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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VITUAL CHARTER SCHOOLS: Solution or Siren Song?

Record: Mary Sue Backus and Hayley Jones, “Solution or Siren Song? The Lure of Virtual Charter Schools” in The Oklahoma Bar Journal (2015). [Available Here]

Summary: Backus is a professor and Jones is a former student from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Interestingly, both are former educators. In this article they look at the legal code and effectiveness of virtual charter schools in Oklahoma.

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ONLINE CHARTER SCHOOLS: Evolution and Concerns

Record: Lisa H. Waters, Michael K. Barbour, and Michael P. Menchaca, “The Nature of Online Charter Schools: Evolution and Emerging Concerns” in Educational Technology & Society 17, no. 4 (2014): 379-389. [Full Article]

Summary: Waters is a Technology Integration Specialist at Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia. Barbour is the Director of Doctoral Studies for the Isabelle Farrington College of Education and an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Menchaca an Associate Professor with theDepartment of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawaii. Their goals for this literature review are to:

1. Provide a definition for online charter schools.
2. Describe how online charter schools have evolved.
3. Explain how they operate.
4. Discuss emerging concerns such as governance, funding and effectiveness.

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Burch on Virtual Charters and Other Market-Based Educational Trends

Two weeks ago I reviewed Terry Moe and John Chubb’s new book celebrating market-based education reform, especially home-based online learning.  Today I review Patricia Burch, Hidden Markets: The New Education Privatization (Routledge, 2009), which is a critique of these same trends.

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Klein and Poplin on Virtual Charter Schools

This post reviews Carol Klein and Mary Poplin, “Families Home Schooling in a Virtual Charter School System” in Marriage and Family Review 43, nos. 3&4 (2008): 369-395.

Klein,  a Teacher on Special Assignment in Anaheim, CA, and Poplin, Professor of Education at Claremont Graduate University, here offer the results of a survey Klein conducted of parents whose children are enrolled in the California Virtual Academies (CAVA). 

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Clark on Virtual Schools

This post reviews Thomas Clark, “Virtual Schooling and Basic Education” in Bramble and Panda, eds., Economics of Distance and Online Learning: Theory, Practice and Research(New York: Routledge, 2008), pp. 52-71.

Clark, president of TA Consulting, which helps cybercharters develop successful long-term strategies, and author of several articles on virtual schools, here presents a broad overview of virtual schools, aimed at an international audience.   

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Part 3 of review of Williams, ed., AT ISSUE: HOMESCHOOLING

In this third installment I will review chapters 5 and 6 of the anthology AT ISSUE: HOMESCHOOLING 

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