Virtual learning was used as a means to educate students due to COVID, now there’s a call to improve the medium. Even before the pandemic, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana said they were studying how charter schools used virtual learning. PAR Policy Director Steven Procopio said they want to help create best practices for virtual learning.
“That we have standards in place that make sure they are a quality program, not just at the charter schools but also for the local programs that are being developed and I think a lot can be learned from them as well,” said Procopio.
In the study entitled Louisiana Virtual: Facing the Reality of Online Schooling, Procopio said when they examined high school level charter schools and their virtual learning especially among Black and economically disadvantaged students, it was interesting because the charter schools outperformed state schools.
“Which is interesting because of virtual education and COVID you actually had some of the state scores go down over time, whereas these charter schools improved during the pandemic,” said Procopio.
Procopio said PAR is making recommendations for virtual education that should increase transparency, more accurate data on student performance, improved outcomes, and a funding structure to cover the cost of virtual education.
“To make sure that when parents put their children in these programs, that they really understand what they are going to get and how they are going to operate and a clear understanding and clear reporting what the outcomes are,” said Procopio.
Procopio said they are in favor of educational options but when adding others like virtual learning, BESE needs to make sure standards for quality, accountability, and transparency are set.
