Full-Time Virtual and Blended Schools: Enrollment, Student Characteristics, and Performance

Policy Brief - May 01, 2018

Author(s) - Gary Miron, Christopher Shank, & Caryn Davidson, Western Michigan University; and Alex Molnar, University of Colorado Boulder.

This report seeks to provide relevant evidence to inform and guide options that policy makers should consider as they work to address prevalent concerns about the country’s virtual and blended school sectors. The Full-Time Virtual and Blended Schools: Enrollment, Student Characteristics, and Performance report is the sixth in an annual series of research briefs on the fast-growing U.S. virtual school sector. This year’s report provides a comprehensive directory of the nation’s full-time virtual and blended learning providers. The report finds both virtual and blended schools have not been as successful as traditional public schools. Despite this lackluster performance, virtual school enrollment has continued to grow. The report found evidence suggesting that several factors are key to the poor performance of virtual schools, including large school sizes and large student-to-teacher ratios.