CHOOSING VIRTUAL

Bullying drives students’ choice of virtual schools

Forty-one percent of students who attend a virtual charter school in Oklahoma left their previous school because they were victims of bullying.

Nearly 34 percent attend a virtual charter school because of past problems with school administration or staff.

Those were some of the findings from a survey commissioned by the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, which oversees the state’s four virtual charter schools and their combined 12,000 students.

“The findings of the comprehensive report may allow schools to make research-informed decisions about the support students and families need to be successful in their educational journey,” said Rebecca L. Wilkinson, executive director of the virtual charter school board.

The survey was conducted by Indiana-based Thomas P. Miller and Associates and

was presented as a thorough review of Oklahoma’s current virtual charter students and their motivations for attending.

While the most common reasons for attending a virtual charter included problems with a previous school, families also said opportunities for acceleration or remediation (31 percent) and more parental involvement (31 percent) were also important factors.

Virtual charters offer students an onlinebased curriculum that can be completed at home or other remote location. Students are assigned a teacher but often complete work in a more independent and individualized manner than at a traditional public school.

While less than 2 percent of the state’s total public school enrollment attends a virtual charter school, enrollment has grown by more than five times since 2012.

Epic One on One Charter School is Oklahoma’s largest with 8,059 students, which would make it the state’s 15th largest school district.

Virtual charter school supporters claim it’s a valuable option for families who need an alternative to traditional public school.

The survey results seem to indicate many current virtual charter families view it that way.

“Many parents and guardians we interviewed were motivated (to attend a virtual charter) by what they perceived as issues and problems at their non-virtual school,” said Brian Points, director of research at Thomas P. Miller and Associates.

Points, who presented the survey findings to the virtual charter school board on Tuesday, said the most common feature of virtual schools that parents liked was flexibility.

The most common drawback was a lack of social opportunities for students.

“I heard that a lot during the interviews,” Points said. “Almost every time.”

Virtual charter schools in Oklahoma have not only seen year-to-year growth, but also midyear increases in student enrollment.

All four virtual charters were in the top 10 for the largest gain in midyear funding adjustments, which are largely based on student enrollment changes in the first nine weeks of the school year.

Critics of virtual charter schools often point to the increase in funding that follows students as a loss in funding for traditional public schools.

There are also claims that virtual charters, which are public schools, lack enough state oversight and that academic performance has not shown wide success.

The state’s virtual charter schools received mostly D’s and F’s on the most recent state letter grade system, with no school earning higher than a C.

State legislation passed last year increased attendance reporting requirements for virtual schools. The virtual charter school board also voted to close down a virtual charter school last year for not meeting a variety of state requirements.