Note: The information in this profile represents SY2010-11 unless otherwise indicated.
School/organization overview
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Blended-learning program
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Program model
Program model: Enriched Virtual
Model description
Students attend face-to-face 1 to 2 days per week for each class and then do the rest of the class independently online, with the face-to-face teacher becoming the online teacher.
Program background
History and context
K12 Inc. (K12), America’s largest provider of online education for grades K–12, offers a number of full-time and part-time options for students who want to learn online. One of its increasingly popular options is the two-day hybrid, where students rotate between online learning from a remote location for about half the time and on-site, face-to-face instruction for the other half. In 2007 it partnered with Ball State University to create its first school of this type. Hoosier Academies is a public charter school with a learning center in Indianapolis, which serves students in grades K–11, and in Muncie, Ind., which serves students in grades K–8.
Blended model
Students at the Hoosier Academies attend a brick-and-mortar school two days a week. There, they meet with certified teachers who provide tutoring, face-to-face remediation, and other on-site learning experiences. They also engage in extracurricular activities if they wish, such as clubs and sports.
The students rotate to their homes or another off-site location to complete K12, Inc.’s online curriculum on their own for the rest of the week. Their face-to-face teachers are available online and by phone to answer their questions. The model requires common pacing to ensure that students are at the same place in their learning when they rotate to the traditional classroom twice a week. For young learners, an actively engaged adult at home is essential.
Hoosier Academies’ teachers can serve approximately 50 students each, two cohorts of students at a time.
Notable results
Hoosier Academies students at the Indianapolis Learning Center performed slightly lower than the state average on the state standardized test in 2009–10. They scored one percentage point lower than the state average in English/language arts and just under seven percentage points lower in math.
Hoosier Academies grew its student enrollment in 2010–11. Over 50 percent of students who attended the Indianapolis Learning Center in 2010–11 were new students for that school year. These students came from a variety of previous school settings.
Hoosier Academies has been able to operate with public revenue of $5,800 per student at the Indianapolis Learning Center and $6,200 in Muncie. According to Hoosier Academies officials, Indiana spends between $6,300 and $6,800 on average per student across the state.
The school realizes efficiencies in its use of real estate, as it can serve two cohorts of students at a time. It also saves in personnel costs, particularly in administrative costs, because K12, Inc. manages much of the administrative burden for the school.
On the horizon
Ron Packard, CEO of K12 Inc., said that K12 is working collaboratively with other charter school partners and school districts to set up different part-time online models that do not require common pacing, such as the model that the San Francisco Flex Academy is piloting (see the “Flex Public Schools” profile).
Packard also said that a recent K12, Inc. study showed that even when schools use K12, Inc. curriculum as an online textbook but preserve the traditional classroom structure, they realize significant leaps in academic progress. “In seven out of seven implementations, we have been successful [in improving test results],” he said. Packard believes that using K12, Inc. curriculum improves teacher effectiveness and student engagement, both in blended and traditional environments.
