| Free online high schools are becoming increasingly | | | | sometimes they are state-sponsored. |
| common. Less than three years ago, a student would | | | | What should you look for?Like all online high schools, |
| have to look far and wide to find a program that | | | | you should look for regional or national accreditation |
| was not either a commercial school or a | | | | as the first hallmark of legitimacy. You can find official |
| university-based school. While both were good | | | | accreditors at CHEA.org. Failing that, sponsorship by a |
| choices then and are good choices now, what has | | | | state department of education or a school district |
| emerged over the last few years is another option. | | | | may be reasonable, but you will want to ask the |
| What are they? | | | | school about its accreditation goals. |
| There are three basic kinds of free online high | | | | Another thing to look at is the teaching. Are the |
| schools. They are: | | | | teachers experienced not only teaching their subject |
| 1. Charter schools | | | | area, but also in teaching online? Anyone who tells |
| 2. Department of Education-sponsored or | | | | you that they have experienced teachers, but the |
| school-district-sponsored schools | | | | teachers have not taught a course via distance |
| 3. Corporate-sponsored, but state-approved schools | | | | learning, doesn't understand what they are talking |
| With the growth in charter schools, has come a | | | | about. Yes, it is not an awful thing to have new |
| growth in online charter schools. While still relative | | | | online instructors, but the hope is that there is a mix |
| small in number, look for this segment to grow. | | | | of new and experienced. Increasingly, it is possible to |
| When a state department of education offers a free | | | | find experienced teachers online high school courses. |
| online high school, most often it does not offer a | | | | Finally, what does the program look like? If it looks |
| diploma track. Typically, the reasoning behind such | | | | like they took pencil-and-paper courses and dumped |
| schools is to offer courses to all schools within the | | | | them onto the Internet, then walk away. While there |
| state that a particular high school may not be able to | | | | are many ways to develop an online course, that is |
| provide. For example, Alabama Online High School | | | | not one of them. A good course should have a |
| offers Advanced Placement classes online because it | | | | mixture of audio, video, forums, links, and much |
| is a state with many small towns and an inability to | | | | more. Anything less and the student will likely lose |
| have AP programs in all of those towns. | | | | interest quickly. |
| Finally, those corporate-sponsored programs are | | | | Here is my most important piece of advice: Unless |
| sometimes a mixture. For example, a company, like | | | | you have no other choice, don't choose a school |
| K12.com, offers online high schools through an | | | | solely because it is free. Not surprisingly, you may still |
| arrangement with a state department of education. | | | | get what you pay for. |
| Sometimes these schools are charter schools and | | | | |