The Florida legislature is considering a bill that would require teachers to grade their students’ parents. As you can imagine the bill has garnered quite a bit of attention nationwide from education experts and in the state from teachers themselves. Almost universally it has been ridiculed though that has not slowed it down in the Florida Legislature. Where we all think more meaningful parental involvement would be beneficial, most of us think the unwieldy ht it with a hammer bill isn’t the way to go.
It did however get me to thinking, what if teachers could grade legislators, what kind of grade would they get?
Listening in class, D minus: There are very few members of the legislature that were teachers or worked in the education profession but that doesn’t stop them from meddling and thinking that every notion that pops in their heads won’t somehow improve education. They have also shown very little interest in listening to those on the front lines of education. Rick Scott’s transition team had only one teacher on it out of 23 people and he taught at a virtual schools
Completing Assignments, F: The Florida constitution requires the state to fund education at a world class level, instead the legislature has chosen to cut education funding in order to pay for tax breaks to special interests (and I don’t want to hear the argument that they are the group that creates jobs because if that is the case then they have failed too). They also ignored the people with the class size amendment, preferring to fine districts or violating it rather than properly funding it.
Critical Thinking, F: Their keep proposing the same solutions, vouchers, charter schools and merit pay, despite the fact the first one violates the constitution and the last two have been proven in study after study not to improve education that is right friends not one study has said those two things work. Their other solution, virtual schools, have been ripe with fraud and the jury is still out on how effective they will ultimately be.
Conduct, F: Rather than looking for solutions that would be beneficial to our children and schools they have engaged on a smear campaign against teachers and their unions proposing solutions that will only serve to weaken public education and force more teachers from the field (less than half of all new teachers last 5 years). Whether it’s by hook (incompetence) or by crook (maliciousness) the legislature has kneecapped our public schools and the children that go there and there seems to be no end in sight.
I give them a failing grade. What about you?
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
Showing posts with label virtual schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label virtual schools. Show all posts
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Virtual schools are not the answer to the class size admendment
There is an option not addressed in the piece and that is having our legislature properly funding our public schools. -cpg
From the Florida Independent
by Brett Ader
An article detailing the use of virtual classroom technology in Florida produced by The New York Times‘ Student Journalism Institute has caused a stir among advocates of Florida Virtual School, who argue that online instruction is one of only a handful of options available to school districts struggling to meet class-size mandates. #
The piece, which appeared in the education section of the Times last week, was a truncated version of an article penned by an 18-year-old student journalist whose initial story had included additional commentary on the merits of using a “blended learning” method to both meet educational goals and operate within the limits imposed by the Florida Constitution. #
“That article was written by a student reporter at The New York Times‘ institute for journalism,” Star Kraschinsky of Florida Virtual School tells The Florida Independent. “It wasn’t an education reporter. The Times omitted the positive comments, and changed the headline from ‘some Miami schools…’ to ‘in Florida…’ It really, clearly, was taken out of context.” #
One of the concerns raised in the Times was the issue of student choice in enrolling in online courses, with students at some schools finding themselves in virtual learning labs against their will. While a spokesperson for Miami-Dade schools admitted that, due to enrollment that exceeded class-cap requirements, a handful of schools had assigned students to labs, Florida Virtual School maintains the program overall has been successful in its first year. #
“Ninety-nine percent of the schools had parent-teacher-student meetings prior, because not everybody can learn in certain environments,” says Kraschinsky. “A few of the schools didn’t do that. As a parent, you want to make sure that it’s a choice, because distance learning, online education, is a choice.” #
“We have 77 virtual learning labs in the state — 55 are in Miami-Dade,” says Julie Durrance, who manages the e-learning lab program for Virtual School. “Of the 55, I would say a good 50 of them are, for being a first-year program, operating beautifully. It’s because the schools did the prerequisites that were necessary: the orientations, the calls, the pep rallies, letting the kids know what a virtual classroom would be like. Some schools, like the one in question from the article, didn’t do the back-up. The kids walked in, they were handed a schedule and they had a virtual class. And we’re working to make sure those type of things don’t happen again next year. Even though it wasn’t our responsibility, our responsibility now is to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” #
As for the fact that the labs are monitored by “facilitators” trained to provide technical support to students instead of traditional teachers, Virtual School says that the districts fill that position, and while some are certified teachers, it’s not a requirement. Their role is to oversee the technical aspects of the labs and ensure students are able to connect with their online instructors, who are available via cell phone, Skype and instant message every day from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. #
“We have one-to-one instruction for every student taking a class, and what I mean by that is there’s probably more interaction than you’d get in a brick-and-mortar school,” Kraschinsky says. “There are so many varieties of communication going on between the Florida Virtual instructor and the student, I think it’s just the concept of blended learning and online education that there’s not a teacher physically there, but there is a great amount of interaction between the teacher and the student.” #
In 2000, the Florida legislature established Virtual School as an independent educational entity, funded by the Department of Education and overseen by a governor-appointed board of trustees. #
The pilot program with Miami-Dade schools began in August, and will likely expand in the coming school year as districts continue implementing cost-cutting measures. While it is too soon to gauge the impact the new approach has had in South Florida, the Gates Foundation has announced it will be conducting a research study on Virtual School learning labs to gauge their effectiveness in reaching students. #
Kraschinsky says that the Times’ student reporter had once been enrolled in Florida Virtual School. #
“I actually spoke to her,” she says. “She is a very nice girl, and she was actually a Florida Virtual student and took several classes with us and had a great experience, and shared that with me. I think her intent was to put a more fair and balanced story out there. As we know, education is a choice for parents and it always should be. Some people might disagree with that. The whole class-size issue I think was really at the heart of the story as well, and when we look at class sizes, we see ourselves as an option to help districts.”
http://floridaindependent.com/19998/florida-virtual-school-responds-to-new-york-times-critique
From the Florida Independent
by Brett Ader
An article detailing the use of virtual classroom technology in Florida produced by The New York Times‘ Student Journalism Institute has caused a stir among advocates of Florida Virtual School, who argue that online instruction is one of only a handful of options available to school districts struggling to meet class-size mandates. #
The piece, which appeared in the education section of the Times last week, was a truncated version of an article penned by an 18-year-old student journalist whose initial story had included additional commentary on the merits of using a “blended learning” method to both meet educational goals and operate within the limits imposed by the Florida Constitution. #
“That article was written by a student reporter at The New York Times‘ institute for journalism,” Star Kraschinsky of Florida Virtual School tells The Florida Independent. “It wasn’t an education reporter. The Times omitted the positive comments, and changed the headline from ‘some Miami schools…’ to ‘in Florida…’ It really, clearly, was taken out of context.” #
One of the concerns raised in the Times was the issue of student choice in enrolling in online courses, with students at some schools finding themselves in virtual learning labs against their will. While a spokesperson for Miami-Dade schools admitted that, due to enrollment that exceeded class-cap requirements, a handful of schools had assigned students to labs, Florida Virtual School maintains the program overall has been successful in its first year. #
“Ninety-nine percent of the schools had parent-teacher-student meetings prior, because not everybody can learn in certain environments,” says Kraschinsky. “A few of the schools didn’t do that. As a parent, you want to make sure that it’s a choice, because distance learning, online education, is a choice.” #
“We have 77 virtual learning labs in the state — 55 are in Miami-Dade,” says Julie Durrance, who manages the e-learning lab program for Virtual School. “Of the 55, I would say a good 50 of them are, for being a first-year program, operating beautifully. It’s because the schools did the prerequisites that were necessary: the orientations, the calls, the pep rallies, letting the kids know what a virtual classroom would be like. Some schools, like the one in question from the article, didn’t do the back-up. The kids walked in, they were handed a schedule and they had a virtual class. And we’re working to make sure those type of things don’t happen again next year. Even though it wasn’t our responsibility, our responsibility now is to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” #
As for the fact that the labs are monitored by “facilitators” trained to provide technical support to students instead of traditional teachers, Virtual School says that the districts fill that position, and while some are certified teachers, it’s not a requirement. Their role is to oversee the technical aspects of the labs and ensure students are able to connect with their online instructors, who are available via cell phone, Skype and instant message every day from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. #
“We have one-to-one instruction for every student taking a class, and what I mean by that is there’s probably more interaction than you’d get in a brick-and-mortar school,” Kraschinsky says. “There are so many varieties of communication going on between the Florida Virtual instructor and the student, I think it’s just the concept of blended learning and online education that there’s not a teacher physically there, but there is a great amount of interaction between the teacher and the student.” #
In 2000, the Florida legislature established Virtual School as an independent educational entity, funded by the Department of Education and overseen by a governor-appointed board of trustees. #
The pilot program with Miami-Dade schools began in August, and will likely expand in the coming school year as districts continue implementing cost-cutting measures. While it is too soon to gauge the impact the new approach has had in South Florida, the Gates Foundation has announced it will be conducting a research study on Virtual School learning labs to gauge their effectiveness in reaching students. #
Kraschinsky says that the Times’ student reporter had once been enrolled in Florida Virtual School. #
“I actually spoke to her,” she says. “She is a very nice girl, and she was actually a Florida Virtual student and took several classes with us and had a great experience, and shared that with me. I think her intent was to put a more fair and balanced story out there. As we know, education is a choice for parents and it always should be. Some people might disagree with that. The whole class-size issue I think was really at the heart of the story as well, and when we look at class sizes, we see ourselves as an option to help districts.”
http://floridaindependent.com/19998/florida-virtual-school-responds-to-new-york-times-critique
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Florida Schools Replace Teachers With Computers
From Switched.com
by Amar Toor
Walk into just about any classroom in the developed world, and you'll see the same basic things: desks, chairs, students -- and, of course, a teacher. You won't always find those things in the sunny state of Florida, however, where someone has had the bright idea to replace teachers with computers.
It's all part of a new program in the public schools of Miami-Dade County, and involves 54 schools and some 7,000 children. To participate in each virtual classroom (or e-learning lab, as they're affectionately titled), students log into a website, where they're presented with online lessons. Their digital course material typically consists of text and graphics, but students can always call, text or e-mail online instructors with questions. The only authority figure in each class is a "facilitator," who addresses any technical problems, and makes sure the kids don't look at porn.
These labs allow Miami-Dade schools to circumvent a 2002 state amendment, which stipulates that each high school classroom can have no more than 25 students in core subjects like math and English. The class-size limit, however, does not apply to virtual classrooms.
At Miami Beach High, for example, sophomore Alix Braun takes her AP macroeconomics class in a computer lab with 35 to 40 other students. And, while Braun personally chose to take the computer-based course, she said many of her classmates were automatically placed in it against their wishes. "None of them want to be there, and for virtual education you have to be really self-motivated," Braun told the New York Times. "This was not something they chose to do, and it's a really bad situation to be put in because it is not your choice."
Many parents have expressed concern over the method, and even some teachers have openly doubted the effectiveness of human-free teaching. Penn State education professor Michael G. Moore thinks that computers should play a role in the classroom, but only in conjunction with human teachers -- an approach known as "blended learning." "There is no doubt that blended learning can be as effective and often more effective than a classroom," Moore said, adding that a single facilitator can't make up for the presence of a real teacher.
But Miami-Dade officials insist that they had no choice but to institute the program, because "there's no way to beat the class-size mandate without it." Is it a good idea? Of course not. Does it smack of administrative laziness? A little. Would our teenage selves have been motivated enough to take a virtual class seriously? Absolutely not. But hey, it could be worse. They could be robots.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1107550755163115303
by Amar Toor
Walk into just about any classroom in the developed world, and you'll see the same basic things: desks, chairs, students -- and, of course, a teacher. You won't always find those things in the sunny state of Florida, however, where someone has had the bright idea to replace teachers with computers.
It's all part of a new program in the public schools of Miami-Dade County, and involves 54 schools and some 7,000 children. To participate in each virtual classroom (or e-learning lab, as they're affectionately titled), students log into a website, where they're presented with online lessons. Their digital course material typically consists of text and graphics, but students can always call, text or e-mail online instructors with questions. The only authority figure in each class is a "facilitator," who addresses any technical problems, and makes sure the kids don't look at porn.
These labs allow Miami-Dade schools to circumvent a 2002 state amendment, which stipulates that each high school classroom can have no more than 25 students in core subjects like math and English. The class-size limit, however, does not apply to virtual classrooms.
At Miami Beach High, for example, sophomore Alix Braun takes her AP macroeconomics class in a computer lab with 35 to 40 other students. And, while Braun personally chose to take the computer-based course, she said many of her classmates were automatically placed in it against their wishes. "None of them want to be there, and for virtual education you have to be really self-motivated," Braun told the New York Times. "This was not something they chose to do, and it's a really bad situation to be put in because it is not your choice."
Many parents have expressed concern over the method, and even some teachers have openly doubted the effectiveness of human-free teaching. Penn State education professor Michael G. Moore thinks that computers should play a role in the classroom, but only in conjunction with human teachers -- an approach known as "blended learning." "There is no doubt that blended learning can be as effective and often more effective than a classroom," Moore said, adding that a single facilitator can't make up for the presence of a real teacher.
But Miami-Dade officials insist that they had no choice but to institute the program, because "there's no way to beat the class-size mandate without it." Is it a good idea? Of course not. Does it smack of administrative laziness? A little. Would our teenage selves have been motivated enough to take a virtual class seriously? Absolutely not. But hey, it could be worse. They could be robots.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1107550755163115303
The next wave of reform, teacherless classrooms
What's next? Monkeys trained to hit play on a VCR or holograms? -cpg
From the New York Times
by Laura Herrera
MIAMI — On the first day of her senior year at North Miami Beach Senior High School, Naomi Baptiste expected to be greeted by a teacher when she walked into her precalculus class.
Chaala Womble, 17, in a virtual class at the Miami-Dade school. The courses, called e-learning labs, are in 54 district schools.
“All there were were computers in the class,” said Naomi, who walked into a room of confused students. “We found out that over the summer they signed us up for these courses.”
“The way our state is dealing with class size is nearly criminal,” said Chris Kirchner, an English teacher at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami. “They’re standardizing in the worst possible way, which is evident in virtual classes.”
While Ms. Kirchner questions the instructional effectiveness of online courses, she said there was a place for them at some level.
“I think there should be learning on the computer,” Ms. Kirchner said. “That part is from 2:30 p.m. on. The first part of the day should be for learning with people.”
But Michael G. Moore, a professor of education at Pennsylvania State University, said programs that combine virtual education and face-to-face instruction could be effective. This is called the “blended learning concept.”
“There is no doubt that blended learning can be as effective and often more effective than a classroom,” said Mr. Moore, who is also editor of The American Journal of Distance Education. He said, however, that research and his experiences had shown that proper design and teacher instruction within the classroom were necessary. A facilitator who only monitors student progress and technical issues within virtual labs would not be categorized as part of a blended-learning model, he said. Other variables include “the maturity and sophistication of the student,” he said.
Despite some complaints about the virtual teaching method, administrators said e-learning labs were here to stay. And nationally, blending learning has already caught on in some areas.
In Chicago Public Schools, high schools have “credit recovery” programs that let students take online classes they previously failed so they can graduate. Omaha Public Schools also have similar programs that require physical attendance at certain locations.
Julie Durrance, manager of the e-learning lab program, said the virtual school planned to work more closely with district schools to ensure success. She said virtual school officials wanted orientations to be mandatory in schools with labs. Ms. Durrance also predicted that labs would expand to middle schools and would include more grade levels in schools that currently limited the labs to juniors and seniors.
There are six middle and K-8 schools using virtual labs in Miami, including Cutler Ridge Middle School and Frank C. Martin K-8 Center.
“I truly believe this will be an option for many districts across the state,” Ms. Durrance said. “I think we just hit the tip of the iceberg.”
Naomi is one of over 7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. A “facilitator” is in the room to make sure students progress. That person also deals with any technical problems.
These virtual classrooms, called e-learning labs, were put in place last August as a result of Florida’s Class Size Reduction Amendment, passed in 2002. The amendment limits the number of students allowed in classrooms, but not in virtual labs.
While most schools held an orientation about the program, some students and parents said they were not informed of the new class structure. Others said they were not given the option to choose whether they wanted this type of instruction, and they voiced concern over the program’s effectiveness.
The online courses are provided by Florida Virtual School, which has been an option in the state’s public schools. The virtual school has provided online classes for home-schooled and traditional students who want to take extra courses. Students log on to a Web site to gain access to lessons, which consist mostly of text with some graphics, and they can call, e-mail or text online instructors for help.
The 54 participating schools in the Miami-Dade County system’s e-learning lab program integrate the online classes differently. A representative from the district said in an e-mail that the system “provided lab facilitators, training for those facilitators and coordination” between the district schools and the virtual school.
Theresa Sutter, a member of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Miami Beach Senior High School, said she thought her daughter, Kelly, was done with virtual classes after she finished Spanish the previous year at home.
When Kelly said that she had been placed in a virtual lab, Ms. Sutter recalled her “jaws dropped.” Neither of them had been told that Kelly would be in one.
“It’s totally different from what classroom teaching is like, so it’s a completely different animal,” Ms. Sutter said.
Under the state’s class-reduction amendment, high school classrooms cannot surpass a 25-student limit in core subjects, like English or math. Fourth- through eighth-grade classrooms can have no more than 22 students, and prekindergarten through third grade can have no more than 18.
Alix Braun, 15, a sophomore at Miami Beach High, takes Advanced Placement macroeconomics in an e-learning lab with 35 to 40 other students. There are 445 students enrolled in the online courses at her school, and while Alix chose to be placed in the lab, she said most of her lab mates did not.
“None of them want to be there,” Alix said, “and for virtual education you have to be really self-motivated. This was not something they chose to do, and it’s a really bad situation to be put in because it is not your choice.”
School administrators said that they had to find a way to meet class-size limits. Jodi Robins, the assistant principal of curriculum at Miami Beach High, said that even if students struggled in certain subjects, the virtual labs were necessary because “there’s no way to beat the class-size mandate without it.”
In response to parental confusion about virtual classes, the Miami Beach High parent-teacher association created a committee on virtual labs. The panel works with the school toward “getting issues on the table and working proactively,” said Patricia Kaine, the association’s president.
Some teachers are skeptical of how well the program can help students learn.
From the New York Times
by Laura Herrera
MIAMI — On the first day of her senior year at North Miami Beach Senior High School, Naomi Baptiste expected to be greeted by a teacher when she walked into her precalculus class.
Chaala Womble, 17, in a virtual class at the Miami-Dade school. The courses, called e-learning labs, are in 54 district schools.
“All there were were computers in the class,” said Naomi, who walked into a room of confused students. “We found out that over the summer they signed us up for these courses.”
“The way our state is dealing with class size is nearly criminal,” said Chris Kirchner, an English teacher at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami. “They’re standardizing in the worst possible way, which is evident in virtual classes.”
While Ms. Kirchner questions the instructional effectiveness of online courses, she said there was a place for them at some level.
“I think there should be learning on the computer,” Ms. Kirchner said. “That part is from 2:30 p.m. on. The first part of the day should be for learning with people.”
But Michael G. Moore, a professor of education at Pennsylvania State University, said programs that combine virtual education and face-to-face instruction could be effective. This is called the “blended learning concept.”
“There is no doubt that blended learning can be as effective and often more effective than a classroom,” said Mr. Moore, who is also editor of The American Journal of Distance Education. He said, however, that research and his experiences had shown that proper design and teacher instruction within the classroom were necessary. A facilitator who only monitors student progress and technical issues within virtual labs would not be categorized as part of a blended-learning model, he said. Other variables include “the maturity and sophistication of the student,” he said.
Despite some complaints about the virtual teaching method, administrators said e-learning labs were here to stay. And nationally, blending learning has already caught on in some areas.
In Chicago Public Schools, high schools have “credit recovery” programs that let students take online classes they previously failed so they can graduate. Omaha Public Schools also have similar programs that require physical attendance at certain locations.
Julie Durrance, manager of the e-learning lab program, said the virtual school planned to work more closely with district schools to ensure success. She said virtual school officials wanted orientations to be mandatory in schools with labs. Ms. Durrance also predicted that labs would expand to middle schools and would include more grade levels in schools that currently limited the labs to juniors and seniors.
There are six middle and K-8 schools using virtual labs in Miami, including Cutler Ridge Middle School and Frank C. Martin K-8 Center.
“I truly believe this will be an option for many districts across the state,” Ms. Durrance said. “I think we just hit the tip of the iceberg.”
Naomi is one of over 7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. A “facilitator” is in the room to make sure students progress. That person also deals with any technical problems.
These virtual classrooms, called e-learning labs, were put in place last August as a result of Florida’s Class Size Reduction Amendment, passed in 2002. The amendment limits the number of students allowed in classrooms, but not in virtual labs.
While most schools held an orientation about the program, some students and parents said they were not informed of the new class structure. Others said they were not given the option to choose whether they wanted this type of instruction, and they voiced concern over the program’s effectiveness.
The online courses are provided by Florida Virtual School, which has been an option in the state’s public schools. The virtual school has provided online classes for home-schooled and traditional students who want to take extra courses. Students log on to a Web site to gain access to lessons, which consist mostly of text with some graphics, and they can call, e-mail or text online instructors for help.
The 54 participating schools in the Miami-Dade County system’s e-learning lab program integrate the online classes differently. A representative from the district said in an e-mail that the system “provided lab facilitators, training for those facilitators and coordination” between the district schools and the virtual school.
Theresa Sutter, a member of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Miami Beach Senior High School, said she thought her daughter, Kelly, was done with virtual classes after she finished Spanish the previous year at home.
When Kelly said that she had been placed in a virtual lab, Ms. Sutter recalled her “jaws dropped.” Neither of them had been told that Kelly would be in one.
“It’s totally different from what classroom teaching is like, so it’s a completely different animal,” Ms. Sutter said.
Under the state’s class-reduction amendment, high school classrooms cannot surpass a 25-student limit in core subjects, like English or math. Fourth- through eighth-grade classrooms can have no more than 22 students, and prekindergarten through third grade can have no more than 18.
Alix Braun, 15, a sophomore at Miami Beach High, takes Advanced Placement macroeconomics in an e-learning lab with 35 to 40 other students. There are 445 students enrolled in the online courses at her school, and while Alix chose to be placed in the lab, she said most of her lab mates did not.
“None of them want to be there,” Alix said, “and for virtual education you have to be really self-motivated. This was not something they chose to do, and it’s a really bad situation to be put in because it is not your choice.”
School administrators said that they had to find a way to meet class-size limits. Jodi Robins, the assistant principal of curriculum at Miami Beach High, said that even if students struggled in certain subjects, the virtual labs were necessary because “there’s no way to beat the class-size mandate without it.”
In response to parental confusion about virtual classes, the Miami Beach High parent-teacher association created a committee on virtual labs. The panel works with the school toward “getting issues on the table and working proactively,” said Patricia Kaine, the association’s president.
Some teachers are skeptical of how well the program can help students learn.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Scott's vouchers-for-all plan still has accountability gap
From the Palm Beach Post
By Jac Wilder Versteeg
Gov.-elect Rick Scott should get ready to call in the Home School Police. Such a force will be necessary if the vouchers-for-all dream of his transition advisers comes true.
Mr. Scott's education team proposes to give vouchers worth thousands of dollars to parents who can use them at the public or private school of their choice, but also for "private tutoring" and "private virtual schooling." It also proposes separate state aid for home schooling. But if it happens, expect lots of "private tutoring" and "private virtual schooling" money to go for what otherwise would have been called "home schooling."
Some parents would spend that money on materials to enhance their child's at-home schooling. Other parents would stick their kid in front of a TV and spend the money on drugs.
How are we going to catch parents who do that? "Open up! It's the Home School Police!"
Gov.-elect Scott's education brain trust is guided by Patricia Levesque, one of the leading thinkers in shaping former Gov. Jeb Bush's education agenda. Mr. Bush and Ms. Levesque accomplished a great deal of what they set out to do, including a growing acceptance of vouchers and a growing reliance on standardized testing to measure every aspect of public education. Don't underestimate Ms. Levesque's ability to achieve her vision.
A major flaw in that vision has been a double standard for accountability. Private schools paid through Florida's corporate voucher programs do not have to give the FCAT and report their performance for all the world to see. They do have to administer an achievement test, but individual private schools have not been required to report their progress or lack thereof.
The rationale for exempting private voucher schools from FCAT accountability continues to be that parents know what is best for their child. Seems to me that if private-school parents are empowered to judge a school that doesn't use the FCAT, public-school parents deserve the same courtesy. I always have suspected that Gov. Bush and Ms. Levesque, in pushing for vouchers, were afraid to make it easy for Floridians to make an apples-to-apples comparison between student achievement at public schools vs. student achievement at private schools.
Voucher proponents counter that such comparisons wouldn't be fair because voucher schools often take students who have not done well in traditional public schools. The attitude that Florida should have different standards for struggling students is jarring, though, coming as it does from groups that tend to criticize public schools for having low expectations for some children.
I'll concede that many private schools prepare their students well for college and life. The trouble is that there's no easy way to judge which schools are in that category and which private schools keep parents happy through grade inflation. A parent naturally is going to be happier with a private school that gives his daughter A's, compared with a public school that doled out C's. And that choice would be none of the public's business except that, for voucher students, private school tuition is being paid for by "donations" from corporations that are able to write off the entire amount from their Florida taxes.
At least the voucher schools have been subjected to a gradual increase in accountability. Most of the schools give their students the Stanford Achievement Test or the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Starting next year, the public will be able to see how voucher schools are doing overall on those tests. Of course, if the results turn out to be awful, the schools still won't lose their eligibility to receive vouchers. Contrast that with public schools that can be closed if they don't improve state scores.
How is "private virtual schooling" going to be accountable? I don't see the Scott team or the Legislature requiring those students to show up at the public school to take the FCAT. I suppose they could require some kind of national test . But what is the penalty if students fail it? Will the state then require those students to go to public school or a private school of their choice? Imagine the outcry among home-schooling parents if they could lose the right to a home-school voucher based on the results of one high-stakes test.
But then imagine the outcry on that day when The Post publishes the first exposé of parents ripping off the home-school voucher program.
Gov.-elect Scott wants to kick down traditional structures of public education. He'd better be prepared for Home School Police to kick down some doors as well.
Jac Wilder VerSteeg is the deputy editor of editorial page of The Palm Beach Post. His e-mail address is jac_versteeg@pbpost.com. Randy Schultz's column will return next week.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/columnists/versteeg-scotts-vouchers-for-all-plan-still-has-1154837.html
By Jac Wilder Versteeg
Gov.-elect Rick Scott should get ready to call in the Home School Police. Such a force will be necessary if the vouchers-for-all dream of his transition advisers comes true.
Mr. Scott's education team proposes to give vouchers worth thousands of dollars to parents who can use them at the public or private school of their choice, but also for "private tutoring" and "private virtual schooling." It also proposes separate state aid for home schooling. But if it happens, expect lots of "private tutoring" and "private virtual schooling" money to go for what otherwise would have been called "home schooling."
Some parents would spend that money on materials to enhance their child's at-home schooling. Other parents would stick their kid in front of a TV and spend the money on drugs.
How are we going to catch parents who do that? "Open up! It's the Home School Police!"
Gov.-elect Scott's education brain trust is guided by Patricia Levesque, one of the leading thinkers in shaping former Gov. Jeb Bush's education agenda. Mr. Bush and Ms. Levesque accomplished a great deal of what they set out to do, including a growing acceptance of vouchers and a growing reliance on standardized testing to measure every aspect of public education. Don't underestimate Ms. Levesque's ability to achieve her vision.
A major flaw in that vision has been a double standard for accountability. Private schools paid through Florida's corporate voucher programs do not have to give the FCAT and report their performance for all the world to see. They do have to administer an achievement test, but individual private schools have not been required to report their progress or lack thereof.
The rationale for exempting private voucher schools from FCAT accountability continues to be that parents know what is best for their child. Seems to me that if private-school parents are empowered to judge a school that doesn't use the FCAT, public-school parents deserve the same courtesy. I always have suspected that Gov. Bush and Ms. Levesque, in pushing for vouchers, were afraid to make it easy for Floridians to make an apples-to-apples comparison between student achievement at public schools vs. student achievement at private schools.
Voucher proponents counter that such comparisons wouldn't be fair because voucher schools often take students who have not done well in traditional public schools. The attitude that Florida should have different standards for struggling students is jarring, though, coming as it does from groups that tend to criticize public schools for having low expectations for some children.
I'll concede that many private schools prepare their students well for college and life. The trouble is that there's no easy way to judge which schools are in that category and which private schools keep parents happy through grade inflation. A parent naturally is going to be happier with a private school that gives his daughter A's, compared with a public school that doled out C's. And that choice would be none of the public's business except that, for voucher students, private school tuition is being paid for by "donations" from corporations that are able to write off the entire amount from their Florida taxes.
At least the voucher schools have been subjected to a gradual increase in accountability. Most of the schools give their students the Stanford Achievement Test or the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Starting next year, the public will be able to see how voucher schools are doing overall on those tests. Of course, if the results turn out to be awful, the schools still won't lose their eligibility to receive vouchers. Contrast that with public schools that can be closed if they don't improve state scores.
How is "private virtual schooling" going to be accountable? I don't see the Scott team or the Legislature requiring those students to show up at the public school to take the FCAT. I suppose they could require some kind of national test . But what is the penalty if students fail it? Will the state then require those students to go to public school or a private school of their choice? Imagine the outcry among home-schooling parents if they could lose the right to a home-school voucher based on the results of one high-stakes test.
But then imagine the outcry on that day when The Post publishes the first exposé of parents ripping off the home-school voucher program.
Gov.-elect Scott wants to kick down traditional structures of public education. He'd better be prepared for Home School Police to kick down some doors as well.
Jac Wilder VerSteeg is the deputy editor of editorial page of The Palm Beach Post. His e-mail address is jac_versteeg@pbpost.com. Randy Schultz's column will return next week.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/columnists/versteeg-scotts-vouchers-for-all-plan-still-has-1154837.html
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Virtually Worthless
Virtual learning is a huge part of Rick Scotts proposed education reforms. -cpg
By Mc Nelly Torres, Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Rodolfo M. Rodriguez, a 24-year-old cashier at a gas station in Davie, was searching online for a school that would allow him to earn a high school diploma.
It was February, and Rodriguez found Continental Academy, a virtual school based in Miramar.
“Study at home at your own pace,” Continental Academy’s website advertised. “No classes to attend.”
The father of two boys, ages 4 and 3, paid the initial $350 fee and began to take courses in math, reading, science and English. In about four weeks, Rodriguez completed the program without initiating any communication with teachers or receiving guidance from school staff, he said.
Continental Academy’s Written Response to FCIR
After declining interview requests, Continental Academy provided written responses to 10 questions from FCIR.
But Rodriguez’s dreams of obtaining a college education and pursuing a career as a dental or medical assistant to better provide for his family were dashed in March after Concorde Career Institute, a technical-vocational school that specializes in health care training, refused to accept his Continental Academy diploma.
The reason: Continental Academy has not been accredited by an academic standards organization that Concorde accepts. In other words, as far as Miramar-based Concorde Career Institute was concerned, Rodriguez’s Continental Academy diploma was just a piece of paper.
“The (Continental Academy) website said that it was accredited,” Rodriguez, a high school dropout, said. “I put so much work into this para nada (for nothing).”
Claudette Simpson, head of admissions at Concorde, said the school turns away many students because they don’t have a “valid” diploma, according to Concorde’s criteria. Concorde accepts private high school diplomas from schools that have been accredited by a group recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
“We have a list of schools that we won’t accept diplomas from,” Simpson said, without revealing an exact number of schools but explaining that Concorde’s list has grown over the years. “We are very diligent about this.”
Continental Academy is one of the schools on that list.
Tammy Dawn Shedd, of Cornelia, Ga., has also struggled with Continental’s lack of credentials. Five colleges, including Virginia Tech, have turned her down because they wouldn’t accept her Continental diploma.
The problem is that many vocational schools and institutions of higher learning do not recognize the two accrediting organizations, the National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools and the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools, which accredit Continental.
“They cheated me of about $500,” Shedd, 32, said because none of the colleges she applied to would accept her Continental Academy diploma.
Rodriguez and Shedd are two of 59 students from around the country who have filed complaints with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Better Business Bureau and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services against Continental Academy since 2006. They allege Continental Academy provided false information about accreditation.
These students, many of whom said they graduated with honors from Continental Academy, reported that colleges nationwide, including Virginia Tech and Southwestern College in Ohio, have refused to accept them because their high school diploma is from Continental.
Their complaints underscore a fundamental problem in distance learning and online education. Dozens of organizations accredit schools, but the U.S. higher education community at large only recognizes a handful of accrediting organizations as legitimate, education experts said. If you obtain a high school diploma from an organization not widely recognized by colleges and post-secondary schools, as Rodriguez did, then your degree is worthless.
The Better Business Bureau has given Continental an “F” rating because the school failed to resolve a handful of complaints in a timely manner, and in some cases, school officials have not responded to several complaints filed against the school.
In a written statement to Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Jeffrey Lopez, vice principal of Continental Academy, said Continental takes complaints seriously. But Lopez admitted that Continental Academy’s diploma is refused by colleges and post-secondary schools so often that the Miramar school keeps a form letter on hand to address the issue.
“When we challenge the college’s decision to deny admission to one of our graduates in writing, we never hear from the college and never hear from the graduate,” Lopez said in a written statement. Lopez provided a copy of the form letter to FCIR.
It is unclear, however, if any colleges have accepted Continental graduates after receiving the school’s appeal letter. None of the Continental graduates who spoke with FCIR received this type of support from Continental Academy after colleges refused to accept their high school diplomas.
In connection with this article, Lopez refused FCIR’s request for an in-person meeting and later canceled a scheduled phone interview. Instead, he requested questions in writing. FCIR e-mailed 13 questions, of which Lopez answered only 10.
“Continental Academy has advised students who Continental Academy is accredited by and that the acceptance of credits or graduate is always the prerogative of the receiving institution or employer,” Lopez wrote.
Continental Academy doesn’t provide a disclaimer on its site to warn students about this issue and students who spoke with FCIR said Continental Academy did not make this clear to them before they enrolled.
A big market with no regulation
Distance-learning schools, traditionally done through mail as students received materials and worked at home, have been around for years. But with the explosive growth of the Internet, many of these operations have flourished online, reaching large groups of students with little or no oversight from state and federal regulators.
In 2004, the Chronicle of Higher Education described high schools and for-profit colleges lacking accreditation as “degree mills,” reporting that these operations have grown into a billion-dollar industry.
Education experts and consumer advocates said many of these online high schools use accrediting groups with questionable credentials, giving the schools an endorsement that unsuspecting students often do not question. And these schools appeal to would-be students by offering study-at-home convenience and fast results while charging $300 to $1,200 for a high school diploma.
“It’s a mess, and we are all discovering this is a problem in all states,” said Alan L. Contreras, a national expert and administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, a state agency that administers laws and standards for post-secondary schools to ensure colleges operating in Oregon offer degrees that have credentials accepted by the state.
The Florida Commission for Independent Education, a state regulatory agency that oversees for-profit and public post-secondary institutions in the state, has received complaints from consumers about suspected diploma mills, said Tom Butler, press secretary for the Florida Department of Education.
“Keep in mind that this is a national problem and Florida does not have any statutory authority over the schools that are running diploma mills,” Butler said. “Students must be prudent and do their diligence when pursuing admission to schools.”
Since private schools aren’t regulated by state or federal agencies, the Better Business Bureau has sounded alarms about certain schools.
In 2009, for example, the BBB issued a warning about high school diplomas and advanced degrees from Belford High School and Belford University, both based in Texas. The Better Business Bureau received 117 complaints about the schools from students living in 40 states.
In November 2009, a group of former students filed a class-action lawsuit against Belford High School, alleging the Texas school defrauded them by using two “two fictitious accrediting entities created to give Belford High School the appearance of legitimacy.”
The federal government has just begun to examine online schools like Continental Academy.
In recent years, federal education officials identified more than 13 online high schools described as “potentially operating as diploma mills” and suspected of granting at least 9,500 diplomas since 2005, Mary Mitchelson, then acting inspector general of the U.S. Department of Education, said during Oct. 14, 2009, testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Federal investigators are interested in high school diploma mills because 11 percent of all federal financial aid – about $12 billion a year in grants and student loans – has gone to students who earned high school diplomas from schools not accredited to award them, Mitchelson said.
No organization tracks the total number of online high schools operating in the United States or the number of students attending these schools. But a 2008 survey from the Sloan Consortium and Babson Survey Research Group, a nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts whose mission is to help institutions and educators improve the quality of online education, found that 3.9 million students who attended secondary and post-secondary schools were enrolled in at least one online course in 2007 — a 12 percent increase over the previous year.
In Florida, 2,189 private K-12 schools, including online schools, are registered with the state Department of Education. More than 250,000 students were enrolled in private schools in Florida during the 2007-08 school year, according to a survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Education that collects and analyzes education data.
The state Department of Education doesn’t regulate private schools. By state law, these schools are required to register with the state and submit an annual survey that includes student enrollment, number of teachers, administrators and other staff and student demographics. However, officials do not verify information submitted by schools, according to state officials. The state’s private school directory identifies religious-based, nonprofit or for-profit schools, but it doesn’t specify which ones are distance learning and online schools.
Besides a high school diploma, students can earn a GED (General Educational Development) certification, which is inexpensive — $50 on average to take the test — and widely accepted by many colleges and employers. Students can contact the nearest GED Testing Center to take the rigorous seven-and-a-half-hour test, which measures knowledge of social studies, science, math, reading and writing. Tests are not offered online.
CT Turner, associate director of marketing and public relations for GED Testing Service, a program of the American Council on Education, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that develops and delivers the GED test, said few online high schools issue diplomas that are accepted by colleges, universities and post-secondary schools.
“People are so desperate to earn that credential, and many of these schools are preying on people who are struggling financially,” Turner said. “Another problem is that there are a lot of people who are not reporting this to state agencies.”
Schools seeking accreditation from a respected accrediting organization must pass a review to ensure they meet educational standards. The accreditation gives individual diplomas value because its teachers, coursework, facilities, equipment and supplies are reviewed on a routine basis to ensure students receive a quality education.
But an accreditation only has value if the U.S. educational community at large accepts the organization that provides the accreditation.
Mark Elgart, chief executive of the respected Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, said few well-recognized groups are willing to accredit distance-learning schools. AdvancED, now the parent organization of SACS, currently accredits 130 distance-learning schools and has accredited more than 27,000 schools in 69 countries.
“The online world is largely unregulated,” Elgart said. “States need to enact more regulation because they have a responsibility to the consumer.”
AdvancED staff visits schools every five years and works with administrators to ensure adherence to the highest educational standards. Schools that do not meet the standards are monitored closely.
“We have hundreds of schools that lose accreditation every year,” Elgart said. “The process pushes some schools out because they can’t meet the standards and criteria.”
Seeking an education
Continental Academy’s website advertises that the school has helped 95,000 students earn high school diplomas since its founding in 1996. Graduates have moved on to higher-paying jobs, vocational schools, community colleges, universities and new careers, according to Continental.
The school also provides student testimonials — from adults in Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida — showing pictures and only listing first names.
When Rodriguez found Continental Academy, he thought the school was fine based on its website.
Continental Academy is located in an office park in Miramar, where signage for a related company, Home School of America, is displayed. (Photo by Mc Nelly Torres.)
But after Concorde would not accept his high school diploma, Rodriguez called Continental Academy and complained to the principal. Continental officials simply told him the school is accredited without providing further explanation, he said. In response, Rodriguez filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
“I’m angry,” Rodriguez said. “I can’t understand how Continental Academy has been allowed to take advantage of people who are trying to complete a high school education and attend college.”
Continental Academy, which is registered with the state Department of Education, as all private schools are in Florida, obtained accreditation on July 26, 2006, from SACS, one of the widely respected organizations. But in 2009, Continental Academy withdrew its accreditation, according to Jennifer Oliver, a spokesperson for AdvancED.
“They didn’t want to comply with requirements that would ensure they met the standards of accreditation,” Oliver said without providing details.
In April 2009, the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation, a now-defunct umbrella group created in 1994 by six regional accreditation groups including SACS, issued a letter to address concerns about Continental’s accreditation status.
The letter said the “Fast Track Program,” which Continental offered at the time, “does not meet the spirit and intent of a high school diploma.”
Lopez said Continental officials were not aware of the letter until a parent brought it to their attention.
“After much consideration, Continental Academy’s governing body has decided that it is not in the best interest of Continental Academy to maintain its accreditation with AdvancED/SACS/CASI,” Continental officials said in a statement to FCIR. “Aside from the lack of institutional support and structural confusion that Continental Academy received from SACS, a stark reality of maintaining SACS accreditation is that a school or school district must have a significant amount of financial resources available for continuous school improvement.”
Lopez said CITA’s letter has affected thousands of Continental Academy graduates who earned a SACS-accredited high school diploma through Fast Track from July 2006 to May 2008 because colleges and universities will not recognize Continental Academy graduates from this program.
After withdrawing Continental Academy accreditation from SACS, Continental owners tried to get SACS to accredit a new school, Elgart said.
SACS officials refused.
“It was the same people behind the school with questionable business practices,” Elgart said.
Continental reported to the state that it graduated 13,204 students during the 2008-09 academic year, according to its annual survey for the state Department of Education. In the 2009-10 survey, Continental reported a staff of eight, with six administrators and two counselors, and 2,984 students were enrolled for that academic year – a student-to-staff ratio of 373-to-1.
Lopez said in a statement to Florida Center for Investigative Reporting that Continental has 18 employees. He didn’t specify the number of certified teachers, as FCIR requested, and would not provide resumes for the company’s principals.
When contacted by phone with follow-up questions, Lopez said: “We are done with that interview. Just use your professional judgment and good luck to you.”
The National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools and the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools now accredit Continental. NALSAS accredits based only on one standard: consumer protection. NCACS is simply a membership group.
Ed Nagel, chief executive officer of NALSAS, defended Continental and his organization’s accreditation of the school.
“(Continental Academy) is helping people go on with their education and get better jobs,” Nagel said.
Nagel said NALSAS has conducted three on-site visits at Continental Academy since 2000, has reviewed the school’s marketing materials, and has ensured the school employs certified teachers.
“They have one of the best education programs in the country,” said Nagel, also the former chair and national office manager of NCACS. “They are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.”
NALSAS has accredited 13 private schools in Florida, including Continental.
More Information
◦The National Collegiate Athletic Association doesn’t accept virtual schools such as Continental, and the organization has a list of schools whose courses, grades and diplomas cannot be submitted as part of the NCAA eligibility process.
◦On Oct. 28, the U.S. Department of Education released new student-aid rules requiring college institutions to develop procedures to evaluate the validity of a student’s high school diploma.
◦The U.S. Department of Education provides resources for accreditation and diploma mills.
◦The Council for Higher Education Accreditation has a database listing more than 7,700 degree-granting and non-degree granting institutions and more than 18,700 programs that are accredited by organizations in the United States.
Continental now list three programs on its website: P.A.C.E., an accelerated online high school diploma program for adults 18 and older; O.U.T.R.E.A.C.H., an online high school diploma program for students 16 and older; and S.E.A.L., a high school diploma program through mail for students 16 years and older. The school charges $350 to $850 depending on the program.
Florida incorporation records indicate that Home School of America Inc. owns Continental Academy. Those records also list Nersy Lopez, 63, and Jeffrey Lopez, 42, both of Davie, and Joseph A. Aguilera, 59, of Miami, as the registered agents of Continental Academy. Although state law does not require it, none of these individuals has a teaching certificate with the Florida Department of Education.
Nersy and Jeffrey Lopez and Aguilera are also listed as registered agents of other businesses, including Home School of America Inc. and Home School of America Holdings LLC. Jeffrey Lopez and Aguilera are listed as registered agents of Southeastern High School, another virtual school. Incorporation records list the same address in Miramar as the principal address for these businesses.
Jeffrey Lopez is the school principal of Southeastern High School, a virtual school established in 2007, according to the most recent annual survey submitted to the Department of Education. Like Continental Academy, Southeastern received its accreditation from NALSAS and is a member of NCACS.
In his professional profile on LinkedIn, Lopez lists himself as the senior vice president of finance and corporate affairs of Home School of America.
Continental Academy’s revenue and profits are unknown. But its principals, records show, are millionaires. In 2005, Jeffrey and Nersy Lopez created N & J Lopez Family Limited Partnership, putting down $1 million in initial contributions. The partners anticipated contributions of up to $5 million, records show, and Nersy Lopez signed as the general partner.
Both Lopezes have made substantial investments in real estate as well.
In 2006, Nersy and Jeffrey Lopez bought a 7,334-square-foot house in Davie valued now at $943,870, for which Jeffrey Lopez transferred ownership to Nersy Lopez on Nov. 18. The same day, Jeffrey Lopez transferred ownership, again to Nersy Lopez, of an undeveloped property in Plantation, which he purchased in July for $280,000, records show. Nersy Lopez also owns a house in Southwest Ranches valued at $896,840.
What’s more, in 1996, Nersy Lopez and Joseph Aguilera bought a residence in Pembroke Pines for $86,480 at the time. A year later, they transferred the property to Lopez, who sold the residence in 1999 for $116,000.
A diploma with no value
In recent years, Continental Academy has described itself in marketing materials as “trustworthy” and a “recognized educational institution.” In online promotional materials, the school encourages would-be students to earn a high school diploma instead of a GED.
The school also stated in a press release that Continental was accredited by the Florida Department of Education, though the state Department of Education doesn’t accredit schools.
Wendell Scott, 32, said he was impressed with Continental Academy’s brochure when he received it on the mail.
“It was a beautiful brochure, and I thought they were the real deal,” Scott said.
And he didn’t question accreditation when he decided to spend more than $500 to obtain his high school diploma. Scott, of Cincinnati, Ohio, completed the course work by mail in 2004.
Scott, who lost his job as a manager for a security company earlier this year, decided to pursue a new career and attend college. But after recently applying to several colleges, including Southwestern College in Cincinnati, Ohio, Scott learned the schools would not accept his Continental diploma.
“I’m very upset about this,” Scott said. “This puts me in a bad position and is making it harder for me to attend college. I’m unemployed and I’m not even a high school graduate.”
http://fcir.org/2010/12/22/virtually-worthless/
By Mc Nelly Torres, Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Rodolfo M. Rodriguez, a 24-year-old cashier at a gas station in Davie, was searching online for a school that would allow him to earn a high school diploma.
It was February, and Rodriguez found Continental Academy, a virtual school based in Miramar.
“Study at home at your own pace,” Continental Academy’s website advertised. “No classes to attend.”
The father of two boys, ages 4 and 3, paid the initial $350 fee and began to take courses in math, reading, science and English. In about four weeks, Rodriguez completed the program without initiating any communication with teachers or receiving guidance from school staff, he said.
Continental Academy’s Written Response to FCIR
After declining interview requests, Continental Academy provided written responses to 10 questions from FCIR.
But Rodriguez’s dreams of obtaining a college education and pursuing a career as a dental or medical assistant to better provide for his family were dashed in March after Concorde Career Institute, a technical-vocational school that specializes in health care training, refused to accept his Continental Academy diploma.
The reason: Continental Academy has not been accredited by an academic standards organization that Concorde accepts. In other words, as far as Miramar-based Concorde Career Institute was concerned, Rodriguez’s Continental Academy diploma was just a piece of paper.
“The (Continental Academy) website said that it was accredited,” Rodriguez, a high school dropout, said. “I put so much work into this para nada (for nothing).”
Claudette Simpson, head of admissions at Concorde, said the school turns away many students because they don’t have a “valid” diploma, according to Concorde’s criteria. Concorde accepts private high school diplomas from schools that have been accredited by a group recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
“We have a list of schools that we won’t accept diplomas from,” Simpson said, without revealing an exact number of schools but explaining that Concorde’s list has grown over the years. “We are very diligent about this.”
Continental Academy is one of the schools on that list.
Tammy Dawn Shedd, of Cornelia, Ga., has also struggled with Continental’s lack of credentials. Five colleges, including Virginia Tech, have turned her down because they wouldn’t accept her Continental diploma.
The problem is that many vocational schools and institutions of higher learning do not recognize the two accrediting organizations, the National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools and the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools, which accredit Continental.
“They cheated me of about $500,” Shedd, 32, said because none of the colleges she applied to would accept her Continental Academy diploma.
Rodriguez and Shedd are two of 59 students from around the country who have filed complaints with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Better Business Bureau and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services against Continental Academy since 2006. They allege Continental Academy provided false information about accreditation.
These students, many of whom said they graduated with honors from Continental Academy, reported that colleges nationwide, including Virginia Tech and Southwestern College in Ohio, have refused to accept them because their high school diploma is from Continental.
Their complaints underscore a fundamental problem in distance learning and online education. Dozens of organizations accredit schools, but the U.S. higher education community at large only recognizes a handful of accrediting organizations as legitimate, education experts said. If you obtain a high school diploma from an organization not widely recognized by colleges and post-secondary schools, as Rodriguez did, then your degree is worthless.
The Better Business Bureau has given Continental an “F” rating because the school failed to resolve a handful of complaints in a timely manner, and in some cases, school officials have not responded to several complaints filed against the school.
In a written statement to Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Jeffrey Lopez, vice principal of Continental Academy, said Continental takes complaints seriously. But Lopez admitted that Continental Academy’s diploma is refused by colleges and post-secondary schools so often that the Miramar school keeps a form letter on hand to address the issue.
“When we challenge the college’s decision to deny admission to one of our graduates in writing, we never hear from the college and never hear from the graduate,” Lopez said in a written statement. Lopez provided a copy of the form letter to FCIR.
It is unclear, however, if any colleges have accepted Continental graduates after receiving the school’s appeal letter. None of the Continental graduates who spoke with FCIR received this type of support from Continental Academy after colleges refused to accept their high school diplomas.
In connection with this article, Lopez refused FCIR’s request for an in-person meeting and later canceled a scheduled phone interview. Instead, he requested questions in writing. FCIR e-mailed 13 questions, of which Lopez answered only 10.
“Continental Academy has advised students who Continental Academy is accredited by and that the acceptance of credits or graduate is always the prerogative of the receiving institution or employer,” Lopez wrote.
Continental Academy doesn’t provide a disclaimer on its site to warn students about this issue and students who spoke with FCIR said Continental Academy did not make this clear to them before they enrolled.
A big market with no regulation
Distance-learning schools, traditionally done through mail as students received materials and worked at home, have been around for years. But with the explosive growth of the Internet, many of these operations have flourished online, reaching large groups of students with little or no oversight from state and federal regulators.
In 2004, the Chronicle of Higher Education described high schools and for-profit colleges lacking accreditation as “degree mills,” reporting that these operations have grown into a billion-dollar industry.
Education experts and consumer advocates said many of these online high schools use accrediting groups with questionable credentials, giving the schools an endorsement that unsuspecting students often do not question. And these schools appeal to would-be students by offering study-at-home convenience and fast results while charging $300 to $1,200 for a high school diploma.
“It’s a mess, and we are all discovering this is a problem in all states,” said Alan L. Contreras, a national expert and administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, a state agency that administers laws and standards for post-secondary schools to ensure colleges operating in Oregon offer degrees that have credentials accepted by the state.
The Florida Commission for Independent Education, a state regulatory agency that oversees for-profit and public post-secondary institutions in the state, has received complaints from consumers about suspected diploma mills, said Tom Butler, press secretary for the Florida Department of Education.
“Keep in mind that this is a national problem and Florida does not have any statutory authority over the schools that are running diploma mills,” Butler said. “Students must be prudent and do their diligence when pursuing admission to schools.”
Since private schools aren’t regulated by state or federal agencies, the Better Business Bureau has sounded alarms about certain schools.
In 2009, for example, the BBB issued a warning about high school diplomas and advanced degrees from Belford High School and Belford University, both based in Texas. The Better Business Bureau received 117 complaints about the schools from students living in 40 states.
In November 2009, a group of former students filed a class-action lawsuit against Belford High School, alleging the Texas school defrauded them by using two “two fictitious accrediting entities created to give Belford High School the appearance of legitimacy.”
The federal government has just begun to examine online schools like Continental Academy.
In recent years, federal education officials identified more than 13 online high schools described as “potentially operating as diploma mills” and suspected of granting at least 9,500 diplomas since 2005, Mary Mitchelson, then acting inspector general of the U.S. Department of Education, said during Oct. 14, 2009, testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Federal investigators are interested in high school diploma mills because 11 percent of all federal financial aid – about $12 billion a year in grants and student loans – has gone to students who earned high school diplomas from schools not accredited to award them, Mitchelson said.
No organization tracks the total number of online high schools operating in the United States or the number of students attending these schools. But a 2008 survey from the Sloan Consortium and Babson Survey Research Group, a nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts whose mission is to help institutions and educators improve the quality of online education, found that 3.9 million students who attended secondary and post-secondary schools were enrolled in at least one online course in 2007 — a 12 percent increase over the previous year.
In Florida, 2,189 private K-12 schools, including online schools, are registered with the state Department of Education. More than 250,000 students were enrolled in private schools in Florida during the 2007-08 school year, according to a survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Education that collects and analyzes education data.
The state Department of Education doesn’t regulate private schools. By state law, these schools are required to register with the state and submit an annual survey that includes student enrollment, number of teachers, administrators and other staff and student demographics. However, officials do not verify information submitted by schools, according to state officials. The state’s private school directory identifies religious-based, nonprofit or for-profit schools, but it doesn’t specify which ones are distance learning and online schools.
Besides a high school diploma, students can earn a GED (General Educational Development) certification, which is inexpensive — $50 on average to take the test — and widely accepted by many colleges and employers. Students can contact the nearest GED Testing Center to take the rigorous seven-and-a-half-hour test, which measures knowledge of social studies, science, math, reading and writing. Tests are not offered online.
CT Turner, associate director of marketing and public relations for GED Testing Service, a program of the American Council on Education, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that develops and delivers the GED test, said few online high schools issue diplomas that are accepted by colleges, universities and post-secondary schools.
“People are so desperate to earn that credential, and many of these schools are preying on people who are struggling financially,” Turner said. “Another problem is that there are a lot of people who are not reporting this to state agencies.”
Schools seeking accreditation from a respected accrediting organization must pass a review to ensure they meet educational standards. The accreditation gives individual diplomas value because its teachers, coursework, facilities, equipment and supplies are reviewed on a routine basis to ensure students receive a quality education.
But an accreditation only has value if the U.S. educational community at large accepts the organization that provides the accreditation.
Mark Elgart, chief executive of the respected Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, said few well-recognized groups are willing to accredit distance-learning schools. AdvancED, now the parent organization of SACS, currently accredits 130 distance-learning schools and has accredited more than 27,000 schools in 69 countries.
“The online world is largely unregulated,” Elgart said. “States need to enact more regulation because they have a responsibility to the consumer.”
AdvancED staff visits schools every five years and works with administrators to ensure adherence to the highest educational standards. Schools that do not meet the standards are monitored closely.
“We have hundreds of schools that lose accreditation every year,” Elgart said. “The process pushes some schools out because they can’t meet the standards and criteria.”
Seeking an education
Continental Academy’s website advertises that the school has helped 95,000 students earn high school diplomas since its founding in 1996. Graduates have moved on to higher-paying jobs, vocational schools, community colleges, universities and new careers, according to Continental.
The school also provides student testimonials — from adults in Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida — showing pictures and only listing first names.
When Rodriguez found Continental Academy, he thought the school was fine based on its website.
Continental Academy is located in an office park in Miramar, where signage for a related company, Home School of America, is displayed. (Photo by Mc Nelly Torres.)
But after Concorde would not accept his high school diploma, Rodriguez called Continental Academy and complained to the principal. Continental officials simply told him the school is accredited without providing further explanation, he said. In response, Rodriguez filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
“I’m angry,” Rodriguez said. “I can’t understand how Continental Academy has been allowed to take advantage of people who are trying to complete a high school education and attend college.”
Continental Academy, which is registered with the state Department of Education, as all private schools are in Florida, obtained accreditation on July 26, 2006, from SACS, one of the widely respected organizations. But in 2009, Continental Academy withdrew its accreditation, according to Jennifer Oliver, a spokesperson for AdvancED.
“They didn’t want to comply with requirements that would ensure they met the standards of accreditation,” Oliver said without providing details.
In April 2009, the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation, a now-defunct umbrella group created in 1994 by six regional accreditation groups including SACS, issued a letter to address concerns about Continental’s accreditation status.
The letter said the “Fast Track Program,” which Continental offered at the time, “does not meet the spirit and intent of a high school diploma.”
Lopez said Continental officials were not aware of the letter until a parent brought it to their attention.
“After much consideration, Continental Academy’s governing body has decided that it is not in the best interest of Continental Academy to maintain its accreditation with AdvancED/SACS/CASI,” Continental officials said in a statement to FCIR. “Aside from the lack of institutional support and structural confusion that Continental Academy received from SACS, a stark reality of maintaining SACS accreditation is that a school or school district must have a significant amount of financial resources available for continuous school improvement.”
Lopez said CITA’s letter has affected thousands of Continental Academy graduates who earned a SACS-accredited high school diploma through Fast Track from July 2006 to May 2008 because colleges and universities will not recognize Continental Academy graduates from this program.
After withdrawing Continental Academy accreditation from SACS, Continental owners tried to get SACS to accredit a new school, Elgart said.
SACS officials refused.
“It was the same people behind the school with questionable business practices,” Elgart said.
Continental reported to the state that it graduated 13,204 students during the 2008-09 academic year, according to its annual survey for the state Department of Education. In the 2009-10 survey, Continental reported a staff of eight, with six administrators and two counselors, and 2,984 students were enrolled for that academic year – a student-to-staff ratio of 373-to-1.
Lopez said in a statement to Florida Center for Investigative Reporting that Continental has 18 employees. He didn’t specify the number of certified teachers, as FCIR requested, and would not provide resumes for the company’s principals.
When contacted by phone with follow-up questions, Lopez said: “We are done with that interview. Just use your professional judgment and good luck to you.”
The National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools and the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools now accredit Continental. NALSAS accredits based only on one standard: consumer protection. NCACS is simply a membership group.
Ed Nagel, chief executive officer of NALSAS, defended Continental and his organization’s accreditation of the school.
“(Continental Academy) is helping people go on with their education and get better jobs,” Nagel said.
Nagel said NALSAS has conducted three on-site visits at Continental Academy since 2000, has reviewed the school’s marketing materials, and has ensured the school employs certified teachers.
“They have one of the best education programs in the country,” said Nagel, also the former chair and national office manager of NCACS. “They are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.”
NALSAS has accredited 13 private schools in Florida, including Continental.
More Information
◦The National Collegiate Athletic Association doesn’t accept virtual schools such as Continental, and the organization has a list of schools whose courses, grades and diplomas cannot be submitted as part of the NCAA eligibility process.
◦On Oct. 28, the U.S. Department of Education released new student-aid rules requiring college institutions to develop procedures to evaluate the validity of a student’s high school diploma.
◦The U.S. Department of Education provides resources for accreditation and diploma mills.
◦The Council for Higher Education Accreditation has a database listing more than 7,700 degree-granting and non-degree granting institutions and more than 18,700 programs that are accredited by organizations in the United States.
Continental now list three programs on its website: P.A.C.E., an accelerated online high school diploma program for adults 18 and older; O.U.T.R.E.A.C.H., an online high school diploma program for students 16 and older; and S.E.A.L., a high school diploma program through mail for students 16 years and older. The school charges $350 to $850 depending on the program.
Florida incorporation records indicate that Home School of America Inc. owns Continental Academy. Those records also list Nersy Lopez, 63, and Jeffrey Lopez, 42, both of Davie, and Joseph A. Aguilera, 59, of Miami, as the registered agents of Continental Academy. Although state law does not require it, none of these individuals has a teaching certificate with the Florida Department of Education.
Nersy and Jeffrey Lopez and Aguilera are also listed as registered agents of other businesses, including Home School of America Inc. and Home School of America Holdings LLC. Jeffrey Lopez and Aguilera are listed as registered agents of Southeastern High School, another virtual school. Incorporation records list the same address in Miramar as the principal address for these businesses.
Jeffrey Lopez is the school principal of Southeastern High School, a virtual school established in 2007, according to the most recent annual survey submitted to the Department of Education. Like Continental Academy, Southeastern received its accreditation from NALSAS and is a member of NCACS.
In his professional profile on LinkedIn, Lopez lists himself as the senior vice president of finance and corporate affairs of Home School of America.
Continental Academy’s revenue and profits are unknown. But its principals, records show, are millionaires. In 2005, Jeffrey and Nersy Lopez created N & J Lopez Family Limited Partnership, putting down $1 million in initial contributions. The partners anticipated contributions of up to $5 million, records show, and Nersy Lopez signed as the general partner.
Both Lopezes have made substantial investments in real estate as well.
In 2006, Nersy and Jeffrey Lopez bought a 7,334-square-foot house in Davie valued now at $943,870, for which Jeffrey Lopez transferred ownership to Nersy Lopez on Nov. 18. The same day, Jeffrey Lopez transferred ownership, again to Nersy Lopez, of an undeveloped property in Plantation, which he purchased in July for $280,000, records show. Nersy Lopez also owns a house in Southwest Ranches valued at $896,840.
What’s more, in 1996, Nersy Lopez and Joseph Aguilera bought a residence in Pembroke Pines for $86,480 at the time. A year later, they transferred the property to Lopez, who sold the residence in 1999 for $116,000.
A diploma with no value
In recent years, Continental Academy has described itself in marketing materials as “trustworthy” and a “recognized educational institution.” In online promotional materials, the school encourages would-be students to earn a high school diploma instead of a GED.
The school also stated in a press release that Continental was accredited by the Florida Department of Education, though the state Department of Education doesn’t accredit schools.
Wendell Scott, 32, said he was impressed with Continental Academy’s brochure when he received it on the mail.
“It was a beautiful brochure, and I thought they were the real deal,” Scott said.
And he didn’t question accreditation when he decided to spend more than $500 to obtain his high school diploma. Scott, of Cincinnati, Ohio, completed the course work by mail in 2004.
Scott, who lost his job as a manager for a security company earlier this year, decided to pursue a new career and attend college. But after recently applying to several colleges, including Southwestern College in Cincinnati, Ohio, Scott learned the schools would not accept his Continental diploma.
“I’m very upset about this,” Scott said. “This puts me in a bad position and is making it harder for me to attend college. I’m unemployed and I’m not even a high school graduate.”
http://fcir.org/2010/12/22/virtually-worthless/
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