View in EDS

Bricks and Mortar vs. Computers and Modems: The Impacts of Enrollment in K-12 Virtual Schools. EdWorkingPaper No. 20-250

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Bricks and Mortar vs. Computers and Modems: The Impacts of Enrollment in K-12 Virtual Schools. EdWorkingPaper No. 20-250
Language: English
Authors: Bueno, Carycruz, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Source: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. 2020.
Availability: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: AISR_Info@brown.edu; Web site: http://www.annenberginstitute.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 50
Publication Date: 2020
Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Document Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Elementary Education
Junior High Schools
Middle Schools
Secondary Education
High Schools
Descriptors: COVID-19, Pandemics, School Closing, Online Courses, Electronic Learning, Elementary Secondary Education, School Choice, Educational Policy, Cognitive Development, Student Behavior, Public Schools, Academic Achievement, Elementary School Students, Middle School Students, High School Students, Probability, Graduation, Outcomes of Education, Virtual Schools, Tests, Scores
Geographic Terms: Georgia
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has put virtual schooling at the forefront of policy concerns, as millions of children worldwide shift to virtual schooling with hopes of "slowing the spread". Given the emergency shift to online education coupled with the large increase in demand for virtual education over the last decade it is imperative to explore the impacts of virtual education on student outcomes. This paper estimates the causal effect of full-time virtual school attendance on student outcomes with important implications for school choice, online education, and education policy. Despite the increasing demand for K-12 virtual schools over the past decade little is known about the impact of full-time virtual schools on students' cognitive and behavioral outcomes. The existing evidence on the impact of online education on students' outcomes is mixed. I use a longitudinal data set composed of individual-level information on all public-school students and teachers throughout Georgia from 2007 to 2016 to investigate how attending virtual schools influences student outcomes. I implement a variety of econometric specifications to account for the issue of potential self-selection into full-time virtual schools. I find that attending a virtual school leads to a reduction of 0.1 to 0.4 standard deviations in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies achievement test scores for students in elementary and middle school. I also find that ever attending a virtual school is associated with a 10-percentage point reduction in the probability of ever graduating from high school. This is early evidence that full-time virtual schools as a type of school choice could be harmful to students' learning and future economic opportunities, as well as a sub-optimal use of taxpayer money. [Additional funding for this report was provided by the American Economic Association (AEA) Mentoring Program.]
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2021
Accession Number: ED610273
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
CustomLinks:
  – Url: https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED610273
    Name: ERIC Full Text
    Category: fullText
    Text: Full Text from ERIC
Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: ED610273
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Report
PubTypeId: report
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Bricks and Mortar vs. Computers and Modems: The Impacts of Enrollment in K-12 Virtual Schools. EdWorkingPaper No. 20-250
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bueno%2C+Carycruz%22">Bueno, Carycruz</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Annenberg+Institute+for+School+Reform+at+Brown+University%22">Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Annenberg+Institute+for+School+Reform+at+Brown+University%22"><i>Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University</i></searchLink>. 2020.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: AISR_Info@brown.edu; Web site: http://www.annenberginstitute.org
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: N
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 50
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2020
– Name: SourceSuprt
  Label: Sponsoring Agency
  Group: SrcSuprt
  Data: National Science Foundation (NSF)
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Secondary+Education%22">Elementary Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Junior+High+Schools%22">Junior High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Middle+Schools%22">Middle Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22COVID-19%22">COVID-19</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pandemics%22">Pandemics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+Closing%22">School Closing</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Online+Courses%22">Online Courses</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electronic+Learning%22">Electronic Learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+Secondary+Education%22">Elementary Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+Choice%22">School Choice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Policy%22">Educational Policy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+Development%22">Cognitive Development</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Behavior%22">Student Behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+Schools%22">Public Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+Achievement%22">Academic Achievement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Students%22">Elementary School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Middle+School+Students%22">Middle School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+School+Students%22">High School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Probability%22">Probability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Graduation%22">Graduation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Outcomes+of+Education%22">Outcomes of Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Virtual+Schools%22">Virtual Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Tests%22">Tests</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Scores%22">Scores</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Georgia%22">Georgia</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: The COVID-19 pandemic has put virtual schooling at the forefront of policy concerns, as millions of children worldwide shift to virtual schooling with hopes of "slowing the spread". Given the emergency shift to online education coupled with the large increase in demand for virtual education over the last decade it is imperative to explore the impacts of virtual education on student outcomes. This paper estimates the causal effect of full-time virtual school attendance on student outcomes with important implications for school choice, online education, and education policy. Despite the increasing demand for K-12 virtual schools over the past decade little is known about the impact of full-time virtual schools on students' cognitive and behavioral outcomes. The existing evidence on the impact of online education on students' outcomes is mixed. I use a longitudinal data set composed of individual-level information on all public-school students and teachers throughout Georgia from 2007 to 2016 to investigate how attending virtual schools influences student outcomes. I implement a variety of econometric specifications to account for the issue of potential self-selection into full-time virtual schools. I find that attending a virtual school leads to a reduction of 0.1 to 0.4 standard deviations in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies achievement test scores for students in elementary and middle school. I also find that ever attending a virtual school is associated with a 10-percentage point reduction in the probability of ever graduating from high school. This is early evidence that full-time virtual schools as a type of school choice could be harmful to students' learning and future economic opportunities, as well as a sub-optimal use of taxpayer money. [Additional funding for this report was provided by the American Economic Association (AEA) Mentoring Program.]
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2021
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: ED610273
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=ED610273
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 50
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: COVID-19
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Pandemics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: School Closing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Online Courses
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Electronic Learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elementary Secondary Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: School Choice
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cognitive Development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student Behavior
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Public Schools
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Academic Achievement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elementary School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Middle School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: High School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Probability
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Graduation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Outcomes of Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Virtual Schools
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Tests
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Scores
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Georgia
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Bricks and Mortar vs. Computers and Modems: The Impacts of Enrollment in K-12 Virtual Schools. EdWorkingPaper No. 20-250
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Bueno, Carycruz
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Type: published
              Y: 2020
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
              Type: main
ResultId 1