The credit-recovery program at Julian illustrates why supporters say online learning has the potential to revolutionize education. It can be inexpensive, convenient and flexible — valuable attributes for a cash-strapped district like the Chicago Public Schools. For those reasons, it’s now one of the fastest growing areas of education. But research hasn’t kept up with the rapid expansion, making it tough to know whether the programs really work.

Chicago Public Schools now offers a battery of online programs, ranging from math and reading enrichment, where elementary students spend a few hours a week online using a specific curriculum, to a virtual charter school, where students learn almost entirely from home.

The latest initiative came last week, when school officials announced a pilot program to add 90 minutes to the day at 15 elementary schools using online curriculum in place of certified teachers.

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The latest initiative came on Tuesday, when school officials announced a pilot program to add 90 minutes to the day at 15 elementary schools using online courses in place of certified teachers.

The recent growth within CPS has been rapid, mostly without fanfare. Two years ago, online courses were offered in just a handful of high schools. This year, they’re slated to be in all of them. Other schools are scaling up to the initiative by installing cutting-edge media centers, piloting entirely online courses or contracting individually with vendors for online instruction materials.

For the rest of the article, go to Online learning attempts to make the grade in Chicago schools

The student would not be walking the halls, however. Alternative school teacher Debra Bain presented information about online education programs being offered at STHS.

This past summer, the high school used online education programs for its summer school classes. This fall semester, it will be extending online resources to alternative school students.

Right now, a 70-year old would not be able to get a diploma from STHS, but the idea is to utilize this semester as a trial run for a program STHS Superintendent Kevin Myers believes has endless possibilities.

For the rest of the article, go to Streator High looking to extend outside its walls

Credit recovery programs can take many forms. Some look no different from traditional classrooms, with teachers at the front lecturing. Others consist of nothing more than a thin packet of fill-in-the-blank sheets that a student completes on his own time. As credit recovery grows in popularity, though, it’s becoming increasingly common for school districts to turn to online companies.

An Education Week chat explains how online credit recovery programs generally work. EdWeek recently reported that at least three major school districts – Boston, Chicago and New York City – offer online credit recovery classes. And states such as Missouri and Wisconsin have online credit recovery programs.

Online programs let students work at their own pace, and supporters say they present course material in a new way.

For the rest of the article, go to Are education credit recovery programs really effective?

Rebecca Janowitz stood on the podium, surveying the crowd of judges, probation officers and family members gathered in a large meeting room at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse.

“This is a virtual high school, but this is a real graduation,” said Janowitz, director of re-entry policy at the Cook County Jail, and the crowd quieted down.

Moments later, the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” filled the room as the students shuffled slowly up the aisle in black robes as their friends and relatives turned to watch the procession.

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More than 1,000 students of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), each previously lagging in one or more course credits necessary for graduation, will now receive their diplomas along with the rest of the Class of 2010. The students owe their previously unexpected timely graduations in large part to a virtual learning program launched by CPS, in conjunction with Aventa Learning, through which students use Aventa’s online credit recovery courses (OCRCs) in their spare time to make up deficiencies in graduation requirements.

The Aventa OCRCs are offered as a substitute for a student to retake a course he or she previously failed. Prior to the launch of the CPS virtual learning program, a student typically addressed this situation by retaking the same in-class course, often with the same teacher. Through the program, a student can make up a course deficiency online at an individualized pace and schedule with the support of district mentors available via online chats and e-mail and, if necessary, in person.

For the rest of the article, go to Online Credit Recovery Program Helps Chicago Area Students Graduate on Schedule

Amid the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” you could hear the intermittent bleep of the metal detectors and the occasional bark of a sheriff’s deputy. And if you looked out the window to the right of the “Class of 2010″ banner, it was hard to miss the coils of razor wire gleaming in the sunlight.

This week’s high school graduation in a room off the lobby of the Cook County Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California was unusual in a number of ways, including the fact that most of the graduates of the Cook County Jail’s “Virtual High School” program aren’t fresh-faced kids stepping out into the world for the first time. Many have lengthy criminal histories.

“It feels good — I’ve got my diploma and can’t nobody take it away from me,” said Ira Hines, 21, a two-time felon whose baggage includes a father doing time for murder.

Hines was one of six people to get their diplomas in a new online program aimed at nonviolent criminal defendants. It’s a collaboration between Chicago Public Schools, the Cook County court system and the sheriff’s office. The program provides opportunities for defendants who, in many cases, are too old or too far behind their classmates to finish classes at a traditional high school.

For the rest of the article, go to Small steps: 6 nonviolent offenders graduate at jail

CHICAGO, June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On Friday, June 11, sixty students graduated from Chicago’s first and only online high school dropout recovery program. Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS) Virtual High School, powered by K12, provides online courses to Chicago students, ages 18-21, who dropped out of school and need 7 or fewer credits to graduate.

The unique and innovative online learning recovery program for at-risk youth is a result of a partnership between Youth Connections Charter School, K12 Inc. (leading online education/course provider), Malcolm X College of Chicago, and Chicago Public Schools.

Friday’s graduation ceremony celebrated the first year of YCCS Virtual High School, powered by K12. It was an extremely successful inaugural year with 92 percent of eligible students graduating from the program.

The ceremony was an emotional culmination of achievement in the face of adversity. Many of the graduates stated that without YCCS Virtual High School, powered by K12, they would not have gone back to school. With diplomas in hand, the students are now continuing on to college and pursuing their careers.

For the rest of the article, go to 60 Chicago Students Graduate from Youth Connection Charter School Virtual High School, Powered by K12: Chicago’s First Online Dropout Recovery Program

LeROY — While his friends are enjoying a summer away from school, LeRoy High School junior John Morrell is taking two online classes that will earn him both high school and college credit.

Next school year, almost 40 percent of his classmates will take at least one course for dual credit. The program not only provides an affordable jump-start to college credits, but prepares students for more rigorous classes.

Recent graduate Jorgia Hanlin will start at St. Louis College of Pharmacy with 12 hours of credit on her transcript. “It works out so (that) next year, so I can take other core classes,” she said.

For the rest of the article, go to Program offers high school, college credit for single courses

Chicago Virtual Charter School