Academic outcomes for North Carolina Virtual Public School credit recovery students

Title:	Academic outcomes for North Carolina Virtual Public School credit recovery students
Description:	This report describes the results of a REL Southeast study comparing short- and longer-term student successes after completion of online credit recovery courses compared to student successes after completion of other credit recovery options, such as traditional face-to-face courses and summer school courses. Credit recovery refers to when a student fails a course and then retakes the same course to earn high school credit. This research question was motivated by the growing importance of online learning in traditional public school settings and a desire on the part of many stakeholders to understand better how students are adjusting to that transition. The data for this study covered eleven core high school courses (courses required for graduation) taken between 2008/09 and 2011/12 in North Carolina. The study compares the likelihood of a student: (a) succeeding on the state end-of-course test for the recovered course; (b) succeeding in the next course in a recovered course sequence (for instance, in English II after English I); (c) remaining in school after credit recovery; and (d) graduating and graduating on time. Results suggest that there was little difference between the short-term success rates of students who completed state-supported online credit recovery and students who completed other credit recovery options. However, on measures of longer-term success, students who completed state-provided online credit recovery courses and did not subsequently drop out were more likely than other credit recovery students to graduate on time. Among credit recovery participants in state-provided online courses, Black students were less likely to reach proficiency in their recovered courses but more likely than their peers to succeed in later coursework after their online experience. Because of limitations in the analyses possible with available data, it is not possible to directly attribute these outcomes to participation in online credit recovery, but the results do point toward intriguing and potentially beneficial areas for future, more rigorous study.
Online Availability:	Download, view and print the report as a pdf file. (809KB)
Cover Date:	October 2016
Web Release:	October 25, 2016
Print Release:	October 25, 2016
Publication #:	REL 2017177 General Ordering Information
Center/Program:	REL
Associated Centers:	NCEE
Authors:	D. T. Stallings, Sara P. Weiss, Robert H. Maser, Daniel Stanhope, Matthew Starcke, Difei Li: The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, College of Education, North Carolina State University
Type of Product:	Making Connections
Keywords:	Coursetaking/Transcripts • course credit Online Learning States • counts by state Student Outcomes
Questions:	For questions about the content of this Making Connections, please contact: Amy Johnson.