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Cyber charter schools may increase access to a range of educational offerings, but they substantially underperform traditional public schools on measured academic performance, as demonstrated in a range of studies with distinct samples and methods. Artificial testing conditions offer a possible explanation. In contrast to face-to-face students, for cyber charter students standardized testing occurs in unfamiliar locations, often hours from the location of instruction (home), possibly leading to fatigue and lesser performance. Geocoding home locations and testing sites for 2015-18 mathematics, ELA, and science test scores from 5,493 cyber school students in a northern state, we test whether drive times affect performance, controlling for student characteristics. Save for marginal statistical impacts on mathematics tests, we find no evidence that drive times affect cyber student measured academic performance. Implications are discussed.

Full time virtual schools may offer help for at-risk students through personalized learning options where students can catch up with past work in a non-traditional environment. Thus, we need to understand the reasons at-risk learners choose a virtual school as well as their expectations and experiences in such schools. This research study implemented focus groups with 16 parents of at-risk students enrolled in virtual schools to understand their perceptions of at-risk learners’ choices to attend and experiences in a virtual school. Results showed that parents of at-risk students chose a school for safety, medical/health, student behavior and academic reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss some concerns and recommendations of Saultz and Fusarelli (2017), offering nuanced and detailed views of online schooling from a different perspective. This includes addressing challenges regarding online learning such as fluctuating enrollments, financial concerns, quality assurance, and accountability. In addition, we propose recommendations related to funding, better quality data, and oversight and monitoring. We conclude with a short discussion of the need for differentiated research for specific online learning contexts. [For "Online Schooling: A Cautionary Tale" (Saultz and Fusarelli), see EJ1130469.]

Cyber charter schools may increase access to a range of educational offerings, but they substantially underperform traditional public schools on measured academic performance, as demonstrated in a range of studies with distinct samples and methods. Artificial testing conditions offer a possible explanation. In contrast to face-to-face students, for cyber charter students standardized testing occurs in unfamiliar locations, often hours from the location of instruction (home), possibly leading to fatigue and lesser performance. Geocoding home locations and testing sites for 2015–18 mathematics, ELA, and science test scores from 5,493 cyber school students in a northern state, we test whether drive times affect performance, controlling for student characteristics. Save for marginal statistical impacts on mathematics tests, we find no evidence that drive times affect cyber student measured academic performance. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]