Good by to teen fashion statements, day-care for teens, school busses, smoking across the street and socialization by shared adolescent angst. .But will this make for a viable way to educate our young?


The virtual high school — one that exists only in cyberspace — is coming to Washington next fall.

A Portland-based company called Insight Schools Monday announced plans to operate Insight School of Washington in partnership with Quillayute Valley School District, a small district on the Olympic Peninsula.

It will be the first fully online high school in this state — a place where students anywhere in Washington could take classes via computer and earn a diploma.

It also may be the first Washington school in which a private, for-profit firm hires the teachers and manages the day-to-day operations of a public school with oversight from the district and school board.

The new school was made possible by legislation passed last year that also opened the door for similar ventures. The Steilacoom School District, for example, plans next fall to go statewide with its online program for students in grades K-8, a partnership with K-12 Inc.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002981361_insight09m.html

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

"Nationally, the quality of online high schools is uneven, said Dennis Small, who works with educational technology at OSPI.

"It's very much buyer beware," he said.

Oelrich, however, said Insight School of Washington will be a high-quality program that can meet the needs of many students who aren't now in school at all.

And although the company expects to make money, profit isn't its primary motivation.

"If we were just in this to make money, there are a lot of easier things we could do," he said.



Great! I can sit at home, smoke down and use google to make straight A's!!

Get ready Washington for a few more social retards.

Bad idea. Very bad. I'm sure some jerkwater consultant dreamed this up and pitched it to all the cash-strapped ED's around the state.

Why is it a bad idea?

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

The last thing teenagers need at that stage in their lives is to be socially isolated. High school, for all its awkwardness and clique pressure, is a staging ground for our next level of socialization; adulthood and the work-a-day world. Ideally high school helps us to sort out and address our social anxieties, by forcing us to deal with them. I hated high school, but allowing me stay cooped up in my own home would've been a disaster. YMMV

Well it is obviously an Idea from the left coast. I can see the NEA openly embracing this one as well. Untill someone comes to the conclusion the teachers can be replaced with computer programs then watch out.

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1971 280SE W108
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1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Agreed 100%. Thanks for posting it, 'cause I'm on ignore.

You make some valid points. Still, in our state slightly over half the folks that start, don’t finish high school anyway. This is about the same for the nation as a whole. You are suggesting it better to force conformity knowing that there will be a 50%+ failure rate, than to even try something different?

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

I think mandating completing highschool rather than allowing 16 year olds who already know everything to drop out.

We can mandate taxes...we can mandate a lot of other things..whats wrong with mandating completing high school.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

It has nothing to do with the left coast bone. Its a profit thang. There are people doing it here for 'business schools', paralegal courses, whatever. This is just the first instance I am aware of that it has been tried at the HS level.

The only place this may be appropriate, is for prisoners to finish their diploma.

Schools are not supposed to be profit centers, they exist to teach young knuckleheads all the things they are going to need in life. Even though they may already think they have all the answers they need. ..they are funded with my tax dollars...not to line some CEO's pockets. Its supposed to go towards education.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I'm sympathetic to trying new things, like Charter Schools and the like, but I'd just hate to see folks jump wholesale into the virtual classroom, cuz it's the newest and latest fad. I think there are elements of this concept that'll work well for some folks, but I don't think it's a panacea...like standardized testing. Homeschoolers could potentially benefit from this sort of thing.

I was forced to learn a lot about homeschooling a few years ago. They tend to be a well-organized bunch. For instance, in my area, they have their own association, and the kids at least had organized field trips and Phys Ed each week, ect... that encouraged some social interaction. They even have their own sports team(s) that the state private school association allows to compete.

The charter school thing is going nuts on the East Coast. My brother in law has developed and owns three, and they have waiting lists. He and his partner developed the first one because of a serious need and the NC legislature's willingness to fund it.

Why can't schools be for profit, bone? You a commie?

not when they bleed me dry in property taxes to fund them, and keep giving huge pay raises higher than I get without consulting me if I agree to them.

Now a private school that is not suported by tax dollars can be run for a profit. My comments were reffering to public schools.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

There will be an element of fad related but that it is cost based will limit that to those who can afford the fad. Then there is the staffing, which will set limits on how many students in total can participate. The state has a definite curricula for high schools and they have to approve of all course work.

As I see it, this is a great opportunity for almost half the high school aged kids. It is obviously far from perfected, but online schooling has shown itself viable. Even many public and private College and Universities now offer this kind of education.

The keys to success comes down to the motivation of the students that participate. Clearly the dismal success rate of high schools to graduate even most of their students has overwhelmingly demonstrated that other options are needed.

For the significance of socialization by class room, that process exists in k-8, or k-9 depending on the district. I’m not sure that high school classes provide a better socialization experience than exists in work or other traditional environments.

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"