(TNS)-- More than 5,400 public school students in Alabama today get their education entirely through a computer connection. Parents of students enrolled in virtual schools say its working better for their children: no more worrying about keeping up with the Joneses and no more bullying because their children dont fit in with the in crowd.

"My children are not nearly as consumed with what others are doing or meeting the demands of peer pressure," said Brooke Veazey, mother of two who are attending a public high school online. "Both of my children are more confident in what they are learning, both are getting better rest since their start time is my choice, and both children are learning to appreciate themselves as individuals."

But, the growing practice raises new questions. While many parents seem happy with the home setup and flexible schedule, there are questions about how well students are learning.

In Alabama, both statewide virtual schools on the books in 2017-18---Limestone Countys Virtual School and Conecuh Countys Genesis Innovative School---earned Fs on the state report card.

And there are questions about money. There is no tuition or fee. So why would a small handful of school boards in rural Alabama suddenly hire private contractors to help take on the education of children from other counties?

Eufaula, a small city in south Alabama, has drawn so many online students it doubled its enrollment and substantially grew its state tax support. It grew so much that the system jumped up in athletic class. Yet all that without having to add more desks and all that without seeing any new faces in the hall.

Growing Nationwide

Veazeys children attend Alabama Connections Academy, a K-12 online school powered by Pearson, one of two for-profit education giants leading the growing virtual school industry nationwide.

Across the country, there are 501 full-time virtual schools in 35 states. They enrolled just under 300,000 students during the 2017-18 school year, according to research by the National Education Policy Center in Colorado, shown in the chart below.

For Veazey's family, this is the second year attending school virtually.

Veazey, an education technology specialist working in public schools in the central Alabama area, said it took a little getting used to, but once a schedule was in place, things ran smoothly. She serves as her children's "learning coach," a must for parents overseeing their children's education in the virtual school world.

The learning coach is also supposed to make sure students dont cheat on tests or other coursework.

"The biggest hurdle, in the beginning," she said, "was getting used to the learning environment, how to access lessons, how to communicate with teachers, and how to guide my children when they were in need of assistance."

The coursework is rigorous, she said, and the experience her children are gaining by being in charge of their learning is invaluable. The expectations are higher due to the nature of the learning environment.

I feel my children will be better prepared for the responsibilities that come with college courses and workforce environments more so than I was when I was their age.

Alabama's Big Three Plus Two

Alabama now has five virtual schools, where all schoolwork is done online. Unlike brick-and-mortar schools, these virtual schools have no zone lines. They can and do accept students from other school districts around the state.

The main three are: Eufaulas Alabama Virtual Academy---the first of its kind in the state; Limestone Countys Virtual School also known as Alabama Connections Academy; and Conecuh Countys Genesis Innovative School.

A fourth program, Athens Citys Renaissance School, has scaled back on virtual schooling. It previously accepted a large number of virtual students statewide. But school officials found that the blended online experience, where students take some of their classes online, but also at times show up at a traditional school, is more productive, according to Superintendent Trey Holladay.

Renaissance now has about 125 virtual students statewide, Holladay said, with about 600 blended online students in the Tennessee Valley area.

A fifth statewide virtual school, Alabama Destination Career Academy, just opened in August for kindergarten through ninth-graders with plans to expand to 12th grade, and is being offered through Chickasaw City Schools in Mobile County.

Incentive for School Districts

It stands to reason that virtual school costs less than operating a brick-and-mortar building. In virtual school, building-related, transportation and school meal costs---which can add up to more than 30% of the total cost to educate a student in a school building---are avoided.

But the differences are sizeable, if recent spending numbers are to be believed.

According to recent numbers, Limestone County spent just $969 per virtual student and Conecuh County spent just $726 during the 2017-18 school year. That compares to an annual average of $9,425 per student for all schools in Alabama during the same time period. That suggests Conecuh could educate about 13 virtual students for the average cost of sending a single student to a neighborhood school.

State officials weren't sure whether the virtual school spending numbers were tallied correctly, though, and are working to ensure the 2018-19 spending data, due out Oct. 18, will reflect the total cost associated with the cost of virtual schooling.

The NEPC, in their 2019 annual report, found that virtual schooling costs less than what states are actually paying.

"Social Anxiety"

Mary Ann Danford spent more than 20 years in traditional brick-and-mortar public schools before becoming the full-time principal of Genesis Innovative School last year.

"I did not think I would fall in love and embrace it the way that I have," she said.

Don't let Conecuh County's 'F' on the 2017-18 report card lead you to believe students aren't doing well, Danford said. The 600 students in Kindergarten through 12th grade at Genesis are bright and dedicated, she said, and the 2018-19 report card will show improvement.

"We're going to show huge growth this year," Danford said, referring to the academic growth measure on the state's report card, due out Oct. 18.

Virtual school isn't for everyone, she said. Students need to be organized, independent, and self-motivated, she said. Families must provide the laptop or desktop, she said, and the internet connection must be high-speed and reliable.

"A large majority of our children are affected by social anxiety," she said, and many have been victims of cyber-bullying.

Danford said distance isn't a barrier to forming relationships with students and their families. "I feel like I know my virtual kids a lot better than my brick-and-mortar kids," she said. "Parents are so good to work with," she added.

Offsetting Declining Enrollment

For Brandy Dumas-Harris, Alabama Virtual Academy was just what her family needed. Dumas-Harris, a Huntsville resident, enrolled her oldest daughter in her kindergarten year, the first year the school opened. "She was being picked on by other students," she said. "She didn't want to go to school. She would not pay attention in class and fell behind."

"I saw the commercial for K12 and enrolled her," Dumas-Harris said. "We have been at Alabama Virtual Academy ever since."

In August, her oldest daughter started fifth grade and her youngest daughter started first grade. Both live in North Alabama. Both count toward the enrollment 250 miles away in Eufaula City Schools in the Black Belt.

With student enrollment declining in most districts across the state, enrolling online students from other districts presents an opportunity for a rural system to bolster the budget. That's because each student, whether online or in person, brings the local school board the same state tax dollars.

Some systems have expanded the program rapidly. In 2016-17, Eufaulathe first to open enrollment statewidehad 15 virtual students. By 2017-18, that number grew to 1,004, according to internal audit documents. By 2018-19, when the virtual school established itself as separate from other schools in the district, official enrollment numbers show 2,698 virtual students were enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade. That's more than half of the total student body in the district as a whole.

The Eufaula City School district as a whole jumped from 2,691 students in 2015-16, to 5,293 students last school year.

That sudden increase pushed Eufaula High School up from being one of the largest schools in the Alabama High School Athletic Association's 5A classification, to one of the smaller schools in class 6A.

Our (enrollment) numbers are inflated because of virtual kids, Eufaula's then-football coach Bryan Moore said when the AHSAA moved the team to 6A. Because the virtual school is now separate from Eufaula High School, the school could be reclassified as a 5A school when those changes are made in January 2020.

Adding virtual students means adding state money to a district budget.

Around Alabama, school boards saw state funding increases ranging from 9% to more than 50% after they started enrolling virtual students. That amounts to millions and millions of dollars in state funding.

In 2015-16, Eufaula received $15.8 million in state funding. By 2017-18, state funding jumped to $24.3 million, a 53% increase. State funding for local schools increased by only 7% during the same time period.

Questions Over Outcomes

Nationally student outcomes at virtual schools are not up to par, according to NEPC. But, NEPC noted, virtual schools operated by school districtsas opposed to virtual charter schools, which are prohibited by law in Alabamahad better outcomes.

The graduation rate for virtual schools nationwide is just 50%, while the average rate for all schools was 84%, according to NEPC. (Graduation rates for Alabama's virtual schools have not yet been calculated because the schools are still new.)

Given that the two Alabama virtual schools that were graded on the 2017-18 report card earned F's, Alabama's virtual students don't appear to have much better results than virtual schools nationwide.

However, test scores so far appear mixed.

In Limestone County, 43% of the virtual school students reached proficiency in reading, 31% in math, and 35% in science. That's similar to the outcomes in brick-and-mortar schools in the Limestone district for reading (45%). Math and science proficiency are lower in the virtual schools.

In Conecuh County's Genesis Innovative School, test scores for 2017-18 show 54% of Genesis students are proficient in reading. That is higher than in other Conecuh County schools. Math and science proficiency levels are lower, at 22% and 21%, but that's roughly in line with other schools in the district.

However, fewer than half of Conecuh virtual students were tested. Participation rates in Limestone's virtual school were better but did not meet the 95% requirement in federal law.

For her part, Dumas-Harris is pleased with the rigor and test results her older daughter has received. On (the state) math (test), she made above benchmark and on English she made well above benchmark, she said. Her younger daughter will take the state tests in the spring for the first time.

Private Contractors Benefit

Alabama's virtual schools are still public schools. Students don't pay any tuition. The curriculum meets Alabama's standards. Online classes are taught by Alabama-certified teachers.

But unlike neighborhood schools, Alabama's statewide virtual schools rely on a private company.

And what the local school board pays to their virtual provider differs greatly. AL.com obtained contracts for three of Alabamas statewide virtual schools. Each is being supported by one of two giants of virtual school---K12 and Pearsons Connections Academy. They provide the curriculum and the learning platform.

Limestone Countythe only district contracting with Pearson's Connections Academy--did not respond to repeated requests for a copy of the contract. The Limestone County Virtual School, also known as Alabama Connections Academy, enrolled more than 2,000 studentsthe second-largest virtual school in Alabama--during the 2018-19 school year.

Eufaula City Schools, holds a contract with K12 for the Alabama Virtual Academy, known also as ALVA. Their contract, first approved in 2015, requires all state funding, except for a 3% "Administrative Oversight Fee" to be forwarded to K12 for all virtual students.

That means K12 received around $5,300 of the $5,500 that Eufaula received from the state for each student for the 2017-18 school year.

Conecuh County in south Alabama operated a virtual school for a couple of years before establishing Genesis Innovative School as a statewide virtual school during the 2017-18 school year.

According to contracts the district provided, they pay K12 on a monthly basis and the cost of providing the curriculumwhich includes the cost for Alabama-certified teachers---is between $340 and $399 per month, differing by the student's grade level. In a regular nine-month school year, that means K12 was paid around $3,600 of the $5,500 per student in state funds provided during the 2017-18 school year.

That means K12 received about $1,700 less per student for Genesis' students than ALVA's. Some of that variance could be due to the cost of the administrator of each school: at ALVA, K12 covers the cost of the principal, but at Genesis, cost for school administrators are covered by the district.

Attracting More White Students

Danford, the principal of Genesis Innovative School, said the curriculum, purchased from and administered by K12's Fuel Education, is rigorous. The school was one of seven nationwide to win Fuel Education's Transformation Award, which recognizes schools that create innovative programs and individualize student learning.

Student enrollment is growing at Genesis, Danford said, and the majority of students they serve actually live in other school districts. She said about 60% to 70% of their students left a brick-and-mortar school.

With students spreading across the state from Huntsville to Baldwin County, she said, she spends a good bit of time traveling to meet students and also to give them the required state tests. Danford said she wants families to know she and her team are here supporting the students.

Genesis has attracted a large number of white students, which is the opposite of statewide trends in brick-and-mortar schools.

Virtual school tripled the Conecuh County districts white student enrollment, from 218 in 2015-16 to 594 in 2018-19. That means the proportion of white students rose from 15% to 32%. Meanwhile, the number of African American students stayed constant, rising from 1,163 to 1,190 during the same time frame.

Statewide, white students are becoming a smaller proportion of the student population. The Alabama data is consistent with national enrollment trends showing a higher proportion of white students are enrolled in virtual schools than in all schools nationwide.

Danford said the student population at the school is growing more diverse. This year's enrollment looks to be 60% white and 40% African American, she said, which is much different than last year's 80/20 split.

The percentage of students in poverty at Genesis was 96% during the 2017-18 school year, much higher than the state average of 53% during the same time period.

Statewide, students in poverty are enrolled in Alabamas virtual schools in higher proportions than their wealthy peerswhile nationwide, the proportion of students in poverty is about the same among the two types of schools, according to NEPC.

Virtual students have to show up at a centralized location for the same standardized tests students in brick-and-mortar schools take.

Over the next few weeks, Danford said, she'll start her "road show," traveling to Huntsville, Jacksonville, Birmingham, and south Alabama to test students on the 9th-grade pre-ACT and the 12th-grade WorkKeys. "I feel like I need to be there," she said, "because I am the face of this school."

No Virtual Charters

Many states allow virtual charter schools, but Alabama law prohibits them.

Instead, Alabama law requires virtual school providers, like giants K12 and Pearsons Connections Academy, to go through existing public schools.

Alabama lawmakers passed a law in 2015 requiring all school districts to offer students in 9th through 12th grade a way to earn a diploma online by the start of the 2016-17 school year. Schools can use the state's online distance-learning program, called ACCESS, or they can contract with other districts.

Districts are also free to contract with private providers, like K12, Inc. and Pearson's Connections Academy.

There was no mention of statewide virtual schools in that 2015 law. But the idea at the time was for students to enroll in the school district where they live to force the local district to be responsible for the quality of the students education, according to groups working to pass the law at the time.

Alabama Association of School Boards Executive Director Sally Smith said her organization worked hard on that law to ensure local schools remain accountable for student outcomes. Smith said tighter accountability exists if local school officials oversee testing and special education services. So if a student begins to struggle in the online learning environment, the student can go back to attending the local brick-and-mortar school.

More recently, questions have come up about whether school districts can enroll students from other districts.

A 2018 memo from then-interim state Superintendent Ed Richardson stated that virtual students must be enrolled in their local school system and be counted as such. That means virtual students should be counted in the enrollment of the school district where they live.

However, no regulations or penalties for enrolling students living in other districts have been issued by the Department, so districts are free to enroll whomever they wish, no matter where they live.

Still, some districts have decided to keep it local.

Baldwin County's Blended Model

Baldwin County was one of the first school districts to dive into the virtual school world seven years ago. Today, like Athens, they are using a blended model, meaning students take some classes online, but have to take tests in a brick-and-mortar school.

Because students have to travel to one of four satellite campuses, they've limited their enrollment to Baldwin County students. Baldwin County teachers teach online and regularly interact with students, Principal Holly Resmondo said.

"Our teachers love our kids and make sure they get everything they need," she said. Virtual students can participate in extracurricular and sports activities at their zoned school, she said. Many do.

"A lot of other systems want to immediately offer a virtual school with all of these programs by using an outside vendor to do it," Chief Finance Officer John Wilson said. "It took us years to build up this program to the level that it is today. I think that's a big part of success."

Baldwin County Virtual School enrolled just over 300 students in sixth through 12th grade and earned a 'B' on the 2017-18 report card.

Wilson has concerns about the fully virtual model.

"Student enrollment is about dollars," he said, but bringing in students isn't something Baldwin County, the fastest growing school district in Alabama, has to worry about. "We're focusing on the kids, not trying to make a profit."

But for Dumas-Harris, the parent of two ALVA students, virtual school is working well.

"I love getting to watch my children learn new things," she said. "I love getting to watch them do science experiments and watch as their faces light up in amazement to see exactly how things work in the world. Stuff I would not get to see if they were in a brick and mortar school."

I plan to have my kids at ALVA till they graduate from high school.

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Is the Future of Alabama Public Education Online? - Government Technology

There are well over 5,000 colleges and universities in the United States so how does one choose the right fit?

Plexuss, an online platform dubbed The Global Student Network, is making the decision-making process easier for prospective college students.

The company has been around since 2011 but launched the platform in 2015. The Plexuss network won startup investment funding from the Seattle Accelerator run by Microsoft Ventures in 2018, the first company in the higher-education space to do so.

Its connecting students and colleges to each other, said Dave Moniz, vice president of strategic partnerships at Plexuss. The website is open, its public, and its free for anyone to use. You can research colleges in kind of a self-serve way, but we layered in live college admissions advising so that as students and parents have questions whatever time of day, or weekend, when it occurs to them we help give them immediate answers.

That is especially helpful for first-generation college students and students from low-income or underserved areas, Moniz said. Many students in Arizona do not have as much access to counselors as they need, he said.

Even when there is a wonderful crackerjack counseling department, there usually arent enough of them to go around and work as directly with as many students as they would like, Moniz said.

What we do for the six million students who found us on their own because they were researching majors or colleges were there to answer their questions, he said. Were there to guide them through all of the resources that we have.

The mission of Plexuss is to help students make better-informed decisions about higher education by following a pipeline from K-12 schools to higher education to the workforce. That means helping them choose majors, navigate financial aid and figure out what higher-education system or program is the best fit.

There are some great programs run by [community-based organizations] and placed in schools, but theres selection criteria, and students might need to meet a minimum GPA, or they might need to fit a certain profile in order to be eligible for services, Moniz said. We take everybody rich, poor, home school, any background. Were available to everyone Weve built something that kids like.

Moniz said Plexuss is not like walking into a library that has all the possible information one could need. Instead, the platform gives students a guided tour that allows them to ask questions, talk with a counselor about tough issues and compare institutions all for no cost.

Theres a lot of information available from the federal government, so we build college and university profiles that are consistent, that are standardized, he said. Students can always find the information they want about admissions or financial aid in the same place when theyre comparing colleges on our platform.

Plexuss is also available in a mobile app, another reason Moniz attributed for the platforms success. In addition, the website does not sell student data to colleges or other education partners unless the student chooses to be recruited by that institution.

I dont know that theres anyone else operating on the same scale that we do, with millions of students, who holds themselves to that standard and gives the student that much control over their records and profile, Moniz said.

He said he spent most of the summer in Arizona speaking directly with high schools, asking them how Plexuss can improve to better serve students and schools and reduce strain on counseling staff.

When we partner with a school or district, we dont ask them for any money, we dont ask them for any data, but we ask them to tell us what we can do to be a better partner, to understand local opportunities, to be more effective when were advising students, Moniz said.

That way, Plexuss does not pose a threat to existing counseling methods but serves as a supplemental resource for students, he said. Plexuss works with state legislators, counseling associations, business associations and a number of other organizations to get the lay of the land and support schools without duplicating work already being done.

Plexuss wants to know: Where are the gaps?

It might be, in one school, were focused mostly on FAFSA completion, Moniz said, referring to the federal student aid program. At another, its on helping underclassmen in high school figure out what they want to do for a major.

In Arizona specifically, he said he thinks every student could master the skills local employers are looking for, but it takes counseling to connect students with those choices.

Its not so much that [Arizona] schools arent teaching what students need, its that a lot of [students] are tuning out or taking an alternate pathway, because theyre not connecting the dots, and theyre not seeing some of these employment opportunities as realistic for them or relevant to them, Moniz said.

Across the nation and beyond, students who are perfectly capable of filling certain roles have additional barriers to education, he said. They need constant encouragement, or nudges which Moniz said is becoming a more scientific term to pursue an education and career pathway.

Plexuss exists to help students articulate their goals and understand how to achieve them, Moniz said.

We already have students from almost every high school in Arizona on our platform, he said. Wed like to be at 100 percent, and wed like the schools to feel comfortable telling us what we could do to be a better partner and improve the quality of our work so their kids have better outcomes.

Link:
Plexuss online network connects prospective college students with higher education - Chamber Business News

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Online Education Market Latest Trends, Business Opportunities and Demands 2019 to 2025 - The Ukiah Post

In Brief

The rapid pace of technological change continues to disrupt traditional procedures in all spheres, including the accounting profession. The authors examine the potential effects that disruptive technologies will have on both the profession at large and accounting education specifically. They provide suggestions for educators and universities on how to shape their curricula to meet the needs of the new environment.

* * *

Both the accounting and auditing functions are experiencing a major wave of automation that most likely will result in substantive reduction of staff (see Li Zhang, Duo Pei, and Miklos A. Vasarhelyi, Toward a New Business Reporting Model,Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting,Fall 2017,http://bit.ly/2odcUgD; and Helen Brown-Liburd and Miklos A. Vasarhelyi, Big Data and Audit Evidence,Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting,2015,http://bit.ly/2obeaB0). It is predicted that the traditional mix of jobs in accounting firms will change substantially, and accountants will need to learn new skills when the more traditional tasks become automated and the technical maintenance and analytic needs of the work increase substantively. A major wave of educational change is also emerging with the advent of distance education, various forms of unorthodox training, and a large set of new learning needs.

The CPA exam is a key driver for the content of accounting classes. One of the key determinants of the content of the CPA exam is a survey performed every six or seven years examining what tasks are typically performed by CPA firm employees in the first two years of employment. When discussing with exam preparers the absence of modern audit analytics and the low content of information technology (IT) material in the exam, the typical response is that students are not prepared for these topics and the boards of accountancy will not accept these changes. Although the CPA exam has changed to include simulations that examine analytic skills, it has not turned its content to the forthcoming disruption of the profession through digitization (Marilyn Greenstein and Miklos A. Vasarhelyi, Underlying Principles of the Electronization of Business: A Research Agenda,International Journal of Accounting Information Systems,March 2003,http://bit.ly/2ofrkg4).

This article examines the breadth of the changes that automation and other technologies will bring to the accounting profession. The authors suggest potential solutions that will help graduating students be better prepared for the accounting workplace of the future.

Recently, disruptive technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, smart contracts, and advanced analytics have reshaped existing business models and facilitated the emergence of new ones wherein repetitive and mundane tasks are becoming less important and the need for high-level skills is increasing. Though it still will be some time before these technologies affect the workplace at a significant scale, the current entry-level jobs that require noor low-level cognitive skills may eventually disappear. It has been estimated that at least 50% of the work that accountants and other professionals are paid for is automatable through currently available technologies, with an additional 15% automatable through forthcoming technologies (James Manyika et al., Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: What the Future of Work Will Mean for Jobs, Skills, and Wages, McKinsey Global Institute, November 2017,https://mck.co/2LCunZd).

This constant disruption and the static focus of the CPA exam create a mismatch between the supply and demand of the necessary talents. Students graduating from traditional accounting programs usually do not have the knowledge and skills required by employers, and this is especially true of workplaces with high-level adoption of automation and AI (seeExhibit 1). To catch up, students must usually reeducate themselves through online courses or by training programs offered by employers or third parties.

Skill Mismatch and the Adoption of Automation and AI

Source: Skill Shift: Automation and the Future of the Workforce, McKinsey Global Institute,https://mck.co/2BTO3br

Currently, the CPA exam requires mostly practical skills, followed by comprehension and analysis skills (Exhibit 2). Since the rule-based and repetitive tasks that require the above-mentioned skills are prone to automation, however, high-level cognitive skills should be more emphasized (Exhibit 3). The Big Four (Cooper et al., 2018) are trying to hire people who have not only accounting and auditing knowledge, but also analytical skills and computer programming or coding experience (L.A. Cooper, D.K. Holderness, T. Sorenson, and D.A. Wood, Robotic Process Automation in Public Accounting, working paper, 2018). Ernst & Young points out that the audit of the future requires accounting plus skills (expanded inExhibit 4), including a mindset that is innovative, global, and questioning/challenging; leadership skills; the curiosity to ask better questions; the emotional intelligence to better connect and communicate with clients; and knowledge of techniquessuch as data analytics (The Future of Audit: Preparing Students to Succeed,Ernst & Young whitepaper, 2018). Several of the other large and midsize firms have expressed similar opinions.

Skill Levels Assessed on Each Section of the CPA Exam

Skill Levels Required by CPA Exam

Accounting Plus Skills Framework

Accounting plus presents a very high bar for the profession. A much more realistic set of expectations is expressed by Mike Leonardson, from the audit analytics leadership of Ernst & Young:

We will always need auditors with backgrounds in accounting and auditing. However, our auditors will also need to have some level of proficiency in data analytics. We need our staff to be aware of the tools and techniques that are available to them to address audit risks. We need our professionals to be able to identify risks (frame out their questions) and to think about what data would be useful in addressing those risks (answer those questions). Our auditors can leverage the skills of specialists in capturing and transforming that data. Our auditors need to think about how they could analyze that data and to visualize the data in order to provide the information or evidence necessary to reach their conclusion. (Mike Leonardson, personal interview)

Such an approach has significant implications on curricula, recruiting, and research. This framework must, however, be considered within the evolving framework of education and business schools.

Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen predicted in 2017 that 50 percent of the 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. will be bankrupt in 10 to 15 years due to the disruption of online education (Abigail Hess, Harvard Business School Professor: Half of U.S. Colleges Will Be Bankrupt in 10 to 15 years, CNBC.com, Nov. 15, 2017,https://cnb.cx/2MyeOXY). The U.S. Department of Education and Moodys Investors Service also project that the closure rates of small colleges and universities will triple, and mergers will double, in coming years (Hess 2017). The disruption caused by online education comes not just from the technology itself, but mainly from the new business model upon which online education is based (Doug Lederman, Clay Christensen Sticks with Predictions of Massive College Closures,Inside Higher Ed,Apr. 28, 2017,http://bit.ly/2wsfTpg). Online education has transformed the knowledge that formerly could only be obtained in the classroom into bytable goods that can be transferred through the Internet without time, structure, and geography constraints (Greenstein and Vasarhelyi 2003).

Accounting plus has significant implications on curricula, recruiting, and research. This framework must, however, be considered within the evolving framework of education and business schools.

Compared to traditional business schools, in which the creation and approval of new courses usually takes a long time and carries the risk that the new course might be canceled if not enough students register, online education platforms can gather large and diverse pools of traditional and emerging courses in a relatively short time and at lower cost and store them online for ad hoc demand. Students who feel the need to acquire new skills not taught by traditional accounting programs often turn to these online education platforms to gain that knowledge. Given the fact that online education platforms can offer not only CPA-oriented courses but also emerging technology courses at a cheaper price, traditional business schools will have to reconsider their competitive strategies. In short, they should focus on cultivating the accounting plus skill set. Professors can even make full use of materials already available online by assigning them as required reading, thereby shortening the time spent on those contents and allowing class time to focus on practical training. They should also draw on their research competencies to create new content that is not already available elsewhere.

In general, curricula and methods of education in most countries have not substantially changed, but pressures are increasing, with innovative universities trying to fill the gap. Universities in Asia have tested integrating IT/advanced analytics courses into their accounting programs. Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) in Chengdu, China, for example, is creating an entire undergraduate program oriented around business analytics in accounting. The program emphasizes training in mathematics, statistics, and IT (e.g., data mining, machine learning, database) in addition to the core accounting knowledge. It also includes two innovative courses regarding the use of data analytics to accomplish accounting, auditing, and risk management tasks. Singapore Management University has established the first masters degree in accounting data and analytics in Asia, which helps students to develop expertise in applying data technology to accounting. Similar efforts have also been made by universities in North America and Europe; for example, the University of Waterloo in Canada integrates a basic curriculum of analytics with its undergraduate and graduate offerings, and Queen Mary University in the United Kingdom teaches undergraduate students how to use mathematics and statistics to discover patterns in finance and accounting domains.

One of the biggest challenges for universities in establishing these interdisciplinary programs is the significant lack of qualified faculty members with a strong background and training in both technology and accounting. Although basic courses, like IT and statistics, can be offered by professors in each discipline, innovative courses that bridge technology and accounting should be taught by faculty with expertise in both domains. The number of doctoral programs that offer such training to their PhD students, however, is limited. Currently, accounting departments (e.g., SWUFEs) try to recruit faculty members with IT or statistics expertise as supplemental instructors; however, more effort still needs to be invested into the development of doctoral programs that equip PhD students with both technology and accounting knowledge.

Digital media made available on the Internet is probably the major equalizer. Rutgers University has placed its entire accounting curriculum for free on Youtube (http://bit.ly/2MXkVnP) and on its website (http://raw.rutgers.edu/RADL.html). The incremental cost of provisioning this is close to zero and the cost for the university to capture the classes is small; on the other hand, the social good can be very large although the learning requires self-discipline and low threshold of frustration as the free education does not provide assistance to resolve questions nor tests to verify learning.

The automation of repetitive tasks will cause substantial reduction of the work-force needed for traditional assurance work, but it will also lead to an increasing need for employees who possess skills such as IT and data analysis. Consequently, the advent of disruptive technologies is forcing members of the accounting profession to learn new skills, especially IT, statistics, and modeling. To satisfy the constantly changing needs of the workplace, the education model should also be up-to-date.

Both the AICPA, which develops the Uniform CPA Exam, and accounting educators should focus more on higher-level skills, especially analytical, critical, and innovative thinking skills, and decrease the emphasis on memorization and the mechanical application of rules. The AICPA should also consider increasing the content of IT, cybersecurity, and data analytics within the exam. Business school accounting programs are encouraged to open new courses related to IT and data analytics to diversify the course pool. Alternatively, accounting educators may also feel it useful to blend big data analytics and IT into existing traditional accounting courses such as financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing, and taxation. This requires accounting educators to change their mindset and expand their skill sets; while this may take time, PhD students who possess these new skills may help facilitate the change.

Traditional business schools should also explore new teaching models, such as online teaching, course modularization, or a hybrid of online and physical teaching. Business schools can also consider offering special certifications for new course modules, such as cybersecurity and audit data analytics. Classes can be taped and stored online for the purpose of review and reuse. Educators should also encourage a philosophy of lifelong learning and teach students to learn new things and adapt to the changing environment, cultivating accountants who are prepared for the future.

The Economistlisted the elements of what it called a Cambrian moment (named after the Cambrian explosion of life on Earth approximately 541 million years ago) in digital technology (A Cambrian Moment, Jan. 18, 2014,http://bit.ly/2LuA2R9) as

Taking these elements together in the accounting, auditing, and instructional domains suggests that substantive change is in the process of happening, creating an environment very different from what universities and firm training have been providing.

Chanyuan (Abigail) Zhang is a PhD student in the department of accounting and information systems at Rutgers University, Newark, N.J.

Jun Dai, PhD is an assistant professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China.

Miklos A. Vasarhelyi, PhD is the KPMG Distinguished Professor of Accounting Information Systems and director of the Rutgers Accounting Research Center and Continuous Auditing and Reporting Lab at Rutgers University. He is a member ofThe CPA JournalEditorial Advisory Board.

Continued here:
ICYMI | The Impact of Disruptive Technologies on Accounting and Auditing Education - The CPA Journal

MarketReportsOnline.com the exclusive leading provider of market research reports published research report on The US Postsecondary Online Education Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2019-2023).

The report titled The US Postsecondary Online Education Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2019-2023), provides an in depth analysis of the postsecondary online education market of the US by value and by volume. The report provides a detailed analysis of the US postsecondary online education market by institution type.

Get Free Sample Brochure of This Report @ http://www.marketreportsonline.com/contacts/requestsample.php?name=788263.

The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the US postsecondary online education market has also been forecasted for the period 2019-2023, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.

American Public Education, Grand Canyon Education, Adtalem Global Education and Apollo Global Management (Apollo Education Group) are some of the key players operating in the US postsecondary online education market, whose company profiling has been done in the report. In this segment of the report, business overview, financial overview and business strategies of the companies are provided.

Company Coverage

Postsecondary online education is defined as the education being undertaken after the high school through online mode including the professional and research studies. Various universities, vocational universities such as technical colleges, community colleges and other institutions provide the academic degrees.

Purchase a copy of this US Postsecondary Online Education Market report @ http://www.marketreportsonline.com/contacts/purchase.php?name=788263.

The postsecondary online education market can be segmented into undergraduate and graduate postsecondary education. Undergraduate postsecondary education is the formal education undertaken after completing the secondary school, while graduate postsecondary education generally known as post-graduation are the professional or research studies in various disciplines.

Further, the US postsecondary online education market operates with the help of three types of institutions, namely, public not-for-profit, private not-for-profit and private for-profit institutions.

The US postsecondary online education market has increased at a significant growth during the year 2018 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next four years at a significant CAGR i.e. 2019-2023 tremendously. The online postsecondary education market in the US is expected to increase due to increasing adoption of microlearning, rising urbanization rate, higher spending on education, growing penetration of IOT devices, increase in educational attainment, etc.

Yet the market faces some challenges such as limited access to internet in remote areas, growing not-for-profit competitors, availability of free online content, etc. The postsecondary online education market also follows some market trends, which include growth of smart education and learning, artificial intelligence, learning management system, etc.

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Postsecondary Online Education Market Future Growth, Business Prospects and Forecast to 2023 | American Public Education, Inc., Grand Canyon...

The University of Iowa has joined the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate to learn and grow from other institutions that offer the corresponding degree.

Photograph of Megan McVancel taken by Raquele Decker on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019.

Raquele Decker

Photograph of Megan McVancel taken by Raquele Decker on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019.

Raquele Decker

Raquele Decker

Photograph of Megan McVancel taken by Raquele Decker on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019.

The University of Iowa recently joined a consortium to enhance its education doctorate, which is typically obtained by those planning to serve as a school-district superintendent or a higher-education administrator.

The Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate consortium, in which the UI now participates, aims to enhance its Ed.D. program and learn from other institutions with a similar degree program.

The UI began offering an Ed.D. after approval by the state Board of Regents in November 2017. The degree focuses on educational policy and leadership studies and requires students to take 75 credit hours, said Megan McVancel, academic clinical program-management coordinator in the College of Education.

A cohort model requires that students go through the core courses of the program as a group, McVancel said. The degree is a professional doctorate for people in administrative positions in K-12 and higher education, she said.

RELATED: Regents approve UI request for Bachelors in Screenwriting degree

They have real-life experience and real-life problems with things that are happening in education, McVancel said. Part of the idea is they are working professionals, so theyre going to learn a lot from each others experience.

The degree brings together both higher education and K-12 aspects of the College of Education programs, she added.

The primary difference between the Ph.D. and Ed.D. programs is that a Ph.D. teaches students to be researchers or faculty at a research institution, McVancel said. The Ed.D. trains people to do work in education, she said.

Students in the program can pursue either an educational-leadership track or a higher-education and student-affairs track, UI education Associate Professor Cassie Barnhardt said. Barnhardt will teach courses specifically covering higher education and student affairs.

Our program is focused on policy and leadership, and were interested in preparing the most effective, highly qualified individuals into our educational settings, Barnhardt said.

The degree was founded on the basis that the UI already has the resources and courses available for students, Barnhardt said. The college decided to bring all of those aspects together to create the degree, she said, giving students the option to pursue something different.

RELATED: Board of Regents approve University of Iowas request for degree in sustainability science

Carnegie Project on Doctorate Education Executive Director Jill Perry said there are 115 institutions involved with the project, and the goal is to distinguish between an Ed.D. and Ph.D. At the beginning of the project, she said, the organization worked to create guidelines for institutions offering an Ed.D.

The project is not a conference organization, Perry said, but a professional-development organization. The institutions can share and learn from peers in the project to better the design of the program and the courses it offers, she added.

Currently, the project hosts a three-day event to bring together institution administrators, but the organization is working on creating a communal space for institutions to connect online, Perry said.

Theres not a one size fits all model. Theres a framework that will guide the design so that each institution can adhere to what their students need, as well as their campus regulations, she said.

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UI joins the Carnegie Project for its Education Doctorate consortium - UI The Daily Iowan

China Online Education Group (NYSE:COE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 40,400 shares, an increase of 288.5% from the August 15th total of 10,400 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Separately, ValuEngine upgraded shares of China Online Education Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Shares of NYSE:COE opened at $6.88 on Friday. China Online Education Group has a 52 week low of $3.68 and a 52 week high of $9.52. The companys 50 day moving average is $6.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.16.

China Online Education Group (NYSE:COE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 11th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $51.48 million for the quarter.

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group, through its subsidiaries, provides online English language education services to students in the People's Republic of China and the Philippines. It operates online and mobile education platforms that enable students to take live interactive English lessons with international foreign teachers.

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Short Interest in China Online Education Group (NYSE:COE) Expands By 288.5% - TechNewsObserver

DUBLIN, Oct. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The US Postsecondary Online Education Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2019-2023)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The US postsecondary online education market has increased at a significant growth during the year 2018 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next four years at a significant CAGR i.e. 2019-2023, tremendously.

The online postsecondary education market in the US is expected to increase due to the increasing adoption of microlearning, rising urbanization rate, higher spending on education, growing penetration of IoT devices, increase in educational attainment, etc.

Yet the market faces some challenges such as limited access to the internet in remote areas, growing not-for-profit competitors, availability of free online content, etc. The postsecondary online education market also follows some market trends, which include the growth of smart education and learning, artificial intelligence, learning management systems, etc.

Company Coverage

Scope of the Report

The report provides an in-depth analysis of the postsecondary online education market of the US by value and by volume. The report provides a detailed analysis of the US postsecondary online education market by institution type.

The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the US postsecondary online education market has also been forecasted for the period 2019-2023, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.

American Public Education, Grand Canyon Education, Adtalem Global Education and Apollo Global Management (Apollo Education Group) are some of the key players operating in the US postsecondary online education market, whose company profiling has been done in the report. In this segment of the report, a business overview, financial overview and business strategies of the companies are provided.

Key Topics Covered

1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction2.1 Postsecondary Online Education: An Overview2.1.1 Introduction2.1.2 Online Program Management (OPM)2.1.3 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)2.2 Postsecondary Online Education Segmentation2.2.1 Postsecondary Online Education Segmentation by Education Type2.2.2 Postsecondary Online Education Segmentation by School Type2.2.3 Postsecondary Online Education Segmentation by End User2.3 Postsecondary Online Education: Advantages and Disadvantages2.3.1 Postsecondary Online Education Advantages2.3.2 Postsecondary Online Education Disadvantages

3. The US Market Analysis3.1 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market: An Analysis3.1.1 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market by Value3.1.2 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market by Volume3.1.3 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market Volume by Institution Type3.1.4 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market Value by Segments (Undergraduate and Graduate)3.1.5 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market Volume by Segments (Undergraduate and Graduate)3.2 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market: Segment Analysis3.2.1 The US Undergraduate Online Education Market by Value3.2.2 The US Undergraduate Online Education Market by Degree Programs3.2.3 The US Undergraduate Online Education Market by Volume3.2.4 The US Graduate Online Education Market by Value3.2.5 The US Graduate Online Education Market by Degree Programs3.2.6 The US Graduate Online Education Market by Volume

4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Rise in Educational Attainment Rate4.1.2 Increase in Disposable Income4.1.3 Growing Penetration of IoT Devices4.1.4 Growth in Adoption of Microlearning4.1.5 Increasing Urbanization Rate4.1.6 Rising Education Spending4.2 Challenges4.2.1 Limited Access to the Internet in Remote Areas4.2.2 Online Availability of Free Content4.2.3 Rising Not-for-Profit Competitors4.3 Market Trends4.3.1 Artificial Intelligence4.3.2 Smart Education and Learning4.3.3 Learning Management System

5. Competitive Landscape5.1 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market: A Financial Comparison 5.2 The US Postsecondary Online Education Market Volume by Players

6. Company Profiles6.1 American Public Education Inc.6.1.1 Business Overview6.1.2 Financial Overview6.1.3 Business Strategy6.2 Grand Canyon Education Inc.6.3 Adtalem Global Education Inc.6.4 Apollo Global Management (Apollo Education Group)

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/awoh42

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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United States Postsecondary Online Education Market, Forecast to 2023 - AI, Smart Education & Learning, and Learning Management Systems are...

More than 5,400 public school students in Alabama today get their education entirely through a computer connection. Parents of students enrolled in virtual schools say its working better for their children: no more worrying about keeping up with the Joneses and no more bullying because their children dont fit in with the in crowd.

"My children are not nearly as consumed with what others are doing or meeting the demands of peer pressure," said Brooke Veazey, mother of two who are attending a public high school online. "Both of my children are more confident in what they are learning, both are getting better rest since their start time is my choice, and both children are learning to appreciate themselves as individuals."

But, the growing practice raises new questions. While many parents seem happy with the home setup and flexible schedule, there are questions about how well students are learning.

In Alabama, both statewide virtual schools on the books in 2017-18---Limestone Countys Virtual School and Conecuh Countys Genesis Innovative School---earned Fs on the state report card.

And there are questions about money. There is no tuition or fee. So why would a small handful of school boards in rural Alabama suddenly hire private contractors to help take on the education of children from other counties?

Eufaula, a small city in south Alabama, has drawn so many online students it doubled its enrollment and substantially grew its state tax support. It grew so much that the system jumped up in athletic class. Yet all that without having to add more desks and all that without seeing any new faces in the hall.

Growing nationwide

Veazeys children attend Alabama Connections Academy, a K-12 online school powered by Pearson, one of two for-profit education giants leading the growing virtual school industry nationwide.

Across the country, there are 501 full-time virtual schools in 35 states. They enrolled just under 300,000 students during the 2017-18 school year, according to research by the National Education Policy Center in Colorado, shown in the chart below.

Enrollment is growing in the nation's virtual schools.

For Veazey's family, this is the second year attending school virtually.

Veazey, an education technology specialist working in public schools in the central Alabama area, said it took a little getting used to, but once a schedule was in place, things ran smoothly. She serves as her children's "learning coach," a must for parents overseeing their children's education in the virtual school world.

The learning coach is also supposed to make sure students dont cheat on tests or other coursework.

"The biggest hurdle, in the beginning," she said, "was getting used to the learning environment, how to access lessons, how to communicate with teachers, and how to guide my children when they were in need of assistance."

The coursework is rigorous, she said, and the experience her children are gaining by being in charge of their learning is invaluable. The expectations are higher due to the nature of the learning environment.

I feel my children will be better prepared for the responsibilities that come with college courses and workforce environments more so than I was when I was their age.

Alabama's big three plus two

Alabama now has five virtual schools, where all schoolwork is done online. Unlike brick-and-mortar schools, these virtual schools have no zone lines. They can and do accept students from other school districts around the state.

The main three are: Eufaulas Alabama Virtual Academy---the first of its kind in the state; Limestone Countys Virtual School also known as Alabama Connections Academy; and Conecuh Countys Genesis Innovative School.

A fourth program, Athens Citys Renaissance School, has scaled back on virtual schooling. It previously accepted a large number of virtual students statewide. But school officials found that the blended online experience, where students take some of their classes online, but also at times show up at a traditional school, is more productive, according to Superintendent Trey Holladay.

Renaissance now has about 125 virtual students statewide, Holladay said, with about 600 blended online students in the Tennessee Valley area.

A fifth statewide virtual school, Alabama Destination Career Academy, just opened in August for kindergarten through ninth-graders with plans to expand to 12th grade, and is being offered through Chickasaw City Schools in Mobile County.

These are the locations of Alabama's virtual schools at the start of the 2019-20 school year.

Incentive for school districts

It stands to reason that virtual school costs less than operating a brick-and-mortar building. In virtual school, building-related, transportation and school meal costs---which can add up to more than 30% of the total cost to educate a student in a school building---are avoided.

But the differences are sizeable, if recent spending numbers are to be believed.

According to recent numbers, Limestone County spent just $969 per virtual student and Conecuh County spent just $726 during the 2017-18 school year. That compares to an annual average of $9,425 per student for all schools in Alabama during the same time period. That suggests Conecuh could educate about 13 virtual students for the average cost of sending a single student to a neighborhood school.

State officials weren't sure whether the virtual school spending numbers were tallied correctly, though, and are working to ensure the 2018-19 spending data, due out Oct. 18, will reflect the total cost associated with the cost of virtual schooling.

The NEPC, in their 2019 annual report, found that virtual schooling costs less than what states are actually paying.

"Social anxiety"

Mary Ann Danford spent more than 20 years in traditional brick-and-mortar public schools before becoming the full-time principal of Genesis Innovative School last year.

"I did not think I would fall in love and embrace it the way that I have," she said.

Don't let Conecuh County's 'F' on the 2017-18 report card lead you to believe students aren't doing well, Danford said. The 600 students in Kindergarten through 12th grade at Genesis are bright and dedicated, she said, and the 2018-19 report card will show improvement.

"We're going to show huge growth this year," Danford said, referring to the academic growth measure on the state's report card, due out Oct. 18.

Virtual school isn't for everyone, she said. Students need to be organized, independent, and self-motivated, she said. Families must provide the laptop or desktop, she said, and the internet connection must be high-speed and reliable.

"A large majority of our children are affected by social anxiety," she said, and many have been victims of cyber-bullying.

Danford said distance isn't a barrier to forming relationships with students and their families. "I feel like I know my virtual kids a lot better than my brick-and-mortar kids," she said. "Parents are so good to work with," she added.

Offsetting declining enrollment

For Brandy Dumas-Harris, Alabama Virtual Academy was just what her family needed. Dumas-Harris, a Huntsville resident, enrolled her oldest daughter in her kindergarten year, the first year the school opened. "She was being picked on by other students," she said. "She didn't want to go to school. She would not pay attention in class and fell behind."

"I saw the commercial for K12 and enrolled her," Dumas-Harris said. "We have been at Alabama Virtual Academy ever since."

In August, her oldest daughter started fifth grade and her youngest daughter started first grade. Both live in North Alabama. Both count toward the enrollment 250 miles away in Eufaula City Schools in the Black Belt.

With student enrollment declining in most districts across the state, enrolling online students from other districts presents an opportunity for a rural system to bolster the budget. That's because each student, whether online or in person, brings the local school board the same state tax dollars.

Some systems have expanded the program rapidly. In 2016-17, Eufaulathe first to open enrollment statewidehad 15 virtual students. By 2017-18, that number grew to 1,004, according to internal audit documents. By 2018-19, when the virtual school established itself as separate from other schools in the district, official enrollment numbers show 2,698 virtual students were enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade. That's more than half of the total student body in the district as a whole.

The Eufaula City School district as a whole jumped from 2,691 students in 2015-16, to 5,293 students last school year.

That sudden increase pushed Eufaula High School up from being one of the largest schools in the Alabama High School Athletic Association's 5A classification, to one of the smaller schools in class 6A.

Our (enrollment) numbers are inflated because of virtual kids, Eufaula's then-football coach Bryan Moore said when the AHSAA moved the team to 6A. Because the virtual school is now separate from Eufaula High School, the school could be reclassified as a 5A school when those changes are made in January 2020.

Adding virtual students means adding state money to a district budget.

Around Alabama, school boards saw state funding increases ranging from 9% to more than 50% after they started enrolling virtual students. That amounts to millions and millions of dollars in state funding.

In 2015-16, Eufaula received $15.8 million in state funding. By 2017-18, state funding jumped to $24.3 million, a 53% increase. State funding for local schools increased by only 7% during the same time period.

Questions over outcomes

Nationally student outcomes at virtual schools are not up to par, according to NEPC. But, NEPC noted, virtual schools operated by school districtsas opposed to virtual charter schools, which are prohibited by law in Alabamahad better outcomes.

The graduation rate for virtual schools nationwide is just 50%, while the average rate for all schools was 84%, according to NEPC. (Graduation rates for Alabama's virtual schools have not yet been calculated because the schools are still new.)

Given that the two Alabama virtual schools that were graded on the 2017-18 report card earned F's, Alabama's virtual students don't appear to have much better results than virtual schools nationwide.

However, test scores so far appear mixed.

In Limestone County, 43% of the virtual school students reached proficiency in reading, 31% in math, and 35% in science. That's similar to the outcomes in brick-and-mortar schools in the Limestone district for reading (45%). Math and science proficiency are lower in the virtual schools.

In Conecuh County's Genesis Innovative School, test scores for 2017-18 show 54% of Genesis students are proficient in reading. That is higher than in other Conecuh County schools. Math and science proficiency levels are lower, at 22% and 21%, but that's roughly in line with other schools in the district.

However, fewer than half of Conecuh virtual students were tested. Participation rates in Limestone's virtual school were better but did not meet the 95% requirement in federal law.

For her part, Dumas-Harris is pleased with the rigor and test results her older daughter has received. On (the state) math (test), she made above benchmark and on English she made well above benchmark, she said. Her younger daughter will take the state tests in the spring for the first time.

Private contractors benefit

Alabama's virtual schools are still public schools. Students don't pay any tuition. The curriculum meets Alabama's standards. Online classes are taught by Alabama-certified teachers.

But unlike neighborhood schools, Alabama's statewide virtual schools rely on a private company.

And what the local school board pays to their virtual provider differs greatly. AL.com obtained contracts for three of Alabamas statewide virtual schools. Each is being supported by one of two giants of virtual school---K12 and Pearsons Connections Academy. They provide the curriculum and the learning platform.

Limestone Countythe only district contracting with Pearson's Connections Academy--did not respond to repeated requests for a copy of the contract. The Limestone County Virtual School, also known as Alabama Connections Academy, enrolled more than 2,000 studentsthe second-largest virtual school in Alabama--during the 2018-19 school year.

Eufaula City Schools, holds a contract with K12 for the Alabama Virtual Academy, known also as ALVA. Their contract, first approved in 2015, requires all state funding, except for a 3% "Administrative Oversight Fee" to be forwarded to K12 for all virtual students.

That means K12 received around $5,300 of the $5,500 that Eufaula received from the state for each student for the 2017-18 school year.

Conecuh County in south Alabama operated a virtual school for a couple of years before establishing Genesis Innovative School as a statewide virtual school during the 2017-18 school year.

According to contracts the district provided, they pay K12 on a monthly basis and the cost of providing the curriculumwhich includes the cost for Alabama-certified teachers---is between $340 and $399 per month, differing by the student's grade level. In a regular nine-month school year, that means K12 was paid around $3,600 of the $5,500 per student in state funds provided during the 2017-18 school year.

That means K12 received about $1,700 less per student for Genesis' students than ALVA's. Some of that variance could be due to the cost of the administrator of each school: at ALVA, K12 covers the cost of the principal, but at Genesis, cost for school administrators are covered by the district.

Attracting more white students

Danford, the principal of Genesis Innovative School, said the curriculum, purchased from and administered by K12's Fuel Education, is rigorous. The school was one of seven nationwide to win Fuel Education's Transformation Award, which recognizes schools that create innovative programs and individualize student learning.

Student enrollment is growing at Genesis, Danford said, and the majority of students they serve actually live in other school districts. She said about 60% to 70% of their students left a brick-and-mortar school.

With students spreading across the state from Huntsville to Baldwin County, she said, she spends a good bit of time traveling to meet students and also to give them the required state tests. Danford said she wants families to know she and her team are here supporting the students.

Genesis has attracted a large number of white students, which is the opposite of statewide trends in brick-and-mortar schools.

Virtual school tripled the Conecuh County districts white student enrollment, from 218 in 2015-16 to 594 in 2018-19. That means the proportion of white students rose from 15% to 32%. Meanwhile, the number of African American students stayed constant, rising from 1,163 to 1,190 during the same time frame.

Statewide, white students are becoming a smaller proportion of the student population. The Alabama data is consistent with national enrollment trends showing a higher proportion of white students are enrolled in virtual schools than in all schools nationwide.

Danford said the student population at the school is growing more diverse. This year's enrollment looks to be 60% white and 40% African American, she said, which is much different than last year's 80/20 split.

The percentage of students in poverty at Genesis was 96% during the 2017-18 school year, much higher than the state average of 53% during the same time period.

Statewide, students in poverty are enrolled in Alabamas virtual schools in higher proportions than their wealthy peerswhile nationwide, the proportion of students in poverty is about the same among the two types of schools, according to NEPC.

Virtual students have to show up at a centralized location for the same standardized tests students in brick-and-mortar schools take.

Over the next few weeks, Danford said, she'll start her "road show," traveling to Huntsville, Jacksonville, Birmingham, and south Alabama to test students on the 9th-grade pre-ACT and the 12th-grade WorkKeys. "I feel like I need to be there," she said, "because I am the face of this school."

No virtual charters

Many states allow virtual charter schools, but Alabama law prohibits them.

Instead, Alabama law requires virtual school providers, like giants K12 and Pearsons Connections Academy, to go through existing public schools.

Alabama lawmakers passed a law in 2015 requiring all school districts to offer students in 9th through 12th grade a way to earn a diploma online by the start of the 2016-17 school year. Schools can use the state's online distance-learning program, called ACCESS, or they can contract with other districts.

Districts are also free to contract with private providers, like K12, Inc. and Pearson's Connections Academy.

There was no mention of statewide virtual schools in that 2015 law. But the idea at the time was for students to enroll in the school district where they live to force the local district to be responsible for the quality of the students education, according to groups working to pass the law at the time.

Alabama Association of School Boards Executive Director Sally Smith said her organization worked hard on that law to ensure local schools remain accountable for student outcomes. Smith said tighter accountability exists if local school officials oversee testing and special education services. So if a student begins to struggle in the online learning environment, the student can go back to attending the local brick-and-mortar school.

More recently, questions have come up about whether school districts can enroll students from other districts.

A 2018 memo from then-interim state Superintendent Ed Richardson stated that virtual students must be enrolled in their local school system and be counted as such. That means virtual students should be counted in the enrollment of the school district where they live.

However, no regulations or penalties for enrolling students living in other districts have been issued by the Department, so districts are free to enroll whomever they wish, no matter where they live.

Still, some districts have decided to keep it local.

Baldwin County's blended model

Baldwin County was one of the first school districts to dive into the virtual school world seven years ago. Today, like Athens, they are using a blended model, meaning students take some classes online, but have to take tests in a brick-and-mortar school.

Because students have to travel to one of four satellite campuses, they've limited their enrollment to Baldwin County students. Baldwin County teachers teach online and regularly interact with students, Principal Holly Resmondo said.

"Our teachers love our kids and make sure they get everything they need," she said. Virtual students can participate in extracurricular and sports activities at their zoned school, she said. Many do.

"A lot of other systems want to immediately offer a virtual school with all of these programs by using an outside vendor to do it," Chief Finance Officer John Wilson said. "It took us years to build up this program to the level that it is today. I think that's a big part of success."

Baldwin County Virtual School enrolled just over 300 students in sixth through 12th grade and earned a 'B' on the 2017-18 report card.

Wilson has concerns about the fully virtual model.

"Student enrollment is about dollars," he said, but bringing in students isn't something Baldwin County, the fastest growing school district in Alabama, has to worry about. "We're focusing on the kids, not trying to make a profit."

But for Dumas-Harris, the parent of two ALVA students, virtual school is working well.

See the article here:
Virtual school: Is the future of Alabama public education online? - AL.com

With a whole plethora of ways to learn online, more of us than ever before will be turning to online assessment tests as a way to show off our skills and propel ourselves into better and more suitable roles. ( Pixabay )

In recent years, those of us who are studying or taking assessment tests have moved from libraries, physical books and test centers, to laptops, tablets, and the web in general. Convenience is obviously a major factor here, but there is also the added bonus of being able to take courses and tests that would otherwise have been out of reach for some people, depending on their geographical location. Couple these two factors with the other added bonus of allowing prospective or current employers to see how well trained or suited a potential employee might be to a certain role, and it is obvious that training and testing is going to be done in the virtual space more and more as time goes on.

Attainable assessments

For employers, this new trend can be extremely useful when you consider how much time and money is spent on sending staff away to train for a new role, or to test centers to gain the needed qualifications. Websites such as iPrep can allow a company to see whether a staff member is suitable for a role before they take a test, by putting them through their paces in similar industry-standard assessments. Not only does this give the employer an insight into the competency of the employee, but it also gives nervous employees invaluable experience in taking tests that are extremely similar to the ones they will be taking in the near future. This sort of practice has only been possible since the emergence of websites such as iPrep, whereas staff members of 'yesteryear' would have to study and then take expensive tests without access to such tools to prepare them. For employees who would be great in a certain role, but find themselves choking when it comes to actual assessments, the importance of this sort of practice cannot be overstated, and is a major reason why more people are actually taking these tests than ever before.

Learning at your own pace

In the busy modern world, the convenience factor of learning online has been a major reason we have seen an increase in post-school education and work-based training. Many of us are working longer hours than we probably imagined we would, leaving little time for furthering ourselves through education. In the past, if you wished to take a course in a given subject, you first had to find a local center that was open during your free time (which was troublesome if you worked normal hours), and secondly, had to hope that the particular education center you could get to would provide the course you desired. If either your availability or choice of course didn't match that of the education center, you were simply out of luck (and options). With courses now available from anywhere in the world that can get an internet connection, and courses that you can do in your own time, learning new skills has never been easier.

Countless options

The fact these courses and practice assessments can simply be distributed over the web also tends to keep costs down for the course and test providers, which has an effect that is two-fold. Prospective students save money, and in turn can take more courses than if they were to study at a 'bricks and mortar' education center, and the number of students that find this way of learning financially viable also increases exponentially (something that has become especially obvious in countries like India). With the practice tests in particular, having them available in large numbers, on diverse topics, and at reasonable prices, also encourages those who are looking to either progress up their career ladder or change direction completely, that it is possible to do so. While other reasons have been cited as to why people change career much more readily these days than in the past, the huge boom in online education is surely something that aids and encourages this approach too.

With a whole plethora of ways to learn online, more of us than ever before will be turning to online assessment tests as a way to show off our skills and propel ourselves into better and more suitable roles. In days gone by, studying would have been expensive, as would taking the test itself (especially so if you fail multiple times). Now, with online courses readily available, and practice tests also a mouse-click or two away, a new level playing field in education has emerged that allows those of us with a yearning to get our careers back on track to look no further than the devices at our fingertips. Your phone, tablet, or laptop is a wonderful tool to watch a Netflix marathon on, but equally, it could be the key to helping you achieve a much more fulfilling work life. You can learn, practice, and achieve the skills you need from the comfort of your own home, the only thing you need to provide is the enthusiasm.

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How Education And Assessment Tests Are Moving From Pen And Paper To The Online Domain - Tech Times