¾ Online course enrollment. The annual OSPI technology survey collects data from all school districts on the number of secondary students enrolled in one or more online courses for credit. Among the 130 known districts in this survey, 14.62 percent reported that more than 100 secondary students are enrolled in one or more online courses for credit, compared to 10.92 percent of all districts; 40.77 reported that between one and 100 are enrolled, compared to 45.39 of all districts; and 44.62 percent reported that none are enrolled, compared to 43.69 of all districts.69
¾ Urban and rural. In the sample of 130 districts, 62.31 percent are rural and 37.69 percent are urban, compared to all districts, which are 66.44 rural and 33.56 percent
68 Based on 2008‐09 enrollment numbers provided by OSPI.
69 Based on the 2007‐08 OSPI technology survey (293 of the 295 districts responded to this survey).
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Figure 1. Students permitted to take online courses for credit
Looking further at these data, there is a significant variation based on district size. For these analyses, large districts are those with enrollment of 10,000 or more, medium districts have enrollment between 1,000 and 9,999 and small districts have enrollment of less than 1,000.
All 15 districts that responded that none of their students are permitted to take online courses for credit are small districts, 11 of the 15 are rural, and 11 of the 15 do not have a high school in their district. As a proportion, nearly 25 percent of small districts responded that none of their students are permitted to take online courses for credit; whereas no medium or large districts gave this response. However, across all district sizes, the most common response was that only high school students are permitted to take online courses for credit.
Restrictions on the number of online courses a student can take for credit
The majority of districts, 64 percent, responded that there is no restriction on the number of online courses that a student can take for credit at a given time. For the 42 districts that responded that there is a restriction, the survey asked for the maximum number of online courses a student can take at a given time. The respondents gave at least 15 distinct responses to this question.
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¾ The most common responses were one course, two courses, three courses and six courses, in that order.
¾ Interestingly, two districts responded that the maximum number of courses is dependent on funds. Both of these respondents are small rural districts.
While 42 districts responded that there is a restriction on the number of online courses a student can take for credit at a given time, only 17 districts responded that there is a restriction on the overall number of online courses taken for credit during one’s high school career. Of the 17 districts with restrictions, there were a variety of responses, ranging from a restriction of one course to 15 courses. The two most common restrictions among the 17 districts were two courses and four courses, each cited by four districts.70
Who decides whether and how much credit is granted for online courses?
The survey asked the question “Who decides which online courses not provided by your district can be taken for credit and how much credit is given?” The survey provided six options plus a write‐in option and districts were instructed to check all that apply. In total, 35 different responses were given, which demonstrates that there is significant variation among districts regarding who makes this important decision regarding online courses. In fact, 22 of the 35 different responses were unique to just one district.
The most common responses were as follows:
¾ School Principal (30 percent of districts)
¾ It is governed by school board policy (seven percent of districts)
¾ Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent AND School Principal (seven percent of districts)
The seven answer choices provided on the survey were: 1) Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent; 2) District Curriculum Director; 3) District Curriculum Review Committee; 4) School Principal; 5) Teacher; 6) It is governed by school policy; and 7) Other (write‐in). Almost 38 percent of respondents selected more than one answer choice, which indicates that for
70This is assuming that one credit is equal to one course because some districts responses were in number of credits.
32 many districts, the decision is made by a combination of individual staff/review
committee/board policy.
Figure 2 shows the answer choices most commonly selected. It is important to note that a write‐in response, Counselor, was cited by 14 districts. No other write‐in responses were cited by more than one district.
Figure 2. Person or group responsible for determining credit for online courses
Factors considered in determining if an online course can be taken for credit
The survey listed five factors that districts might consider when determining if an online course can be taken for credit: 1) Type of course (i.e., Advanced Placement course, elective course, core course, etc.); 2) Online course provider; 3) Student’s grade level; 4) Course content; and 5) Student’s performance in the course (i.e., letter grade or overall percentage score).
Respondents were asked to check all that apply. Figure 3 shows the number of times that districts selected each of the five answer choices.
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Figure 3. Factors considered in determining if an online course can be taken for credit
Results show that 29 percent of districts consider all five factors when determining if an online course can be taken for credit. An additional 17 percent of districts consider four of the five factors. In total, 51 percent of districts consider three or more factors and 79 percent of districts consider more than one factor. Overall, districts responses included 54 unique combinations of the answer choices, including write‐in answers.
Thirty districts listed a factor in addition to the answer choices on the survey. Of these, nine districts consider whether a course is for credit recovery/retrieval. This factor was meant to be captured in the answer option “Type of course (i.e., Advanced Placement course, elective course, core course, etc.),” but since credit recovery was not listed in the parentheses, some districts wrote it in separately. Other write‐in responses include: 1) whether the
institution/program is accredited; 2) course availability; 3) whether the student has previously failed an online course; and 4) the student’s social and educational needs.
Types of online courses which are likely to be approved for credit
The data show that multiple types of online courses are likely to be approved for credit. Ninety‐
eight percent of districts selected at least two course types and/or responded that “all courses are equally likely to be approved for credit” or “course type is not a significant factor in whether a course is approved for credit.” Figure 4 displays the number of districts that selected each
34 response. Analysis of these data is limited because the word “likely” can be interpreted
differently across districts. The results indicate that courses for credit recovery and courses required for graduation are the two course types most likely to be approved for credit across districts; each was selected by more than half of districts.
Figure 4. Types of online courses likely to be approved for credit
The survey also asked what types of online courses are likely to be approved for credit specifically for middle school students. Results show that of the districts that permit middle school students to take online courses for credit, 33 percent report that core courses required for grade level completion are likely to be approved for credit and 23 percent report that elective courses are likely to be approved for credit. Another 18 percent of districts that permit middle school students to take online courses for credit responded that all courses are equally likely to be approved for credit or that course type is not a significant factor in whether a course is approved for credit.
Other district policies and procedures
In addition to the policies addressed so far in the findings – which students are permitted to take online courses for credit, restrictions on number of courses, who decides which courses
35 can be taken for credit, what factors are considered, and which types of courses are likely to be approved for credit – about 25 percent of responding districts (34 districts) have other policies or procedures in place to handle requests from students to take one or more online courses for credit.
Of the 34 districts that have other policies and procedures in place, 17 are urban, 17 are rural, seven are large, 16 medium and 11 small. As a percentage, large districts and urban districts are more likely than their counterparts to have other policies and procedures in place.
¾ Forty‐one percent of large districts responded that they have other policies and procedures in place; whereas 30 percent of medium districts and only 18 percent of small districts responded this way.
¾ While not as dramatic, a variation also exists between urban and rural school districts.
Thirty–three percent of urban districts and 21 percent of rural districts responded that they have other policies and procedures in place.
Five themes emerged among the policies and procedures cited by the 34 districts. The first theme is about provider accreditation and course quality. For example, three districts responded that online courses are only accepted from accredited institutions and another district responded that the course must be equivalent to a district‐offered course to be accepted.
The second theme is related to the Alternative Learning Experience (ALE) code. A few districts responded that they follow state ALE policies and procedures when handling requests from students to take an online course for credit.
The third theme is policies related to Full Time Equivalent (FTE), such as a policy that that students cannot take more than one FTE of classes, regardless of whether a course is online or not. In contrast, another district responded that if a student enrolled full‐time completes their courses, they can then add supplemental online courses.
36 The fourth theme is about who is involved and how the approval process for online courses happens. Examples of policies in this category include individual interviews with students and parent, interview with online program administrator, counseling center approval, and forms that students complete to request to take online courses for credit.
The fifth theme is student eligibility to take online courses for credit. For example, a district has a policy that a student must be at least one full year behind to be able to take online courses or be taking an advanced course that the school does not provide. Other examples are a policy that online courses are used for credit retrieval only and that parent permission is required.
Other districts have a list of guidelines or a set of policies for attendance and progress.