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Explaining Florida’s Booming Online Academy

March 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The school only receives funding for students who successfully complete a course. That provides incentives to actually teach students, but penalizes the school for students who withdraw from a class prior to completion.

In addition, the school turns millions in profit providing classes out-of-state, licensing curriculum and training educators in online education.

The results have pleased lawmakers. The Florida Legislature approved a bill this year that will make it easier for students to pick and choose which courses they take and open up online courses to more elementary schools students.

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Kaplan K12 Learning Services and K12 Partner to Maximize College Preparation

November 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), a technology-based education company, is the largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs for students in kindergarten through high school in the U.S. K12 provides its curriculum and academic services to public and private online schools, traditional classrooms, blended school programs, and directly to families. K12 has provided over 2 million courses – core subjects, AP(R), world languages, credit recovery, and electives – to more than 200,000 students worldwide. Over 90 percent of parents surveyed are satisfied with the K12 program and agree that their children have benefited academically with K12. Students graduating from K12 (R) virtual schools have been accepted to hundreds of higher education institutions including many of the nation’s top-ranked colleges and universities. K12 is accredited through AdvancED, the world’s largest education community. More information about K12’s solutions for schools and districts can be found at www.k12.com/educators.

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New Voices: Answer Scott’s call for education reform

January 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A recently drafted bill would give parents of eligible students 85 percent of the state’s per-pupil funding figure ($6,843 this year). Scott would dramatically increase the role of the private sector, further funding taxpayer-backed scholarships for private schools, charter schools, home schooling and virtual, online education.

While it increases expenditures in higher education, Scott’s plan is silent on funding for K-12 public schools. Moreover, his $1.4 billion property-tax and $700 corporate income-tax reductions will not provide the most fiscally feasible vehicles for enhanced vouchers or public-school funding.

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A sobering look at Florida school reform

December 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Both the state and individual districts operate or contract out for online education. The Florida Virtual School is a centralized state operation, part of public education in Florida and headed by Julie Young. It operates many different kinds of courses, from specialized advance courses students would not have access to in rural counties to so-called “credit-recovery” courses to required courses (such as “Personal Fitness”) many advanced students would prefer to take independently in the summer so they can take academic courses in the year. It has developed a generally good reputation inside the state and has been undermined in the last few years both by lower appropriations and by a new state mandate that districts operate their own online programs (and not just direct students to the Florida Virtual School).

As both a parent and a taxpayer, I am worried far less about the quality of courses run by the Florida Virtual School than by for-profit contractors who operate online courses taken by Florida students. If there is an expansion of online education, it will probably be at the expense of the publicly-run Florida Virtual School and benefit for-profit operations instead.

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Smart Horizons Career Online Education Names Innovative Educational Leader as New Chairman of the Board

August 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

“Smart Horizons Career Online Education is really a natural continuation of what I established with the University of Miami Online High School,” Goldman said. “The University of Miami model was a high-tuition, online college preparatory program, but we have a very different clientele for Smart Horizons Career Online Education. We are aiming at the 45 million high school dropouts nationwide who will be able to use SHCOE as a stepping stone to a new career. We determined that with SHCOE, we would develop a model with low tuition—less than a thousand dollars for the entire program. This program will aid students to move forward and earn an online high school diploma and provide the knowledge base to build a viable career.”

Smart Horizons Career Online Education is a private online high school district that gives students returning to the education process an opportunity to earn an 18-credit high school diploma as well as complete course work for a career certificate. Online career certificate courses are currently offered in the fields of health care, early childhood education, transportation services, homeland security, protection services, and office management.

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Go online for high school diploma

August 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Recognizing that many dropouts are now adults who often believe they are too old — or too embarrassed — to return to school, Smart Horizons Career Online Education is providing an opportunity for students to earn an 18-credit high school diploma, as well as complete course work for a career certificate in one online program.

To increase the number of students in the program, the Pensacola-based online education service is offering $1,000 scholarships to the first 50 students who apply and meet the criteria for the program.

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Getting in Line for Online Education

August 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

According to a new report from Blackboard Inc. and Project Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing students to become tomorrow’s leaders, “Learning in the 21st Century: 2010 Trends Update,” 27 percent of high school students and 21 percent of middle school students took at least one online class in 2009, nearly doubling the 2008 numbers of 14 percent and 16 percent, respectively. But the report documents that this still falls far short of meeting student demand, since the majority of high school and middle school students see the availability of online courses as part of an ideal education experience.

“Fifty-one percent of high school students told us that the greatest benefit to online learning was the ability to work at their own pace,” explains Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow.

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Smart Horizons Career Online Education Joins Forces With Compass Rose Foundation To Provide Education Opportunities

August 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Two innovative Florida-based educational organizations—Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE), a private adult online high school district, and Compass Rose Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization—have joined forces to provide educational opportunities to students across the nation and beyond.

Founded in 2009 and located in Pensacola, Florida, Smart Horizons Career Online Education has quickly established itself as a leader in delivering affordable, career-based online education to adult students throughout the world. The online education company’s first classes went online in April of this year, offering complete 18-credit high school diplomas, coupled with coursework needed to earn a career-credentialed certificate. This is great news for the roughly 45 million individuals in the U.S. who are either unemployed or are in entry-level positions for lack of a high school diploma or GED.

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Online testing of students: Will Florida be ready?

July 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Many local high schools do not have enough computers, sufficient network access or even the right rooms to securely test hundreds of students online, educators say. In another tight budget year, finding money for needed upgrades — they could cost $750,000 in Seminole County alone — isn’t easy.

Florida’s track record with computer-based testing is short and problem-plagued, adding to administrators’ apprehension about the test change. The debut of the state’s online reading test last fall and its trial run of computerized FCAT and algebra exams this spring both were marred by mishaps.

And there is the potential for even more trouble in coming years, administrators fear, as the number of computer-based standardized tests increases.

Next spring, some 370,000 ninth- and 10th-graders statewide are to take online the math section of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and a new algebra end-of-course exam. A smaller number of older students is scheduled to take FCAT math online in the fall.

A survey by the Florida Department of Education this spring showed that only two districts — and only Brevard County in Central Florida — deemed themselves fully ready for computer-based testing.

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