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

More analysis on charters from Minnesota

Students in most Minnesota charter schools are failing to hit learning targets and are not achieving adequate academic growth, according to a Star Tribune analysis of school performance data.

The analysis of 128 of the state’s 157 charter schools show that the gulf between the academic success of its white and minority students widened at nearly two-thirds of those schools last year. Slightly more than half of charter schools students were proficient in reading, dramatically worse than traditional public schools, where 72 percent were proficient.

Between 2011 and 2014, 20 charter schools failed every year to meet the state’s expectations for academic growth each year, signaling that some of Minnesota’s most vulnerable students had stagnated academically.

A top official with the Minnesota Department of Education says she is troubled by the data, which runs counter to “the public narrative” that charter schools are generally superior to public schools.

More than half of schools analyzed from 2011 to 2014 were also failing to meet the department’s expectations for academic growth, the gains made from year to year in reading and math.

Of the 20 schools that failed to meet the state goals for improvement every year, Pillsbury United Communities is the authorizer for six of those schools: Dugsi Academy, LoveWorks Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, Connections Academy, Learning for Leadership Charter School, and the Minnesota Transitions Charter School’s elementary, Connections Academy and Virtual High School. Those schools also missed annual achievement gap targets.

A .375 GPA

Some insights from a recent auditor’s report.  I think  I am reading this correctly. 

Imagine Schools Inc. has been justifiably  criticized for paying a subsidiary more money in rent than it does for its teaching staff and producing poor results.  The national benchmark for rent is 15% according to an article in the Columbus Dispatch. 

A recent audit of Ohio Connections Academy shows that teaching and administration total $5,268,575.  Overhead totals $6,003,793.   113% more than the money for teaching salary and benefits.  Overhead is undefined.  This money flows out of the state to a Maryland management company, Connections Learning,  who does with it as they wish.  There is little in bricks and mortar expense.  Compare that to 15% rent benchmark.

The management company can recycle the same software year after year.  They can sell essentially the same software to multiple states.  The transfer and accounting of the overhead expense insures that the non-profit altruistic E-school never will show a profit.  Useful to show why they cannot pay teachers more or to elicit sympathy from parents or politicians.  They are the underdog. 

Yet it is a very profitable business for the management company. Connections Learning, K-12 and others are aggressively expanding in every state possible.  Underdog status also justifies the need for more money and more students.  See page 20 on the attached link. 

What are the latest state report card results for this E-school?  1 C, 2 D’s and 5 F’s.  A .375 GPA.  It would be nice if they could move the decimal point.

To help manage the multimillion dollar budget they hired a part-time treasurer  who is under indictment for her role as treasurer with Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy.  I guess there is no need for an on-site full time treasurer. 

The audit also shows unresolved title money issues totaling $668,642 (see page 46).  When will this be resolved?  To paraphrase a politician, pretty soon we are talking real money.  At best it shows that they are sloppy with their record keeping.  At worst is suggests that they are playing with the allocations to put more of scarce title money in their pockets at the expense of taxpayers. 

https://ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/Reports/2013/Ohio_Connections_Academy_11-Hamilton.pdf

There is an obvious problem.  Look at the proliferation of E-schools in Ohio.  Who benefits?

What is needed?  Transparency, strong boards (which are not lead around by the nose by the management company), and oversight.  These characteristics exist in the vast majority of our public school districts.  Oh by the way, results  would be good too.

A tangled web we weave. The British are coming maybe the Libyans too.

According to the “Financial Times” a publication owned by Pearson,The Sovereign fund of Libya initially took a 3.27 per cent stake in Pearson. 3.27% is a significant stake in what is the largest educational publishing company in the world. Pearson is a $9 Billion giant that dominates textbooks, testing, teacher evaluation, IT platforms for schools, and may have the largest investment in lobbying of any publishing company operating in the United States. Pearson is also a major supplier to states who have adopted the Common Core Standard. So why does it matter that Libya may have had or still has a stake in Pearson?

According to a February 2012 study by Citizens for National Security about Muslim Biased textbooks in Florida, four are published by Pearson. Act for America conducted a 2011 study of Muslim-biased textbooks in America and concluded that Pearson published 13 titles where significant Muslim Bias was uncovered. At the time of the stake, Qaddafi was leader in Libya, and promoted his radical brand of Islam. The Arab world, and the Muslim Brotherhood have shown great interest in using education in the United States to indoctrinate American students about Islam. This publication reviewed Pearson’s 2013 World History, a high school level textbook, as an example of strident Islamic Bias. According to Stanley Kurtz in the National Review the Saudis have made strong gains in penetrating American schools:

Pearson is a leading proponent of the common core standards.  They own Connections Education which run the Connections Academies and Nexus Academies.

League of Women Voters (NM) takes a look at E schools

http://www.lwvglc.org/documents/lwvglc_paper_for_profit_virtual_charter_schools.pdf

Not recommended in New Mexico.  Good analysis.

The profit motive in virtual schools

After digging deeper, the independent folks in Maine came to the right decision.

http://www.pressherald.com/2012/09/01/virtual-schools-in-maine_2012-09-02/

Follow the Money

Cui Bono (who profits)

As noted in a prior post, virtual schools in Ohio are currently a $218 million dollar (per year) experiment.  Pretty soon you are talking about real money and real millionaires. 

It is not the teachers or administrators who are getting rich.

Pearson bought Connections Education which includes the Connections Academy Schools and Nexus Academy for $400 million.  They have since branched out to international schools and are marketing all over the world.  They are also a major force behind the common core standards.

Private equity firm Apollo Management LP is selling Baltimore online schooling company Connections Education LLC to U.K. publishing giant Pearson plc for $400 million, Pearson said Thursday, Sept. 14.
Apollo and Sterling Partners, the target's minority owner, will pocket nearly the entire amount because Connections Education has little debt, a person familiar with the company said.
The two PE firms evidently will turn a profit. In September 2004, according to a financial filing, they paid $12 million to buy the business from Educate Inc., a K-12 education services provider Apollo had purchased for $283 million the previous year.
It isn't known how much additional capital, if any, New York-based Apollo and Baltimore-based Sterling have put into Connections Education since then.
Apollo executives were unavailable for comment. Sterling did not return a message seeking comment.
Connections Education has enjoyed spectacular growth over the past seven years. It posted less than $6 million in revenue the year Apollo and Sterling bought it.
This year, revenues are likely to hit $190 million, Sterling said.
Through its Connections Academy business, the company provides online instruction to more than 40,000 students in grades K-12. It operates "virtual" accredited public school in 21 U.S. states.
"Virtual schooling is an attractive choice for a growing group of American parents, and in the next decade it will take off in other countries," Pearson chief executive Marjorie Scardino said in a statement.

There are some justifiably angry folks as to the privatization of public schools, control of testing, and the pushing of private curriculums by Pearson.  An effort is underway to boycott Pearson.

http://unitedoptout.com/boycott-pearson-now/

 

 

As noted in an earlier post, the Connections Academy Pricing plan:

 

"a representative of Connections explained that its services were available at three price points per student:

Option A: $7,500, a student-teacher ratio of 35-40 to 1, and an average teacher salary of $45,000.

Option B: $6,500, a student-teacher ratio of 50 to 1, with less experienced teachers paid $40,000.

Option C: $4,800 and a student-teacher ratio of 60 to 1, as well as a narrower curriculum