Is digital learning a solution or a problem for academically-at risk students? In this recent piece in the New York Times, the author concludes the latter.
But was it really online learning that caused the students to fall behind?
Data from more than 24,000 students who enrolled in our partner online schools in the fall of 2017 showed that, upon enrollment, only an astonishing 5 percent of these students were prepared to learn grade-level content based on commercially-available readiness assessments. Overwhelming numbers of students who arrive at online schools are behind grade level. The reasons they struggled in the classroom, and why they selected an online school option, often included bullying, a medical condition, or the very fact that they were struggling academically in the traditional school.
With online schools, just like traditional schools, persistence is one of the keys to academic achievement. Based on our 2016-2017 state assessment data, English Language Arts students actually demonstrated a significant increase in proficiency as result of online study. Though only 38 percent of English Language Arts students were proficient upon enrollment, within two years, a majority of these students, 54 percent, tested as proficient.
Read the full story from The Heartland Institute’s Freedom Pub
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