At-risk and online: parent perceptions of at-risk learner’s supports in a fully online school

Abstract

At-risk students face a variety of challenges that encompass cultural, social and environmental contexts and identities. Full time virtual schools offer help for at-risk students through the provision of a personalized learning option where students can catch up with past work or complete school work in a non-traditional environment. The purpose of this study was to understand parent perceptions of at-risk learner’s affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement supports in a fully online school. Although research exists on at-risk learners in blended environments, this topic has not yet been fully explored for fully online schools. We need a much fuller understanding of at-risk learners’ supports in online schools. These data are critical for the future success of at-risk students who are increasingly enrolling in full time online schools. Results showed that parents of at-risk students enrolled in a virtual school described affective engagement in terms of relationships, communication with teachers, and communication with students. Interestingly, parents emphasized that the structure of the traditional in-person schooling experience hindered long term relationships. Parents saw behavioral engagement in terms of learning expectations, help with technological issues, and self regulation skills. Parents of at-risk students enrolled in the virtual school also described cognitive engagement opportunities in the areas of teaching and tutoring of academic content, co-learning with students, and collaboration between students. Discussion focused on how virtual schools could embrace innovative staffing models to better support at-risk students who are enrolled in a virtual school as their ‘last resort’.

Keywords:

• Virtual schools
• cyber schools
• at risk
• at-risk
• learner supports
• affective supports
• behavioral supports
• cognitive supports
• academic communities of E
• adolescent community of engagement framework

Reviewing editor:

• Nadaraj Govender, School of education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

SUBJECTS:

• Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
• Legal, Ethical & Social Aspects of IT
• Educational Psychology
• Open & Distance Education and eLearning
• Primary/Elementary Education
• Secondary Education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dennis Beck

Dennis Beck is an Associate Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Arkansas. His research focuses on the impact of online technologies on vulnerable populations. In this vein, he has studied special education parent and student satisfaction and student achievement with cyber schooling, as well as the impact of homework on student achievement and student and parent satisfaction in cyber schools. Additionally, in order to better understand the impacts of cyber schooling on vulnerable populations, he has studied the virtual school field experiences for pre-service administrators as well as the roles, responsibilities, issues, and difficulties facing those in leadership of these type of schools. He has published in several venues, including IEEE TLT, Computers & Education, American Journal of Distance Education, Educational Administration Quarterly, and the Journal of Educational Research.