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Five minute primer: School choice
January 24, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
More than likely, when you were growing up there were three education options: your neighborhood public school, private school, and maybe homeschooling. Since the early 1990s, the options have expanded to include virtual schools, charter schools and school vouchers, among others. Those are the kinds of options being celebrated by the organizers of National School Choice Week through more than 300 events around the country this week. More than 25 governors have issued proclamations supporting School Choice Week in their states.
School choice is a multi-faceted concept that encompasses several education options, including the ability to enroll a student in a charter school, online school, homeschool or to receive school vouchers. If you’ve heard these terms before, you know that there is a debate over these options. If you’ve got five minutes, here’s a primer that will help to break down some of the components of school choice.
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Life Skills Centers Offers New, Online High School Program in Arizona
January 21, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
Life Skills Centers is excited to announce that they have recently launched a distance learning program in Arizona: Life Skills Online. Life Skills Online allows Arizona high school students, ages 16-21 years old, to earn their high school diploma, in the comfort and safety of their own home. Students who enroll in the tuition-free virtual school will receive a free computer, internet reimbursement, and one-on-one attention without the pressures of a traditional public school.
The Life Skills Center of Arizona located in Phoenix will serve as a “home-base” for the distance learning students. “The differentiator between Life Skills Online and other online schools is a home-base that provides one-on-one attention,” says Administrator of LSC Arizona, Jared Kittelson, “it is extremely important for them to have someone to reach out to.”
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Can States and School Districts Cut Costs Through Digital Learning?
January 18, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
Digital learning represents wide-open terrain for K-12 education reform. Several states — Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Michigan and Minnesota — require students to take an online course to receive a high school degree. Twenty-seven states have established statewide full-time virtual schools since the first opened in 1997 in Florida, according to a report by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, an indication of virtual education’s growing appeal.
As with all innovations, though, there is always a question of cost for providing such new technologies, especially when states are providing less per-pupil funding.
A study released last week by the Education Center of Excellence at the Parthenon Group (commissioned by the conservative education think tank, the Fordham Institute) suggested that the costs of digital learning could be significantly less than more traditional modes. The authors cautioned that its findings must be interpreted with some caveats: costs vary across digital education platforms and different entities pursue online learning for different reasons (cost-savings versus enhanced offerings, for example).
For the rest of the article, go to Can States and School Districts Cut Costs Through Digital Learning?
