In November, we discussed the findings of the National Study of Online Charter Schools, a series of three reviews commissioned by the largest private funder of charter schools, the Walton Family Foundation.
The Center for Research on Education Outcomes or CREDO at Stanford University, the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington and Mathematica Policy Research looked at students in 158 virtual schools in 17 states including Georgia. The students took all their classes online through schools typically run by private providers rather than school districts.
In math, students were 180 days – an entire school year – behind peers in traditional public schools. In reading, they were 72 days behind.
Credit: Maureen Downey
Credit: Maureen Downey
As a result of the studies it underwrote, the Walton Family Foundation is now adding its influential voice to those calling for an overhaul of online schools. In an essay in Education Week, two foundation leaders say that if virtual charters were grouped together and ranked as a single school district, it would be the ninth-largest in the country and among the worst-performing.
The foundation stops short of calling for a moratorium on new virtual charters, but says, "It is clear that what exists doesn't create the academic opportunities children need."
In their column, Marc Sternberg, the director of education giving at the Walton Family Foundation, and Marc Holley, the foundation's evaluation-unit director, write: (This is a short excerpt. Please read full piece at Ed Week.)
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