How students in online and hybrid schools should be funded, and at what levels, has been a topic of debate for as long as online schools have existed. The Digital Learning Collaborative (DLC) has touched on these issues in our recent funding report and blog post, and will explore these issues further in an upcoming webinar.

Countless words have been written about the impact that the global Covid-19 pandemic has had and will have on K-12 education. This moment in history has been described as “disruptive”, “future-shaping”, an “incredible opportunity”, and more. Just as much attention has been devoted to discussing what the pandemic has revealed or exposed about K-12 education, with observers justifiably noting systemic inequality, technology shortcomings, outdated policy, etc.

We’ve all seen the distressing news – many schools and districts around the nation are challenged with teacher shortages. From reports that teachers are quitting their jobs faster than they can be replaced, to college students in Arizona teaching in the classroom before they’ve graduated, and rural school districts in Texas switching to four-day weeks due to lack of staff, school administrators are looking for solutions.

Several recent stories have caught my attention as they highlight how hard it can be to start or grow an online/hybrid school, particularly in a mainstream district.

One of these, “APS to apply lessons from virtual learning program audit to planning for new online program” is a rather dry headline to apply to a story that is quite negative:

The headline seems to say it all:

“Many Remote Learning Options Shutting Down as School Reopens for Fall 2022.”

Dig just slightly further, though, and a different interpretation of the numbers becomes apparent:

“Even as COVID-19 infections continue to fluctuate, roughly one-third of the country’s largest school districts are ending their remote learning programs this fall…” (emphasis added)

Having a child in a virtual class at home comes with expectations for parents that are often new, unexpected, and unclear. Past experiences or faulty assumptions may set students and families up for frustration. Other students, however, thrive in the new virtual environment, feeling empowered by the flexibility and choice. Recent research has attempted to identify and measure the most effective types of parental support for virtual students at home. Parents may breathe a sigh of relief that they do not need to be an expert in Algebra or World History to have a significant impact in supporting their virtual learners.

It’s well understood in digital learning circles that emergency remote instruction during the pandemic was both the best option when schools had to be closed, and a bad reflection on learning online. District and school leaders, teachers, and everyone else did the best they could on short notice, but it’s clear that emergency remote instruction was neither highly successful nor did it represent, in most cases, best practices in online instruction.

We’re now seeing the first of what may be a new trend that would be an even worse reflection on online learning.

Policy advocates and political parties in the US run into the hard reality of public opinion (aka voters) when they push ideas that limit options and choices.

Both parties take these limiting views on some issues while pushing freedom of choice on other issues. Some conservatives want to limit who you can marry and, at the extremes, what sorts of contraception you can use. Some liberals want to limit the types of cars you can drive, and, at the extremes, whether you can eat beef.

From the student and educator perspective, the digital learning argument is clear and relatively simple:

Some students have a better learning experience and improved academic outcomes in non-traditional settings, and students should have those options available to them.

From the policy perspective, the discussions get more complex quickly, because inevitably the conversation must turn to first principles, as in “what is the point of education?”

Last week’s post mentioned that we are still seeing influential observers criticizing online and hybrid learning mostly by conflating it with emergency remote learning. It linked to an article titled Online Schooling Is the Bad Idea That Refuses to Die, which at least has the positive attribute of being straightforward and honest about the writer’s views.

During the pandemic, the large majority of schools in the United States shifted to emergency remote learning for some amount of time, with the total remote learning time varying by district and region. It was clear at the time that many of those efforts were well-intentioned, and represented the best that could be done on the short notice that COVID provided. It was also clear then, and is being documented now, that many students had poor experiences with remote learning.

At what level are online students funded in each state that allows online schools?

It’s a simple question, right? Give me a day to make a few phone calls and run some Google searches and I’ll get back to you.

Nope. In fact, as lead researcher Susan Gentz found in her efforts across many months, few things are murkier than student funding levels.

How do we motivate and engage students with teachers, content, and their peers in online courses?

This has been the question on a lot of new and veteran virtual school leaders’ minds. Although it’s not new, the issue has taken on new relevance because of the recent post-pandemic growth of digital learning. We chose this as a topic for two recent discussions with our DLC members, and are using this post to share some of the findings.

I must admit that it didn’t jump to the top of my task list when Marie Hanna of Ohio Connections Academy emailed me to say:

“I realize that policy and data are more in your wheelhouse but I thought you might enjoy the art show that was created by our students.”

It probably should have though.

Recent posts exploring the shifting digital learning policy battles elicited quite a few responses from readers. Several were from school leaders and other advocates who wrote in to link their experience to the ideas in the posts. For example:

Recent posts have looked at how the online school wars seem to be waning, first giving some general background, then looking at the recent GAO report, and finally looking at a recent study that addresses concerns about student outcomes. This final post of this series reviews the evidence to suggest that perhaps the fault lines of digital learning policy battles are shifting.

The first post in this series suggested that the online learning policy disputes are shifting, and gave some background. The second post looked at the recent GAO report and suggested that the report findings, and the response to the report, are evidence of this shift. This post looks further at one element of the online charter school disputes—the question of how well these schools serve students.

Last week’s post provided brief background on two decades of disputes about online charter schools, and suggested that the battles may be shifting. This post looks at one significant piece of evidence: the recent GAO report looking at online charter schools.

Political and policy disputes have been a key element of K-12 digital learning for most of the two decades or so that online schools have existed. Some signals now suggest that those battles may be shifting. This is the first of several posts looking at the background of the battles, and some of the signs of a shift.

How does transformation occur? Very slowly, then seemingly all at once.

(That’s a version of a Hemingway quote, and a good argument that as important as STEM education is, let’s not forget the humanities!)

It’s also a reminder that when a transformation is underway, it can be difficult to perceive it as such. Only when it’s well underway, or after, does it appear clear and perhaps even inevitable.