Online Charter School Research Articles

온라인 차터 스쿨(Online Charter School) 교사의 교육과정 운영에 관한 인식과 경험

본 연구는 미국 온라인 공교육을 운영하는 온라인 차터 스쿨 교육과정 운영과정을 면밀히 보여주는 데 목적이 있다. 특히 본 연구자는 교육과정의 실질적 운영자인 교사 들의 시각에서 교육과정의 운영과정을 구체적으로 보여주는데 초점을 둔다. 온라인 차 터 스쿨은 미국 대안 교육의 모델 중 하나이다. 온라인 스쿨은 공교육 제도 안에서 주 (state) 교육과정의 가이드라인에 맞게 교육과정을 비대면으로 시행하고 있으며 공립 교육기관으로 법적 지위를 인정받고 있다. 최근 Covid-19로 인해 미국 내에서 기존의 공립학교의 비대면 수업보다 온라인 스쿨의 비대면 수업을 선호하는 현상이 급격하게 증가하고 있다. 연구자는 이와 같은 현상이 일시적인 현상이 아니라 새로운 교육적 패 러다임의 전환의 일부로 보고 이를 심도 있게 분석하고자 한다. 본 연구자는 온라인 스 쿨 소속 교사들의 인식과 경험을 구체적으로 분석하고 이를 통해 앞으로 국내 비대면 수업의 다양한 가능성에 대한 시사점을 얻고자 한다. 이와 같은 목적을 위해 본 연구는 2020년 3월부터 2020년 9월까지 미국의 중서부 지역의 온라인 스쿨 소속 미국 교사들 을 대상으로 이들의 인식과 경험을 분석하였다. 연구결과 온라인 스쿨 교육과정은 일 반 공립학교보다 더욱 엄밀하게 진행되고 있었으며, 교사들은 비대면 수업의 한계를 벗어나기 위해 학생들과의 상호작용에 더욱 중점을 두고 있었다. 그러나 비대면 수업 은 학생들과 학부모의 개별적 역량에 따라 현저한 차이를 가져오는 문제점 역시 배제 하기 힘들었다. 끝으로 본 연구는 이와 같은 연부결과를 중심으로 국내 온라인 교육을 위한 시사점을 제시하였다.

Whiteness and economic advantage in digital schooling: Diversity patterns and equity considerations for K-12 online charter schools

Scholars and policymakers have yet to hold a robust conversation about diversity in K-12 online schools. This study builds on research that suggests online charter schools enroll higher percentages of White and economically advantaged students compared to national K-12 school enrollment averages. While these findings remain consistent, the study presented here employs techniques used in school segregation and diversity research to develop a more nuanced understanding of online charter school enrollment patterns. While more White and wealthy students attend online charter schools compared to other types of schools nationally, there are differences across states. Understanding the nature of these differences helps consider possibilities for moving online charter school enrollments toward increased diversity. While diversity in traditional schools has benefits, this article concludes with cautions about how to achieve equity through diversity in online spaces and if these goals are attainable. If online charter schools achieve racial and economic diversity, their leaders need to apply critical lenses in developing online programming to ensure diverse enrollments lead to equity.

Teacher Perceptions of Parent Engagement at a Cyber High School

A growing number of adolescents are taking all or most of their courses online. This places a greater responsibility on parents to support and facilitate their students' learning. This case study used teacher surveys and interviews to better understand how teachers perceived and supported parents' attempts to support their online students at a single online charter school. The results indicated that teachers observed multiple ways in which parents supported their students by (a) organizing and managing students' schedules, (b) nurturing relationships and interactions, (c) monitoring and motivating student engagement, and (d) instructing students when necessary. However, teachers believed that parents could act as obstacles to their students' learning by being overly engaged in certain types of learning activities. Additional research is needed that examines parent engagement in a variety of online learning environments. Research that identifies best practices could also be especially valuable to online teachers and administrators wishing to improve the quantity and quality of parental engagement in their programs.

The Nature of Parental Engagement at an Online Charter High School

As enrollments in cyber charter schools grow, it becomes increasingly important to understand how parents engage in their students’ learning. Researchers have hypothesized that parental engagement is even more critical when online students learn from home, but few researchers have examined parents’ engagement behavior–especially parents of adolescent learners. In this case study we addressed this gap using parent and student interviews at a full-time online charter school. Our analysis of 19 interviews with 9 parents and 10 interviews with 10 students identified five primary types of parental engagement within this setting: (1) nurturing relationships and interactions, (2) advising and mentoring, (3) organizing, (4) monitoring and motivating student engagement, and (5) instructing. We also identified obstacles to effective parental engagement, and in this paper we discuss how programs can work with parents to foster more collaborative relationships.

The nature of teacher engagement at an online high school

AbstractLittle research has examined the critical components of successful K‐12 online schools, due in part to the theoretical focus of current frameworks on higher education rather than characteristics of K‐12 online learners and environments. Using K‐12 online research, this paper examined teaching presence as explained by the Community of Inquiry framework and identified additional teacher roles that needed stronger emphasis. We termed the new construct teacher engagement. Teacher engagement was shown to be helpful in describing and identifying effective teacher practices at the Open High School of Utah (OHSU), a successful online charter school. Through a series of 22 interviews with over half of the OHSU faculty, it was found that teachers worked to improve student outcomes by (1) designing and organizing learning activities, (2) facilitating discourse with students and parents, (3) providing students with one‐on‐one instruction, (4) nurturing a safe and caring learning environment, (5) motivating students to engage in learning activities and (6) closely monitoring student behavior and learning. These six elements describe the core of teacher engagement.

School-based telerehabilitation in occupational therapy: using telerehabilitation technologies to promote improvements in student performance.

This article discusses the use of telerehabilitation technologies in occupational therapy for school-based practice. Telerehabilitation, for the purpose of this program, included the implementation of occupational therapy services via two-way interactive videoconferencing technology. The subjects included in this pilot program were children, ages 6 to 11 years, who attended an online charter school and had difficulties in the areas of fine motor and/or visual motor skills which impacted success with handwriting. Each participant completed a virtual evaluation and six 30-minute intervention sessions. The Print Tool™ Assessment was used to determine progress pre- and post-program. A learning coach/student satisfaction survey was given at the end of the program to determine participant satisfaction. Outcomes revealed improvements in handwriting performance for most students who participated in the program and high satisfaction rates reported by all participants.

The Nature of Parental Interactions in an Online Charter School

A belief commonly held in the K–12 education community is that parents can have a positive impact on their child's learning. However, little research has examined parental involvement in an online learning environment. In this study, researchers using survey data found that generally students and parents viewed parent–instructor and learner–parent interactions as motivational. Students viewed learner–parent interaction as significantly more motivational than did their parents. The quantity of reported parental interactions was generally negatively correlated with course outcomes. These negative correlations may be the result of parents' tendency to increase interaction levels following poor student performance and may not reflect the actual impact of parental interactions on individual student learning.

Public Online Charter School Students

There has been a steady growth of the K-12 student population taking courses online. This study examined reasons for students to choose a public online charter school program and their perceptions of online discussion. A survey was sent to 1,500 students newly enrolled in a statewide public online charter school program. From those who responded, 44% indicated that the online discussion component is not helpful in achieving their academic goals. Also, further analysis suggested that those who drop out of traditional schools probably would not stay even in an online program unless the program adequately supported the students. In this report, interrelationships among perceptual measures along with traits and preferences of online students are discussed and suggestions are made for educators.

Exploring the Efficacy of Online Strategy Instruction for Improving the Reading Abilities of Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using online modules to teach The Word Identification Strategy (Lenz, Schumaker, Deshler, & Beals, 2007) to elementary and middle school students with learning disabilities in reading. The five participants in this multiple probe across participants study were enrolled in an online charter school and received their instruction via the school's Internet-based platform. Baseline, intervention, and maintenance data revealed that all five participants improved in the area of oral reading. Additional standardized and curriculum-based pre- and posttest measures revealed improvements related to oral reading, comprehension, and use of the strategy. Implications for teaching The Word Identification Strategy within an online context are discussed and recommendations for future research in this area are provided.

The Utility of Online Choice Options: Do Purely Online Schools Increase the Value to Students?

Online education has grown in popularity as a choice option over the past decade. A variety of studies exist on methodologies for content delivery and on the impacts of online education for specific communities. However, few works have considered the utility of online educational choices in comparison to physical schools. Using an expected utility model this paper examines the value conferred to a student in an online charter school versus traditional physical schools in the same state. Value in this case is defined as the likelihood of performing better on a standardized test.

Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of an Online Charter School

This study examines data from focus group discussions with parents, students, and teachers at an online charter school. Standardized achievement test scores of children at the online charter school are compared with those in a similar school and across the state. Overall, the constituents involved in the online charter school were satisfied with the school's educational service. Students at the charter school performed lower than the state average of all schools (including public schools), but they performed better when compared to a similar school as defined by the state board of education. The online charter school experienced improvement in the report card rating from a designation of “Academic Watch” to “Continuous Improvement.” Evidence from constituent satisfaction and increasing student achievement suggests that the online charter school in this study is becoming competitive with traditional public schools.