Virtual Charter Schools and Home Schooling By Carol Klein

All these sources confirm the impressive success of these virtual charter public schools and the enthusiasm that parents, teachers, and administrators have for this alternative path to education for children and youth. The parents involved in the virtual school elaborate on their own motivations and insights regarding the program, processes, and outcomes. Unlike stereotypical depictions of home schoolers, these parents are diverse in terms of ethnicity, income, and prior education.

Klein also explores the actual results of the program by analyzing achievement data. Like many home schooling studies, achievement is impressive. Where achievement lags, educators target the problems with impressive speed. The program technology provides immediate feedback to parents and educators for early interventions.

Any number of stereotypes about home schooling falls under the weight of the evidence. The author carefully presents the state of current literature in each of the four areas and then compares her results with the existing knowledge base for home schooling, charter schools, virtual instruction, and classical education. The uniqueness of her work lies in the fact that she approaches each topic both individually and in the context of six sites serving over 2000 students in a particular charter / virtual school network. The refreshing aspect of her work is that it is without ideological or political lenses. She lets the data tell the story using the words of the participants.

Alternative forms of schooling are here to stay and we need a body of excellent research on all these alternatives so that we can better prepare future educators and make informed decisions for ourselves whether we are advocates of public or private education, whether we are rich or poor, black, brown or white, liberal or conservative. Klein reveals participants’ perspectives as they work to provide quality education, grapple with the classical material, schedule the daily routines, expand social relations, and coordinate home and school. We have the opportunity here to glimpse at days in the lives of virtual home schoolers in a public charter.