Cyber Charter Schools

In this paper, the author situates school choice within the field of K-12 online learning, specifically the use of full-time K-12 online learning in the form of cyber charter schools. The author then examines the use of cyber charter schools as a mechanism for school choice in K-12 online learning, specifically the effectiveness of cyber charter schools. This examination focuses on not just the findings, but critically examines the sources (and potential motivations) for those findings. Given the growth of full-time K-12 online learning, and the continued pressure by proponents to create favorable regulatory climates for cyber charter schools, a critical – but honest – examination of student outcomes is long overdue.

Depending on the reference, the practice of K-12 online learning began sometime between 1991 and 1996. Yet almost three decades later, there is still little research to describe the K-12 online learning student experience, which has resulted in a lack of understanding of the actual instructional model, nature of the curriculum, and type and amount of support employed by K-12 online learning programs. Further, much of the available research is atheoretical, methodologically questionable, contextually limited, and overgeneralized. All these factors make the K-12 online learning research that does exist of little value in guiding practice. This manuscript examines the maturity of research in the field of K-12 online learning, with the goal of providing researchers with meaningful impact on future practice.

Dependiendo de la referencia, la práctica del aprendizaje en línea de K-12 comenzó en algún momento entre 1991 y 1996. Sin embargo, casi tres décadas después, todavía hay poca investigación para describir la experiencia de los estudiantes de aprendizaje en línea de K-12, que ha resultado en una falta de comprensión del modelo de instrucción real, la naturaleza del plan de estudios y el tipo y la cantidad de apoyo empleado por los programas de aprendizaje en línea K-12. Además, gran parte de la investigación disponible es teórica, metodológicamente cuestionable, contextualmente limitada y sobregeneralizada. Todos estos factores hacen que la investigación de aprendizaje en línea K-12 que existe sea de poco valor para guiar la práctica. Este manuscrito examina la madurez de la investigación en el campo del aprendizaje en línea en K-12, con el objetivo de proporcionar a los investigadores un impacto significativo en la práctica futura

Many involved with the practice or study of K-12 online and blended learning are familiar with the American context. It surrounds us in the media and published research. However, online and blended learning is occurring in meaningful ways to address specific K-12 student needs all around the globe. There are several areas where the international practice is consistent with what we know about the United States (e.g., similar evolutions, early initiatives were government-funded, many of the labels are similar). At the same time, there are some key differences internationally (e.g., the prevalence of legacy forms of distance education, a lack of online learning below the secondary level, and blended learning being seen as a form of technology integration). While far less is known about K-12 online and blended learning in international contexts, programs in these jurisdictions are just as keen to tell their own success stories and undertake cyclic research to improve the design, delivery and facilitation of their programs.

Over the last five years, the National Education Policy Center has published a Virtual Schools in the U.S.: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence report. As an extension of the data collected for the Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2017 report (Molnar et al. 2017), the lead authors produced case studies for five states (i.e., Ohio, Wisconsin, Idaho, Washington, and Michigan). The goal of these case studies was to describe the enrollment, characteristics, and performance of virtual and blended schools in that state over the previous year; discuss the research related to the virtual and blended school characteristics and outcomes, as well as the legislative activities; and examine the legislation and policies that have been introduced (and enacted) over the past two years.

These five case studies reveal a great degree of consistency between the different states. For example, most of the full-time virtual schools in each of the five states were independent (i.e., not run by EMOs). However, the vast majority of students attend a virtual school that is operated by an EMO. Virtual schools also had far more students for each teacher compared to traditional public schools. Further, virtual school students underperformed compared to their traditional public school counterparts. In addition to the similarities across the cases, when it came to student enrollment, student characteristics, and student performance, with the exception of Michigan there was a general lack of empirical research related to full-time virtual schools (and almost no research related to blended schools). Finally, with the exception of Idaho, there was also a general lack of legislative activity over the two years reviewed for this report.

Given that each of these five case studies was generated using data from the latest Virtual Schools in the U.S.: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence report, it is important to examine the recommendations made by Molnar et al. (2017) based on the national data. However, based on the data from these five individual states, we recommend the following.

- Policymakers need to slow or stop the growth in the number of virtual schools and the size of their enrollments until the reasons for their relatively poor performance have been identified and addressed. They should prioritize understanding why virtual schools perform poorly under a college- and career-ready accountability system and how their performance can be improved prior to expansion.

- Policymakers need to create long-term programs to support independent research on and evaluation of virtual and blended schooling.

- Policymakers need to develop new funding formulas based on the actual costs of operating virtual schools and new accountability structures for virtual schools, including guidelines and governance mechanisms to ensure that virtual schools do not prioritize profit over student performance. Further policymakers need to assess the contributions of various providers to student achievement, and close virtual schools and programs that do not contribute to student growth.

- Policymakers need to define certification training and relevant teacher licensure requirements specific to teaching responsibilities in virtual schools, require research-based professional development to promote effective online teaching models, and work with emerging research to develop valid and comprehensive teacher evaluation rubrics that are specific to online teaching.

While the use of distance and online learning at the K-12 level of growing exponentially, the availability of empirical evidence to help guide this growth is severely lacking. The author of this chapter provides an overview of the nature of K-12 distance and online learning today and a critical examination of the literature and – lack of research – supporting its use. The author further describes some of the methodological issues surround the limited among of existing research, and calls for researchers in this field to adopt practices that have been employed by their colleagues investigating adult populations over the past decades.

As proponents continue to make the case that virtual education can expand student choices and improve the efficiency of public education, full-time virtual schools have attracted a great deal of attention. Advocates contend that this potential for individualization allows virtual schools to promote greater student achievement than can be realized in traditional brick-and-mortar schools. NEPC researchers found, however, that the research evidence does not support this claim.

This three-part brief provides disinterested scholarly analyses of the characteristics and performance of full-time, publicly funded K-12 virtual schools; reviews the relevant available research related to virtual school practices; provides an overview of recent state legislative efforts to craft virtual schools policy; and offers policy recommendations based on the available evidence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed virtual schooling to the forefront of the national educational landscape. Long-time proponents of this technology quickly positioned digital programs and platforms as the obvious solution for schools that had to close buildings to avoid transmitting the virus.

The pandemic exacerbated a trend that NEPC virtual schools’ reports have documented since 2013. While it is clear that virtual schools—particularly for-profit virtual schools—are expanding rapidly, there remains little research evidence to support or justify the expansion. Moreover, there is little policymaking at the state level adequate to the task of ensuring the quality of education that virtual school students receive.

Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2021 provides scholarly analyses of the characteristics and performance of full-time, publicly funded K-12 virtual schools; reviews the relevant available research related to virtual school practices; provides an overview of recent state legislative efforts to craft virtual school policy; and offers policy recommendations based on the available evidence.

Many involved with the practice or study of K-12 online and blended learning are familiar with the American context. It surrounds us in the media and published research. However, online and blended learning is occurring in meaningful ways to address specific K-12 student needs all around the globe. There are several areas where the international practice is consistent with what we know about the United States (e.g., similar evolutions, early initiatives were government-funded, many of the labels are similar). At the same time, there are some key differences internationally. While far less is known about K-12 online and blended learning in international contexts, programs in these jurisdictions are just as keen to tell their own success stories and undertake cyclic research to improve the design, delivery, and facilitation of their programs. As American-based researchers, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that these research-based lessons are known to our various stakeholders.

n the five years since the first NEPC Annual Report on Virtual Education was released in 2013, virtual education has continued to be a focal point for policymakers. Proponents argue that virtual education can expand student choices and improve the efficiency of public edu-cation. In particular, full-time virtual schools (also sometimes referred to as virtual charter schools,  virtual  academies,  online  schools  or  cyber  schools)  have  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention. Many believe that online curriculum can be tailored to individual students more effectively  than  curriculum  in  traditional  classrooms,  giving  it  the  potential  to  promote  greater student achievement than can be realized in traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Further,  the  promise  of  lower  costs—primarily  for  instructional  personnel  and  facilities—makes virtual schools financially appealing to both policymakers and for-profit providers.

The assumption that virtual schools are cost effective and educationally sound, coupled with policies  expanding  school  choice  and  providing  market  incentives  attractive  to  for-profit  companies, continue to help fuel virtual school growth in the U.S. There is, however, little high-quality systematic evidence that the rapid expansion of the past several years is wise. Indeed,  evidence  presented  in  the  NEPC  annual  reports  argues  for  caution.  Nevertheless,  the  movement  toward  virtual  schools  continues  to  gather  steam,  often  supported  by  weak  or even dishonest data. For example, as a part of the confirmation hearings for the current Secretary of Education, National Public Radio reported that Secretary Betsy DeVos respond-ed  to  a  written  question  from  Senator  Patty  Murray  using  performance  data  provided  by  a  for-profit  corporation  that  inflated  the  four-year  graduation  rates  of  virtual  schools—in  some cases by as much as 300%.1

The 2017 NEPC Annual Report contributes to the existing evidence related to virtual edu-cation, and so to debates surrounding it. It provides objective analysis of the characteristics and  performance  of  full-time,  publicly  funded  K-12  virtual  schools;  available  research  on  virtual school practices and policy; and an overview of recent state efforts to craft new policy.

In Section I—Full-Time Virtual and Blended Schools: Enrollment, Student Characteristics, and Performance, Gary Miron, Charisse Gulosino, Christopher Shank, and Caryn Davidson focus  on  two  specific  types  of  K-12  online  and  blended  learning:  full-time  virtual  schools  and  blended  schools.  The  authors  assigned  schools  in  their  study  a  unique  identification  code that allowed them to gather complete data about each school from a variety of sources (the National Center for Educational Statistics, individual Departments of Education, and so on). The authors use the terms “full-time virtual school” and “full-term blended school” because they want to link these school types to data sets on school characteristics, student demographics, and school outcomes.

In Section II—Still No Evidence, Increased Call for Regulation: Research to Guide Virtual School Policy, Michael Barbour focuses on all forms of K-12 virtual and blended learning. Barbour  distinguishes  among  the  different  forms  of  virtual  schooling—both  supplemental  and full-time—and describes the limited reliable research on blended learning programs and blended learning schools.

In Section III—Key Policy Issues in Virtual Schools: Finance and Governance, Instruction-al Quality, and Teacher Quality, Luis Huerta, Sheryl Rankin Shafer, Jennifer King Rice, and David Nitkin use the general term “virtual school” as an umbrella term including all forms of K-12 online learning. When the National Education Policy Center first began this annual ex-amination in 2013, the distinctions among K-12 online learning, virtual schooling and cyber schooling were not as prominent within the academic literature. Additionally, many of the K-12 online learning programs sponsored or supported by State Departments of Education were  referred  to  as  virtual  schools.  Similarly,  much  of  the  legislation  and  policy  language  used  the  term  virtual  (for  example,  virtual  charter  school).  For  these  reasons,  this  annual  report was and will continue to use the term Virtual Schools in its title. Therefore, unless they are quoting specific language from a given piece of legislation or policy, the authors of this third section will continue to use the term “virtual schools.

One of the best ways for practitioners and scholars to understand what is already known in a field is to undertake a review of the existing literature. The existing literature related to K-12 distance, online and blended learning is still developing. What has been published is heavy on the practitioner experience – either the direct telling of the experience by the practitioner or through the use of researcher surveys designed to capture the perceptions of the practitioners’ experience. Further, the available research rarely makes use of validated instruments or established theoretical and conceptual frameworks to guide their studies. However, research into distance, online, and blended learning with adult populations has a much richer and longstanding history. This report seeks to describe a series of studies that have been conducted with adult populations that may be of particular interest to researchers and practitioners in the K-12 distance, online, and blended environments.

A new report compares the performance of Florida Virtual School (FLVS) students with students in traditional brick-and-mortar schools and  concludes the FLVS students perform about the same or somewhat better on state tests and at a lower cost. The report claims to be the first empirical study of K-12 student performance in virtual education. This is not correct, and the report in fact confirms the findings and repeats the methodological flaws and limitations of previous research. The report’s findings fail to account for the potential bias of student selectivity in the FLVS sample, the potential impact of regression effects, differential mortality in the two groups, and the fact that the virtual environment is simply a delivery medium. Given the limitations of research such as this new study, researchers have moved beyond simply investigating whether one medium is better than the other and begun—and need to continue—investigating under what conditions K-12 online and blended learning can be effectively designed, delivered, and supported.

This paper is a bibliography of press releases from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about charter school corruption and fraud from 2009 to 2016 across the United States. Both references and the actual press releases obtained from the FBI databases are included.

While K-12 online learning in the United States has increased exponentially, the ability of teacher education programs to adequately prepare teachers to design, deliver, and support has been deficient. A small number of universities have begun to address this deficit through the introduction of graduate certificates in online teaching. This article examines curricular changes focused on introducing in-service teachers to K-12 online learning. This design-based research study examined changes in teacher perceptions after having completed a systematic curriculum focused on K-12 online learning, as well as track revisions to that curriculum based on the data collected. The results indicate that even in a jurisdiction where online learning has become a graduation requirement, teachers often have many misconceptions about K-12 online learning. Further, planned exposure to K-12 online learning content can have significant impact on student understanding of and interest in the design, delivery, and support of K-12 online learning.

Within the K-12 online learning environment there are a variety of standards that designers can utilize when creating online courses. To date, the only research-based standards available are proprietary in manner. As such, many jurisdictions have begun adopting online course design standards from the leading advocacy organization, which that have yet to be validated from a research perspective. This article reports on the second phase of a three-stage study designed to examine the validity and reliability of the iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses. Phase two utilizes two groups of expert reviewers to examine and provide feedback with goal of further refining these standards (after the standards had been scrutinized through the lens of the available K-12 online learning literature).

While massive open online courses (MOOCs) garnered plenty of attention at the beginning of the decade, initial findings about their value have been disappointing. In particular, only a narrow range of participants appear to be successful in completing and passing these unmonitored courses: white, educated, affluent males. One prominent Catholic scholar, Jonathan Malesic, went as far as saying that the very nature of MOOCs does not align with Catholic teachings of learning through social interaction, adapting to the needs of the learner, and teaching (i.e., successfully) the masses. Further, by extension, he applied these criticisms to online learning in general. This article examines these criticisms, describes how these problems are present in K-12 online learning, and gives examples of how these issues are mitigated. The article concludes with ideas for using the online learning medium to promote Catholic and Christian values.

The research presented created a revised K-12 online course design rubric based off the iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses. The redesign was completed in three distinct phases, beginning with a literature review of the iNACOL standards that compared current K-12, higher education, and other related literature to each element found in the standards to test for content validity. Results of phase one showed that the iNACOL standards did match up to current literature. Phase two consisted of an expert panel review of the standards, along with phase one suggestions, over three rounds. Viewing the standards through the specific lens of K-12 online course design, the experts combined, revised, deleted, or kept individual elements. The end result was a revised rubric based off the original iNACOL standards. This revised rubric was field tested against current K-12 online courses in phase three. Four groups of two reviewers used the revised rubric to test the inter-rater reliability. While the overall results of the revised rubric did not meet the reliability threshold for percentages, specific elements did. Future research should consider why certain elements were successful (i.e. phrasing, type of question asked) while others were not. This study could also be replicated with other widely accepted standards to help strengthen or revise expert results.

Pennsylvania is a state with significant proportions of students who attend rural schools, as well as students who attend charter schools. This study examines enrollment patterns of students in brick and mortar and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania and how these enrollment patterns differ across geographic locale. We analyze student-level enrollment data, controlling for demographic characteristics, and find that, in contrast to brick and mortar schools, cyber charter schools attract students from a variety of locales across the urban-rural continuum. However, rural students exhibit the greatest likelihood of attending cyber charter schools. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to educational equity, cyber charter school underperformance, and the fiscal impacts of charter schools on the budgets of small school districts.

The use of online learning at the K-12 level has seen exponential growth for much of the past two decades. Based on the limited research to date some students can experience success in the supplemental K-12 online learning environment, but other types of K-12 online learning are largely failing to adequately serve students. While proponents will argue that all types of K-12 online learning are forms of school choice, it is primarily cyber charter schools and course choice policies that are reflective of the policies and regulations proponents of school choice promote – as cyber charter schools and course choice policies are designed to open up markets to K-12 online learning providers. Yet, proponents continue to advocate for decreasing the amount of oversight for K-12 online providers. The combination of dramatic, unchecked growth and an almost complete inability to assure any measure of quality has resulted in abysmal student performance in many K-12 online learning environments.

Designers have a limited selection of K-12 online course creation standards to choose from that are not blocked behind proprietary or pay walls. For numerous institutions and states, the use of the iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses is becoming a widely used resource. This article presents the final phase in a three-part study to test the validity and reliability of the iNACOL standards specifically to online course design. Phase three was a field test of the revised rubric based on the iNACOL standards against current K-12 online courses. While the results show a strong exact match percentage, there is more work to be done with the revised rubric. Résumé : Les concepteurs ont une sélection limitée des normes K-12 de création de cours en ligne à choisir qui ne sont pas bloqués derrière des propriétés exclusives ou des péages informatiques. Pour de nombreuses institutions et états, l'utilisation des Normes nationales pour les cours en ligne de qualité iNACOL devient une ressource largement utilisée. Cet article présente la phase finale d'une étude en trois parties pour tester la validité et la fiabilité des normes iNACOL spécifiquement liées à la conception de cours en ligne. La phase trois était une mise à l'essai sur le terrain de la rubrique révisée établie en fonction des normes iNACOL par rapport aux cours en ligne K-12 actuels. Bien que les résultats montrent un fort pourcentage de correspondance exacte, il y a plus de travail à faire avec la rubrique révisée.

The field of K–12 online and blended learning is varied and growing. Regardless of whether a student is enrolled in a brick-and-mortar school and taking one or two courses online, or if they are completing all of their education from a cyber school, more and more students are enrolled in online and blended learning opportunities each school year. Over the past decade, there have been successive legislative and regulatory changes in jurisdiction after jurisdiction designed to encourage this growth in K–12 online and blended learning. Many of these changes have been spurred by proponent claims that K–12 online and blended learning will revolutionize education by allowing students to personalize or customize their education, which they also believe provides a more meaningful, higher quality learning experience. However, expansion of K–12 online and blended learning options continues to outpace the availability of useful research on the efficacy of this method. This chapter examines the current state of research into K–12 online and blended learning, and how much of this enthusiasm from proponents and their legislative allies often runs contrary to what is actually known from the existing but limited research base.

Resumen - En La sociedad desescolarizada Iván Illich cuestionó que el derecho a la educación y al aprendizaje proclamado en la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos de 1948-solo fuera factible a través de la asistencia obligatoria a la escuela. Para enmendar esto era necesario proponer alternativas en las que el individuo tuviera mayor autonomía curricular, espacial y temporal sobre su educación. Lamentablemente la sociedad de los setenta poco estaba preparada para dar respuestas. Entrando al Siglo XXI, con renovadas perspectivas del aprendizaje y la expansión tecnológica ¿Las ideas de desescolarización han expirado o se han fortalecido? ¿Cuáles son las posibilidades de aprendizaje parcial o completamente extraescolar que comienzan a consolidarse y de qué manera intervienen las TIC? A esto responde este texto, explorando las principales propuestas en el marco internacional, tales como el renovado homeschool, flexischool, cyber-school, y cyber-charter-school, que constituyen fructíferos objetos de estudio en la investigación educativa.

Like many K-12 online learning programs, the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) began by utilizing vendor content to populate its online courses. In its fourth year, the IVHS began a concerted effort to design more of its own online course content internally. The aim of this chapter was to examine the support needed and application of tools used by IVHS course developers. The data consisted of a two-part, web-based survey and telephone interviews that were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inductive analysis. The results showed these developers had a strong desire to use interactive elements in their course as well as working in cooperative teams. Further, developers were opposed to using a forced template, but indicated a need for general structural guidance and additional professional development. Finally, developers recommended that subject matter teacher-developers and multimedia specialists be split into two separate roles, and these individuals work together as a part of a team. Further research should be conducted on the intended use of technology tools requested.

This essay offers a personal perspective on cyber schooling, by a graduate of a cyber high school. In this paper, I discuss my own experiences with cyber schooling, and how these experiences helped to form me as a citizen and democratic educator. I then critique cyber schooling and identify various flaws in its design and implementation which affect both individuals and communities. I tie these experiences and critiques to an analysis of how Betsy DeVos, Donald J. Trump’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education, may prioritize school choice in the national education policy. Using an interview with DeVos in Philanthropy Magazine, I examine how DeVos’s own words betray her biases and lack of experience with cyber schooling, and the future of public education. I conclude with a call to educators and citizens to unite in their advocacy for democratic education, and schools that prioritize learning over testing.

The use of online learning at the primary and secondary school level is growing exponentially in the United States. Much of this growth is with full-time online schools, most of which are operated by for-profit companies that use proprietary online course content. In this article we trace the development of, and philosophy behind, a full-time online school that uses open access software and open educational resources for course content. As more nations begin to put in place plans for primary and secondary education in the event of natural disasters (e.g., the Christchurch earthquakes) or pandemics (e.g., avian flu or H1N1), the availability of open online content is of critical importance.

Pennsylvania is a state with significant proportions of students who attend rural schools, as well as students who attend charter schools. This study examines enrollment patterns of students in brick and mortar and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania and how these enrollment patterns differ across geographic locale. We analyze student-level enrollment data, controlling for demographic characteristics, and find that, in contrast to brick and mortar schools, cyber charter schools attract students from a variety of locales across the urban-rural continuum. However, rural students exhibit the greatest likelihood of attending cyber charter schools. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to educational equity, cyber charter school underperformance, and the fiscal impacts of charter schools on the budgets of small school districts.

Despite the massive growth in K-12 online learning, there are no opportunities for teachers to learn and develop skills to succeed as online instructors. This study is the third iteration of an action research project, which focused on improving a graduate instructional technology course and developing teachers with these skills. Previous results of the first two iterations are summarized, and qualitative data from the third round, consisting of blogs and course assignments were analyzed for emerging themes. These themes emphasize instructional design to solve problems associated with student performance, improve communication channels, and ensures that student age as a non-factor in online course success. Recommendations for future course iterations are presented as well.

Due to the challenges facing rural schools, many jurisdictions have resorted to the use of virtual school programs to provide curricular opportunities to their students. While the number of virtual schools that rely on synchronous instruction as a primary or significant method of delivery is quite small, there are some programs that do (and a growing number of virtual schools that use it with small groups or individuals). This case study examined the use of synchronous online instruction by one virtual school with students in a single rural school in Newfoundland and Labrador. The data from a variety of collection methods revealed three themes: similarities with online student experiences and their traditional classroom experiences, the development of local learning communities, and the preference for students to use chat over audio.

Like many K-12 online learning programs, the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) began by utilizing vendor content to populate its online courses. In its fourth year, the IVHS began a concerted effort to design more of its own online course content internals. The aim of this study was to examine the nature of the support needed and application of tools used by IVHS course developers. The data consisted of a two-part, web-based survey and telephone interviews that were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inductive analysis. The results showed these developers had a strong desire to use interactive elements in their course as well as working in cooperative teams. Further, developers were opposed to using a forced template, but indicated a need for general structural guidance and additional professional development. Finally, developers recommended that subject matter teacher-developers and multimedia specialists be split into two separate roles, and these individuals work together as a part of a design team. Further research should be conducted on the intended use of technology tools requested.

In March 2019, the Government of Ontario unveiled its vision for education through a policy entitled Education that Works for You – Modernizing Classrooms. From an e-learning perspective, the proposed policy called for a centralization of e-learning courses and a graduation requirement that students take a minimum of four e-learning courses beginning with the 2020-21 school year. Either as a part of, in conjunction with, or simply at the same time, the Government also engaged in a public consultation around class sizes that would increase the class size limit for face-to-face courses to 28 students and increase the limit for e-learning courses to 35 students. The goal of this report is to examine the literature related to e-learning class size in Canada and internationally.

However, before any examination of the literature related to class size, it is important to understand the different roles that educators play – and the different types of educators involved – in the e-learning environment. While in the traditional classroom environment a single teacher may select or design the materials used, deliver the actual instruction in a variety of ways, and support the student as they engage the lesson; in the e-learning environment the research clearly indicates that these roles are performed by multiple educators in different settings. Based on the model of e-learning utilized in Ontario, the two most defined roles are those of the e-learning teacher and the local school based facilitator or mentor. The e-learning teacher being responsible for determining the best pedagogical strategies, methods of assessment, and way to meaningful communicate with their students; while the local facilitator or mentor is responsible for supervisory and administrative duties, technical troubleshooting, and – in some cases – content-based assistance.

The available literature related to e-learning class size demonstrates there has been a historical expectation in Ontario that the class size limit for e-learning courses was the same as the class size limit for face-to-face courses. The literature further demonstrates that across several provinces the class size limit for e-learning courses has ranged from a low of 22 students to a high of 30 students per course. In both Canadian and American jurisdictions where there has been a significant increase in the e-learning class size, student outcomes have also decreased significantly – particularly in full-time e-learning environments. Finally, the literature demonstrates the local facilitator/mentor role must be included in any conversation around class size because that teacher has a significant impact on class size and, more importantly, student success.

The present e-learning model in Ontario clearly describes the importance of the supporting roles of teachers in school settings where students are taking e-learning courses. If teachers at the school level provide substantial levels of support in a wide range of areas, an e-learning class size could be higher than a traditional brick-and-mortar class in that context because there would be two educators that have instructional responsibility for those students. The larger question looming for the implementation of a drastic increase in e-learning in secondary schools in Ontario is how the present supports, which the research indicates are essential for e-learning success, will be scaled for the unprecedented increase of e-learning courses in the province.