This dissertation examines differences in achievement and dropout rates between online charter high school students and traditional high school students in California. The study compares test scores and dropout data from 10 online charter schools and 10 traditional schools that serve similar percentages of economically disadvantaged students. The dissertation aims to determine if at-risk students are disproportionately enrolled in online charter schools and if these students experience more success compared to traditional schools.

1. Final Dissertation DefenseA Comparative Study Between Online Charter High Schools and Traditional High Schoolsin CaliforniaRob DarrowApril 7, 2010California State University, FresnoRob’s Wiki: http://robdarrow.wikispaces.com

2. Welcome, Thank You and Presentation Schedule20 Min: Rob’s Presentation10 Min: Committee Questions10 Min: Other QuestionsEnd of Presentation5-10 Min: Committee ConfersRob’s Wiki: http://robdarrow.wikispaces.com

3. My Dissertation Committee Dr. Ken Magdaleno (Chair)Dept. of Educational Research and AdministrationFormer teacher and middle school principalInterests: Latino and Latina mentoring, leadership, issues of equityDr. David TannerDept. of Curriculum and InstructionInterests: statistics and measurement, educational research, quantitative and qualitative evaluation

4. My Dissertation Committee (cont’d) Dr. Ginny BorisDept. of Educational Research and AdministrationCo-Director Central Valley Educational Leadership Institute (CVELI)Interests: Curriculum/Instruction, Admin. LeadershipDr. Brent AuernheimerDept. of Computer ScienceDirector of CSU Fresno Digital CampusInterests: web based instruction, human computer interaction, software engineering

5. Background – National TrendsTwo educational trends challenging traditional education: ** Charter Schools ** Enrollment increases 11% - 20% per year** Online Schools ** Enrollment increases 30% per year

6. One Other National Trend:Static Dropout Rates

7. Research FocusFull Time Online Charter School StudentsTraditional School StudentsAt-Risk StudentsIn CaliforniaMeasured By:Achievement Test Scores Dropout Rates

8. Research Questions1. Are there a disproportionate number of at-risk students attending online charter high schools as compared to traditional high schools in California? 2. Are at-risk students more successful in online charter high schools than in traditional high schools in California?

9. DefinitionsTraditional High Schoolattend courses daily in face-to-face settingOnline High Schoolattend courses online where 80% instruction is onlineCharter Schoolindependently operated public schools of choice, free from many regulations but accountable for standardized test results as determined by state lawsAt-Riskany student not making progress towards graduation Success proficient on California Standards Test/English-Language Arts (CST ELA) lower number of student dropouts

10. Definitions: Counting DropoutsOne student counts as a dropout if either:A. Leaves a school and does NOT register at another schoolORB. Leaves school and does NOT have a high school diplomaStandards set by US Department of Education (reported by states)Counted in Grades 7-12 in California

11. Definitions: Online School EnrollmentPart-time Online Students

12. Take one or two online courses in addition to attending traditional school

13. One student in one course per semester counts one

14. Full Time Online Students

15. One student attending the school counts oneWatson, Gemin, Ryan & Wicks (2009). Keeping pace with K-12 online learning.

16. Definitions: Counting Online School EnrollmentNo StandardsPart-time online students not officially counted, except as an estimate in response to a researcher’s surveyFull time online students counted if they attend an online charter schoolIn California, public school students, including charters, are counted each October via California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS)

17. Literature ReviewThree parts:1. Student Dropouts / At-risk Students2. Charter School Students3. Online School Students

18. Literature Review: Glass half full or half empty?DropoutsGraduates

19. Literature Review: Data used to determine dropouts or graduatesLongitudinal DataCollected by National Center for Educational Statistics (1980, 1988, 1997, 2002)Common Core of Data (CCD)Reported by states to Dept. of ED/NCES (yearly)Current Population Survey Data (CPS)Monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor StatisticsNational Census Report DataEvery 10 years

20. Literature Review: Counting High School Dropouts - NCESKetaldi, Laird & KewalJemani (2009)Event Dropout Rate (one school year to next)Downward trendbetween 1972 and 20076.1% to 3.5%Status Dropout Rate (one point in time)Downward trendbetween 1972 and 2007 14.6% to 8.7%Status Completion Rate (diploma or GED) Increased completion ratefrom 1980-200783.9% to 89%

21. Literature Review: Counting High School Dropouts - NCESKetaldi, Laird & KewalJemani (2009)Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate - AFGRpercentage of students who graduated on time within four yearsIncreased graduation ratefrom class of 2002 to class of 2006 72.6% to 73.2%

22. Literature Review: Research and Dropouts“Lack of school success is probably the greatest single cause which impels pupils to drop out of school.”Ayres (1909). Laggards in our schools.

23. Literature Review: Indicators Leading to Student DropoutsIndividual factorsFamily factorsSchool factorsBalfanz et al. (2009), Hammond (2007), Wehlage et al. (1989)School factors contribute to the majority of student dropoutsSchussler (2002), Natriello, McDill and Pallas (1990), Rumberger (1987), Wehlageand Rutter (1986)Literature Review: Research and Graduation RatesGraduation rates have stayed the same…75% for the past 40 yearsWehlage et al. (1989) Graduation rates have decreased, among Latinos and African AmericansSwanson (2005), Balfanz & Legters (2004), Orfield (2004) Graduation rates have increased with the overall graduation rate at 82%. Mishel (2006)

24. Literature Review: Dropout Research ShowsMore males drop out than femalesDalton, Glennie & Ingels (2009)More students living in urban areas drop out Swanson (2008) More African Americans and Hispanics drop out than Anglos and Asians Levin et al. (2007)More students of poverty drop out Dalton, Glennie & Ingels (2009)

25. Literature Review: Dropout Research and What Makes a Difference? Mentor programs or the presence of a significant caring adult can cause at-risk students to remain in school Camak (2007), Rysewyk (2008), Noddings (2005), Outlaw (2004).

26. Literature Review: Charter School History and Policy1991 – Minnesota: first charter school law1992 - California passed charter school law1997-2009 – Every president supports charter school direction. Obama vows to “expand our commitment to charter schools and invest in innovation.”2009 – 40 stateshave passed charter school laws; 5,042 schoolsserving over 1.5 million students(Allen & Consoletti, 2010)

27. Literature Review: Charter School DevelopmentCharter schools have the potential to transform American public education and provide choice to families that did not exist prior to charter schools.Finn, Manno & Vanourek (2000), Nathan (1996)

28. Literature Review: Types of Charter SchoolsCarpenter (2006). Playing to type? Mapping the charter school landscape.

29. Literature Review: Charter Schools and Student AchievementSome charter schools performing better than traditional public schools, and some performing worseBetts and Yang (2008)Charter schools do not do well in their first year of operation but subsequently improveZimmer et al. (2009). Rand Report.

30. Literature Review: Charter Schools“I speculate that charter school reform is a late-20th – century reform that will die of its own weight some time early in the 21st century.” Wells (2002)Charter schools doing no better than traditional public schools with student achievement and are not serving minorities or poor students UCLA Charter School Study (1998) examined charter schools in CaliforniaWells (2002)

31. Literature Review: Online School History and Policy1994 – 1997 - First K-12 online schools: Utah Electronic SchoolVirtual High School – MassachusettsFlorida Virtual School2007 – Number of states with online programs / online legislation: 422007 – Number of online charter schools:173 in 18 states 92,235 students (Center for Ed Reform, 2008)2008 – Online course enrollments grew by 65% from 2002-03 to 2004-05 (Means, 2009)2009 – More than a million K-12 online school students(Picciano and Seaman, 2009)

32. Literature Review: Types of Online SchoolsA. National Companies– individual online charter schools in different states (K-12, Inc. Connections Academy, Insight, Kaplan)Primarily charter schoolsB. Statewide– run by state agenciesSome charters, some notC. District / County– run by school districts or county educational officesSome charters, some notWatson, Gemin, Ryan & Wicks (2009). Keeping pace with K-12 online learning. http://www.kpk12.com/

33. Literature Review: Online Learning andStudent AchievementMeta-analysis have found that overall, student achievement in online schools is the same or better when compared with traditional schools Means et al. (2009), Cavanaugh et al. (2004)Emerging ResearchStudent success / student attrition in online courses (Porta-Merida, 2009; Roblyer, 2008)Student and parent satisfaction in online courses (Butz, 2004)

34. Methodology: FocusIn California13% of the total U.S. K-12 public school student enrollment20% of the U.S. public charter school enrollment Top rated state regarding charter school law and policy National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (2010)

35. Methodology: Comparison StudyOnline charter high school students14 existed in California – 2006-2009Traditional high school studentsComparisons in:Growth RatesAchievement RatesDropout Rates

36. Methodology: The SubjectsOnline Charter School Students10 chosen with grades 9-12 for at least two yearsFree and Reduced Price Lunch (FRL) percentage (Range: 30%-50%)Traditional High School Students10 chosenRandomly selected by FRL (30%-50%) Geographically different regions

37. Methodology: ProceduresStudent test data and dropout data for selected schools from publicly accessible websites/databases maintained by theCalifornia Department of Education:Ed Data: www.ed-data.k12.ca.usDataquest: http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquestEd Partnership: http://edresults.org

38. Methodology: AnalysisDescriptive StatisticsCalculated percentage proficient on state English-Language Arts tests (CST ELA)Calculated dropout percentages Examined trendsSignificance TestingChi square test of independence

39. Results: California Standards Test / English-Language Arts (CST ELA)2007-08 and 2008-09Taken yearly in grades 9, 10 and 11Selected Online Charter SchoolsSelected Traditional Schools

40. Year: 2007-2008CST ELA ComparisonsPercent Proficient and Above Online Charters Traditional Schools

41. Year: 2008-2009CST ELA ComparisonsPercent Proficient and Above Online Charters Traditional Schools

42. Chi square test of independence: Proficient on CST ELA Test0 = proficient; 1 = not proficient0 = traditional schools; 1 = online charterGrades 9, 10 and 11Selected online charter schools vs. selected traditional schools2007-08; 2008-09All statistics were significant at p = <.001

43. Results: Dropout Rates2006-07 and 2007-08Reported yearly in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12Selected Online Charter SchoolsSelected Traditional SchoolsNote: Dropout data from 2008-2009 not available

44. Year: 2006-2007Dropout Percentages by GradeNote: 2006-07 Online Charter School Enrollment in Grades 11 and 12 was less than 100 students per grade Online Charters Traditional Schools

45. Year: 2007-2008Dropout Percentages by Grade Online Charters Traditional Schools

46. Chi square test of independence: Dropout Rates0 = Not a dropout; 1 = dropout0 = traditional schools; 1 = online charterGrades 9, 10, 11, and 12Selected online charter schools vs. selected traditional schools2006-07; 2007-08All statistics were significant at p = <.001

47. Results: California*Enrollment in online charter schools has increased each year for the past three years: 80% in past two yearsPercent of students in charter high schools: 6% of total 9-12 enrollmentPercent of students in online charter high schools: .16% of total 9-12 enrollment* See Handout

48. Results: Achievement and DropoutsStudent Achievement (CST ELA)Greater in traditional high schools than in online charter schoolsPercentage difference ranged from 8% to 11%Dropout RatesMuch greater in online charter schools than in traditional schoolsPercentage difference ranged from 22% to 55%

49. Results: Research Questions1. Are there a disproportionate number of at-risk students attending online charter high schools (OCS) as compared to traditional high schools (TS) in California?Based on percentages of Free and Reduced Lunch students, there are not.Similar percentages of students are classified as Free and Reduced Lunch in OCS and TSBased on percentages of dropouts, there are.There were a larger percentage of students who dropped out of OCS than TS

50. Results: Research Questions2. Are at-risk students more successful in online charter high schools (OCS) than in traditional high schools (TS) in California?Based on percentages of students who scored proficient or above on CST ELA, at-risk students are similarly successful in OCS and TS. Differences between the percentage of students scoring proficient or above on CST ELA at each grade level showed a difference between 8%-10%

51. RecommendationsNeed a uniform way to count online school studentsInnovation grants and research grants needed for online learning in CaliforniaCommon standards for K-12 online learning should be adoptedOngoing finance model for online schools needed in California; current school funding finance models don’t fit with online courses