| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 |
| Parents See Benefits in Virtual Schools |
By MERANDA WATLING
mwatling@journalandcourier.com
Peggy Edmundson worries about what her son, Tre, is learning in first grade at Vinton Elementary School.
It's not the lessons in the classroom that concern her. It's what he might pick up from the other kids.
That's why she's looking into a virtual charter school for next year.
"I would have more control over his interaction with other kids, the stuff outside the classroom," Edmundson said.
Edmundson is one of the hundreds of parents that two new virtual charter schools are attracting from across the state.
In February, Ball State University awarded charters for the first time to two virtual schools, which will open this fall.
The new option has raised eyebrows since 2005, when virtual schools were written into the Indiana charter school law. But for some parents, the option seems like it could be the solution to their situation.
The virtual schools are held to the same criteria as other public schools. They must meet Indiana standards for curriculum and their students must take and pass the ISTEP, said Rhonda Eby, board president of Muncie-based Indiana Connections Academy. Students also must attend school 180 days.
"It's public school in every sense of the definition," Eby said. "It's just not in a building."
The schools will receive state funding for each student enrolled, and students do not pay tuition to attend.
Ron Brumbarger, CEO of Indianapolis-based Indiana Virtual Charter School, said because of that lack of building, some people don't see the need for funding the schools the same as a traditional "brick and mortar" school.
But he said the schools provide students with computers and subsidies for the Internet. Students also receive printed textbooks, workbooks, science lab supplies and more mailed to their homes.
Brumbarger said these costs, coupled with the salaries for certified teachers, add up.
"This is not free," he said. "It's not anything close to free."
Common misconceptions
Some people have visions of kids sitting at a computer six hours a day taking classes without interacting with teachers or peers, but that is not reality, Brumbarger said.
"It's a fallacy that kids spend 100 percent of their time on the computer; it's not so," he said.
For Connections Academy, high school students spend the most time online, and even they max out around 50 percent.
The elementary students in both programs spend about 10 percent to 15 percent of their time at the computer.
Eby's own fifth-grade daughter has been testing the Connections Academy system this school year.
"My daughter receives her lesson through the learning management system online," Eby said. "It's pretty straightforward, or there's a teacher available."
Children also partake in science experiments, read from printed textbooks and even go on field trips with others enrolled in the school, Eby said.
Who is it right for
Another misconception, Eby and Brumbarger cited, is that this is homeschooling or only for homeschooled students.
Brumbarger said the school accepts all students and works for gifted students or students who may have a learning disability.
"There are students out there that, for whatever reason, the traditional classroom is not for them ...," Brumbarger said. "Both ends of the spectrum will find this benefits them."
Being able to work on an individualized plan is one of the main reasons Pam Hurless of Lafayette said she was attracted to the idea.
"It's individualized," Hurless said. "If he needs to repeat something, he can repeat something. That's not the case in a classroom. He can't. They have to move on."
Currently, Hurless is homeschooling her eighth-grade son, Nathan. She likes the idea of being a coach for him without having to come up with lesson plans and curriculum on her own.
Edmundson, who works full-time, said that time commitment is a concern. She had considered homeschooling as an option for her son, but having the lessons created already makes it more manageable.
But in the end, it boils down to wanting her son to get the most out of his education.
"With the distractions and stuff (in the classroom)," Edmundson said. "I got to thinking, we could probably do twice as much work in half the time on our own."
from http://www.jconline.com
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