Are virtual schools the next big change coming to education? It just might be…
The technology advances we have made recently with Internet access and rich multi-media capabilities are making virtual learning more an more accessible. Students can interact with the materials in ways that was not feasable even a few years ago. It is not unual for students to have only an on-line version of there text book with video and on-line tests for immediate feedback.
Now virtual schools are starting to take off meeting the needs of rural communites, communites that can not afford to offer advanced course. Stay Tuned….
I just learned about a a fairly drastic measure taken by the State Education Commissioner to fix one of the most poorly performing schools in Rhode Island. The Commissioner had 3 options at her disposal to address the issues at Central Falls: school closure, take over by a charter or school-management organization, transformation such as longer school hours, or “turnaround”. the Commissioner work for transformation changes first, but when she could not get agreement she executed the ”turnaround” option, which is the firing of all teachers and the ability to re-hire at most 50% of the staff. Fairly drastic move, but maybe this is what is needed????