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Districts eye cyber school option New model cuts costs, allows more control by home schools
Feb 20, 2010 (The News-Item - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Dr. Alex Stone knows how good technology can be in an educational environment. He also knows how it's being used in cyber schools.
"It's so far off from where it could be, educationally," Stone said.
One of the co-founders of VLN Partners out of Pittsburgh -- the VLN stands for "Virtual Learning Network" -- Stone and his colleagues have redefined online learning. And they're getting the attention of local school districts looking for a solution to increasing cyber charter school costs.
"At the very core of what we do is a whole new way of distance learning designed specifically for K through 12 learning," said Stone, a Williamsport native and Loyalsock alumnus.
Cyber schools have their own curriculums that may not match what's being taught at a student's home district. A common complaint among public school officials is that when a student returns to the brick-and-mortar school, they're behind academically.
"A lot of cyber students go back," to their home districts, Stone said, "and if they're not on the same page in cyber school, they're not on the same page in the classroom."
That lag in education is a real concern for local superintendents.
"I don't think any (of the cyber charter schools) met AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) last year," said James Zack, Shamokin Area School District superintendent. "It's certainly not the be-all, end-all success."
"Students may have to repeat because they didn't complete cyber school," Cheryl Latorre, Mount Carmel Area School District superintendent, said.
"Parents can't make their kids go to school," Janis Venna, Mount Carmel Area business administrator, said. "How can they make them complete term papers?" in a home setting, she asked.
That period of remediation, when a student has to play catch-up, is circumvented in VLN's model, Stone said. The district sets the curriculum, and VLN has state-certified instructors.
"The lessons we present online match the flow and structure in the classroom. On Monday, if Mrs. Jones at Shikellamy in her seventh-grade history class is talking about Aztecs and Maya, that's what's happening online," Stone said. "That's a big deal. It gives districts control.
"The key thing is that all the lessons match what's going on in the classroom," Stone said.
'Excessive' cost
Shamokin Area had 32 students attend cyber school in 2008, for a total cost of around $320,000.
"That's almost $10,000 a student," Zack said. "That's a significant amount of money."
Shamokin Area has spent in excess of $1 million on cyber schools since 2000, he said.
Mount Carmel Area has 39 students currently enrolled in cyber school, at a cost of anywhere from $6,000 to $25,000 a student, Latorre said.
Both superintendents see some good in the option; they just wish there was more accountability and less of a drain on district resources.
"I have no aversion to cyber school. I certainly think there's a need, but the cost is not the same as a bricks-and-mortar school," Zack said. "We've actually lobbied the state because the cost is excessive."
"I'm an advocate of brick-and-mortar schools," Latorre said, pushing for remediation and tutoring. "But (cyber school) is just another alternative to serve students who may not fit."
More accountability?
One problem the superintendents see with most cyber charter schools is a lack of accountability. There's no way to know how often a student logs in, how much work he or she is doing, or what the work is like.
"Many (students in cyber school) are truancy issues," Latorre said. "How do you manage that?"
She noted that some cyber schools do a face-to-face meeting upon a student's logging in, but after that, who's to say?
"The cost is excessive and (the students) are free to do whatever they want," Zack said. "It's not like we're sent a progress report. A student is basically enrolled and is their student, for the most part."
The accountability that some administrators feel is lacking in cyber school is present in VLN, Stone said. It goes back to the district's involvement in the model -- administrators set guidelines, assessment benchmarks and can check daily log-in records to see how often a student is participating.
"You'll know that your student is engaged in a rigorous curriculum and that the work they do is authentic," Stone said. "The best way to say it is it's a rigorous curriculum that is more engaging than a lot of programs offered in cyber charter school."
The birth of VLN
The idea for VLN came to Stone and some friends while he was enrolled in a doctoral program for instructional technology at Duquesne University.
"I was looking for a dissertation topic, really," Stone said. "Basically, I took a job at a cyber charter school."
Stone served as a high school teacher at one of the 12 cyber schools in the state. That experience, coupled with his time as a multimedia designer, gave Stone a unique perspective on the world of cyber schools.
"If anybody's going to come up with something better, it'll be us," Stone recalled thinking when he and his friends were talking about what they viewed as an inherently flawed system.
Thus VLN was born. The company applied to become one of Pennsylvania's cyber charter schools, under the guise of Pennsylvania Charter School Network. But the company withdrew from the application process when they realized their model of online education couldn't work as a cyber charter school.
"As a cyber charter school, we were obligated to compete with public schools," Stone said. "What we have to do is partner with the schools, see what's going on in the classroom."
So the company pulled out, changed its name to VLN Partners and started over.
PDE supports a district's choice to offer its version of a cyber school, though, according to Michael Race, director of press and communications.
"That's their option, and they have every liberty to do that," Race said. "That all falls under local curriculum decisions that are up to school board officials. At the state level, we don't dictate what their curriculum and coursework is. We have state standards; how they teach to those standards, that's within their right to decide."
As for PDE, "They've been very helpful and grateful about the whole thing," Stone said. "They've been really kind."
Line Mtn. may sign
Abandoning the old cyber charter school model has allowed VLN to tread upon new educational territory.
"It is, in a lot of ways, a new way, because it's using some of the latest technologies that help schools," Stone said. "Rather than using them to compete with public schools -- like cyber schools and other providers -- we're using it to help public schools.
"We offer (the program) directly to districts to compete with cyber charter schools," Stone said. "We have to cooperate with the districts."
That cooperation has caught the interest of area superintendents.
Line Mountain School District has all but signed a contract with VLN, citing the company's process as a way to entice cyber students back into the district fold. Stone met with the Line Mountain school board in January, presenting the program to its members. Accountability, rigorous curriculum standards and cost effectiveness -- Superintendent Dave Campbell feels that VLN offers all of those things, and an ease of operation, to boot.
At a meeting last month, former curriculum director Donna Politza said, "I think we will draw a lot of students back if we dangle that Line Mountain diploma" instead of a cyber school diploma.
Attempts to reach Southern Columbia Area Superintendent Charles Reh for comment on that district's position were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Latorre and Zack are exploring a number of options.
"I don't want to encourage (the use of cyber school), but it could be an alternative ... a tool for exceptional circumstances," Latorre said.
Next up for the Mount Carmel Area superintendent is presenting the concept to the school board.
Shamokin Area has been busy meeting with companies, looking at the alternatives.
"We've spoken with four or five vendors," Zack said. "Our goal is, if we're going to have some version of (cyber school), we want our own curriculum."
Cyber school 'in a box'
VLN's model is especially valuable to smaller districts lacking the tax bases of metropolitan areas. There's a one-time start-up fee of $33,100, and a yearly maintenance fee of $16,750, but VLN handles all the technology.
"We handle all the tech support, all the maintenance, all the broken machines and hassles that come with kids spilling stuff on machines," Stone said. "We call it 'cyber school in a box.' We're one of the first in the country to offer that."
That "cyber school in a box" comes in at $4,500 a student, nearly half of some cyber schools.
Since VLN is able to offer the program at cheaper rates, it actually helps bring money back into districts -- money that can be used for other things, like saving jobs.
"We've just become so good at it that we can offer it at a lower price," Stone said. "The other thing is, our model's based upon volume. We're building a network."
Socialization concerns are lessened with the VLN model, because of its inherent ties to the district, according to Stone. There's more of an opportunity to engage in district activities at district facilities.
"The line becomes blurred" between cyber school and the brick-and-mortar school, Stone said. "It really is Shamokin online and Berwick online. So all those district facilities can be folded into the overall experience."
At the end of the line, a student attending a VLN-supported cyber program will end up with a home district's diploma, not that of a cyber charter school. That, to the administrators, means a lot.
'We're onto something'
There's no hard data yet on the level of success of the VLN model. And while the company's administration is in the midst of a long-term study, it's difficult to predict. Stone, however, has complete confidence in the validity of his theories on distance learning.
"We've been growing. We're onto something," Stone said. "We've kind of defined this market."
To see more of The News-Item or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.newsitem.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The News-Item, Shamokin, Pa.
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