Date of Award

Summer 1-1-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy In Urban Education

Department

Education And Human Services

First Advisor

Galletta, Anne

Second Advisor

Dr. Adam Voight

Third Advisor

Dr. Marius Boboc

Abstract

A review of the literature documents two critical facts regarding the status of online education research. First, there exists minimal research on the instructional impact of online learning in K-12. Second, the focus of this limited K-12 research compares the growth outcomes of online learning to the growth outcomes of traditional face-to-face instruction. Therefore, the research found in this dissertation is unique as it is limited to examining in effect of time-in-school on high school students engaged in blended learning. The findings of this study are based on two years of data from a charter school that utilized a blended learning curriculum. The study compared the academic gains of sixteen treatment groups (students whose in-school attendance met specific percentages of time- in-school) to the academic gains of the corresponding sixteen control groups (students whose in-schools attendance did not meet specific time percentages). These findings document that the academic gains of students in the study’s sixteen treatment groups were statistically greater (<.001) than the academic gains of students in the sixteen control groups. x While it is acknowledged these study’s findings must be confirmed or refuted through additional research, this study’s importance is the identification of an instructional strategy which has the potential of increasing, through personalized scheduling, the academic achievement for all students enrolled in a blended learning high school. Therefore, this study’s findings should be of great interest to both blended learning practitioners and educational policy creators.

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