Agora Cyber Charter School Benchmarks of Academic Performance

1869 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of accountability in school

Agora Cyber Charter School, the largest virtual public school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is both trendsetting and challenged in today’s education marketplace. Founded in 2005 to provide families an alternative, high-quality educational option to the traditional public school, Agora serves the learning needs of nearly eleven thousands student across the Commonwealth. As a public school, within its own district, it provides a full range of educational, community, and ancillary services to all of its students, regardless of racial, religious, socio-economic or demographic status.
Providing services in primarily a virtual environment has unique challenges for all stakeholders. Many considerations are made to guarantee the most appropriate programming is being used so that the needs of vastly differing populations are met. Along with appropriate programming, the school must maintain fidelity to academic achievement, as set forth by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In order to meet this challenge Agora Cyber Charter employees multiple tools to ensure that is students are making adequate progress toward the schools goal of academic excellence.
Benchmarking Tools
Because of the unique environment in which we educate our students, Agora is under the scrutiny of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. As a virtual charter school, the school answers directly to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which grants its charter. Agora educates children from all sixty-seven counties of the Commonwealth; those students come from a variety of socio-ecomonic, cultural and educational experiences. The challenge is in determining current levels of students and then enveloping those students into a culture of excellence and accountabilit...

... middle of paper ...

...rong precedent; a student that simply attempts material is not an acceptable academic performance outcome. Study Island is a viable, research-based tool, that when fully applied could provide an additional avenue for instruction, enrichment, and intervention, driven by the needs of the individual student.

Works Cited

(2011). Performance series diagnostic assessment . (202-568-028 ed.) [Brochure]. Scantron. Retrieved from http://www.scantron.com/~/media/Scantron/Files/products/performance-series/Scantron_Performance_Series.ashx

(2012). Department strategic plan - middle school (6-8). Agora Cyber Charter School.

(2013). Aimsweb. (5349 01/13 F01901BR ed.). Pearson Inc. Retrieved from http://www.aimsweb.com/wp-content/uploads/Pearson_aimsweb_web_spread.pdf

Pssa preparation. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.studyisland.com/pa/elementary-school/pssa-preparation

Show More
Related

  • Charter Schools: Bigger Problem in Disguise

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    While charter schools may seem appealing at first, further research shows that they, do, in fact have faults. Because of the high standards portrayed by charters, the brightest students in public schools often flee to charters in search of a better learning environment. Ironically, charter schools usually attract less-qualified teachers due to lower pay. Often, the result is many students eventually leaving the charter system, sometimes with a decrease in learning a...

    Read More

  • Review of Clifford Stoll's Article "Cyberschool" and Proposed Changes to Improve My College

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many students realized that within their first two years semesters of college, the workload is inevitably heavier and even overwhelming than when they were in high school. After reading “Cyberschool” by Clifford Stoll, there is a shocking point that he makes very obvious to his readers. Stoll implies that what his essay is about is not to be taking into consideration because he pokes fun at the idea of the cyber-schooling. Cyber-schooling consists of each student having their own computer; all teachers are fired and retrained to become data entry clerks that answer student’s emails. In addition, this type of “future school” that Stoll describes has each student working at his or her own pace. They will get CD-ROM’s that have educational games that are programmed to help prepare students for standardized testing. Stoll brings to life the many details that many improve Camden County College. It is quite obvious that there are countless changes that could make this an optimal learning environment. The best way to create such an environment is to have a plethora of classes, up to date buildings, and additional parking.

    Read More

  • Pedro Noguera Levinson's Case Study

    1774 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first, and possibly most pressing issue that Jehlen and Noguera found in the current charter school system was the lack of equity. Jehlen reminds us that many times, a school is judged on its students’ ability to do well on standardized

    Read More

  • A Criticism of Charter Schools

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most hotly debated issues in the United States today is the controversial topic of education reform. Since public schools are funded almost entirely by local property taxes and money at the state level, many parents feel that they deserve a greater say in what their children learn in school. However, sometimes the opinions of parents contradict the policies at the federal level, thus causing conflict. Dissatisfaction with the public school system in their districts has led many Americas to seek other options for their children’s educations. In 1992, the first charter school opened in Minnesota, giving parents the option to send their kids to a free public school of their choice (“Charter Schools”).

    Read More

  • Why Charter Schools Are Important to Education

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ripley, Amanda. "A Call To Action For Public Schools. (Cover Story)."Time 176.12 (2010): 32. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.

    Read More

  • Are Charter Schools Good Alternatives For Students?

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a nation dominated by capitalism and free trade, steps are being taken to turn the ability to learn and other education rights into commodities that can be manipulated and controlled by companies. Charter schools are public schools funded by state money, but not unionized; they also can be in the form of a traditional brick and mortar schoolhouse or an online school (Ravitch)(Molnar)(“Preface to 'Are Charter and Magnet Schools Good Alternatives for Students?’”). According to their proponents, charter schools allow parents more sway over their child’s education (Jacoby 77). A charter school proponent Jeff Jacoby states, “Their goal: to build the kind of school that used to be commonplace in America-one providing a rigorous, traditional, fact-based

    Read More

  • Charter Schools in Washington DC: A Reasonable Solution?

    2379 Words  | 5 Pages

    Charter schools, which exist all over the United States, are “rooted in the premise of public, free education nestled in the ideas of parental choice” (Pardo 6). Since “Minnesota launched its first charter school in 1991”, charter schools have experienced “an enormous increase in number to over 5,300 by 2011” (Chen). Like traditional public schools, charter schools are “funded with public money” (Chen). However, parents have to “submit a separate application to enroll their children in charter schools, and spaces are often limited” (Pascual). Each charter school has an independent governing board that oversees finance (Pardo 6). Enrollment is based on choice, with parents selecting schools due to their specific focus, curriculum or other features (Pardo 7). When enrollment is exc...

    Read More

  • What Is Plato's Use Of Technology In Fahrenheit 451

    2264 Words  | 5 Pages

    As new technology starts to be introduced, online classes will start to be provided more. More students will have online assignments where they can have the option to stay home or physically go to school to work on them. This would help schools with the costs of devices, school foods, books, and the actual buildings. The technology we have now in education is close to this ideal situation of future education. However, the students in high school and grades under are required to go to school. The technology is advancing quickly and when people start to involve education with advancing technology, students are going to be prepared for future educations and their knowledge of computer skills and will be prepared for a higher rate of

    Read More

  • Grant Project Proposal Chapter 3

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    The action team committee will discuss the current system in place, research how the relationship in the classroom impacts academic success, review and answer any questions or concerns, and update the staff, the school district, the community, parents, students, the school board. The action research team will need to discuss and plan for how they could present any changes to the online management system to the staff, parents, students, the administrations, and the school board. The committee will also consider what the climate and culture is within the school, review student attendance, discipline, the amount of loss of classroom instructional time, and the social/emotional needs of the

    Read More

  • Charter Schools

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, many frustrated teachers, parents, and other stakeholders believe that government is not in a position to provide solutions to improve education because the traditional government structures and mandates are, they believe, a large part of the problem (Chubb & Moe, 1990). A real solution, they offer, is to reinvent the system by which we provide and run public education; a reinvented system of choice, flexibility, and accountability that includes the creation of charter schools. Communities are invited to create new public schools with high levels of autonomy to be innovative in ways that may or may not embrace traditional educational structures. These schools are invited to take new and uncharted paths, but also are held responsible for ensuring that these paths lead to educational success for students.

    Read More

  • Charter Schools Vs. Public Schools

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the rate of charter school failures continues to increase throughout the years, it has become that much more difficult for the charter school system to be taken seriously by the public. Rather than being perceived as a new found educational establishment, some are going as far as referring to the charter school sys...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Virtual Education

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over the years society has changed in many different ways. In particular, technology has been the largest change that has occurred over the year. Only a few years ago the iPhone came out and it has forever changed the way people view their phone. Internet has also become very assessable resource. There are places everywhere to access a computer or free Wi-Fi. These changes have led to the alteration of the accessibility and use of technology in the education setting. The changes made to technology in the education setting have led to many positive outcomes that have allowed many types of people access to education that could not get it prior. There are however, many critics that refute these changes and say that virtual education can be biased and expensive. Although, there are many critics that do not agree with technology in education, have this can give access to many students with disabilities as well as people who have limited time or ability to further an education.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Motivation in the Classroom

    3154 Words  | 7 Pages

    Clark, T. (2001). Virtual schools: Trends and issues: A study of virtual schools in the United States. Retrieved October 18, 2003, from http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/virtualschools.pdf

    Read More

  • Education and the Digital Divide

    2435 Words  | 5 Pages

    Andy Carvin states “ internet access in schools isn’t worth a hill of beans if teachers aren’t prepared to take full advantage of technology” (2000). Schools spend a lot of money on computer hardware and software as well as other technologies without realizing that many of their employees are unprepared to include them in their teaching and use them to their advantages. Educators often use technology as a classroom management tool rather than an educational one, allowing computer time as a reward for good behavior (Clark & Gorski, 2001). The problem with this is that students learn to use the computer for games and such because it is their reward instead of using it on their own time for educational purposes. This is teaching them the wrong idea. Margaret Honey, director of the Center for Children and Technology in NYC said it best, “The bottom line is, you don’t just put technology into schools or into homes and expect miracles to happen. The technology is only as good as the program that surrounds it” (Meyer, 2002, p.2).

    Read More

  • Internet - Virtual Education is the Future of Learning

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    All of our lives, we have gone through school learning with many other students in a classroom, and using books. But what if things were to change? What if instead of getting up to go to school, we simply had to just turn our computers on. Virtual Education is becoming a new way to teach and learn. Using computers, students can interact with other students and instructors, go to a history lecture with people all across the world, and even dissect frogs.

    Read More

More about Agora Cyber Charter School Benchmarks of Academic Performance

Open Document