WELCOME INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE VSC?
The Virtual School Clearinghouse (VSC) is a collaborative research project sponsored by the AT&T Foundation. The VSC provides virtual schools, particularly state-led virtual schools, with data analysis tools and metrics vital for school improvement. The VSC also serves as a resource repository for virtual school teachers, administrators and researchers. There are two ways to participate in the VSC:
  • User – General access to all areas of the VSC except the Data Portal and the ability to add resources to the bibliography, journal, or website repository. SIGN UP NOW

  • Virtual School – Full access to the VSC including the Data Portal – access to data analysis tools and metrics for school improvement. SIGN UP NOW

HIGHLIGHTS

  • The 2009 Education Week Technology Counts report has been released. The full report is located here. Our work here at UF is specifically mentioned here.

  • The VSC Research Team has just published an article on virtual schooling assessment. Black, E.W., DiPietro, M., Ferdig, R.E. & Poling, N. (2009). Developing a survey to measure best practices of K-12 online instructors. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration [Online Serial], 12(1), 26 manuscript pages. Available here.

  • On March 6 & 7 in Orlando, the VSC Research Team hosted a Retention Seminar specifically designed to explore the role virtual schools can play in dropout prevention. The itinerary included national speakers from the National Center for Dropout Prevention, The Rodel Community Scholars, and the UF Department of Special Education. Information included on the seminar page contains itenerary, speaker biographies, PowerPoint presentations, and other resources. Click here

  • August 13 webinar hosted by NACOL feature the VSC Research Team. An Introduction to Online Surveying Data Collection for Virtual Schools This session will cover survey basics, how surveys are being used in virtual and traditional schools, introduce you to online survey applications available today and share best practices. Participants will be asked to complete a survey prior to the session start and will receive an informational sheet with tips, tricks and links as a follow up. Presenters: Erik Black, Rick Ferdig

  • The VSC Research Team has just published an article on virtual schooling best practices.. DiPietro, M., Ferdig, R. E., Black, E.W. & Preston, M. (2008). Best practices in teaching K-12 online: Lessons learned from Michigan Virtual School teachers. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 7(1), 10-35.

  • The VSC Research Team has just published an article on assessment and evaluation in K-12 virtual schools. Black, E.W., Ferdig, R.E., DiPietro, M. (2008). An overview of evaluative instrumentation for virtual high schools. The American Journal of Distance Education, 22(1), 24-45.