Why cyber schools score so low?

Question

I want my daughter to study at home through a cyber school. Because I believe home schooling is much more effecient than public school and homeschoolers can have more opportunities for doing excurriculum and learning more skills. But my research result has discouraged me very much. Through www.greatschools.com, I found out 3 cyber schools in our area scored much lower than PA state average. Most student could hardly pass the tests. I'm wondering other cyber schools are the same. Can anyone tell why they score so low?

Answer 1

The "greatschools" site says: "GreatSchools.net: Elementary, middle and high school information for public, private and charter schools nationwide."

So... this site does not report on homeschooling - it reports on public, private and charter schools - even those which are online.

I imagine that the test score comparison you were doing was comparing online public schools to bricks and mortar public schools.

Have you looked into the private online schools?  Perhaps they have a better track record.

What really makes a difference for an individual student is parental involvement - regardless of public, private or homeschool.  

Apparently there are some who think that a kid can just be put in front of a computer, pointed to a cyber school website and *poof* the parent's work is done.  Maybe that is partial cause of lower scores.

I think online schools have a place in the scheme of things and I can see how it would be a really great option for some. Regardless, success is going to depend on parental involvement and guidance.

Answer 2

You have got excellent answers for this question.  I believe parent responsibility is one of the most important things for childrens education no matter where they are educated.

Professor Charles Desforges when working for the Department of Skills and Education in 2003 found that parental involvement can increase pupils achievement by 12% (Excellence and Enjoyment).

I have to admit that a personal pet hate of mine is the idea that free school lunches should dictate how well pupils do.  I personally don't think bank balance and IQ are correlated.  Unfortunately though there is evidence to the contrary - although I am happy to argue self fulfilling prophesy.

“The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development studies estimate that family social background accounts for 29% variation in student achievement” (figures from a PISA study 2001 cited Excellence and Enjoyment, 2003 - )

How well your child does in state, private or home school is in large part down to you.  However, you may not have as much influence as you want in a state or private school as you would in homeschool.  Do more research on curriculum keeping in mind your childs learning preferences and interests and your families values along with goals your daughter wants to achieve and you want her to achieve.

Answer 3

One reason is that lots of the kids who are in cyber schools were pulled out of their B&M public school due to discipline, the school being poor, etc.  So the first year they're in a cyber school they have a LOT of make up to do in their education.  Anytime you switch schools (in state, out of state) *or* curriculum (for HS'ers too), there is a big learning curve to get back up to where the new school/curriculum is at.  Also, some kids may have had the topics in the questions much earlier than B&M kids and haven't reviewed it.  (Like my son doing Algebra at 9 instead of 4th grade math...he'd tank on long division).

Another reason is that, sadly, many parents choose a cyber school option and think that just because there's teacher oversight that they don't have to do *anything*.  So NOT true.  Parents still have to be involved in the daily teaching.

Another reason, that depends on the cyber school, is that many use a curriculum that may not line up the same as the B&M scope & sequence.  So there may be multiplication on the 3rd grade test, but perhaps the cyber curriculum teaches it in 4th (and does a much better job!).

And perhaps the biggest reason of all is that cyber schools most likely do NOT teach "to the test".  So you're seeing the *true* achievement of the kids, not the drill-in-your-head-for-7-months kids.

Since PA has a LOT of cyber charters, I would compare all of them.  I bet some out perform most B&M schools.  Also, the Great Schools site is where schools submit their own data.  For a *much* better comparison, look at your state board of ed's site.  They will have a lot better data.  It will also show you if the cybers that scored low are in inner cities, how many students are on free/reduced lunch, etc.