Governance

ONLINE DATABASE
HIGH SCHOOL TOPICS

Adolescent Literacy

Advanced Placement

Career and Technical Education

College-Ready Standards

Dual Enrollment

Early/Middle College High Schools

Exit Exams

Graduation Rates

Graduation Requirements

High School/College Alignment

High School-Level Accountability

High School-Level Assessment

Highlights of Local Initiatives

International Baccalaureate

P-16/P-20 Councils

Postsecondary Feedback Systems

Special Populations in High School Assessments

State Data Systems

State Initiatives to Improve High Schools

STEM

Student Accountability

Student Support and Remediation

Virtual High Schools


gif POLICY BRIEFS
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Advanced Placement

College-Ready Indicators

Dispelling the Myths About Raising Grad Requirements

Dropout Recovery

Dual Enrollment

Early College High Schools

Ensuring Rigor

Improving College Access for Underserved Students

Involving Families

Ninth Grade Transitions

P-16

P-16 Landmines

Parental Involvement at the HS Level

Remediation

Science Lab Costs

State Supports for Low-Performing High Schools

Teacher Professional Development

Teachers and "College Knowledge"
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gif STATE NOTES
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Alignment of HS/PS

High School Agenda - Who's Doing What (2008 update)

Math and Science

P-16
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gif RECENT PRESENTATIONS
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Oklahoma Legislative Task Force on Achieving Classroom Excellence
(PowerPoint, 205K, 10/09)

Joint Meeting of Utah Board of Regents/State Board
(PowerPoint, 209K, 7/09)

State-Level Concurrent Enrollment Policies
(PowerPoint, 491K, 3/09)

New England Board of Higher Education Conference
(PowerPoint, 870K, 1/09)

ECS/Kauffman Regional Meeting for Heartland/ Midwest
(PowerPoint, 355K, 12/08)

Nevada Dropout Prevention Summit
(PowerPoint, 300K, 11/08)

MIND Research Institute Forum
(PowerPoint, 3MB, 10/08)

Alaska Legislators and Educators: Dropout Prevention
(PowerPoint, 792K, 10/08)

Alaska Legislators and Educators: P-16
(PowerPoint, 432K, 10/08)

Kauffman Math and Science Seminar
(PowerPoint, 5.5MB, 5/08)

New York Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus Weekend
(PowerPoint, 108K, 2/08)

Colorado P-20 Council
(PowerPoint 92K, 2/08)

Nevada P-16 Advisory Council
(PowerPoint, 217K, 12/07)

Colorado Dropout Prevention Summit
(PowerPoint, 540K, 12/07)

ECS 2007 Fall Steering Committee Meeting
(PowerPoint, 222K, 11/07)

Oklahoma Senate Education Committee
(PowerPoint, 977K, 10/07)

ECS 2007 National Forum on Education Policy
(PowerPoint, 319K, 7/07)
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RELATED ECS LINKS

High School Policy Center
Learn more about the ECS High School Policy Center (HSPC) and join our e-mail list to receive updates as new High School Policy Center products are posted on ecs.org.

Also be sure to visit the High School issue site.

Welcome to the Education Commission of the States' High School Database

Virtual High Schools

Why this issue matters

  • States benefit when they ensure the quality of virtual school programs.
  • Students benefit when they have equal access to class offerings.
  • Students and districts benefit from having a central resource available.

Why our methodology matters

  • Primary resources: ECS draws its information primarily from state statute, rules and regulations, recently enacted legislation, executive orders, and other primary source documents.
  • As needed, policies (and their interpretation) are confirmed with state-level staff.
  • We believe that policy helps institutionalize practice.
  • Our goal is to document where the underlying authority lies, and where consensus has been strong enough to adopt a common approach.

Related ECS products

Staff contacts:
Melodye Bush, researcher
303.299.3631
mbush@ecs.org

State Profiles


A report containing all information available in the Virtual High Schools database for a single state.

Select States and Data Points: Choose the states and data points to appear in a personalized report.

50-State Reports




All data points for all states

Student Curriculum and Access

  1. Has the state established a statewide virtual high school?

  2. May a student earn a diploma through the virtual high school?

  3. Does the virtual high school have a specific focus?

  4. Does the state provide support for hardware/software for urban/low-income/rural schools?

  5. Are students with disabilities required to have access to assistive technology devices for online learning?

  6. Has the state set a cap on the number of courses a student may take?

  7. Are there other requirements/limitations?

  8. Are courses off-the-shelf or developed internally?

  9. Is the virtual school curriculum aligned to the state's academic standards?

    Finance

  10. What is the source of funding?

  11. Who pays for courses?

  12. Cost per course/semester?

  13. Does the state limit enrollment in online courses based on available funding?

    Teaching Quality

  14. Must all teachers in the virtual program receive appropriate training for online teaching?

  15. Must teachers meet the same certification requirements as regular classroom teachers?

    Program Quality/Accountability

  16. Must the virtual high school program be evaluated?

  17. Are students required to participate in mandated state assessments?

__________________________________________________________

Use the diagram below to view the components of state-level high school reform, and their relationship to one another (the links shown in grey are coming soon).

Comments? Questions? Contact Jennifer Dounay at 303.299.3689 or jdounay@ecs.org.

high school database site map high school and college requirements graduation requirements standard diploma honors and college prep technical high school-level assessments data systems localized initiatives planning and counseling international baccalaureate advanced placement coursework options exit exams special populations support and remediation virtual high schools P-16/P-20 councils postsecondary feedback systems adolescent literacy STEM CTEearly middle colleges state initiatives

Comments?



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