Virtual
High School
Having just spent six months researching and developing courses for a
virtual high school, I find the distance learning paradigm a
fascinating one. But I am not alone in my impressions:
according to the Department of Education, in 1999 the number of
homeschoolers in the United States alone was 850,000. By
2005, that number had reached to 1.1 million.
And the virtual high school is not an anomaly—any
longer—in countries other than the U.S. According
to Karl M. Bunday, of Learn in Freedom! 20,000 families in Australia
homeschool their children; New Zealand home educates approximately
7,000 (as of 1996 reports); about 1% of Canadian school-aged children
are educated in the home; and alternative education is becoming
legalized and/or growing in popularity in such places as Japan, Taiwan,
and Norway.
What accounts for such increasing numbers? The benefits,
clearly, outweigh the liabilities. Depending upon location,
religion, political/educational philosophies, and personal preferences,
the reasons, then, for opting for a virtual high school, are many:
LOWER COSTS
According to the Department of Education, the median cost for educating
one student at home is $450.
REINFORCED INDEPENDENCE
Independence from standardized, state-regulated public schooling is a
major factor for many families, as is the independence of religious
practice (emphasized in the distance learning courses and
programs—whereas not “allowed in public schools),
and the freedom of the learners—who can be independent
thinkers studying at their own pace and level.
VERSATILITY and VARIETY
Online schooling opens the student’s schedule to taking
classes offered [virtually] 24/7. That is, once enrolled, the
learner can access the lessons, do the studying and research, and take
the exams at whatever hour is convenient for him, her, and the
family.
SPECIAL CLASSES
Whereas the brick-and-mortar school may not have the funds, humanpower,
or skill sets necessary to implement special disadvantaged learner
programs or programs for excelled students, the virtual high school
typically caters to a wider range of learners and abilities: AP courses
are increasing in numbers, as are online classes for differential
learners.
The major concern of educators and parents is that the virtual high
school be as qualified as the state and provincial. In fact,
many parents who decide to opt for home-schooling do so under the
premise that the public schools are not providing optimum
education. The other side of the debate about homeschooling
includes the argument that home-educated students will not get the
mandatory, requisite education they deserve.
But the stats of 1996, provided by the US Dept. of Education show that
the differences in success rates, surveyed nationally, are nearly
non-existent—with average battery scores as follows:
States with High government regulation of home schools - homeschool
battery score - 86
States with Moderate government regulation of home schools - homeschool
battery score - 85
States with Low government regulation of home schools - homeschool
battery score – 86
The debate will surely continue; the jockeying for power will go on;
the opinions of what constitutes a quality education will
prevail. The decision, then, is up to the individual and to
the individual family.
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