Study says K12 cyber school students falling behind, company calls report 'deeply flawed'
Source: MLive.com
Study says K12 cyber school students falling behind, company calls report 'deeply flawed'
Published: Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 11:42 AM Updated: Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 11:52 AM
By Dave Murray | dmurray@mlive.com
GRAND RAPIDS, MI Students in schools operated by the nations largest online education company are falling behind students in traditional programs and less likely to remain in their schools for a full year, according to a National Center for Education Policy report.
But K12 Inc. leaders called the NCEP study deeply flawed and said the union-backed center has a track record of opposing reforms.
Our findings are clear, said Gary Miron, a Western Michigan University professor and NEPC fellow.
"Children who enroll in a K12 Inc. cyber school, who receive full-time instruction in front of a computer instead of in a classroom with a live teacher and other students, are more likely to fall behind in reading and math. These children are also more likely to move between schools or leave school altogether and the cyber school is less likely to meet federal education standards.
Read more: http://www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2012/07/study_says_k12_cyber_school_st.html#incart_river_default
MADem
(135,425 posts)Children observe their peers, learn about differences, have to deal with jerks, discover interests as a consequence of conversation...they also have teachers as role models, for good or ill--and either way, that modeling is useful. A kid sees someone they'd like to emulate, or someone they'd never want to be--it's a lesson, regardless.
I think cyberschool is a pisspoor substitute for brick-n-mortar school. I feel sorry for kids who are stuck doing that because their parents are afraid to expose them to different people.
If the parents have time to monitor the kid sitting in front of a computer all day, they have time to volunteer a few hours in the classroom, and help to guide perspectives and priorities.
I know someone who is doing this, and the kid, nice kid and all, is clueless and far behind his peers. He's not stupid, either, he's just "unlearned"--or as they call it "unschooled" (and they think that's a good thing).
I think it's sad when kindergarteners have a better grasp of some subjects than an eight year old.
Raster
(20,998 posts)pnwmom
(109,024 posts)of knowing the individual students and meeting them, as much as possible, where they are in any given moment.
A computer doesn't know if a child is tired, or hungry, or looking out the window, etc. All a computer knows is key strokes.
MADem
(135,425 posts)You're right, though--the interpersonal knowledge between student and teacher is so damn important.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)A spelling bee on the computer just wouldn't be quite so rewarding or suspenseful. You might learn to spell just as well on the computer, but you wouldn't, couldn't have the emotional experience that develops your memory and hones your interest.
We remember and forget in part because of the input of our emotions. The center of our emotions is in a part of the brain that is different from the rational part of the brain, I believe.
Computers do not permit the same kind of emotional give and take, the joy and, yes, the hurt, that helps us learn and remember and evaluate what we are learning.
We are not computers. We are not automatons. We are not solely rational beings. That's why computers can aid learning but not replace the immediate human interactions that are a part of learning in a classroom.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)chervilant
(8,267 posts)that this is what Bill Gates and his privatizing cronies hope to achieve across the nation: put a Microsoft product in front of every student, and destroy our system of 'public' education.
This bears repeating: the corporate megalomaniacs--who've usurped our media, our politics, AND our global economy--want a system of public education that spits out factory fodder and service industry drones. Critical thinkers need not apply...
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Music? Walking home after school? Lunchroom with other kids?
How boring! I'd quit too.
speedoo
(11,229 posts)Too bad, seems like the kind of endeavor they would fund.
Bozita
(26,955 posts)Igel
(35,387 posts)There's no control. At least there's none mentioned.
Not even a fudged one, where you make sure that the online students' profile matches in some way, possibly pointless, regular students'.
Ed research is painful. I can read at most one journal article a day in most peer-reviewed journals. Either I laugh myself silly, i'm outraged that the article made it through peer review (and wonder what those rejected were like) or just get a headache from saying, "But ... but ... but ... but ..."
Controls. That's usually the biggie. Most ed research I've seen does a bad job with controls.
Should we assume that the kids at K12 versus the population as a whole, once you've controlled for "demographics," are just a random sample? Cyberschool doesn't attract a certain kind (or kinds) of parents and students?
Sorry. If there's one thing kids are masters at it's producing non-random sorts of themselves.