Salisbury Considers Creating Cyber School

Salisbury Township School District is considering starting its own online school in an effort to win back students who left to attend cyber charter schools and to offer more courses to students who attend its brick-and-mortar schools.

The online school, tentatively called VAST, or Virtual Academy Salisbury Township, would be operated in conjunction with the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit’s proposed Virtual Learning Program, which hopes to enlist other member school districts.

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Educational choice in Pa. expands, but vouchers remain out of reach

Pennsylvania boasts a robust charter school system that includes cyber charter schools; the Education Improvement Tax Credit, or EITC, which provides an average scholarship of $1,000 to low-income families who want their children to attend private schools; and rules that allow parents to teach their students at home.

The key is to improve education options, said Ken Kilpatrick, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools, which represents charter schools in the state.

“It’s families making a choice about what school will give my child the best educational future,” Kilpatrick said. “Competition is forcing districts to think about how they can improve.”

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Pennsylvania’s rating on charter schools slips

“In general, Pennsylvania law provides an environment that’s open to new startups, public school conversions and virtual schools,” he said.

More than 90,000 students are enrolled in 140 public charter schools, including 11 cyber charter schools, according to the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools. An estimated 30,000 students are on waiting lists.

Legislation pending in the state House would create an independent commission to authorize and oversee all charter and cyber charter schools statewide. Current law allows school boards to authorize or close brick-and-mortar charter schools. Since 1997, districts have closed just two charter schools, both in the Philadelphia area.

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York County students will have new cyber option designed to keep them in their districts

York, PA – Students in York County will soon have a new cyber school option, aimed partly at helping districts reclaim students who left for cyber charter schools.

The Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12 is starting a new cyber program that will be open first to any students in York County. The Lincoln Virtual Academy will open in January.

The cyber program will offer two options — an entirely online experience, or a program that would include one day each week at the York Learning Center for additional support and a social-emotional learning component.

A preliminary assessment at the start of the program would determine the students’ needs. Any exams, such as mid-terms or finals, would have to be supervised.

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Pa. cyber charter schools not passing test

Most cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania failed to make the grade on state standardized tests during the last school year, fanning the flames for critics who say they siphon money from traditional public schools.

But supporters of cyber charters say the tests do not show an accurate reflection of the programs.

Based on data from the 2010-11 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, only two of the 11 cyber charters to take the PSSAs hit state-set benchmarks in reading and math. Among Berks County’s 18 public school districts, only Reading failed to hit those marks.

Dr. Jim Hanak, chief executive officer of Pa. Leadership Charter School, defended cyber charters such as the one he operates.

He said the PSSA tests are an unfair representation of how cyber charters are performing, pointing out that most of the students who take the test haven’t been enrolled at the cyber charter for their entire school careers.

Many, he said, come in behind in their studies or with severe learning or emotional issues that impact their performance in the classroom.

 

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Centennial Committee Hears Advantages of Online Courses

The Centennial School District spends about a half million dollars each year to send local youth to cyber charter schools, according to the state, and the district could save a significant portion of that by having its own online program.

That was the message Monday night from the the director of Bridges Virtual Education Services, who made a presentation to the school board’s education committee.

“There are over a dozen cyber schools in the commonwealth today, and more and more students … across the United States are selecting online learning. … There is a growing trend across the United States,” said Chris Harrington, the former director of technology and head of cyber education for Quakertown schools.

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New Teacher Evaluations Might Include Public Charter and Cyber Charter Schools

While the state legislature debates reform of teacher evaluations, an amendment could extend the new assessments to public charter and cyber charter schools. The original bill only covered public schools and would change the way teachers are evaluated by basing new ratings on student performance, as well as traditional teacher observation.

Rep. Mike Fleck (R-Huntingdon) offered the amendment, which was passed by the House Education Committee and will now move to the full House. Fleck said that it makes sense that any new scoring system for teachers should be used in all public schools, including charters, receiving public dollars.

“I don’t think you can pick and choose what you want to do and what you don’t want to do when it comes to, you know, something as critical as teacher evaluation overall,” Fleck said.

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Poll: Majority of Pa. residents oppose school vouchers

Davare agreed that vouchers are similar to payments made by a school district for a student attending a charter school.

“There is no distinction,” he said. “The voucher is a total state subsidy except for the transportation costs. We don’t oppose cyber charter schools. What we do oppose is the funding. It should be based on what it costs to operate the school.”

The presence of children in the household mildly changed the opinions of the adult respondents to the survey. Adults with public school children opposed the proposal by 60 percent; adults with children in private schools opposed the proposal by 64 percent and adults with no children in the home opposed it by 67 percent.

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NNDS Conference on Blended Learning Focused on Future of Education in Ohio

The group of superintendents, curriculum directors, and teachers learned how NNDS develops its courses, how a student is assessed, and how an online course is taught.

To demonstrate, the seminar was held at one of Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School’s offices in Midland, Pennsylvania. The largest cyber-charter school in Pennsylvania, PA Cyber is a leader in online learning and a client of NNDS. During lunch, attendees had the chance to meet with PA Cyber teachers and observe a virtual class.

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More Students Are Using the Information Highway as Their Route to School

Instead of hopping on a school bus this September, an estimated 27,000 students across Pennsylvania flipped open their laptops and entered the virtual classroom of one Pennsylvania’s 11 cyber charter schools or one of a growing number of public school districts offering their own virtual academies. In southeastern Pennsylvania alone, at least 16 public school districts began offering a cyber option this September.

“There is a growing movement in school districts across Pennsylvania to come up with alternatives to cyber charter schools,” said Dr. Alan Slobojan of the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU). “School district virtual academies fill the gap between brick and mortar public schools and cyber charter schools by providing online classes to attract students back to their local school districts (from cyber charter schools).”

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