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| Date: From: Subject: | 9/6/2012 4:38:24 PM Scott Woodruff--HSLDA Kansas--Studies: Virtual Schools Create Poor Student Achievement |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Kansas--Studies: Virtual Schools Create Poor Student Achievement Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: If a friend of yours starts this school year by telling you how wonderful her Kansas public-school-at-home program (or virtual school) is, you might want to ask her if she has read the headlines from all over the country showing that students in public virtual school programs fare poorly academically. For example: Lagging Behind The national publication Education Week noted that students in public full-time online programs in Colorado "typically lagged behind their peers on virtually every academic indicator." Worse, scores actually dropped when students transferred from brick-and-mortar to online schools. The double-digit gap was persistent, and worse among the children of affluent parents. Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15630 Goals Not Met A Western Michigan University study showed that only 27.7% of full-time virtual schools run by K12 Inc. met federal academic progress goals (vs. 52% of traditional public schools). Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15631 Subject Struggles The Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes reported that virtual students scored 13% worse in reading and 24% worse in math than students in public brick-and-mortar schools. . Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15632 Profit and Loss An article in the New York Times described a public school at home program where 60% of its students were behind in math and nearly 50% were behind in reading. While profitable for its corporate owner, the author believed there were "serious questions" about whether full-time online public schools actually benefit children. The Times wrote: "a portrait emerges of a company that tries to squeeze profits from public school dollars by raising enrollment, increasing teacher workload, and lowering standards." Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15633 Not Proficient In a recent survey of California public school at home programs, only 48% of students scored at the "proficient" level in English-Language Arts. Elementary math proficiency was about 22%. The Algebra 1 proficiency was only 12%. The scores were so bad that a commentator asked, "Why does the emperor have no clothes?" Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15634 Falling Behind The National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder reported that "students taking K12 Inc. classes in Idaho and four other states are falling more behind in math and reading than their traditional school counterparts." Read more: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15635 True Homeschool Success Compare this with the well-known success of homeschool students. Dr. Lawrence Rudner of the University of Maryland, in his landmark 1999 study published in the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, noted that homeschooled 2nd graders scored one grade level ahead of others; 5th graders scored two grades ahead; and 8th graders scored an astonishing four grade levels ahead of others! See Figure 2 (about half way through the document): http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=15636 Books provided by public-school-at-home programs cannot tell the truth about God (because of court decisions). For parents who see homeschooling as a form of discipleship, that's enough to make the decision. But even for parents primarily interested in academics, the verdict is in: virtual school programs appear to be simply the worst possible choice. Let's send a clear message. Parent-directed, parent-controlled, homeschooling working hand-in-hand with the liberty to incorporate the truth about God unashamedly into every subject--and operated entirely without government "help"--is simply the gold standard of education and family discipleship. Sincerely, Scott A. Woodruff, Esq. HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> What's the shortest distance between two homeschoolers? HSLDA's elert service! When threats to homeschool freedoms arise, you want to be able to respond. We make it possible. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1101 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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