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Virtual Schooling and Student Learning: Evidence from the Florida Virtual School

Author

Listed:
  • Schwerdt, Guido
  • Chingos, Matthew M.
Abstract
Online education options have proliferated in recent years, with significant growth occurring at state-sponsored virtual schools. However, there is no prior credible evidence on the quality of virtual courses compared to in-person courses in U.S. secondary education. We compare the performance of students who took core courses in algebra and English at their traditional public high school to the performance of students who took the same courses through the Florida Virtual School, the largest state virtual school in the U.S. We find that FLVS students are positively selected in terms of prior achievement and demographics, but perform about the same or somewhat better on state tests once their pre-high-school characteristics are taken into account. We find little evidence of treatment effect heterogeneity across a variety of student subgroups, and no consistent evidence of negative impacts for any subgroups. Differences in spending between the sectors suggest the possibility of a productivity advantage for FLVS.

Suggested Citation

  • Schwerdt, Guido & Chingos, Matthew M., 2015. "Virtual Schooling and Student Learning: Evidence from the Florida Virtual School," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113202, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc15:113202
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    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/113202/1/VfS_2015_pid_39.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Razvan-Alexandru Calin, 2015. "Self-Education through Web-Searching - An Exploratory Study," Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Department of Communication, Journalism and Education Sciences, University of Craiova, vol. 2(2), pages 47-58, October.
    2. Yang, Liu & Zhang, Lei, 2024. "Online teaching, gender differences and education outcomes: Evidence from Chinese urban high schools during the COVID-19," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 534-553.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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