Is Your District Primed for a Virtual School?

If you answer Yes to one or more of the questions below, a full-time virtual school could be just what your district needs.

1. Do parents in your district want increased school choice?
2. Is your student population growing rapidly?
3. Are you mandated to reduce class sizes?
4. Will you need to accommodate student transfer requests under No Child Left Behind?
5. Is meeting the needs of your hard-to-serve students an ever-increasing challenge?
6. Do you have a significant number of students who are working ahead or behind grade level?
7. Does your district lose many students to homeschooling or private schools?
8. Is technology an important part of your district's approach to education?
9. Have you explored or implemented online high school classes?
10. Do you believe that the future of education includes virtual learning?

1. Do parents in your district want increased school choice?

As part of the mix of options you can offer families in your district, a high-quality virtual school presents a very innovative and individualized alternative. And with the spread of statewide virtual charters, you'll want your parents to have this choice within your district rather than seeking it outside your boundaries.

2. Is your student population growing rapidly?

If your schools are already bursting at the seams, a complete high-quality virtual program can reduce some of the pressure to invest in costly brick-and-mortar buildings (or to haul in portables that have a way of becoming permanent).

3. Are you mandated to reduce class sizes?

If your state or district has decided to shrink class size in hopes of impacting student performance, a virtual school for families who choose it could free up seats and stretch your class-size reduction resources.

4. Will you need to accommodate student transfer requests under No Child Left Behind?

Even the best districts may have some schools that are classified as "low-performing" under NCLB. The U.S. Department of Education has suggested that virtual schools could help districts accommodate transfer requests by students at these schools—requests that every district must satisfy.

5. Is meeting the needs of your hard-to-serve students an ever-increasing challenge?

A virtual school program can be an important element in improved educational delivery (and improved achievement) for your hard-to-serve populations, including the home- or hospital-bound, alternative education students and those with special needs, and even students requiring a flexible schedule for athletic or artistic pursuits.

6. Do you have a significant number of students who are working ahead or behind grade level?

Meeting the diverse learning needs of students is one of the toughest challenges any district faces. A virtual school can allow instruction to be individualized for every child—including the one who's lagging in some subjects and excelling in others at the same time.

7. Does your district lose many students to homeschooling or private schools?

Many families who leave the public schools would stay if they had an educational program that met their particular needs. Often, the personalized service a virtual school offers—with curriculum and instruction tailored to the individual child—is just what such parents are looking for.

8. Is technology an important part of your district's approach to education?

You have seen with your own eyes how the integration of technology with excellent teaching and curriculum can boost achievement—usually by enabling student's needs to be better aligned to learning resources. A virtual school could be the next logical step in your district's technology program.

9. Have you explored or implemented online high school classes?

Districts that have made virtual classes available for their secondary school students—whether by licensing courses or developing their own—often find themselves thinking about how to offer a complete virtual school experience and how to serve their K–8 students as well.

10. Do you believe that the future of education includes virtual learning?

The growth in virtual education over the past several years has been explosive. According to the most recent US Department of Education data, as of 2003, 36% of school districts in America were already offering some sort of virtual learning, while the Center for Education Reform estimates that this year more than 65,000 students nationally are enrolled in virtual charter schools. As you're charting the future for your school district, you'll be in good company if you consider the entire spectrum of virtual public schooling opportunities.