Bathon, J., Dexter, S., Cho, V., Barbour, M. K., Nash, J., Gayheart, T., & Hurst, T. (2013, November). UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE) - Boon or bust: Technology and adult professional learning. A presentation at the annual convention of the University Council for Educational Administration, Indianapolis, IN.

1. Professional
Development for Virtual
School Leaders
Michael K. Barbour
Director of Doctoral Studies
Sacred Heart University

4. Full-Time Model

6. What Do School Leaders Need To Know?
How Do The Data Inform Decisions?

7. Cyber Charter Student Performance
• “Online student scores in math, reading, and writing
have been lower than scores for students statewide
over the last three years.” (Colorado, 2006)
• “Virtual charter school pupils’ median scores on the
mathematics section of the Wisconsin Knowledge and
Concepts Examination were almost always lower than
statewide medians during the 2005-06 and 2006-07
school years.” (Wisconsin, 2010)
• “Half of the online students wind up leaving within a
year. When they do, they’re often further behind
academically then when they started.” (Colorado, 2011)

8. Cyber Charter Student Performance
• “Compared with all students statewide, full-time
online students had significantly lower proficiency
rates on the math MCA-II but similar proficiency rates
in reading.” (Minnesota, 2011)
• “nearly nine of every 10 students enrolled in at least
one statewide online course, all had graduation rates
and AIMS math passing rates below the state
average” (Arizona, 2011)
• “…students at K12 Inc., the nation’s largest virtual
school company, are falling further behind in reading
and math scores than students in brick-and-mortar
schools.” (Miron & Urschel, 2012)

9. Are There Contributing Factors To These Results?

10. Cyber Charter Students
Miron, G. & Urschel, J. (2012). Understanding and improving full-time
virtual schools. Denver, CO: National Education Policy Center.
• “K12 Inc. virtual schools enroll approximately the same percentages of
black students but substantially more white students and fewer
Hispanic students relative to public schools in the states in which the
company operates”
• “39.9% of K12 students qualify for free or reduced lunch, compared
with 47.2% for the same-state comparison group.”
• “K12 virtual schools enroll a slightly smaller proportion of students
with disabilities than schools in their states and in the nation as a whole
(9.4% for K12 schools, 11.5% for same-state comparisons, and 13.1% in
the nation).”
• “Students classified as English language learners are significantly
under-represented in K12 schools; on average the K12 schools enroll
0.3% ELL students compared with 13.8% in the same-state comparison
group and 9.6% in the nation.”

11. Is This A Problem?

12. Case Study: Michigan
• In the early 2000s banned cyber charter schools after a case of
extreme corruption between one school district and a for-profit
provider
• In Spring/Summer 2009, the legislature lifted the cap and allowed
two companies to each create one full-time cyber school
o Enrollment capped at 400 students in the first year
o Enrollment capped at an additional 1000 student in second year (1 regular
student for each 1 student from the State’s dropped out roll)
o Enrollment beyond year two would be determined based on the
performance of the programs in those first two years

14. Case Study: Michigan
• In the early 2000s banned cyber charter schools after a case of
extreme corruption between one school district and a for-profit
provider
• In Spring/Summer 2009, the legislature lifted the cap and allowed
two companies to each create one full-time cyber school
o Enrollment capped at 400 students in the first year
o Enrollment capped at an additional 1000 student in second year (1 regular
student for each 1 student from the State’s dropped out roll)
o Enrollment beyond year two would be determined based on the
performance of the programs in those first two years
• In the Spring 2011, the legislature moved to remove all
restrictions on the number and enrollment levels of cyber
schooling in the State
o Finally passed no restrictions on the number of cyber schools, but limited
enrollment to half the size of the largest school district

15. What Can We Do?

19. Your
Questions
and
Comments

20. Director of Doctoral Studies
Isabelle Farrington College of Education
Sacred Heart University
mkbarbour@gmail.com
http://www.michaelbarbour.com
http://virtualschooling.wordpress.com