The document summarizes research on K-12 online learning trends in California. It finds that enrollment in online charter schools has increased 80% in the last two years, though full-time online students only represent 0.16% of total K-12 enrollment in California. Studies show comparable achievement between online charter and traditional high school students. The document recommends adopting standard definitions and a funding model for online learning in California to support continued innovation and access.

1. What’s Happening with K-12 Online Learning in California? Rob Darrow, Ed.D. October 2010 Fresno Pacific BLEND Conference Rob’s Wiki: http://robdarrow.wikispaces.com

2. Purpose To share some research To share what is happening in California – from online to blended To share recent online learning events Rob’s Wiki: http://robdarrow.wikispaces.com

3. Introductions Me: Retired online school principal, doctorate, consultant (www.onlinelearningvisions.com), father of a 21-year-old You: what you do, what you want to gain from this presentation.

4. Background – National Trends Two educational trends challenging traditional education: ** Charter Schools ** Enrollment increases 11% - 20% per year ** Online Schools ** Enrollment increases 30% per year

5. One Other National Trend:Static Dropout Rates

6. The Challenge for the Nation Three out of every ten students do not graduate from high school. About half of those who graduate are not college- and work-ready. Source: EPE 2007; Greene 2002

7. Research and Dropouts “Lack of school success is probably the greatest single cause which impels pupils to drop out of school.” Ayres (1909). Laggards in our schools.

8. Research Studies - California Darrow (2010). Online charter schools and at-risk students Schwirzke (2011). Perspectives about online learning from superintendents

9. California 13% of the total U.S. K-12 public school student enrollment 20% of the U.S. public charter school enrollment Top rated state regarding charter school law and policy National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (2010)

10. Defining Terms Traditional Learning attend courses daily in face-to-face setting Online Learning attend courses online where 70% instruction is online Blended Learning attend courses online where 30% instruction is online Charter School independently operated public schools of choice

11. Definitions: Counting Dropouts One student counts as a dropout if either: A. Leaves a school and does NOT register at another school OR B. Leaves school and does NOT have a high school diploma Standards set by US Department of Education (reported by states) Counted in Grades 7-12 in California

13. Take one or two online courses in addition to attending traditional school

14. One student in one course per semester counts one

15. Full Time Online Students

16. One student attending the school counts oneWatson, Gemin, Ryan & Wicks (2009). Keeping pace with K-12 online learning.

17. One Example: Florida Virtual SchoolOne student in one course for one semester

18. Definitions: Counting Online School EnrollmentNo Standards Part-time online students not officially counted, except as an estimate in response to a researcher’s survey Full time online students counted if they attend an online charter school In California, public school students, including charters, are counted each October via California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS)

19. Charter School History and Policy 1991 – Minnesota: first charter school law 1992 - California passed charter school law 1997-2009 – Every president supports charter school direction. Obama vows to “expand our commitment to charter schools and invest in innovation.” 2009 – 40 stateshave passed charter school laws; 5,042 schoolsserving over 1.5 million students(Allen & Consoletti, 2010)

20. Online School History and Policy 1994 – 1997 - First K-12 online schools: Utah Electronic School Virtual High School – Massachusetts Florida Virtual School 2007 – Number of states with online programs / online legislation: 42 2007 – Number of online charter schools: 173 in 18 states 92,235 students (Center for Ed Reform, 2008) 2008 – Online course enrollments grew by 65% from 2002-03 to 2004-05 (Means, 2009) 2009 – More than a million K-12 online school students(Picciano and Seaman, 2009)

21. Types of Online Schools A. National Companies– individual online charter schools in different states (K-12, Inc. Connections Academy, Insight) Primarily charter schools B. Statewide– run by state agencies Some charters, some not C. District / County– run by school districts or county educational offices Some charters, some not Watson, Gemin, Ryan & Wicks (2009). Keeping pace with K-12 online learning. http://www.kpk12.com/

22. Online Learning andStudent Achievement Meta-analysis have found that overall, student achievement in online schools is the same or better when compared with traditional schools Means et al. (2009), Cavanaugh et al. (2004) Emerging Research Online student interaction in discussion boards / forums (Lowes, 2007) Student success / student attrition in online courses (Porta-Merida, 2009; Roblyer, 2008)

23. Comparison Online charter high school students 14 existed in California – 2006-2009 And Traditional high school students Comparisons in: Achievement Rates Dropout Rates

24. Results: California Standards Test / English-Language Arts (CST ELA)2007-08 and 2008-09 Taken yearly in grades 9, 10 and 11 Selected Online Charter Schools Selected Traditional Schools

25. Year: 2007-2008CST ELA ComparisonsPercent Proficient and Above Online Charters Traditional Schools

26. Year: 2008-2009CST ELA ComparisonsPercent Proficient and Above Online Charters Traditional Schools

27. Results: Dropout Rates2006-07 and 2007-08 Reported yearly in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 Selected Online Charter Schools Selected Traditional Schools Note: Dropout data from 2008-2009 not available

28. Year: 2006-2007Dropout Percentages by Grade Note: 2006-07 Online Charter School Enrollment in Grades 11 and 12 was less than 100 students per grade Online Charters Traditional Schools

29. Year: 2007-2008Dropout Percentages by Grade Online Charters Traditional Schools

30. Findings Enrollment in online charter schools has increased each year for the past three years: 80% in past two years Percent of students in charter high schools: 6% of total 9-12 enrollment Percent of students in online charter high schools: .16% of total 9-12 enrollment

31. OL: Status and Perceptions by Ca Administrators (Schwirzke, 2011) Surveyed California Superintendents Used survey from Picciano& Seaman http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/K-12_06 146 School Districts Responded

32. Results – 2009-10 (Schwirzke, 2011) 40% of districts had at least one student take an online course Why are blended / online learning courses important? Meeting the needs of specific groups of students (70%) Offering courses not otherwise available (60%) Offering advanced placement courses (50%) Permitting students who failed a course to re-take a course (49%)

33. Results 2009-10 – Barriers (Schwirzke, 2011) What are barriers to offering online or blended courses? Concerns about course quality (56%) Course development costs (44%) Limited tech infrastructure (43%) Concerns about receiving funding for online courses (41%)

34. Number of Part Time Online Students in Ca (Schwirzke, 2011) Based on survey results from 146 California schools.

35. Number of Full Time K-12 Students in California in OL Charters (Darrow, 2010) Based on October CBEDS. Ed Data. http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us

36. Recommendations (Schwirzke, 2011) State policies need to be developed to: Identify standard definitions for online and blended learning Create a framework for online and blended learning Change to a funding model for online courses that allows fractional per-pupil funds to follow students down to the individual course, not just the full-time program

37. Recommendations (Darrow, 2010) Need a uniform way to count online school students Innovation grants and research grants needed for online learning in California Common standards for K-12 online learning should be adopted Ongoing finance model for online schools needed in California; current school funding finance models don’t fit with online courses

38. Recent Updates - October iNacol Definitions and Clarification of Blended Learning Digital Learning Now – Rated every state on 10 Elements CaDept of Ed released online schools and definitions

39. iNacol – Updated Quality Online Teaching Standards – Blended Learning Continuum**Curriculum**

40. iNacol – Updated Quality Online Teaching Standards – Blended Learning Continuum**Students**

41. iNacol – Updated Quality Online Teaching Standards – Blended Learning Continuum**Instructional Support**

42. Digital Learning Now 10 Digital Elements (Encouraging all states to adopt) Adopted in Idaho and Ohio Roadmap to Reform Digital Learning Report Card (for every state) http://digitallearningnow.com/

43. Digital Learning Now – 10 Key Elements 10 Elements

44. State Ratings: Ca Ratings Student Access – 2 Barriers to Access – 2 Personalized Learning – 1 Advancement – 0 Quality Content – 2 Quality Instruction – 0 Quality Choices – 4 Assessment and Accountability – 2 Funding – 1 Infrastructure - 0

45. State Ratings – Bottom 20

46. CaDept of Education Definitions of Online Learning Map of Online Schools Revising: “Current State of Online Learning in California” http://pubs.cde.ca.gov/tcsii/onlineeducation/onlineeducindex.aspx

47. At the college level What percentage of students have taken a course entirely online? A. 15% B. 50% C. 65% D. 90%

48. At college level – ECAR Study of Undergrad Students 52%of students report preferring some form of blended learning (online and f2f) another 22% reporting they want flexibility for as much or as little online components they need. http://www.educause.edu/Resources/ECARNationalStudyofUndergradua/238012

49. Sloan Reports (2010) Almost two-thirds of for-profit institutions now say that online learning is a critical part of their long term strategy. 21% growth rate for online enrollments http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/class_differences

50. Recommendations Future students will attend schools that do have online options Education at all levels (K-12, community college, university) should be designing and offering fully online courses now Online learning will growwith or without the involvement of traditional schools

52. Rob@onlinelearningvisions.com

53. Rob’s Wiki: http://robdarrow.wikispaces.com