Virtual Ed. Seeks Right Fit for Special Populations
Researchers have found that, in the right circumstances, it is possible for students from special populations to complete an online class and demonstrate as much academic learning as those who completed a face-to-face course.
They caution, however, that using that conclusion to justify any particular online learning option for special education, English-language-learner, at-risk, and gifted students in need of an intervention is perilous, at best.
“We don’t really know at this point which [methods] tend to be the most effective” for specific populations, said Cathy Cavanaugh, a professor of educational technology at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, who was co-author of a study about improving outcomes for virtual school students with disabilities that was published last year. “We need to get to a much more fine-grained level of understanding of what’s...
This article is available to subscribers only.
To keep reading this article and more, subscribe now or purchase this article.
Subscribe to Education Week and Save
Get a full year and save up to 45%!
Viewed
Emailed
Recommended
Commented
- Principal
- Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, Los Angeles, CA
- Principals
- Prince George's County Public Schools, MD
- K-8 Principal
- EdVantages/Performance Academies, Detroit, MI
- 2 Positions -Associate Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer, and Director of Human of Resources
- Washington County Public Schools, Hagerstown, MD
- Superintendent
- Pinellas County Schools, Pinellas County, FL
