Michigan’s K-12 Virtual Learning Effectiveness Report, 2018-19
This year’s effectiveness report is the seventh in the series that looks at pupil completion and performance data reported by Michigan public schools to the Michigan Department of Education or the Center for Educational Performance and Information and highlights enrollment trends, completion rates, and the statewide impact of online courses. From this year’s report:
About 8% of all K-12 students in the state—over 120,000 students—took virtual courses in 2018-19. These students generated almost 640,000 virtual course enrollments and were present in two-thirds of Michigan public school districts. Schools with part-time virtual learners were responsible for the majority of virtual enrollments.
About four out of five virtual enrollments came from high school students, and the most highly enrolled in virtual courses were those required for high school graduation. Two-thirds of the virtual enrollments were from students who were in poverty.
The overall pass rate for virtual courses (55%) remained the same as the past two years; however, there remains sizable variation in student success.
You can dive into the details and additional findings from this report here.
Online Learning Journal
A new issue of the Online Learning Journal was published by the Online Learning Consortium. The journal includes 14 articles spanning three sections:
- Faculty, professional development, and online teaching
- Students, community, and online learning,
- Empirical studies.
Topics range from “shifting teaching and learning online” to “student preferences for learning resources in online programs,” as well as “using structured pair activities online” to ‘“he validity and usefulness of an online course evaluation rubric.”
Research Roundup Blog Series
In this series, our team of researchers provide monthly updates on the latest K-12 online, blended, and innovative learning research, reports, standards, and other noteworthy resources published nationally and internationally. Our hope with this series is to inform the educational community of the latest digital learning research in order to better serve students. Stay up to date on future blogs in this series by signing up for email notifications!
About the Authors
Kristen DeBruler
Dr. Kristen DeBruler received her doctorate in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology from Michigan State University. She taught in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University for three years. Her work focuses on K-12 online learning policy in Michigan and nation wide as well as understanding online learning best practices.
Christa Green
Christa received her master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Kent State University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She taught middle school language arts and social studies for seven years before coming to work for Michigan Virtual in 2018. As a Research Specialist with the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute, Christa enjoys using her passion for education, curriculum, research, and writing to share and shape best practices in online and blended learning with other educators not only in Michigan, but nationwide.
