ERIC Number: EJ1204478
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0892-3647
EISSN: N/A
Do Testing Conditions Explain Cyber Charter Schools' Failing Grades?
Beck, Dennis; Watson, Angela R.; Maranto, Robert
American Journal of Distance Education, v33 n1 p46-58 2019
Recent Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) analyses find that cyber charter schools in seventeen states show consistently low reading and mathematics value-added test scores compared to traditional public schools serving comparable students. This generally accords with prior research. We hypothesize that the relatively poor "measured" academic value-added of cyber charters reflects artificial testing conditions for students in those schools. Accordingly, we have collected testing information from the seventeen CREDO states. State-level analyses find that cyber student persistence, which likely indicates school quality, correlates moderately and significantly with the cyber student academic value-added as measured by CREDO. Further, we find evidence of lower cyber school value-added in states which permit cybers to use narrow testing windows, perhaps reflecting testing fatigue on the part of test-takers. We discuss implications, and suggest next steps for research exploring whether testing conditions affect measured cyber charter performance.
Descriptors: Virtual Classrooms, Online Courses, Charter Schools, Low Achievement, Reading Achievement, Mathematics Achievement, Value Added Models, Scores, Reading Tests, Mathematics Tests, Computer Assisted Testing, Academic Persistence, School Holding Power, Fatigue (Biology), Testing Problems, School Effectiveness
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A