Fair evaluation of e-schools must consider mobility

The Stanford Universitybased Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) recently released a report evaluating charter schools in Ohio and suggests students in online charters across Ohio learn less than similar children in traditional schools. The report has resulted in “urgent” calls from newspapers and education stakeholders for the Ohio General Assembly to fix online charter schools and even consider basing their funding on performance.

Unfortunately, the report utilizes performance metrics, most notably graduation rate and academic-growth metrics, that are ill-suited to schools with significantly high levels of student mobility.

In general, student mobility refers to students changing schools during a school year for reasons other than grade promotion. Students may change schools because they need another education option — they are struggling academically, have health problems or are experiencing bullying, to name a few reasons. Various studies have found student mobility, particularly when students make multiple moves, has a negative effect on student performance, including lower school engagement, poorer grades in reading and math and higher risk of dropping out in high school.

While every school district in America experiences mobility, online schools have the highest mobility rates in the country. Currently more than 35 percent of Ohio Connections Academy students are considered mobile, while schools across Ohio average 9 percent student mobility. Effectively evaluating performance of this unique, highly mobile student population must factor mobility into performance metrics.

Research conducted by Pearson on Connections Academy public online schools provides evidence that students can attain the same level of academic achievement as that achieved at traditional brick-and-mortar schools when mobility is taken into consideration.

The CREDO report also raises a question about online-school accountability and engagement, suggesting that with limited contact between teachers and students, an online student can choose not to learn and no one will call him or her on it. This is a common misconception of quality online schools, one that immediately discounts the student-teacher relationship in the online environment.

Frankly, students can choose not to learn regardless of what academic setting they are in. At Ohio Connections Academy, using accountability standards implemented by our board and faculty as well as those mandated by the state of Ohio, our teachers monitor each student’s participation and progress every day. Our teachers are regularly in direct contact with each student and the student's parent or caregiver through the virtual classroom or by phone, email or text.

Families are informed in writing and by phone if students are not staying in contact with us and progressing academically. Students are withdrawn if they do not work for 72 consecutive hours and our school follows the House Bill 410 guidelines and places students who are not participating on an attendance-improvement plan.

Students and families continue to choose online schools such as Ohio Connections Academy because the approach and curriculum best meet their very real and unique needs. Our graduation rate for students who stay with us for their entire high-school careers is over 90 percent. Our students go on to vocational training, join the military and many more are accepted to a variety of two- and four-year colleges and universities.

Two of our graduates went on to earn education degrees and have returned to our school as teachers. One of our 2019 seniors was recently accepted into Princeton University and a member of our 2013 graduating class is a Fulbright Scholar.

We all can agree that fulltime online education is not for every child. We have strong onboarding programs to assist families in adjusting to online learning and would suggest this as a best practice. I also support a strong engagement policy with a quantifiable time limit so that unengaged students do not languish in a school.

I believe all Ohio students and families deserve high-quality online learning options. Ohio Connections Academy embraces accountability and supports efforts to accurately evaluate the performance of virtual schools, and we welcome the opportunity to work with policy makers, opinion leaders and education stakeholders to share how virtual schools operate, the students they serve and how best to measure their success.