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.

For the rest of the article, go to Salisbury Considers Creating Cyber School

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.”

For the rest of the article, go to Educational choice in Pa. expands, but vouchers remain out of reach

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.

For the rest of the article, go to Pennsylvania’s rating on charter schools slips

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.

For the rest of the article, go to York County students will have new cyber option designed to keep them in their districts

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.

For the rest of the article, go to Pa. cyber charter schools not passing test

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.

For the rest of the article, go to Centennial Committee Hears Advantages of Online Courses

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.

For the rest of the article, go to New Teacher Evaluations Might Include Public Charter and Cyber Charter Schools

“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.

For the rest of the article, go to Poll: Majority of Pa. residents oppose school vouchers

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.

For the rest of the article,go to NNDS Conference on Blended Learning Focused on Future of Education in Ohio

“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).”

For the rest of the article, go to More Students Are Using the Information Highway as Their Route to School