Homegrown on the Web - school districts offering electronic education

School Administrator, Oct, 2001 by Jennifer Newton Reents

School districts find advantages to operating their own online instructional programs

Virtual schools may be one way school districts can level the playing field for their students.

Several dozen districts around the country are attempting to do just that. These districts are harnessing the Internet as simply another way to meet the changing needs of their own students, as well as students from other districts. Virtual schools and online courses for precollegiate students are popping up in the smallest and the largest of places.

While some school districts choose to purchase courses generated by outside companies or lease content from existing online schools, a few districts are building their online programs from the ground up, writing their own courses and training their own teachers to create a program all their own (See related story, page 28)--from a pilot project with just three science courses to a well-heeled program that offers a total of 94 courses, with 600 students enrolled in an average of three courses each.

Exactly how many public schools and school districts are creating and operating online programs is unknown, according to Von Pittman, director of the Center for Distance and Independent Study at the University of Missouri-Columbia, who says the rather substantial startup and ongoing expenses may be a limiting factor.

"It is my impression that many of them have underestimated the cost of setting up an infrastructure, including student services," he says. "And I do not think that most school districts understand that maintenance of an online program is very expensive."

Still, Pittman says, school districts will find advantages to developing their own curricular materials for their students' online courses rather than relying on statewide agencies or proprietary companies.

"Teachers licensed in the appropriate states, developing materials congruent with those used in the classrooms of their districts, will do a better job," Pittman says. "Their work will not be as slick as that of some of the proprietary outfits, but it will have more integrity, in terms of their, the school district's, mission. Proprietary outfits must work on a one-size-fits-all basis. They can make their products attractive to local school districts only by keeping the cost down. That means mass production.

"My advice would be that school districts take a very hard look at the options. And perhaps they would be well served to engage disinterested consultants who know the ins and outs of online course development," he says.

"But however they proceed, everyone involved should understand that distance education is not cheap. Online education has some advantages, but economy is not one of them. Done well, it is quite expensive."

The School Administrator looked at the efforts of five school districts to develop their own program of online course offerings, allowing them to share just how and why they did it as well as the successes they are experiencing.

For those districts, leveling the playing field in education is no longer an unattainable dream but a reality.

Basehor-Linwood Virtual

The Basehor-Linwood Virtual Charter School in Basehor, Kan., started in 1997 as a way for the growing number of families with home-schooled children to connect with an accredited curriculum, certified support staff, textbooks, resource materials and a computer.

The virtual school functions as a charter school within the Basehor-Linwood School District. Today it serves about 375 students in kindergarten through 12th grade and offers 49 courses.

The 30 teachers who run the virtual classes must attend a two-week summer training workshop before they can teach an online course. These staff teach full time at traditional schools during the day and communicate via e-mail and phone with their virtual audience after regular school hours. They hold office hours in a chat room where students can ask about assignments or discuss topics with classmates.

The teachers receive $4,000 per online course in supplemental pay.

While 90 percent of the students are home-schoolers, the virtual school has expanded its reach and now enrolls students from traditional schools throughout Kansas and beyond who want to advance their studies, who were expelled from their local schools or who are pregnant or experiencing health problems that make attendance difficult.

The Virtual Charter School rents district-owned textbooks to students for a one-time charge of $40 and provides each family with a computer for a $20 rental fee for use while the child is enrolled in the program. Students outside the state pay $150 per course per semester.

The school last year received $3,700 per student from the state and operated on a $1.38 million budget.

VCS offers core courses, including algebra, biology, U.S. and world history and even physical education, "Students learn about activities, sports, rules, regulations and are tested on them," Brenda DeGroot, the virtual school's director, says. "They have to log the time they spend in actual activities. They may go to a gym, lift weights, do aerobics or sky diving, snow skiing, swimming, horseback riding, etc. It is wide open for P.E."