scholarly journals Choosing cyber during COVID

2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-33
Author(s):  
Robert Maranto ◽  
Dennis Beck ◽  
Tom Clark ◽  
Bich Tran ◽  
Feng Liu
Keyword(s):  
Charter School ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Cyber Schools ◽  
School Network ◽  
Cyber Charter School

Substantial research has already examined how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected in-person schooling, but no prior work has explored its effects on cyber schools. Here, Robert Maranto, Dennis Beck, Tom Clark, Bich Tran, and Feng Liu compare the students entering a large national cyber charter school network in spring 2020, during the pandemic, with students entering in 2019 and 2018, before the pandemic. They find that the COVID cohort resembled prior groups demographically but reported greater success at their prior in-person schools and exhibited greater measured success in cyber schools.

Cyber Schools and Special Needs

2008 ◽  
pp. 168-179
Author(s):  
Shellie Hipsky ◽  
Lindsay Adams
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Cyber School ◽  
Cyber Schools ◽  
Cyber Charter School ◽  
Cyber Learning ◽  
K 12

Cyber schools for K-12 students are growing in number. It is vital that appropriate strategies are devised to meet the needs of students with exceptionalities. The PA Cyber Charter School serves 468 students who have Individualized Education Plans. Parent surveys were thematically analyzed and revealed six predominant themes including: communication, interests, focus, less-stigma from the special education label, education differences in comparison to other methods, and cyber school shortcomings. The study also utilized the action research model to determine and present the techniques and strategies that are working in the PA Cyber Charter School for their students with special needs. Teacher-tested documents included in the appendix were based on the study, and a model for special needs strategies in the cyber learning environment has been established through this article.

Strategies for teaching students With Exceptional Needs in cyber schools

2011 ◽  
pp. 309-320
Author(s):  
Shellie Hipsky ◽  
Lindsay Adams
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Cyber School ◽  
Cyber Schools ◽  
Cyber Charter School ◽  
Cyber Learning ◽  
K 12

Cyber schools for K-12 students are growing in number. It is vital that appropriate strategies are devised in order to meet the needs of students with exceptionalities. The PA Cyber Charter School serves 353 students who have Individualized Education Plans. Parent surveys were thematically analyzed and revealed six predominant themes, including communication, interests, focus, less-stigma from the special education label, education differences in comparison to other methods, and cyber school shortcomings. The study also utilized the action research model to determine and present the techniques and strategies that are working in the PA Cyber Charter School for their students with special needs. Teacher-tested documents included in the Appendix were based on the study, and a model for special needs strategies in the cyber learning environment has been established through this article.

Online Stratifcation: How Academic Performance Indicators Relate to Choices between Cyber Charter Schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Bryan A. Mann ◽  
Stephen Kotok
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
School Policy ◽  
Enrollment Patterns ◽  
Choice Sets ◽  
Charter School Policy ◽  
Cyber Charter School

Background/Context A primary argument that supports charter school policy assumes students favor schools with high academic performance ratings, leading to systemic school improvement. Previous research challenges this assumption but has limited generalizability because geographic and enrollment constraints limit student choice sets. Purpose/Objective This study examines student enrollment patterns within cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania, a state where elected policymakers tend to view choice as a means for school improvement. Cyber charter schools are advantageous to study in this context because they have fewer enrollment barriers, helping researchers account for constraints found in previous studies. Research Design Using consecutive years of student-level enrollment data, we use descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression analyses to answer the following questions: Is a particular cyber charter school more popular if it displays relatively higher performance on academic indicators? To what extent do enrollments in the highest performing cyber charter school relate to the demographics of students and school environments that they left? Findings/Results The findings suggest that despite the more accessible choice sets inherent in the cyber charter school sector, academic performance indicators still are not linked to popularity within the sector. Enrollment clustering persists along student demographics and feeder district traits. Conclusions/Recommendations These findings suggest that even in the cyber charter school sector where key enrollment restrictions are removed, inequitable enrollment patterns persist. These findings continue to challenge basic assumptions used in school choice policy framing. Policymakers should consider this evidence when and if they design and implement charter school policy, creating policy that accounts for inequitable enrollments that occur under current policy logic.

Speculative Charter School Growth in the Case of UNO Charter School Network in Chicago

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1107-1133
Author(s):  
Benjamin F. Teresa ◽  
Ryan M. Good
Keyword(s):  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Consumer Demand ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
School Network ◽  
Dramatic Growth

Charter school advocates see the infusion of market competition into the educational sector as a means to achieving greater efficiency, effectiveness, and equity. Within this framework, consumer demand is understood to regulate the charter sector. This article challenges the adequacy of this premise, arguing that the structure of the financing of charter schools plays a decisive, if not determining, role in directing growth. Drawing on an analysis of the financing that enabled the dramatic growth of the UNO Charter School Network (UCSN) in Chicago during the 2000s, the article explores the implications of speculative borrowing and spiraling debt burdens on charter schools and on the functioning of the charter sector more broadly. The analysis reveals that (1) new debt was increasingly used to retire existing debt, (2) the structure of new financing assumed continued growth, and (3) schools within the network were yoked together as revenue from existing—and anticipated—schools was pledged to repay new debt.

Charter School Achievements in Texas: Public versus Charter Schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-62
Author(s):  
Alpaslan Sahin ◽  
Victor Willson ◽  
Robert M. Capraro
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Binary Outcomes ◽  
High School Mathematics ◽  
School Network ◽  
Type Of School ◽  
11Th Grade

This study aimed to investigate the performance of a charter school network, Harmony Public Schools (HPS), in a 3-year longitudinal student-level research study of high school mathematics, reading, and science performance using 2009–2011 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skill student data. Propensity-score-matched public (N = 19) and Harmony (N = 11) schools' performances were compared. We conducted a two-level multivariate analysis of covariance on binary outcomes (pass–no pass) for grades 9–11. HPS performed significantly better at grade 9 and worse at grade 11, with no statistical differences at grade 10 in mathematics. Type of school was not significant at either grade 9 or 10 for reading. For science performances, Harmony charter schools performed better at 10th grade and significantly better at 11th grade. Implications of the findings were discussed as to whether charter schools keep their promises of providing quality education.

scholarly journals Does Rural Differ? Comparing Parent and Student Reasons for Choosing Cyber Schooling

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Beck ◽  
Robert Maranto ◽  
M. Danish Shakeel
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Urban Students ◽  
Special Education Services ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Education Services ◽  
Cyber Charter School ◽  
Rural Parents

Cyber-schooling offers potentially greater benefits for rural than urban students, by providing a broader range of courses, ending long commutes, and offering more developed special education services than typically found in rural public schools. We survey students (n=269, 53.7% response rate) and parents (232, 48.7%) at a cyber-charter school dubbed SunTech, to test whether rural subjects choose cyber schooling for distinct reasons. Factor analyses and OLS regressions indicate that rural parents are more apt to choose SunTech for structural reasons such as its broader range of classes and to avoid long commutes to school. In contrast, students were more likely to rank curricular reasons as driving their decision to choose SunTech. Rural status did not affect how either students or parents graded the school (A-F).

Determinants of Student and Parent Satisfaction at a Cyber Charter School

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis E. Beck ◽  
Robert Maranto ◽  
Wen-Juo Lo
Keyword(s):  
Charter School ◽  
Parent Satisfaction ◽  
Cyber Charter School
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