The Test for Cyber Schools

Interesting article in today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on the fate of Pennsylvania's cyber charter schools—publicly funded, fully online schools that students "attend" on a full-time basis. With over 19,000 students, the state is a bellwether for the growth of cyber charter schools. Many of these schools are facing renewal decisions at the end of their five year charters; only 3 of 11 in Pennsylvania have met AYP. And, despite the schools' radical and disruptive approach to education, the excuses sound very familiar:

Sarah McCluan, spokeswoman for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, which oversees Pennsylvania Learners Online in Homestead, said cyber schools are raging against the importance placed on the PSSA, a standardized test that determines students' proficiency in math, reading, science and writing.

"You can't compare traditional students' test scores to a cyber school's test scores," McCluan said. "In many ways, using these tests to measure our students' achievement against other schools is almost like using a ruler to measure somebody's weight."

I'm a proponent of both significantly improving assessment and the potential of virtual schools. I want to see more freedom for innovative methods and approaches to learning. Regulating the wrong inputs—class sizes, seat time, or any other number of traditional measures—will not guarantee quality, and may stifle the innovation and flexibility that gives virtual learning its strength.

But the response above is entirely indefensible.

The "bricks and mortar" charter schooling community’s experience over the past decade shows that unless the public can differentiate the differences between strong and weak programs, all virtual schools will be publicly tainted by the worst examples in their midst. Many cyber school programs are new and reluctant to publicize data about their programs until they have a chance to establish themselves. But, these schools’ level of public prominence and growth makes the lack of transparency not only unwise, but likely not possible.

The long-term solution is to develop rigorous and universally accepted ways to measure learning—at the course, grade, and/or specific standards level. If the current tests don't work, get on the bandwagon to use digital technology to help dramatically improve assessment.