A .0375 GPA, again......

Good article here.  Links to other reports, scandals and test results.


https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2017/10/18/virtual-charter-schools-foundations-performance


I have not posted much on this blog lately.  There has been lots of publicity on the virtual schools, none of it positive.  I am not sure there is a need.  They are no longer trendy and cool.  They are scams making some people very rich at the expense of the children.


ECOT is on its deathbed.  Trying to reorganize itself into some other structure to keep the school tax funds flowing.


Ohio Connections Academy, owned by Pearson Education, received its report card.  1 C, 2 D's, and 5 F's which I think works out to a .0375 GPA




"Some have blamed the fallout from ECOT for the disbanding of Ohio's largest charter school advocacy organization. In December 2016, the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools announced it would close at the end of 2016, after more than a decade in which it was an influential player in the state's charter school policy. Critics say poor performance by Ohio charter schools—80 percent of which received an "F" in the state's report card system—caused funder support for the alliance to dry up. In years past, the Ohio organization had counted the Gates Foundation, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation among its supporters, but by the end of 2016, none of those organizations were listed on the alliance website as current funders, according to the Columbus Dispatch."


Event the politicians are bailing. 


In the words or our President, sad, just sad, what a bunch of losers.  Too bad his education secretary does not see it as it is....

Another E-School Investigation

A great expose on K-12 in California.  From The Mercury News:
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_29780959/k12-inc-california-virtual-academies-operator-exploits-charter


This the playbook for the Ohio E-Schools




Some key findings:

Teachers employed by K12 Inc.'s charter schools may be asked to inflate attendance and enrollment records used to determine taxpayer funding.

Ohio E-School Charters are fighting this accountability issue right now.

Fewer than half of the students who start the online high schools earn diplomas, and almost none of them are qualified to attend the state's public universities.

Check out the report cards for the Ohio E-Schools.  Dismal at best.

K12's heavily marketed online model has helped the company reap more than $310 million in state funding over the past 12 years.

Market! market! market! Where do they get the money for the radio and TV ads?  SOme interesting accounting.  Make sure the school never makes a profit and write off the loss.

Students who spend as little as one minute during a school day logged in to K12's school software may be counted as present in records used to calculate the amount of funding the schools get from the state.

About half of the schools' students are not proficient in reading, and only a third are proficient in math -- levels that fall far below statewide averages.

School districts that are supposed to oversee the company's schools have a strong financial incentive to turn a blind eye to problems: They get a cut of the academies' revenue, which largely comes from state coffers.

Also note the governance issue.  K-12 sets up and loads the boards.  Same as they do in Ohio


I like pictures

Ohio Education Research Center Reviews E-Schools

An extensive report from the Ohio Education Research Center .  E-schools are not successful.  More dropouts, poor performance with similar demographics.  No magic bullet/solution or excuse was determined.  It is a failed one billion experiment.

A very thorough report.  The conclusion:

E-school students’ performance on standardized tests are dramatically lower, especially for

math, compared to those students who attend a brick-and-mortar school. Test scores

plummet the year a student transitions to an e-school. E-school students’ scores see

incremental increases in the subsequent years. However, it is important to note, that despite

subsequent increases their scores remain below the scores they received prior to entering an

e-school.

http://media.cleveland.com/plain_dealer_metro/other/Ohio's%20E-Schools%20report%20by%20OERC.pdf

What is the cost?


http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-06-12/one-year-with-a-bad-teacher-costs-each-student-50-000-in-lifetime-earnings

Dealing with e-schools: Kids in first year in online schools learn little, never catch up

Drilling down into the data.  The results for e-schools is not pretty.  The kids fall behind and never catch up.


Meanwhile the taxpayers pay millions and some corporations and sponsors make a lot of money.  $6000 per kid.


"Test scores plummet the year a student transitions to an e-school," that study found. "E-school students' scores see incremental increases in the subsequent years. However, it is important to note, that despite subsequent increases their scores remain below the scores they received prior to entering an e-school."


 Ohio Education Resource Center


An ugly graph.


http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/09/dealing_with_e-schools_kids_in.html

E-Shools in Ohio $224 million

E schools in Ohio $218 million dollar experiment (per year)

In theory, a virtual school could be a good program for learning if it targeted students who would likely benefit from its schools.  These would include those highly organized and motivated students and parents.  A personalized instruction by sitting in front of a computer for hours per day.

In reality the schools accept and even target all students, including at-risk students.   It is also an easy fix to stay out of truancy court.  The results speak for themselves.  Is this the best service for Ohio Students? It is an expensive experiment.

A study in 2011 of Ohio's seven statewide online schools found that:

•"Of Ohio's 7 state-wide E-schools (which account for 90% of all E-school enrollment), six are not even rated "effective" by the Ohio Dept. of Education.

•5 of the 7 have graduation rates worse than Cleveland Municipal Schools, which has the lowest graduation rate of all traditional school districts.

•Far from saving money, E-Schools actually cost the state twice as much per pupil as traditional public schools."

 

Source: Ohio E-Schools: Funding Failure; Coddling Contributors, Innovation Ohio, 5/12/11; Cyber schools flunk, but tax money keeps flowing, Politico, 9/25/13.

 

So how does one get these students?  Market ,market, and market.  As the schools cannot discriminate, put together some slick marketing materials, employ a good sales force and sit back and collect the profits.

The USA TODAY analysis finds that 10 of the largest for-profit operators have spent an estimated $94.4 million on ads since 2007. The largest, Virginia-based K12 Inc., has spent about $21.5 million in just the first eight months of 2012.

 

So what is the motivation?  Profits or students?  Well since the e-schools do not have the quality, they will make it up in volume!

 

Again, look at the latest results in Ohio.