try to figure out what the best itervetio is socia, eotioa, etc. They figure out if the faiy/chid eeds food, sheter, faiy couseig, drug ad acoho couseig, etc. Respose to Itervetio (RTI) oy deas with acadeic ad behaviora issues. We do that pus socia, eotioa, ife, etc. At ost schoos, teachers, studets ad parets couicate by eai, but they aso are abe to couicate by teephoe. At severa schoos teachers have reguar office hours for phoe cas, but wi aswer eais at ay tie. Other ethods icude virtua cassroos, web coferecig, bacboard, textig, Faceboo ad istat essagig. Soe schoos have couseors, advisors ad/or etors who wor with studets ad parets. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 32

36 Schoos aso use creative approaches to couicate. For exape, oe schoo uses etors as iaisos betwee studets ad teachers. The etors couicate with their studets weey, ad ow the studets we. The etors cotact the teacher if they fee a studet is struggig with a topic or eeds extra hep. Oe pricipa stressed that teachers are costaty givig the ids feedbac o their wor/assigets, ad other pricipas said that their teachers provide feedbac o assigets. At soe schoos teachers aso couicate reguary with each other. At oe 12 schoo, teachers eet every wee i a oie cassroo; they have four i perso fu day eetigs each year. This teacher said: I fee ie I have coeagues. They ow a ot of the sae faiies because ids have sibigs. We pa together about how to hep the. We wor together a the tie o faiies ad curricuu. Schoos ay have teas of teachers who wor together. Every iterviewee this that there is eough couicatio with teachers. Oe teacher stated: I have a ot ore cotact with y parets tha I ever did i the cassroo. We are ore of a tea. If soethig is ot worig, I wor with the parets. Aother teacher said: I ca give the ore attetio oie tha i a cassroo. There is iited tie i a cassroo so I ca t sped tie with each id idividuay. Ad oe pricipa stated: Studets, parets ad teachers couicate a the tie. As a forer traditioa teacher ad a forer oie teacher, I ow I couicated better with y ids ad parets i the oie schoo. Oie teachers couicate with parets severa ties a wee. You woud t see that i a traditioa schoo. Satisfactio Parets are extreey satisfied with the oie progra. O the sae 5 poit satisfactio scae described above, o average, parets rated their satisfactio with the oie progra as 4.52 a extreey high satisfactio score. Oy 1.4 percet said they are ot at a satisfied (ratig of 1 or 2), whie a uusuay high 63.9 percet rated their satisfactio as a 5 very satisfied. Cosistet with these resposes, fuy 90.4 percet of parets said that they thi oie earig is a better fit for their chid tha a traditioa bric ad ortar schoo. Oy eight parets (0.9%) said oie schoo is ot a better fit, whie ess tha te percet (8.7%) said they were t sure. Whie parets of eeetary ad secodary schoo studets are extreey satisfied overa with oie schoo, eeetary schoo parets are sigificaty ore satisfied: 4.65 versus Both groups are equay iey to thi that oie earig is a better fit for their chid tha a traditioa bric ad ortar schoo. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 33

37 A Parets: COMPARISON OF ONLINE AND BRICK AND MORTAR EXPERIENCE This sectio uses paired t tests to copare idividua paret s resposes to soe critica questios about bricad ortar ad oie schoo. It oy icudes parets whose chidre have experiece i both settigs. Grades Parets ceary report that their chid is ore successfu i oie schoo tha they were i bric ad ortar schoo. For each questio about how their chid was doig i schoo overa, sociay, ath, aguage arts ad sciece the average ratig is statisticay sigificaty higher for oie tha for bric ad ortar schoos. 19 As Tabe 14 shows, i each case the average ratig for oie schoos is at east 4.0, idicatig that chidre are doig very we i each area. Tabe 14. A Parets: Copariso of Chid s Bric ad Mortar ad Oie Schoo Perforace Mea N Pair 1 How was your chid doig i bric ad ortar schoo overa (grades)? How did your chid do i his or her oie schoo overa (grades)? Pair 2 How was your chid doig sociay i bric ad ortar schoo? How woud you say your chid did sociay sice taig oie casses? Pair 3 How was your chid doig i his/her ath casses i bric ad ortar schoo? How did your chid do i his or her oie ath casses? Pair 4 How was your chid doig i his/her aguage arts casses i bric adortar schoo? How did your chid do i his or her oie aguage arts casses? Pair 5 How was your chid doig i his/her sciece casses i bric ad ortar schoo? How did your chid do i his or her oie sciece casses? Parets report that their eeetary ad secodary schoo studets are uifory ore successfu i oie tha i bric ad ortar schoo, with both groups idicatig that their chid perfored substatiay better i every area i oie schoo. Differeces for both groups are highy statisticay sigificat. 20 Motivatio, Focus ad Couicatio Cosistet with the above resuts, parets report that their chid is ore otivated to copete schoo wor ad fids it easier to stay focused i oie tha i bric ad ortar schoo. The average ratig for these questios is statisticay sigificaty higher for oie tha for bric ad ortar schoos. 21 (See Tabe 15). The greatest differece i parets perceptios of the two settigs is i their satisfactio with the aout of 19 A of the differeces betwee oie ad bric ad ortar schoo are sigificat at the.01 eve. 20 A differece betwee oie ad bric ad ortar perforace are statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve for both eeetary ad secodary schoo studets. 21 The differeces betwee oie ad bric ad ortar schoos are statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 34

38 couicatio they have with their chid s teacher(s). O average, parets are uch ore satisfied with the aout of couicatio i oie tha i bric ad ortar schoos: copare 4.46 with This differece is highy sigificat. 22 Tabe 15. Parets: Copariso of Chid s Bric ad Mortar ad Oie Schoo Motivatio ad Focus, ad Aout of Couicatio with their Chid s Teacher(s) Pair 1 Pair 2 Pair 3 Whe your chid was i a bric ad ortar schoo, how otivated was he/she to do cass wor? Pease rate your chid s eve of otivatio to do his/her oie cass wor Whe your chid was i a bric ad ortar schoo, how abe was he/she to stay focused whe he/she was doig wor i cass? Pease rate your chid s abiity to stay focused whe he/she is doig wor oie Whe your chid was i a bric ad ortar schoo, how satisfied were you with the aout of couicatio you had with your chid s teachers? How satisfied are you with the aout of couicatio you have with your chid s teacher(s) i oie schoo Mea N Siiary, both eeetary ad secodary schoo parets report that their chidre are substatiay ore otivated to do their cass wor ad focused o their wor i oie tha i bric ad ortar schoo. Further, parets are uch ore satisfied with the aout of couicatio they have with their chid s oie teacher(s). Differeces for both groups are highy statisticay sigificat. 23 WHAT DOES COLORADO NEED TO DO TO SUPPORT ONLINE LEARNING Geeray, teachers ad pricipas beieve that oie earig is deveopig ad evovig ad that it is becoig ore iportat. They strogy fee that there is a eed for oie schoos, ad that oie schoos eed ore fiacia support. Further, severa suggested the fudig echais for oie schoos eeds to be adusted, ad that fudig shoud ot be based o seat tie the way it is i a traditioa schoo. They fee this approach is ot fair to oie schoos ad aso that it requires a great dea of paperwor, uch ore tha what bric adortar schoos eed to do. Suggestios for a aterate approach icude basig fudig o copetecy, the course eve, or o average daiy attedace. Aother fudig issue cocers techoogy. Schoos wat eough so that they ca offer a faiies, icudig ow icoe ad rura faiies, the sae techoogy that they eed 22 The differece betwee oie ad bric ad ortar schoos is statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve. 23 A differeces betwee oie ad bric ad ortar are statisticay sigificat at the.01 eve for both eeetary ad secodary schoo studets. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 35

39 to participate i oie schoo. Fiay, as with traditioa schoos, severa suggested that oie schoos eed eough fudig to eep cass sizes sa because that iproves couicatio, quaity ad effectiveess. Oe teacher stressed the eed to educate the pubic ad traditioa schoos because there is a ot of egativity about oie schoos. For exape, at cofereces that icude teachers fro traditioa ad oie schoos, oie teachers sped their tie defedig ad expaiig what they do. There are so ay positives, great success stories, so ay studets thrivig ad doig reay we. We eed to educate the pubic ad traditioa schoos about the positive side of oie earig. We are worig with faiies who woud be hoe schooig, ad this is a better curricuu ad provides ore support ad is good for ids who are t successfu i traditioa schoos. Severa iterviewees said that they woud ie traiig for teachers i how to be effective oie teachers, ad ore geeray, professioa deveopet for teachers ad staff. A pricipa wated the state to ove fro a 9 oth to year roud caedar, because soe studets eed extra tie to aster a course. Oe pricipa wated a state oie curricuu so that if a id oves fro district to district he s sti i the sae curricuu with the sae aguage ad sae stadards. This woud hep studets iprove their TCAP scores. However, based o teachers ad pricipas perspectives about the vaue of idividuaized curricua, this view ay ot be popuar with a oie schoos. Oie teachers ad pricipas wat to figure out best practices i oie schooig what wors ad what does t wor. Oe aveue for this coud be a oie coferece i which teachers fro schoos across the state ad possiby across the atio share what wors at their schoos. Teachers wat the opportuity to coaborate beyod their idividua schoos. May schoos reported that the ogistics of adiisterig TCAP are very chaegig for oie schoos. Schoos eed to coordiate with other oie schoos so that a studets are tested i perso, ad they eed to suppy a proctor for each grade. This is a probe for schoos with sa staffs ad which serve studets i a wide geographic area. Oe pricipa suggested that Coorado coputerize the TCAP ad create ceters where studets ca go to be tested. Iterviewees cited other probes with TCAP as we. First, that testig shoud be give i the eviroet studets are ost cofortabe with, so oie studets shoud be tested i a oie settig, ot a differet ocatio. Secod, schoos do t get TCAP resuts uti August, which does t give us eough tie to ae adustets. Soe pricipas ad teachers stressed that, whie oie schoos eed to be accoutabe, they shoud ot be easured i the sae way as a traditioa schoo. They shoud use easures that suit the oie eviroet. Oe pricipa stated: We are treated ie other schoos as far as the accoutabiity fraewor. But whe you oo at our high schoo ids, 60 percet are coig i at east oe year behid based o credits ad the our graduatio rate oos bad. I thi that we shoud have siiar stadards ad growth but there eeds to be a defiitioa adustet. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 36

40 KEY FINDINGS Of studet respodets, the aority of studets are i the upper grades (11 th ad 12 th grade); the saest uber are i 9 th grade ad the greatest proportio of studets ust startig oie schooig is 9 th graders. Sighty ore tha oe i te studet respodets reported a earig disabiity. Neary a studets i oie schoos have previousy atteded a bric ad ortar schoo. Bric ad Mortar Schoo Experiece Oe quarter of studets reported they were ot doig we i their ast bric ad ortar schoo, whie eary haf reported they were doig we. Parets of eeetary schoo studets rated their chid s perforace i every area sigificaty higher tha did parets of secodary schoo studets. Neary three quarters of high schoo studets had itte otivatio ad had troube stayig focused o their wor i their ast bric ad ortar schoo. Of a parets, approxiatey haf said their chid was ot otivated at a to do cass wor ad foud it very hard to stay focused whe doig wor i cass. Parets of eeetary schoo studets reported that their chidre were ore otivated to do cass wor, foud it easier to stay focused ad were ore satisfied with the aout of couicatio they had with their chid s teacher tha did parets of secodary studets. About haf of high schoo studets ad parets reported they were ot satisfied with the aout of couicatio that studets had with their teachers i their ast bric ad ortar schoo. Over haf of studets reported they had faied casses i their ast bric ad ortar schoo. May fewer eeetary schoo parets tha secodary parets reported their studet faied casses. The proportio of studets who reported they had faied casses icreased as their satisfactio with teacher couicatio decreased. The aority of studets were abset for ore tha five to six days each seester. Studet respodets top three reasos for their abseces were iess, probes at hoe ad buyig. Parets reported that their studets were abset fro schoo ost ofte because of iess or buyig/fet usafe at schoo. I arrative resposes that describe reasos for abseces, ay studets ad parets reported havig probes with teachers. A uber of studets issed schoo due to eta heath issues such as depressio ad axiety. Others reported pregacy ad soe studets said they fet ie a faiure, fet aog ad they were ot gettig the hep they eeded i their bric ad ortar schoo. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 37

41 Decisio to Atted a Oie Schoo ad Eroet Process Most parets ad studets heard about their oie schoo fro a fried or faiy eber. Choice of avaiabe casses, eary graduatio ad the desire for casses to ove faster tha they did i their bric ad ortar schoo were the top reasos high schoo studets decided to atted a oie schoo. Parets first choices for choosig to atted a oie schoo were cocers about the eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos foowed by choosig a oie schoo as a aterative to hoe schooig. Geeray, teachers ad pricipas beieve that parets ad studets choose oie schoos because they eed ore optios. Specificay, educators reported that oie earig is a good optio for faiies that eed fexibiity due to iess ad trave. Others said faiies choose oie schoos for reigious reasos. They reported that parets of eeetary studets wat to eep their chidre cose ad secodary studets choose oie earig because it offers a opportuity to graduate for various groups of studets, e.g. star studets, struggig studets. May oie schoos educate parets ad studets about the requireets of oie schooig. For exape schoos provide orietatio sessios, eroet ii casses, questioaires about eeds ad expectatios, etc. Previous Experiece i Oie Schoo Studets reported doig we ast year i their oie schoo overa, ad i their ath, aguage arts ad sciece casses. Studets report doig ess we i ath ad better i aguage arts. Neary a parets beieve that their chid perfored we overa ad i their ath, aguage arts ad sciece casses, athough eeetary schoo parets are sigificaty ore iey tha secodary schoo parets to say that their chid is doig we i each area. A substatiay saer proportio of studets said they had faied oe or ore of their oie casses copared to the proportio of studets who had faied casses i their ost recet bric ad ortar schoo. The aority of studets said they have eough access to the various schoo supports ad activities, such as access to a variety of casses, techoogy, teacher support, etc. However, fewer report havig eough access to sports ad arts activities, socia evets, cubs ad studet couci. Parets of eeetary schoo studets are sigificaty ore iey tha parets of secodary schoo studets to report that their chid has eough access to a variety of casses, fied trips, iteractio with cassates ad arts activities i their oie schoos. Teachers ad pricipas idicate that oie schoos vary greaty i their coitet ad abiity to provide opportuities for studets to iteract with each other. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 38

42 The great aority of studets ad parets are satisfied, overa, with their oie progra, are satisfied with their couicatio with oie teachers ad thi that oie earig is a better fit for the tha a traditioa bric ad ortar schoo. Eeetary schoo parets are sigificaty ore satisfied tha are secodary schoo parets with their oie schoo. There is a great dea of variety i how ad how ofte teachers couicate with studets ad parets ad how studets ad parets couicate with teachers. May schoos are proactive about reachig out to studets, particuary those who are ot doig we. By far, fexibiity is what high schoo studets ad parets reported they ie best about their oie schoo, foowed by great teachers, teacher support, effective teacher couicatio, idividuaized hep ad access to teachers. Techoogy probes ad o extracurricuar activities are issues that high schoo studets ie east about their oie experiece. Coparisos of Bric ad Mortar ad Oie Schoos Studets Oy I every area of studet perforace, save how studets are doig sociay i oie copared to their bric ad ortar schoo, studets report they are doig far better i their oie schoo. Studets are sigificaty ore iey to be otivated to do their wor ad to stay focused o their cass wor i their oie progra tha whe they were i their bric ad ortar schoo. Studets are sigificaty ore satisfied with the couicatio they have with their oie teachers tha they were i their ore recet bric ad ortar schoo. Coparisos of 9 th ad 12 th Grade Leve Studets Nith grade studets were sigificaty ore iey to rate cocers about the eviroet i their bric ad ortar schoo, feeig ie they did ot fit i ad preparig for the GED as iportat reasos for choosig a oie schoo. Seiors were far ore iey tha 9 th graders to report that faig behid i casses, watig casses to ove faster ad eedig to ae up credits were their priary reasos for choosig a oie schoo. Seiors were ore iey tha 9 th graders to fee they had eough access to a variety of casses, whie 9 th graders were ore iey to report they did ot have eough support fro a guidace couseor i their oie schoo. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 39

43 Teachers ad Pricipas Educators caot stress eough, the iportace of paret ivoveet ad support i studets oie earig. Studets ust be otivated to succeed i oie schoo. Oie schoos wor for soe studets who were struggig i bric ad ortar schoos soeties, the ast resort wors for studets ad they graduate. The oy siiarity i curricua across oie schoos is that a curricua are aiged with state stadards. At oe extree, schoos create their ow curricuu; at the other extree, the oie schoo buys a curricuu ad uses it as is. May oie schoos are extreey coitted to taiorig their curricuu to eet the eeds of idividua studets. Oie schoos eed ore fiacia support; fudig shoud ot be based o seat tie. Oie schoos eed to be abe to offer techoogy access to a faiies, icudig ow icoe ad faiies i reote areas. Teachers ad pricipas wat to deveop best practices for oie schooig. The ogistics of adiisterig the TCAP i oie schoos is extreey chaegig. Teachers ad pricipas wat additioa professioa deveopet, specific to the oie earig eviroet. Buecher Istitute for Goverace 40

44 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLE # TABLE NAME PAGE # Tabe 1 Oie Schoos of Studet ad Paret Respodets 3 Tabe 2 Tie i Oie Schoo 5 Tabe 3 Tie i Oie Learig ad Grade Leve 6 Tabe 4 Perforace i Last Bric ad Mortar Schoo 7 Tabe 5 Faied Casses ad Satisfactio with Teacher Couicatio Studet Respodets 8 Tabe 6 Iportace of Reasos for Attedig Oie Schoo 10 Tabe 7 Perforace i Oie Schoo i Previous Year 11 Tabe 8 Copariso of Studet Perforace i Oie/Bric ad Mortar schoos, Paired 16 Sapes Studet Respodets Tabe 9 Copariso of Motivatio ad Focus i Oie /Bric ad Mortar Schoos, Paired 16 Sapes Studet Respodets Tabe 10 A Parets: Ratig of Chid s Perforace i Last Bric ad Mortar Schoo 19 Tabe 11 A Parets: Ratig of Chid s Perforace i Oie Schoo Last Year 27 Tabe 12 A Parets: Access to Schoo Supports/Activities Through Oie Schoo 29 Tabe 13 Copariso of Eeetary/Secodary Parets: Access to Schoo Supports/Activities 30 Through Oie Schoo Tabe 14 A Parets: Copariso of Chid s Bric ad Mortar ad Oie Schoo Perforace 34 FIGURE # FIGURE NAME Figure 1 Grade Leve High Schoo Studet ad Paret Respodets 5 Figure 2 Reasos for Abseces i Bric ad Mortar Schoo 8 Figure 3 Access to Oie Schoo Supports ad Activities 13 Figure 4 A Parets Studets Grade Leve 18 Figure 5 A Parets Reasos for Choosig Oie Learig 23 Buecher Istitute for Goverace 41

45 APPENDICES A. Studet Survey B. Paret Survey_Egish C. Paret Survey_Spaish D. Schoo Staff Iterview Protoco

46 CDE Oie Learig Research: Studet Survey TheCooradoDepartetofEducatioiscoductigasurveyofstudetswhoareattedigaoieschoo.Your participatioiscopeteyvoutary.thesurveydoesotasforayiforatiothatcaidetifyyou.your resposeswibecopeteycofidetia,adwihepiproveschoos.thayouiadvaceforyourhep. Ifyouhaveayquestiosaboutthissurvey,peasecotactTraceyO'Briebyphoeat(303) orbyeaiat *1. What is the ae of your oie schoo? 6 2. How og have you bee attedig a oie schoo? Juststartigthisyear Thisisysecodyeariaoieschoo Thisisythirdyearororeiaoieschoo 3. What grade are you i ow? 6 4. How od are you ow? 6 5. Do you have ay earig disabiities? Yes No *6. Abric ad ortarschooisayschoowhereteachersistruct studetsfacetofaceiareguarcassroo. Pease te us if you have NEVER bee i a bric ad ortar schoo. I other words, you have ALWAYS participated i a oie schoo or bee hoe schooed. IhaveNEVERattededabric ad ortarschoo.ihavealwaysparticipatediaoieschooorbee hoeschooed Ihaveattededabric ad ortarschooithepast Wewoudietoasyousoequestiosaboutyourschoo/cassesbacwheyouwereattediga bric ad ortar schoo. Forquestios7 11,peaseusea1 5scaewhere1idicates verybady ad5idicates verywe. Page 1

47 CDE Oie Learig Research: Studet Survey Durig the ost recet year that you atteded a bric ad ortar schoo: 1 Very Not Very We Bady Appicabe 7. How were you doig i schoo overa (grades)? 8. How woud you say you were doig sociay? 9. How were you doig i your ath casses? 10. How were you doig i your aguage arts casses? 11. How were you doig i your sciece casses? 12. Whe you were i a bric ad ortar schoo, how otivated were you to do cass wor? Pease use a scae where 1 is ot otivated at a ad 5 is very otivated. 1 Not Motivated at a Very otivated 13. Whe you were i a bric ad ortar schoo, how abe were you to stay focused whe you were doig wor i cass? Pease use a scae where 1 is very hard to stay focused ad 5 is very easy to stay focused. 1 Very hard to stay focused Very easy to stay focused Page 2

48 CDE Oie Learig Research: Studet Survey 14. Whe you were i a bric ad ortar schoo, how satisfied were you with the aout of couicatio you had with your teachers(?) Peaseuseascaewhere1is"otsatisfiedata"ad5is"very satisfied." 1 Notsatisfiedata Verysatisfied 15. Did you fai ay casses i the ost recet year you atteded a bric ad ortar schoo? Yes No 15a. How ay casses did you fai? Were you ever suspeded or expeed fro your bric ad ortar schoo? Yes No *17. Were you abset fro schoo ore tha 5 6 days each seester i your ost recet bric ad ortar schoo? Yes No Page 3

49 CDE Oie Learig Research: Studet Survey 17a. What is the aor reaso you issed schoo? Pease chec ONE respose oy. Iess Probesathoe Fetusafeatschoo/buyig Probeswithfrieds Physicaoreotioadisabiity Faiyresposibiities Trasportatioprobes Job Sports Other IfOther,peasedescribe: TheextquestiosareaboutwhyyoudecidedtoparticipateiyourONLINEschoo. 18. How did you hear about your oie schoo? Pease chec ALL that appy. c Iteret d e f g c Teevisio/radio d e f g c Fyer d e f g c Aevethedbyyoieschoo d e f g c Ateacheroradiistratoriy bric ad ortar schoo d e f g c Friedorfaiyeber d e f g c Soeotherway d e f g Ifsoeotherway,peasedescribe: Forquestios19a 19r,peaseusea1 5scaewhere1is"otiportatata"ad5is"veryiportat." Page 4

50 CDE Oie Learig Research: Studet Survey 19. How iportat a reaso is each of the foowig for your decisio to atted a oie schoo? 1 Not iportatat 5 Very b.idid tfeecofortabeor fiti atybricadortarschoo. c.ihavecocersabouttheeviroetibric ad ortarschoos d.iwasfaigbehidiycassesiy bricadortar schooad e.iiethechoiceofcassesthatareavaiabeoie f.iwatcassestoovefasterthatheydidiy bricadortar g.iwattograduateearyadcadothatfasterataoieschoo h.ihaveaphysicaoreotioadisabiitythatadeitdifficuttoear i.ihaveotherspeciaeeds.iwattotaespecificcoursesthatprepareeforcoegethatwere.ieedtoaeupcreditsforcassesthatifaied.ieedtoaeupcreditsbecauseitrasferredfroaotherdistrict.iwasgettigitotroubeaty bricadortar schoo.iiveiaisoatedareaaditishardtogettothe bricadortar o.ichoseyoieschooasaaterativetohoeschooig p.ieedafexibescheduebecauseofwor q.ieedafexibescheduebecauseoffaiyresposibiities r.iapreparigfortheged iportat a a.ieedcassestooveatasowerpacethatheydidia bric ad ortar cassroo eededtochagesoethig cassroos iybricadortarschoo uavaiabeiypreviousbric ad ortarschoo schoo 19a. Are there ay other iportat reasos why you decided to atted a oie schoo? If yes, what are they? 5 6 *Are you NEW to oie schooig? Yes No IfyouareaRETURNINGoiestudet,wewattoasyousoequestiosaboutyourexperiecesiyouroie schooastyear. Page 5

51 CDE Oie Learig Research: Studet Survey Forquestios20 24,peaseusea1 5scaewhere1idicates"verybady"ad5idicates"very we." Last year i your oie schoo: 1 Very 5 Very Not We Appicabe Q22.Howdidyoudoiyouroieathcasses? Q23.Howdidyoudoiyouroieaguagearts bady Q20.Howdidyoudoiyouroieschooovera (grades)? Q21.Howwoudyousayyoudidsociaysicetaig oiecasses? casses? Q24.Howdidyoudoiyouroiesciececasses? *25. Did you fai ay of your oie casses? Yes No 25a. How ay oie casses did you fai? Pease rate your overa progress i the oie progra. Peaseusea 1 5scaewhere1is verypoorprogress ad5is verygoodprogress. 1 Verypoor Verygood Page 6

52 CDE Oie Learig Research: Studet Survey 27. Do you have ENOUGH access to the foowig through your oie schoo? Yes No a. Teacher support for your schoo wor b. Techoogy (coputer, Iteret, software) c. Guidace couseor support d. Iteractio with cassates/other studets e. Advaced paceet casses f. Variety of casses g. Sports activities h. Arts activities such as theater or usic casses i. Socia evets such as pro ad other daces, schoo parties, etc.. Studet couci. Cubs. Fied trips 28. Pease rate your eve of otivatio to do your oie cass wor. Pease use a 1 5 scae where 1 is ot otivated at a ad 5 is very otivated. 1 Not otivated at a Very otivated 29. Pease rate your abiity to stay focused whe you are doig wor oie. Pease use a 1 5 scae where 1 is very hard to stay focused ad 5 is very easy to stay focused. 1 Very hard to stay focused Very easy to stay focused Page 7

53 CDE Oie Learig Research: Studet Survey 30. How satisfied are you with the aout of couicatio you have with your teacher(s)? Pease use a 1 5 scae where 1 idicates ot at a satisfied ad 5 idicates very satisfied. 1 Not satisfied at a Very satisfied 31. Overa, how satisfied are you with the oie progra? Pease use a 1 5 scae where 1 idicates ot at a satisfied ad 5 idicates very satisfied. 1 Not satisfied at a Very satisfied 32. Do you thi oie earig is a better fit for you tha a traditioa bric ad ortar schoo? Yes No Not sure 33. What do you ie best about your oie schoo? What do you ie east about your oie schoo? 5 6 Tha you for taig the tie to copete the survey! Your participatio wi hep iprove oie schoos. Page 8

54 CDE Oie Learig Research Paret Survey TheCooradoDepartetofEducatioiscoductigasurveyofparetswhosechidisattedigaoieschoo. Yourparticipatioiscopeteyvoutary.Thesurveydoesotasforayiforatiothatcaidetifyyouoryour chid.yourresposeswibecopeteycofidetiaadwihepiproveoieschoos.thayouiadvacefor yourhep. Ifyouhaveayquestiosaboutthissurvey,peasecotactTraceyO'Briebyphoeat(303) orbyeaiat Ifyouhaveorethaoechidiidergartethroughtwefthgradewhoisiaoieschoo,peasecopete thesurveybasedoyouroldestchid. *1. What is the ae of your chid's oie schoo? 6 2. How og has your chid bee attedig a oie schoo? Juststartigthisyear Thisishis/hersecodyeariaoieschoo Thisishis/herthirdyearororeiaoieschoo 3. What grade is your chid i ow? 6 4. How od is your chid ow? 6 5. Does your chid have ay earig disabiities? Yes No *6. Abric ad ortarschooisayschoowhereteachersistruct studetsfacetofaceiareguarcassroo. Pease te us if your chid has NEVER bee i a bric ad ortar schoo. I other words, he/she has ALWAYS participated i a oie schoo or bee hoe schooed. MychidhasNEVERattededabric ad ortarschoo.he/shehasalwaysparticipatediaoie schooorbeehoeschooed Mychidhasattededabric ad ortarschooithepast Wewoudietoasyousoequestiosaboutyourchid sschoo/cassesbacwheheorshewasattediga bric ad ortar schoo. Forquestios7 11,peaseusea1 5scaewhere1idicates verybady ad5idicates verywe. Page 1

55 CDE Oie Learig Research Paret Survey Durig the ost recet year that your chid atteded a bric ad ortar schoo: 1 Very Not Very We Bady Appicabe 7. How was your chid doig i schoo overa (grades)? 8. How was your chid doig sociay? 9. How was your chid doig i his/her ath casses? 10. How was your chid doig i his/her aguage arts casses? 11. How was your chid doig i his/her sciece casses? 12. Whe your chid was i a bric ad ortar schoo, how otivated was he/she to do cass wor? Pease use a scae where 1 is ot otivated at a ad 5 is very otivated. 1 Not Motivated at a Very otivated 13. Whe your chid was i a bric ad ortar schoo, how abe was he/she to stay focused whe he/she was doig wor i cass? Pease use a scae where 1 is very hard to stay focused ad 5 is very easy to stay focused. 1 Very hard to stay focused Very easy to stay focused Page 2

56 CDE Oie Learig Research Paret Survey 14. Whe your chid was i a bric ad ortar schoo, how satisfied were you with the aout of couicatio you had with your chid s teachers? Peaseuseascaewhere1is"otsatisfiedata"ad5is "verysatisfied." 1 Notsatisfiedata Verysatisfied 15. Did your chid fai ay casses i the ost recet year he/she was at a bric ad ortar schoo? Yes No 15a. How ay casses did your chid fai? Was your chid ever suspeded or expeed fro his/her bric ad ortar schoo? Yes No *17. Was your chid abset fro schoo ore tha 5 6 days each seester i his/her ost recet bric ad ortar schoo? Yes No Page 3

57 CDE Oie Learig Research Paret Survey 17a. What is the aor reaso your chid issed schoo? Pease chec ONE respose oy. Iess Probesathoe Fetusafeatschoo/buyig Probeswithfrieds Physicaoreotioadisabiity Faiyresposibiities Trasportatioprobes Job Sports Other IfOther,peasedescribe: TheextquestiosareaboutwhyyourchidisparticipatigiaONLINEschoo. 18. How did you hear about your chid s oie schoo? Pease chec ALL that appy. c Iteret d e f g c Teevisio/radio d e f g c Fyer d e f g c Aevethedbyyourchid soieschoo d e f g c Ateacheroradiistratoriyourchid s bric ad ortar schoo d e f g c Friedorfaiyeber d e f g c Soeotherway d e f g Ifsoeotherway,peasedescribe: Forquestios19a 19r,peaseusea1 5scaewhere1is"otiportatata"ad5is"veryiportat." Page 4

58 CDE Oie Learig Research Paret Survey 19. How iportat a reaso is each of the foowig i the decisio to have your chid atted a oie schoo? 1 Not 5 Very iportat at iportat a a. Your chid eeds casses to ove at a sower pace tha they did i a bric ad ortar cassroo b. Your chid did t fee cofortabe or fit i at his/her bric ad ortar schoo c. You have cocers about the eviroet i bric ad ortar schoos d. Your chid was faig behid i his/her casses i bric ad ortar schoo ad eeded to chage soethig e. You or your chid ie the choice of casses avaiabe oie f. Your chid wats casses to ove faster tha they did i bric adortar cassroos g. Your chid wats to graduate eary ad ca do that faster at a oie schoo h. Your chid has a physica or eotioa disabiity that ade it difficut to ear i his/her bric ad ortar schoo i. Your chid has other specia eeds. You or your chid wats specific courses that prepare hi/her for coege that were uavaiabe i his/her previous schoo. Your chid eeds to ae up credits for casses that he/she faied. Your chid eeds to ae up credits because he/she trasferred fro aother district. Your chid was gettig ito troube at his/her bric ad ortar schoo. You ive i a isoated area ad it is hard to get to the bric adortar schoo o. You or your chid chose oie schoo as a aterative to hoe schooig p. Your chid eeds a fexibe schedue because of wor q. Your chid eeds a fexibe schedue because of faiy resposibiities r. Your chid is preparig for the GED 19a. Are there ay other iportat reasos why your chid is attedig a oie schoo? If yes, what are they? 5 6 Page 5

59 CDE Oie Learig Research Paret Survey *Is your chid NEW to oie schooig? Yes No IfyourchidisaRETURNINGoiestudet,wewattoasyousoequestiosaboutyourchid sexperiecesi his/heroieschooastyear. Forquestios20 24,peaseusea1 5scaewhere1idicates"verybady"ad5idicates"very we." Last year i your chid s oie schoo: 1 Very 5 Very Not We Appicabe bady 20.Howdidyourchiddoihisorheroieschoo overa(grades)? 21.Howwoudyousayyourchiddidsociaysicetaig oiecasses? 22.Howdidyourchiddoihisorheroieath casses? 23.Howdidyourchiddoihisorheroieaguage artscasses? 24.Howdidyourchiddoihisorheroiesciece casses? *25. Did your chid fai ay of his/her oie casses? Yes No 25a. How ay oie casses did he/she fai? Pease rate your chid s overa progress i the oie progra, where 1 is very poor progress ad 5 is very good progress. 1 Verypoor Verygood Page 6

60 CDE Oie Learig Research Paret Survey 27. Does your chid have ENOUGH access to the foowig through his/her oie schoo? Yes No a. Teacher support for his/her schoo wor b. Techoogy (coputer, Iteret, software) c. Guidace couseor support d. Iteractio with cassates/other studets e. Advaced paceet casses f. Variety of casses g. Sports activities h.arts activities such as theater or usic casses i. Socia evets such as pro ad other daces, schoo parties, etc..studet couci.cubs.fied trips 28. Pease rate your chid s eve of otivatio to do his/her oie cass wor, where 1 is ot otivated at a ad 5 is very otivated. 1 Not otivated at a Very otivated 29. Pease rate your chid s abiity to stay focused whe he/she is doig wor oie, where 1 is very hard to stay focused ad 5 is very easy to stay focused. 1 Very hard Very easy Page 7

61 CDE Oie Learig Research Paret Survey 30. How satisfied are you with the aout of couicatio you have with your chid s teacher(s)? Pease use a 1 5 scae where 1 idicates ot at a satisfied ad 5 idicates very satisfied. 1 Not satisfied at a Very satisfied 31. Overa, how satisfied are you with the oie progra? Pease use a 1 5 scae where 1 idicates ot at a satisfied ad 5 idicates very satisfied. 1 Not satisfied at a Very satisfied 32. Do you thi oie earig is a better fit for your chid tha a traditioa bric ad ortar schoo? Yes No Not sure 33. What do you ie best about your chid s oie schoo? What do you ie east about your chid s oie schoo? 5 6 Tha you for taig the tie to copete the survey! Your participatio wi hep iprove oie schoos. Page 8

62 CDE Escueas e Liea: Ecuesta de Padres EDepartaetodeEducacióeCooradoestáreaizadouaecuestadepadrescuyoshiosestáatricuados euaescueaeíea.suparticipacióescopetaetevoutaria.laecuestaopregutaigua iforacióquepuedeidetificarustedosuhio.susrespuestasserácopetaetecofideciaesyayudaraa eorarescueaseíea.graciasaticipadaeteporsuayuda. Sitieeaguapregutasobreestaecuesta,favordeaaraChristieVeeza(303) oporcorreo eectró[email protected] SiUstedtieeásdeuiñodeardídeifaciahastaedoceavogradoquieesestáeuaescueaeíea, favordecopetaraecuestabasadoesuhio/hiamayor. *1. Qué es e obre de a escuea e íea de su hio/hia? 6 2. Cuáto tiepo ha asistido su hio/hia a ua escuea e íea? Reciéepezóesteaño Esteessusegudoañoeuaescueaeíea Esteessutercerañooáseuaescueaeíea 3. E qué grado esta su hio/hia ahora? 6 4. Que edad tiee su hio/hia ahora? 6 5. Su hio/hia tiee agú ipedieto e e apredizae? Sí No *6. Favor de deciros si su hio NUNCA a asistido a ua escuea adrio y ortero. Es decir, é/ea SIEMPRE ha participado e ua escuea e íea o ha sido educado e a casa. Uaescueadeadrio y orteroescuaquierescueadodeaaestraistruyeosiñose persoaeuaauareguar. Mihio/hiaNUNCAaasistidoauaescueadeadrio y ortero.siempreaparticipadoeuaescuea eieaoeducadoecasa Eepasadoyhio/hiaaasistidoauaescueaadrio y ortero Nosgustaríahacereuaspregutassobreascases/escueadesuhio/hiacuadoestabaatricuadaeua escuea adrioyortero. Paraaspregutas7 11,favordeusaruaescaade1 5dode1es"uyao"y5es"uybie." Page 1

63 CDE Escueas e Liea: Ecuesta de Padres Durate e año ás reciete que su hio estaba e ua escuea adrio y ortero: 1 Muy No Muy bie ao Apicabe 7. E tota, Cóo se estaba desepeñado e a escuea (caificacioes)? 8. Cóo se estaba desarroado sociaete? 9. Cóo se estaba desepañado es sus cases de ateáticas? 10. Cóo se estaba desepañado e sus cases de idioa y iteratura? 11. Cóo se estaba desepañado e sus cases de Ciecia? 12. Cuado su hio/hia estaba e ua escuea adrio y ortero, Qué ta otivado estaba para hacer sus trabaos escoares? Favor de usar ua escaa dode 1 es ada de otivado y 5 es uy otivado. 1 Nada de otivado Muy otivado 13. Cuado su hio/hia estaba e ua escuea adrio y ortero, a qué ive se podía ateer efocado cuado estaba haciedo trabaos escoares? Favor de usar ua escaa dode 1 es uy difíci ateerse efocado y 5 es uy fáci ateerse efocado. 1 Muy difíci Muy fáci Page 2

64 CDE Escueas e Liea: Ecuesta de Padres 14. Cuádo su hio estaba e ua escuea de adrio y ortero, qué ta satisfecho estaba co a catidad de couicació que teía Usted co os aestros de su hio/hia? Favordeusaruaescaadode1es adasatisfecho y5es uysatisfecho. 1 Nadasatisfecho Muysatisfecho 15. E e año ás reciete que su hio/hia estaba e ua escuea de adrio y ortero, é/ea fao agua case? Sí No 15a. Cuatas cases fao su hio/hia? Agua vez su hio fue suspedido o expusado de a escuea adrio y ortero? Sí No *17. E su escuea ás reciete de adrio y ortero, su hio/hia fató cases ás de 5 6 días e u seestre? Sí No Page 3

65 CDE Escueas e Liea: Ecuesta de Padres 17a. Cuá es a razó pricipa que su hio/hia fató a escuea? Favor de arcar soo UNA respuesta. Eferedad Probeasecasa Sesitíoepeigrootiraizadoeaescuea Probeascoaigos Físicaeteoeocioaetediscapacitado Resposabiidadesdefaiia Probeascotrasportació Etrabao Deportes Otro Siesotrarazo,favordedescribir Laspróxiaspregutassetratadeporquesuhio/hiaestáparticipadoeuaescueaENLINEA. 18. Cóo se iforó sobre a escuea e íea de su hio/hia? Favor de arcar TODOS que apique. c Iteret d e f g c Teevisió/radio d e f g c Voate d e f g c Euevetoqueseevóacaboporaescueaeíeadesuhio/hia d e f g c Uaaestraoadiistradoreaescuea adrio y ortero desuhio/hia d e f g c Uaigoopariete d e f g c Deagúotraaera d e f g Sideaguaotraaera,favordedescribir: Paraaspregutas19a 19r,favordeusaruaescaade1a5dode1es adaiportate y5es uy iportate. Page 4

66 CDE Escueas e Liea: Ecuesta de Padres 19. Qué ta iportate es cada ua de as siguietes razoes por a decisió de atricuar a su hio/hia e ua escuea e íea? 1 Nada 5 Muy iportate iportate a. Su hio/hia ecesita cases que se ueve a u rito ás eto que e as cases de adrio y ortero b. Su hio/hia o se setía cóodo o o setía e haroía co su escuea de adrio y ortero c. Usted está preocupada sobre e abiete e as escueas adrio yortero d. Su hio/hia se estaba quedado atrás e sus cases e a escuea adrio y ortero y ago teía que cabiar e. A Usted o a su hio e gustaro as as opcioes de cases dispoibe e íea f. Su hio quería cases que se oviera a u rito ás rápido que as cases e escueas adrio y ortero g. Su hio se quiere graduar teprao y o puede hacer ás rápido e ua escuea e íea h. Su hio/hia tiee ua discapacidad físico o eocioa que se e hace difíci apreder e su escuea adrio y ortero i. Su hio/hia tiee otras ecesidades especiaes. Usted o su hio/hia quiere cursos específicos que e prepara para a uiversidad y que o estaba dispoibe e su escuea adrio yortero. Su hio tiee que copetar créditos para cases que é/ea faó. Su hio/hia tiee que copetar créditos porque é/ea se trasadó de otro distrito. Su hio/hia se estaba etiedo e probeas e su escuea de adrio y ortero. Usted vive e u ugar aisado y se e hace difíci egar a a escuea adrio y ortero o. Usted o su hio/hia optó por ua escuea e íea coo ua aterativa a educació e casa p. Su hio/hia ecesita u horario fexibe porque trabaa q. Su hio/hia ecesita u horario fexibe por as resposabiidades de faiia r. Su hio/hia se está preparado para e GED 19a. Hay otras razoes iportates por as cuaes su hio/hio está e ua escuea e íea? Si a respuesta es sí, cuaes so as razoes? 5 6 Page 5

67 CDE Escueas e Liea: Ecuesta de Padres * Es su hio/hia NUEVO a esceuas e iea? Sí No Sisuhio/hiaesuestudiatequeREGRESAauaescueaeíea,equereoshaceruaspregutassobreas experieciasdeé/eaeañopasado. Paraaspregutas20 24,favordeusaruaescaade1a5dode1es uyao y5es uybie. E año pasado e a escuea e íea de su hio/hia: 1 Muy 5 Muy No bie Apicabe ao 20.Etota, Quétabiehizosuhio/hiaesuescuea eíea? 21. Cóodiríaquesuhio/hiahizosociaetedesde queepezóaparticiparecaseseíea? 22. Quétahizosuhio/hiaesuscasesde ateáticaseíea? 23. Quétahizosuhio/hiaesuscasesdeidioay iteraturaeíea? 24. Quétahizosuhio/hiaesuscasesdecieciase íea? *25. Su hio faó e agua de sus cases e íea? Sí No 25a. Cuátas cases e iea faó su hio/hia? Favor de escribir e uero de cases: Favor de caificar e progreso tota de su hio/hia e e prograa e íea, dode 1 es avaces uy pobres y 5 es avaces uy bueos. 1 Muypobres Muybueos Page 6

68 CDE Escueas e Liea: Ecuesta de Padres 27. Su hio/hia tiee SUFICIENTE acceso a os siguietes a través de su escuea e íea? Sí No a. E apoyo de a aestra para e trabao escoar de su hio/hia b. Tecoogía (coputadora, Iteret, software) c. Apoyo de Coseero de Orietació d. Iteracció co copañeros de a escuea/otros estudiates e. Cases de Coocació Avazada f. Ua variedad de cases g. Actividades deportivas h. Actividades de arte ta coo e teatro o cases de úsica i. Evetos sociaes ta coo e Pro y otros baies, fiestas escoares, etc.. Coseo estudiati.cubs.excursioes 28. Favor de caificar e ive de otivació de su hio/hia para hacer su trabao escoar e íea, dode 1 es ada otivado y 5 es uy otivado. 1 Nada otivado Muy otivado 29. Favor de caificar a habiidad de su hio/hia e poder ateerse efocado cuado está haciedo su trabao escoar e íea, dode 1 es uy difíci ateerse efocado y 5 es uy fáci ateerse efocado. 1 Muy difíci Muy fáci Page 7

69 CDE Escueas e Liea: Ecuesta de Padres 30. Qué ta satisfecha está co a catidad de couicació que Usted tiee co a(s) aestra(s) de su hio/hia? Favor de usar ua escaa de 1 a 5 dode 1 es ada satisfecha y 5 es uy satisfecha. 1 Nada satisfecha Muy satisfecha 31. E tota, Qué ta satisfecha esta co e prograa e íea? Favor de usar ua escaa de 1 a 5 dode 1 es ada satisfecha y 5 es uy satisfecha. 1 Nada satisfecha Muy satisfecha 32. Piesa Usted que apredizae e íea es eor para sus hio/hia que e escuea tradicioa de adrio y ortero? Sí No No estoy segura 33. Qué es o que MAS LE GUSTA de a escuea e íea de su hio/hia? Qué es o que MENOS LE GUSTA de a escuea e íea de su hio/hia? 5 6 Gracias por toar e tiepo para copetar a ecuesta! Su participació ayudara a eorar apredizae e íea. Page 8

70 Appedix D ONLINE SCHOOL STAFF INTERVIEWS Q1. I your experiece, what types of studets choose your oie schoo? Probes: Motivated studets Studets with eotioa ad/or behaviora issues Studets with earig disabiities/physica disabiities, Studets who eed a fexibe schedue due to faiy, wor or other deads. Studets who eed a sower paced earig situatio Studets who were faiig casses i a bric ad ortar eviroet ad/or eed credit recovery Trasfer studets Studets who are isoated both geographicay ad sociay Q1A. Does the progra see to be equay successfu for a types of studets, or i your experiece does it ted to wor better for soe types of studets tha for others? Probe: I your experiece, is the progra ore effective for youger or oder studets? Studets i certai grades? Q2. What is the process that parets go through to ero their chid? (e.g. appicatio, tieies, directios for parets). Probes: Does this see to be a easy process for parets? Studets? If the process eeds iproveet, what ca be doe to iprove this process? Q3. How do studets (ad parets) couicate with teachers? Probes: Ca they couicate by phoe? Eai? Faceboo? Twitter? Text essagig? Sype? Webiar? How ofte do studets ad teacher couicate? Is there a iiu aout of cotact tie that teachers are required to have with studets? Who supports studets with their casses/earig? Is this support sufficiet? Do studets receive couseig or other support? Is this support sufficiet? Q4. Pease describe the aterias ad equipet you provide to studets. Q5. What are soe of the chaeges your schoo faces i eetig the eeds of studets? What strategies have you used to address those chaeges? What strategies have bee successfu? Q6. I your experiece, are there cosistet probes oie studets are havig? How ca these probes be soved? Q7. What is worig we? Q8. I your opiio, what is sti eeded i Coorado with regard to oie earig? What support or resources woud hep you iprove your studet perforace outcoes?

71 Buecher Istitute for Goverace 42

72