“Harnessing the power of innovation for the benefit of American schools is fast becoming an education imperative,” states the study Connecting Students to Advanced Courses Online released by the U.S. Department of Education in December 2007. 

The need is clear:

• American students must master advanced technical skills and learn to solve complex problems to be the “intellectually strong workers” required by the global economy
• 85% of future jobs will require, minimally, a two or four-year college degree, says a National Association of Manufacturers study
• Currently 30% of U.S. students fail to graduate from high school in four years, if at all (roughly 50% for minority students)
• 25% of U.S. high schools currently offer NO advanced courses and only 22% of schools have four or more advanced courses
• Foreign language instruction needs improvement; 200 million Chinese learn English while 24,000 American students learn Chinese

Supplementing traditional education with online advanced courses offers:

• Course availability to students regardless of school size or location, numbers of students enrolled in a given course, school demographics, busing or scheduling issues
• Opportunity for students to use and become comfortable with the kinds of information technology that are becoming an integral part of many living-wage jobs
• Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate course opportunities for students to earn college credits while still in high school
• Individualized pacing
• A practical and flexible way to enrich a school’s academic program while enhancing technical skills with minimal costs

This comprehensive Department of Education study and guide offers snapshots of six schools offering virtual courses; for example, Virtual High School partners with school systems across the country to offer a choice of 216 courses to 40,028 students.