Are online/distance high schools worthwhile?

June 12, 2007 4:26 PM

Are distance/online high schools worth the money/effort, with special regard to AP courses?

I've seen many advertisements for high schools allowing you to take classes online, and looking at the web sites for a few of them, I have noticed many of them have Advanced Placement courses.

Are these schools worth it and if so, are the AP classes worth it? Which schools have good reputations?

Obviously with AP courses, the curriculum on the tests could be self-taught if the student were to put forth the effort, but I would like to know how well the classes prepare students.

I don't know if anyone here has any experience with these distance schools, but any information is appreciated.

posted by Anoxs to education (11 comments total)

This won't really answer your question, but why are you considering an online high school? Education is important, but so is sociological development. High school is a major life point for such development regardless of intelligence so don't discount that as being less important.
posted by pontouf at 4:33 PM on June 12, 2007

I'm particularly interested for my son, who is interested in online classes to augment his regular high school schedule. Trust me, I'm a proponent of attending a genuine high school.
posted by Anoxs at 4:37 PM on June 12, 2007

When I was in high school, I took an online economics course with the Florida High School, which I think is now called Florida Virtual School, although it doesn't appear to service my district anymore. It was totally cake (all assignments were done online, including the final), and I was glad to be able to get out of the required in-person economics class with Mr. Creepy Stare At Your Boobs and free up my schedule for more edifying subjects.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:42 PM on June 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hi Anoxs! Congrats on having such a motivated kid!

One way I found around this was to take a course at my local community college concurrent with material tested on the AP test I wanted to receive credit for, which I judged by e-mailing the professor and checking the AP website to see what areas would be tested.

In my case with AP Art History, I chose an class that basically covered Western art from the beginning of the Renaissance to the present which started in January and ended a week or two after the date of the test; I ended up getting a 4 on the test and an A+ in the class.

I had to ask for a recommendation from my high school principal to enroll in the class while I was still in high school, but that was just a form issued by the college's admission office that I had to turn in. The test itself was administered one afternoon by my principal, who I'd approached around the time I was ordering the test to see if she'd be cool invigilating, which she was.

One last thing - what subjects is your son interested in studying? There might be some specific recommendations someone here can offer.

Good luck!
posted by mdonley at 5:03 PM on June 12, 2007

I'd second mdonley's suggestion of dual-enrollment at a state university (my experience) or a community college. I did this in high school when I ran out of AP classes. If your son has the means to get to campus for all of the days of class, usually high schools will give some leeway for scheduling.

There's a lot of other benefits of this approach. Your son will be taught at the college-level, which usually means it is better-taught than by a high school teacher (this can depend on the teaching arrangements re: teaching assistants). This will give him a HUGE headstart on other kids come time for college, both socially and academically.

Since I had taken classes at the local university for three semesters prior to visiting campuses between junior/senior year, it was a bit easier to figure out what I wanted as far as academic and social experience. Instead of being distracted by the useless admissions people and their tours, I could see the people that blended into the campus, and think about more relevant things (how far away are classes from each other, study areas, cool things to do, do professors have good office hours, etc). I also had an advantage since I was already familiar with college-level classes and coursework.

But to answer the original question, I'd not waste money on some online program if you have to pay money to take the AP test anyway. Most of the programs are pretty trivial (homework is a joke). If your son is motivated enough to take an online class, then he's also probably motivated enough to just borrow a textbook and study it on his own. Talk to a teacher from another school/district and see if you can borrow a book and some course outlines. If that doesn't work, there are likely some cheap sells of a relevant textbook up on half.com or similar sites. Also get a Princeton Review* book for the relevant exam, and just read. Do the practice problems, and look on the internets for past exams.

Of course, this won't work for hands-on classes such as AP Chemistry, AP Biology, ... but will work great for book- and computer- based classes (AP US History, AP World History, AP Government, AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP Art History, etc etc etc).

The advantage of dual enrolling is that you can take some class not offered as an AP class, and still get credit for it in university (as long as both are accredited; consult the registrar for details). The school district also may pay for some/all of the class, if they are unable to offer such a class.

email if you have some questions about the above, i'd be glad to help (incidentally, i'm a volunteer recruiter now that i'm in college... )
posted by mezamashii at 6:02 PM on June 12, 2007

Well, the College Board is now requiring an audit of all AP syllabi at all schools, regardless of whether they are online/distance ed or brick and mortar, so any school that is offering the AP courses has presumably passed the AP audit.

You might want to look at the Virtual High School in addition to the Florida program. I worked with some of the folks behind VHS in grad school and they're pretty sharp.
posted by wildeepdotorg at 6:32 PM on June 12, 2007

My online course experience (which was along with a traditional land-based experience) was AP American Gov through a company whose name I forget). My experience was similar to ThePinkSuperhero. For me, I figured I had a good handle on American government before going in, and that was the best way to demonstrate it to colleges (my school only taught traditional government). Given that the school of my choice didn't take the AP exam, neither did I. Essentially, the course itself ended up being worthless because: a) my state's government requirement for high school graduation was *not* filled by taking AP Gov; and b) if I knew the material, I could have just as easily sat for the AP test without the course. I would get one of those books that gives you sample questions (or tells you what's on the test) and study it independently with old textbooks / online materials, hang the expense and time of the online "course" and sit for the test.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 7:56 PM on June 12, 2007

My daughter had a so-so experience taking an online course for AP physics. She ended up doing well in the course and on the AP exam, but it was difficult because the company advised her to buy the wrong text initially and parts of the online material were difficult to access at times. I'd say the instructor was not that into it. If she had to do it over again, I think she would not do an online course. You might want to check out the discussion over at college confidential. You'll find many helpful parents there.
posted by pasici at 8:03 PM on June 12, 2007

IMO, He'd be much happier taking a night class at your local community college if he's just looking for extra edification. AP online was pretty notorious among my peers in the IB Programme for only being good as a weighted GPA booster (there was some intense vying for valedictorian at my school, which is/was already an IB Diploma school, so even the kids with poor academics graduated with weighted GPAs above 5.0. It got really bad.)
Anyway, if he doesn't care about GPA stacking (depending on what state you're in, this may not even be relevant.), or the looks of another AP on his college applications, both of which may be an extra cause in an interest in AP Online, look into night classes at the best local college or university that will let
him learn there.

AP online, from what I know from my friend the valedictorian (who took a ton), basically comes down to: joke course online, you will get an A. Study for the test on your own with an REA or Barron's testprep guide, sit, watch GPA boost, repeat. Unless your son likes learning by cramming and mostly worthless online courses, real college is the way to go.

ALSO, if he is just looking for AP scores to tout, see if your state will allow you to sit the AP without having taken the course (most will.) In this, skip the overpriced online course, and have him study the test with a Princeton Review, Barron's, or REA prep book (I list them all, because the best book for the job often depends on the subject.) Barrons AP United States history is only so-so (REA is where it's at for most histories), but their AP Psych book is killer. I
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 1:30 AM on June 13, 2007

If you do pursue the online option, just make sure it's accredited and that the course credit will be recognized by wherever your son wants to go next. I can't stress how important that is!

Even if you go brick-and-mortar, this is still vital; I know of a local public high school which lost its accreditation and never informed the students, so the diploma the kids left with was effectively useless.
posted by mogotron at 5:18 AM on June 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

I know several people who have been home schooled in the Boston, MA area who have used the Harvard Extension program. I don't know where you are, but they are a possibility if you are in the Northeast.

MIT has a lot, maybe all, of their coursework online. It's not accredited, and he might have to get someone to march him through it, but it's there.
posted by vilcxjo_BLANKA at 8:20 AM on June 13, 2007