VIRTUAL SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.: A Comprehensive Analysis (2015 Update)

Record: Alex Molnar, ed., Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2015: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence (Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center, 2014). [Available Here]

Introduction: This report is the third in an annual series published by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC). The first report in 2013 was followed by the 2014 report, which was reviewed on this blog here. If you have not done so before, I recommend reading the in-depth 2014 review first because this post will only cover the information that has been updated for 2015.

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VIRTUAL SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.: A Comprehensive Analysis, part 1

Record: Alex Molnar, ed., Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2014: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence (Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center, 2014).  Available here.

Summary: This report is the second in a projected annual series of reports published by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC).  The first report was published in 2013 and can be read here.

The 2013 report chronicled the 311 full-time virtual schools enrolling around 200,000 students, 67% of whom were being taught in schools run by Education Managament Organizations, or EMOs.  The largest such organization is K12.  The report also found that despite serving a student population that has fewer Black, Latin@, poor, or special needs children than attend conventional public schools, academic achievement at virtual schools lagged significantly behind brick-and-mortars. 

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