All 'Cyber' Charters in Pennsylvania Getting Failing Grades, Study Finds
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A research group says Pennsylvania's fourteen online charter schools aren't making the grade.
The findings by the group "Research For Action" are similar to its report last fall, saying cyber charters -- schools in which students do most of their work via the Internet -- are at the bottom of the performance ladder.
"None of the cyber charter schools met what the (Pennsylvania education) department's threshold is for acceptable school performance," notes RFA director of policy research Adam Schott. "That's an SPP (School Performance Profiles) score of 70."
Schott says an analysis of the state's just-released SPPs show cyber schools lagging behind both traditional public schools and brick-and-mortar charters.
The average public school scored 77, the average charter 65, and the average cyber charter 49.
Read the full report (.pdf format)
The report comes as the state considers applications for three new cyber charter schools.