Why They Come and Go:Comparing Special Education and General Education Students in Cyber Schools
Dennis Beck, University of Arknasas, United States ; Bich Tran, Robert Maranto, University of Arkansas, United States ; Thomas Clark, Clark Consulting, United States
Journal of Online Learning Research Volume 7, Number 3, ISSN 2374-1473 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC USA
Abstract
Considerable published research explores drivers of parental choice of face to face schools, but few works address reasons for attending cyber schools, and how student characteristics affect those reasons; hence, this study’s unique contribution. Here we use a large national dataset (n= 95,259) to test whether students with designated special education (SPED) status differ in stated reasons for attending a multistate cyber charter school network. Using linear probability models, we find that that parents of special education students are relatively more likely than others to cite academic, bullying, and health concerns as driving their choice of schools. SPED students whose parents cited academic reasons for enrollment in the cyber school were less likely to persist in the school the next year.
Citation
Beck, D., Tran, B., Maranto, R. & Clark, T. (2021). Why They Come and Go:Comparing Special Education and General Education Students in Cyber Schools. Journal of Online Learning Research, 7(3), 233-248. Waynesville, NC USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 15, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219618/.
© 2021 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
