Niki Siegel

Journal Article Review

SLM 521

Whose Student Is It, Anyway?

The article “Whose Student Is It, Anyway?” talks about the problems school districts face with cyber charter schools. Cyber charter schools are one of the fastest growing areas of on-line education, yet they are the most difficult for which to set boundaries. Are the students enrolled in the cyber schools entitled to the privileges of the school district in which they live, or are those students merely floating in cyber school space with no actual home base? The biggest challenge that this article deals with is whose student is it, and who pays for the student? At first glance, paying for a student to take on-line classes is cheaper than a normal classroom, but when the issue is looked at closely there are a lot of charges for on-line classes: computers, printers, ISP connections, technical support, and development of the class. These charges significantly outweigh the costs of print-based classrooms and cause many unexpected bills for school districts. The answer the article comes up with to solve the unexpected costs for schools is to create policies that will detail which students qualify for funds from the public schools and which students do not. Because there are no standards for on-line education, it is also important for districts to establish a process for maintaining proper student records. If students decide to graduate from a cyber school, will they receive a diploma from the public school in which they live? Are cyber students able to participate in extra-curricular activities? Those questions and many more can be answered in a detailed policy made by the local school in conjunction with the cyber-school. Looking carefully at the major issues, and answering questions within detailed policies will help to ensure a school district’s financial security and will make the new field of on-line teaching much easier to navigate.

This article was particularly interesting to me because I teach on-line. I do not teach for a charter school, but rather a school that instructs homebound students while they are away from their regular schools. The difference between the cyber-schools mentioned in this article and my job is that all of the policies the article suggests that should be in place for on-line charter schools are already in place at my place of employment. Having seen cyber-schools work first-hand, it is very important to establish boundaries as early as possible. It can be very easy for students to become lost in the cyber world and get off track from learning. Cyber schools need to be very structured, and constant communication with the local schools is very important. If it is not necessary for local schools to be involved with the cyber-school, it is still important for policies to be in place and for records to be kept properly. On-line schools are becoming more prevalent as technological advances increase, and the best way to keep the on-line schools alive and for cyber-students to prosper is to keep everything from policies to homework as organized as possible.

Payne, Edward J., (2002).

Whose Student Is It, Anyway? American School Board Journal, September 2002.

April 11, 2004, from www.asbj.com.