This research examines online course-taking in high schools, which is increasingly used by students falling behind in progress toward graduation. The study looks inside educational settings to observe how online courses are used and assess whether students gain academically through their use. Drawing on 7 million records of online instructional sessions linked to student records, we find mostly negative associations between online course-taking and math and reading scores, with some gains in credits earned and grade point averages by upperclassmen. Those least prepared academically and with weaker course-taking behaviors fared more poorly and were likely set back by online course-taking. Limited resources constrained the implementation of district-recommended practices and instructional supports, such as live teacher interactions and individualized content assistance.
Digital instruction-using a digital platform (such as computer, netbook, or handheld device) as an integral and consistent part of an instructional delivery strategy-is rapidly becoming a commonplace component of K-12 classroom and supplemental instruction. Estimates place the current value of the U.S. market for K-12 education software and digital content anywhere in the range of US$8 billion (Molnar & Cavanaugh, 2014) to US$21 billion per year . In the last decade, private-sector investment in K-12 education technology companies has nearly tripled, from US$146 million to US$420 million . As of 2011, 63% of districts with enrollments higher than 10,000 students contracted with an outside organization to provide online courses (Queen, Lewis, & Coopersmith, 2011). Advances in technology have allowed digital tools to compete with features of face-toface instruction with the promise of low-cost, broad access (Richards & Struminger, 2013).In this research, we focus on digital providers' role in out-of-school time (OST) tutoring programs, which has continued to expand, even as waivers from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have released many districts from the requirement to offer federally funded supplemental education services. In a mixed-method, longitudinal study of OST tutoring conducted in five urban sites over 4 school years, we observed online tutoring companies reaching a student "market share" as high as 88% in one district; in another district, we observed a single digital provider 592706E PAXXX10.
School districts are spending millions on tutoring outside regular school day hours for economically and academically disadvantaged students in need of extra academic assistance. Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), parents of children in persistently low‐performing schools were allowed to choose their child's tutoring provider, and together with school districts, they were also primarily responsible for holding providers in the private market accountable for performance. We present results from a multisite, mixed‐method longitudinal study of the impact of out‐of‐school time (OST) tutoring on student reading and mathematics achievement that link provider attributes and policy and program administration variables to tutoring program effectiveness. We find that many students are not getting enough hours of high‐quality, differentiated instruction to produce significant gains in their learning, in part because of high hourly rates charged by providers for tutoring. We identify strategies and policy levers that school districts can use to improve OST tutoring policy design and launch improved programs as waivers from NCLB are granted.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.