NAVIGATING THE WEB OF CHOICE: SCHOOL DISTRICT ENROLLMENTS AND RESPONSES TO CYBER CHARTER SCHOOLS
Open Access
- Author:
- Mann, Bryan Arthur
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Theory and Policy
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- November 02, 2016
- Committee Members:
- David Baker, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
David Baker, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
David Gamson, Committee Member
Ed Fuller, Committee Member
Kyle Peck, Outside Member - Keywords:
- education policy
school choice
charter schools
cyber charter schools
K-12 online learning - Abstract:
- This study examined the enrollment and organizational influence of cyber charter school policy and practice on Pennsylvania traditional public school districts. Specifically, it examined the demographic composition of school districts most likely to lose students to cyber charter schools and how this composition changes over time, the prevalence of a school district response to create a full-time online school, and the effectiveness of this response in recovering student enrollment. The methods used in the study were mainly quantitative (ordinary least squares regression, logistic regression, and Cox proportional hazard modeling). Qualitative supplements (interviews of school district administrators) informed patterns seen in the quantitative data. Three major findings emerged from this study. First, no demographic pattern existed in the districts that lost the most students to cyber charter schools early in the cyber charter movement. Over time, as the reputation of cyber charter school quality skewed negative, disadvantaged districts—particularly those with low levels of education and low statewide test scores—were most likely to experience continually increasing enrollment losses to cyber charter schools. These students overwhelmingly moved into programs with lower academic growth rates compared to the traditional public schools that the students left. Second, based on a random sample of school districts, the majority of school districts in Pennsylvania (more than 80%) created an in-district, full-time online learning option during the cyber charter school movement. The first adoption of school district online programs is explained both by market and institutional patterns. Third, analysis in the trends of choosers before and after a school district created an in-district online program showed that the district’s strategy tended not to decrease enrollment losses to cyber charter schools. There are a number of possible implications of these findings. For example, when a new educational reform or program is perceived as an inadequate option in a choice-based system, findings here suggest that advantaged populations will first refuse it and perpetuate their advantage. Additionally, higher student enrollment losses and increased institutional pressures both relate to district adoption of a new online school. Further, since students can leave regardless of whether a district provides the same online options as cyber charters, there exists online learning program redundancy. These trends have placed Pennsylvania in a situation where districts lose millions of dollars per year to cyber charter schools while unsuccessfully recovering student enrollment. The dissertation concludes with leadership and policy recommendations related to these implications.