Colorado: Online Schools Not Delivering. photo: flickr user miguelavg

EdWeek provides a helpful summary of a sobering case study in Colorado by Education News Colorado and I-News Network tracking thousands of K-12 students and their online studies.

The disturbing trends mirror trends that have drawn the ire of regulators at for-profit schools: high attrition and poor outcomes.

The findings of the study should be a warning and opportunity. A warning: online classes can drag everyone down if not managed properly. An opportunity: learn how to better implement online classes. EdWeek reports:

The investigation used previously unreleased Colorado Department of Education data to document the path of 10,500 students who were enrolled in the 10 largest online schools beginning in 2008. Those students accounted for more than 90 percent of all online students for the 2008-09 school year. The analysis found that in Colorado:

• Half the online students wind up leaving within a year. When they do, they’re often further behind academically than when they started.

• Online schools produce three times as many dropouts as they do graduates. One of every eight online students drops out of school permanently—a rate four times the state average.

• Millions of dollars are going to virtual schools for students who no longer attend online classes.

• The churn of students in and out of online schools is putting pressure on brick-and-mortar schools, which then must find money in their budgets to educate students who come from online schools mid-year.

via Education Week: Public Schools Also Lose When Online Students Fail.