CAST Policy Analyst Quoted in Education Week

Date:
Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Education Week turned to CAST Senior Policy Analyst Skip Stahl for comment in an article titled "Online Course-Taking Evolving Into Viable Option for Special Ed," published in the April 1, 2015 edition.

The article addresses the ways in which online courses fill gaps in special education services. Speaking of the increasing number of for-profit firms venturing into online special education, Stahl asks, "Is it possible to create an environment that is sufficiently attractive to support commercial-vendor investment while at the same time providing an optimal environment for students with distinct learning needs?"

Stahl identifies North Carolina's publicly funded virtual courses as a gold standard of effective online special education, one that for-profit firms will be challenged to match. Stahl leads CAST's participation in the federally funded Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities (COLSD), in partnership with the University of Kansas.

COLSD principal investigator Sean J. Smith is also quoted in the article.