Auditors question Department of Education's ability to evaluate, monitor online learning

Mark Johnson
Lansing State Journal
Kevin Morrison, with the Lansing School District's technology team, gets iPads and chargers ready for students during a technology distribution event on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, at the Don Johnson Fieldhouse in Lansing. Students will be using the equipment as they start the school year learning remotely. Remaining distribution dates are set for Aug. 14 and 17 for pre-K to third grade and Aug. 24-28 for grades 4-12. Distribution will be held at the Johnson Fieldhouse from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

LANSING — An audit says the Michigan Department of Education has failed to properly evaluate virtual learning in public schools. The criticism comes just as thousands of students prepare to start a new school year with online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

An audit released by the state on Thursday listed several concerns with the MDE's monitoring and evaluation of virtual learning offerings provided by 26 Michigan public school districts, which had a total of 1,180 virtual learners. 

The audit highlighted concerns with MDE's ability to sufficiently monitor virtual learning in those high schools and determine whether students were actually participating. The review suggests some virtual students had no interactions with their instructors at all. 

The audit was conducted by the Michigan Office of Auditor General from Oct. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2016, although the report released Thursday said efforts were made to update data when possible to reflect current information.

"With the onset of COVID-19, we expect that Michigan's traditional public schools will greatly expand their use of virtual learning methods as a primary means for educating many of Michigan's students for the foreseeable future," auditors wrote, according to the report. 

Auditors also found school districts were unable to provide documents showing the participation of 35% of 442 students enrolled in at least one seat-time waiver course, which requires schools to demonstrate participation by documenting at least one two-way communication per week for a four-week count period.

About one-quarter of the communications had no direct relation to the education or progress of the students, according to the report, and some focused solely on the need for documented communication for count day, the day districts count their students in order to determine how much per-pupil funding they'll receive to the state. Some students received just a single email from instructors.

Some students in the review period took virtual courses on-site at school buildings to access school computers or to get extra help from teachers or mentors to supplement their virtual lessons. MDE officials said they could not confirm whether 13% of 676 virtual learners working on-site at a school actually attended classes due to additional missing documentation.

"MDE needs to develop a strategy to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of virtual learning provided by traditional public schools," auditors wrote. "A well-developed evaluation strategy would help MDE better inform the State Board of Education, the legislature, school districts, and the public regarding the overall effectiveness of the virtual learning provided by traditional public schools and help establish policies and guidance that support virtual learners and improve virtual learning outcomes."

Audit released before thousands of local students start online learning

The audit was released during a contentious time as communities debate whether to start the new school year with in-person instruction or keep classes online.

Most Greater Lansing schools will start online. Districts offering in-person instruction have a virtual option for families who don't want their children in a school building yet.

Health concerns over the coronavirus from students, parents and teachers have dominated the discussion, but many also are concerned with the quality of online instruction and the ability of students to participate online. 

Through the review, auditors also found:

  • MDE violated state law by stopping their collection of certain student-level data, and in doing so, hindered their own ability to compare the effectiveness of virtual learning versus in-person learning courses in public schools.
  • 20 of the 26 school districts sampled, or 77%, employed at least five teachers lacking the proper grade or subject endorsements for teaching their virtual courses.
  • Pupil auditors — usually an intermediate school district employee trained in pupil accounting and auditing procedures — excluded about 26% of virtual learners from the audit process and failed to identify that 14% of the sampled virtual learners who graduated did not fulfill graduation requirements.

MDE responded by disagreeing or only partially agreeing with most of the findings in the report.

"MDE currently suggests user-friendly, effective evaluation tools to districts, and leverages partnerships to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of virtual learning provided by traditional public schools," the MDE wrote in response to the audit’s recommendation to develop a strategy to measure the effectiveness of virtual learning offerings.

It's not the responsibility of MDE to evaluate the effectiveness of public school virtual courses, MDE officials argued, in the report. Rather, through various legislative changes, that responsibility comes to Michigan Virtual, a non-profit corporation created by the legislature.

Auditors disagreed, arguing that while Michigan Virtual evaluates courses listed in the statewide catalog, virtual learning courses for most public schools are not included, according to the report. 

MDE officials also questioned whether they were actually out of compliance with state law by stopping their collection of student-level data. The department said officials would reach out to the Michigan Attorney General for clarification.

The report says other issues included in the audit have already been resolved, according to the report. 

Contact Mark Johnson at 517-377-1026 or at majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson.