Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2014: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence

Policy Brief - Mar 04, 2014

Author(s) - Alex Molnar, University of Colorado Boulder (editor) Gary Miron, Western Michigan University Luis Huerta, Teachers College, Columbia University Jennifer King Rice, University of Maryland Michael Barbo

Second annual virtual schools report cautions against unchecked expansion: As virtual education has become a focal point for policymakers interested in expanding educational choices and improving the efficiency of public education, virtual schools have attracted a great deal of attention. In 2013, the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice, released the first of a planned series of annual reports on the policy issues that virtual schools raise, the available research evidence on K-12 virtual teaching and learning, and the performance of such virtual schools. The second report on virtual education in the U.S. is released today.