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E-mail Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2010 > August > 02 > Entry
29,000 Ohio kids are getting their education online
More than 29,000 K-12 students attend school online in Ohio, about five times more than did seven years ago.
They log onto their computers from home without ever stepping into a classroom.
Some are in kindergarten.
Doug and Linda Sellers of Beavercreek took the virtual leap from the traditional bricks-and-mortar public schools when they enrolled their four children in an e-school three years ago. The couple said it was a difficult decision and a tough sell to relatives, many of whom are teachers.
They’re happy with the results.
“All of our children have flourished,” said Sellers, a civilian engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Jared, 18; Sarah, 17; Joseph, 14; and Matthew, 12; all said they are happy they made the switch. They tout the benefits as learning at their own pace and a much shorter school day.
Nationally, Ohio ranks third in enrolled e-school students, behind Pennsylvania and Arizona, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.
Online schools have been criticized for the lack of social interaction students have with peers and limited face-to-face contact with their instructors.
Supporters argue the schools reach students in ways traditional education cannot.
Tom Lasley, executive director of EDvention, a collaborative dedicated to accelerating science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) talent in the Dayton area and former dean of the University of Dayton’s School of Education and Allied Professions, believes e-schools are here to stay and will continue to expand.
As schools “confront more funding challenges,” he said, “it will be increasingly difficult to offer a wide range of educational options parents want and demand.”
Readers, tell us what you think about e-schools. (To read more about e-schools, click on “Continue reading.”)
E-schools provide valuable option, participants say
BEAVERCREEK — Doug and Linda Sellers grew disenchanted with traditional public education and wanted something that would meet the needs of all four of their children.
Their eldest son, Jared, was gifted but had grown bored with school. Daughter Sarah had been bullied.
Joseph fell behind because of medical issues and youngest son, Matthew, hated school because, according to his father, he had been mislabeled as academically challenged when he was younger.
The parents said they found the answer in the Ohio Virtual Academy based near Toledo, which has seen its enrollment grow to about 8,400 students in nine years.
It is one of Ohio’s online schools offering education to students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
The e-schools are public charter schools that receive taxpayer dollars. They are operated by sponsors that might be a for-profit corporation, a school district or other educational entity.
Because the online charter schools are public schools, there are no tuition costs.
Charter school students are counted as part of the funded enrollment base for school districts and payment to the e-schools are deducted from the foundation payment of the school district where the student lives. That cost is $5,718 per pupil, but e-schools receive more for special education students.
The Sellers children are among an estimated 200,000 students nationally enrolled in e-schools, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.
Doug Sellers, who spent 17 years in the Air Force before becoming a civilian engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, said he never considered online learning for his children until he earned his master’s degree in engineering online from the University of Southern California.
Linda Sellers, who stays at home with the children and fills the vital role of “learning coach,” said the nontraditional education works for them, but it is not for every family.
She believes the e-school curriculum offers more structure than home schooling.
All the Sellers kids said the switch was worth it, though Jared admits it was “strenuous” finding and maintaining a social life though he attended two proms — Beavercreek’s and Ohio Virtual Academy’s, which was held at COSI in Columbus.
“You have to actively seek out social interaction,” said Jared, 18, who recently graduated from the online school and plans to attend Brigham Young University-Idaho where he plans to live on campus. “Doing high school and college online might be pushing it a bit,” he said.
The Sellers, who are Mormons, said the children are heavily involved in church, Scouts and other activities to keep them socially active.
Sarah, 17, now a senior, said she finds e-school less stressful because there is not the normal load of homework and “no one judges you on your appearance.”
Matthew, 12, a seventh-grader, especially enjoys the flexibility of the hours.
At Ohio Virtual Academy, kindergartners through eighth-graders must do approximately 25 hours of course work per week; high school students 30-35 hours.
It doesn’t matter if they log on in the morning or evening, said Beth French, development manager for the Ohio Virtual Academy, which is sponsored by the Ohio Council of Community Schools.
The school is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during the normal school year. Students, now on summer break, start back in late August.
French called the school another option for Ohio students and said they have participants in all 88 counties.
She said the e-school provides the same education to all students regardless of whether they live in an urban, suburban or rural environment. They get the exact same materials and have contact with the same licensed teachers.
Online schools have been criticized for bypassing teacher unions.
The Ohio Virtual Academy employs 275 teachers who work from home offices, she said.
The state requires teachers to have four annual face-to-face meetings with students, and most have weekly contact through e-mail or by phone, French said.
The number of e-school students has continued to climb statewide although 16 online schools have closed, according to a list provided by the Ohio Department of Education, which oversees them.
Julie Daubenmire, the department’s assistant press secretary, said several e-schools closed because they no longer had financial viability and a few merged with traditional public schools.
Tom Lasley, executive director of EDvention, a collaborative dedicated to accelerating science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) talent in the Dayton area, said one expert predicts that by 2020, half of high school classes will be taught online.
Lasley thinks the e-option allows students to experience different forms of learning; and that, one day, spending hours away from home at a traditional school will be viewed as outdated as the one-room schoolhouse is today.
“I think e-schooling is going to mature in ways that are more strategic,” he said, “beyond the ideological battles we’re having now, that it’s either good or bad.”
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By ohva mom of 5
October 15, 2010 4:08 PM | Link to this
Although Ohio Virtual Academy has been on Continuous Improvement for the past three years. If you compare the scores of first year students and those who have been on OHVA for longer than three years, you can see the vast improvement. Children sometimes enter behind grade level. The guidance and instruction received from their learning couches and OHVA teachers help the to not only achieve, but succeed!
By Joe Lacey
August 3, 2010 11:13 AM | Link to this
Where do you find the demographics for OHVA students?
By ohvamom
August 3, 2010 12:05 AM | Link to this
I can understand why a school board member would not be in favor of Ohio Virtual Academy—school districts lose money to OHVA for the students who leave because their needs are not being met. If you look at the demographics of OHVA students, there are many considered “at-risk.” As a mom of an OHVA student, we finally have our gifted child being challenged and are thankful to OHVA for that!
By Paul Smathers
August 2, 2010 8:01 PM | Link to this
We enrolled our daughter in OHVA in January of 2008. At the time of enrollment she was in the 6th grade but reading at a 4th grade level. When she took the OAT at the end of the school year she scored Advanced in both reading and math. There are many reasons for this improvement. Among them was she read everything out loud to me. Also, because we had moved here from North Dakota the previous year she found it difficault to make new friends and was bullied by both fellow students and her principal. She hated school and became physically ill almost day. She now enjoys her lessons. She will be entering the 8th grade latter this month and continues to do well on the OAT
By homeschool_dad
August 2, 2010 3:06 PM | Link to this
I applaud the virtual schools and the parents’ effort to improve their children’s education. As far as socialization goes, perhaps they can take a lesson from the homeschools and unschoolers. We use the Internet daily for study material and classes, then use our weekly co-op days to gather together.
By Joe Lacey
August 2, 2010 2:08 PM | Link to this
Ohio Virtual Academy is in Continuous Improvement and their performance index score has been in a steady decline for the past three years. I don’t know that the population that they serve is particularly challenged but their performance scores are not particularly great.