Assessing Access to Online Course Choice among Brick-and-Mortar K-12 Students

Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. P.O. Box 719, Waynesville, NC 28786. Tel: 828-246-9558; Fax: 828-246-9557; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://www.aace.org/pubs/jolr/

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18

Access to Education; Online Courses; Elementary School Students; Secondary School Students; Elementary Secondary Education; In Person Learning; Course Selection (Students); Parent Attitudes; Predictor Variables

2374-1473

Many K-12 brick-and-mortar public schools now grant students the option of taking some of their courses online. Yet, a scant academic literature probes where online course choice exists and why it is utilized. We partnered with a market research firm to solicit 450 responses from a nationally representative group of American parents of public school-educated children to begin to understand the predictors of districts adopting course choice, disparities in access, and why families utilize course choice. Overall, there were no clear intrastate predictors of which districts provide parents the option to avail online course choice. Among several options provided, respondents emphasized the importance of scheduling flexibility or simply believing that their child would learn more in their decision to utilize online course choice.

As Provided

2023

EJ1384496