Student-driven, independent study is the dominant mode of learning in online charter schools, with 33 percent offering only self-paced instruction¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2015 · checked against its sources 2026-10-17 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2020: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Student-driven, independent study dominates online charter schools; 33 percent of online charter schools offer only self-paced instruction. → Brian Gill 2015
Evidence¶
Brian Gill 2015¶
Brian Gill, Lucas Walsh, Claire Smither Wulsin, Holly Matulewicz, Veronica Severn, Eric Grau, Amanda Lee, Tess Kerwin. (2015). Inside Online Charter Schools. Cambridge, MA: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/inside-online-charter-schools
q2 · i? · associational · r2
Nationwide survey of 127 online charter school principals plus U.S. Department of Education public data reports that "Student–driven, independent study is the dominant mode of learning" in the sector, with the printed figure of 33 percent of schools offering only self-paced instruction.
"Student–driven, independent study is the dominant mode of learning in online charter schools, with 33 percent of online charter schools offering only self-paced instruction"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Letting learners pace instruction helped on complex material in one experiment, while learner control in general showed almost no effect across 18 studies — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
- The National Study of Online Charter Schools provides the first nationwide data and analysis of online charter schools' operations and instructional approaches, based on a survey of 127 principals — a broader claim this one bears on
- Few studies of online instruction's operations and effects existed before the National Study of Online Charter Schools — related
- The report concludes there is reason for concern about whether the online charter school sector is likely to be effective in promoting student achievement — related
- Online charter school students receive less live teacher contact time in a week than conventional-school students receive in a day — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
online-charters-dominant-independent-study-mode |
title |
Student-driven, independent study is the dominant mode of learning in online charter schools, with 33 percent offering only self-paced instruction |
description |
Student-driven, independent study is the dominant mode of learning in online charter schools, with 33 percent offering only self-paced instruction |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2015 |
source_checked |
2026-10-17 |
recheck_by |
2020 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-08 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — brian-gill-2015 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.