Title of Study: Social Skills of Mainstream Students in Full-Time, Online Public Schools: How They Compare to Traditional Public School Students

Author(s): Jay Sivin-Kachala, Ed. D., and Ellen Bialo

Summary:

A comparison of social skills between mainstream students in full-time online public schools and traditional public school students, including parent and teacher observations and a survey of parents’ reasons for choosing an online school.

Sponsoring entity(s): Interactive Educational Systems Design, Inc., The Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP) at the University of Memphis (TN)

Date conducted: August 2008

Location of the study: This study can be accessed through the K12 for Educators website.

Setting(s) addressed:

• Online schools
• Student Home Environment

Targeted population(s):

• Grades 2, 4 and 6 students
• Grades 2, 4 and 6 teachers
• Parents

Primary sources of evidence used in the study or report:

• Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) evaluation instrument (students, parents, teachers)
• Review of existing data (SSRS national norms)
• Parent survey

Primary Technology Application(s) Addressed: Online school programs (Virtual Academy) in Arizona, California, Idaho, and Ohio

Major education topic(s) addressed:

• Student social skills
• Student behavior
• Parent involvement

Major findings/conclusions:

• In most categories, social skills of students enrolled in full-time, online public schools were measured to be equivalent or above national norms.

• Students enrolled in online schools were highly engaged in activities outside of the school day and there was a positive correlation between engagement in these activities and social skills.

• In all categories measured, problem behaviors of online school students were lower or not significantly different when compared to national norms.

• The number of years of enrolment in online school did not correlate to an increase or decrease in problem behaviors.

• Parents’ most commonly cited reason for choosing online public schools was a desire for increased involvement in their child’s education.

• A majority of parents reported improvement in the academic performance, social skills, and attitude of their child with regards to school and school work.

Practical implications of the findings:

• Parents of online school students should be encouraged to enroll their children in group activities outside of the school day as they may lead to an increase in social skill development.

• The lack of evidence indicating that enrollment in online schools causes harm to social skills can be used to reassure parents and teachers of potential online school students.

Reviewer Comments:

This study is very narrowly focused on mainstream students in specific elementary school grades. Further research is needed to see if the same trends hold true for middle and high school students. The group of parents included in this study appears to be highly involved in their children’s education. It would be interesting to know how much time they spend with the student and if there is a correlation between parental involvement and social or academic performance. No measure of academic performance for the online student population was included other than parent perception as indicated on a survey.