An Exploration of At-Risk Learners and Online Education - iNACOL

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iNACOL Research Committee Research Committee Issues Brief: An Exploration of At-Risk Learners and Online Education Written by: Leanna Archambault, Brief Co-Chair Daryl Diamond, Brief Co-Chair Regina Brown Cathy Cavanaugh Marla Coffey Denise Foures-Aalbu Jared Richardson Vassliki Zygouris-Coe Edited by: Donna Scribner Michael Barbour April 2010 TOLL-FREE 888.95.NACOL (888.956.2265) DIRECT 703.752.6216 fax 703.752.6201 email info@inacol.org web www.inacol.org mail 1934 Old Gallows Road, Suite 350 Vienna, VA 22182-4040
Research Committee Issues Brief: An Exploration of At-Risk Learners and Online Education In his article, “Today’s student and virtual schooling: The reality, the challenges, the promise...,” Barbour (2009) stated: The majority of the literature may portray K–12 online learners as being primarily highly motivated, self-directed, self-disciplined, independent learners who read and write well, and who have a strong interest in or ability with technology. However, this is clearly not an accurate description of the entire or possibly even the majority of students attending virtual schools and, particularly, cyber schools. (p. 18) The group of students Barbour is referring to are those students who are often classified as at-risk. Students who may be “at-risk” are described this way for a variety of reasons, including those who have dropped out or have the potential to drop out of school or have repeated a course or grade (Rapp, Eckes & Plurker, 2006). The U.S. Department of Education (1992) defined an “at-risk” student as one who is likely to fail at school. School failure is typically seen as dropping out of school before high school graduation. The Department of Education report examined seven sets of variables associated with at-risk students: basic demographic characteristics; family and personal background characteristics; the amount of parental involvement in the student’s education; the student’s academic history; student behavioral factors; teacher perceptions of the student; and the characteristics of the student’s school. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (Tompkins & Deloney, 2009) concluded that a number of variables, related to a student’s family or background can contribute to an increased likelihood of the risk of failing at school. These variables include belonging to a single head of family household, low socioeconomic status, minority group status, being an English language learner (ELL) status, low educational attainment of parents, disabilities, psychosocial factors, or gender. In addition, family problems, drug addiction, pregnancies, and other problems can prevent at-risk students from participating successfully in school. Nationally, about 9% or approximately 1.2 million U.S. students leave high school without obtaining a diploma every year (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). Traditional schools have been challenged to meet the needs of such populations. Recommendations for increasing graduation rates include implementing credit recovery programs, strengthening data systems, increasing engagement in learning, providing access to tutoring, establishing a stable school environment for mobile students, providing services for specific disabilities, and utilizing a variety of educational 2 International Association for K-12 Online Learning
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An Exploration of At-Risk Learners and Online Education - iNACOL

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