In response to a previous study which made the case that online classes are not as effective at community colleges, the US Department of Education is funding a $1.6 million study concerning the effectiveness of virtual schooling in the state of Florida to take place over a three-year time span.
A previous study presented at the American Educational Research Association’s annual conference in Chicago this April found students at community colleges within California to be 11% less likely to complete a course online when that course was offered both virtually and in a traditional classroom setting.
Researchers from University of Michigan, Stanford and University of California, Davis will look at data from both the Florida Virtual School and the Miami Dade County Public Schools from both the 2003-04 and 2013-14 school years, in addition to information collected from surveys completed by teachers and students. The data will be used to look at “how virtual schooling options affect students’ course progression, academic achievement and teacher effectiveness,” according to researchers from the University of Michigan.
