Virtual education programs must shift from emergency response to creating a more sustainable, quality product that will meet the needs of Texas students. This publication highlights nine institutions as potential models in that endeavor.
Key points:
- Within a matter of months, “virtual education” vaulted in 2020 from a niche educational offering used by less than 1% of Texas students to a widespread instructional model offered to students during continuing school closures.
- This explosive growth in demand met a supply intentionally constricted through state policy.
- As virtual education serves more students longer, the focus must shift from emergency response to creating a more sustainable, quality product that will meet the needs of Texas students in a changing landscape.
- This publication highlights a selection of nine virtual education institutions from across the country that predate the COVID-19 pandemic, two from within Texas.
- These examples can serve as inspiration for policymakers and district leaders who seek to reform Texas’s barebones virtual education system.