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86 PERCENT OF PARENTS GIVE OHIO CONNECTIONS ACADEMY VIRTUAL PUBLIC SCHOOL TOP MARKS

Ohio Connections Academy (OCA), www.OhioConnectionsAcademy.com, a leading provider of high-quality, highly accountable virtual schooling for students in grades K through 12, continues to get high marks from parents, a new study shows.  In its 2013-2014 Parent Satisfaction Survey, 86 percent of parents gave the Connections Academy (CA) online school program an “A” or “B” grade, and nearly 90 percent would recommend Ohio Connections Academy to other parents.  

 

Parents gave the Ohio Connections Academy program high marks for its academic rigor, program flexibility, the high quality of its teachers, and for delivering high levels of student achievement. Eighty-eight percent of parents reported that their children are making good academic progress, arguably the keenest evaluation of a child’s education. Ninety-four percent said they were pleased with the helpfulness of their children’s teachers, and specifically praised their responsiveness and accessibility. 

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Parents were also virtually unanimous in their praise of the Connections Academy curriculum, with 95 percent of survey respondents calling it “high quality,” and nearly 83 percent are more satisfied with the program than their child’s/children’s previous school.

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“The best part about the Connections Academy program has to be the teachers,” said Liesa Nichols an OCA parent from Madison, Ohio. “They have given my child the encouragement and guidance to go so much further with her studies.”

 

Other findings from the new report indicate:

·         92 percent of parents say their child/children are satisfied with OCA’s program

·         89 percent agree that the teachers improve the learning experience

·         89 percent rate the response time of OCA teachers as excellent or good

·         90 percent agree that they are satisfied with the variety of learning activities provided by the program

·         91 percent agree that the use of technology is improving the learning experience

 

The annual parent survey also revealed that parents’ top reasons for enrolling their students in a Connections Academy school included: wanted or needed a flexible schedule (44%), wanting a different environment from their current school (45%), and expressed a desire for a safe learning environment (35%).

 

“We are committed to providing the best possible educational experience for our students and their families. It is gratifying to know so many parents with students enrolled in Ohio Connections Academy have given our school such high marks,” said OCA Superintendent Marie Hanna. “This annual survey is one of the important tools we use to assess our online program and keep in touch with our families. We value the results and use them to enhance our program.”

 

Ohio Connections Academy’s stellar parent satisfaction ratings stand well above public school ratings from the 44th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, in which 77% of public school parents gave the public school their oldest child attends an “A” or a “B” grade.[1] Further underscoring how pleased parents are with Connections Academy schools, almost 90 percent of the parents report that their children are enjoying the program. 

 

Ohio Connections Academy served more than 3,200 students in the 2013-2014 school year. OCA is the only Ohio eSchool to have been rated excellent by the Ohio Department of Education. OCA has three teaching centers in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

 

Enrollment for the 2013-2014 school year is going on now and free information sessions are taking place across the state for families interested in learning more, meeting teachers and school representatives, and exploring the award-winning curriculum. Interested parents are encouraged to attend or learn more at www.OhioConnectionsAcademy.com.

 

Survey methodology

Connections Academy conducts the annual Parent Satisfaction Survey to find out how parents, guardians and Learning Coaches grade the program in several key areas.  The 2014 survey was conducted from January 14 to February 28, 2014 by Shapiro, an independent market research company which created the questionnaire, collected the data, and tabulated the results. No individual responses were accessible to Connections Academy. Parents of all students enrolled at the time of the survey were invited to complete the survey online. A WebMail invitation was sent to each parent, and one response per household was submitted.  Forty-five percent of the 41,000 households with students enrolled in a Connections Academy school at the time of the survey responded to the survey.


[1] William J. Bushaw and Shane J. Lopez, The 45th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, “Betting on Teachers.”  Phi Delta Kappan, September 2013.

 






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