Universities Run E-Schools for K-12 Gifted Students

Virtual schools aim to meet the needs of gifted students

By Katie Ash

Ed Week

Several research universities around the country are running online college-prep schools that tailor teaching and learning to the needs of high achievers, essentially establishing an on-site research base to evaluate the effectiveness of personalized online learning for gifted students.

Those students are often underserved in regular public schools, which may not have the time or money to provide courses that challenge them or allow them to pursue particular academic interests, says Patricia Wallace, the senior director of information technology for the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, which runs an online prep school called CTYOnline for pre-K-12 students.

“Schools are really under pressure to differentiate the curriculum for all students, and their main pressure is at the remedial end,” Wallace says. “The funding for these programs for students who are in the top level is just really pennies compared to what students on other levels get.”

Enrolling high-achieving students in online courses not only helps the students achieve their full potential, but also reduces stress on the teacher, Wallace argues.

“First of all, [students] aren’t becoming a behavior problem in a course in which they’re bored,” she says, “and they’re not putting more demands on the teacher who is already stretched so thin to differentiate the curriculum.”

In the latest development, the e-learning company K12 Inc., based in Herndon, Va., teamed up this year with George Washington University, in Washington, to launch a fully online private prep school for high schoolers. Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill., and Stanford University, in California, also have virtual education programs for gifted students.

Researching Impact

The product of the partnership between GWU and K12 Inc. is George Washington University Online High School, or GWOHS, which started classes in January with 18 students. Annual tuition for the program is $9,995 per student, or $4,995 per semester.

The school, which currently serves 9th and 10th graders and plans to expand to grades 11 and 12 over the next year, is going to allow the university and K12 Inc. to conduct research on curriculum development and instruction in online-learning environments, says Bruce Davis, the executive vice president of worldwide business development for K12 Inc., which operates online public schools in 25 states.

Working with the university’s school of education should open the door to better perspectives on online instructional methods, he says. The partnership will also give GWU the opportunity to incorporate online-teaching and -learning skills ... 

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