Reading reviews has become part of the modern decision-making process. From where to eat, what car to buy, even what town to live in – and these days more than ever, where the kids go to school. For our online school program, Connections Academy, proactively gathering parent reviews and feedback has been vital to its development for the past twenty years.
Unlike the "crisis remote learning" that so many K-12 students have experienced amid the pandemic, Connections Academy is an established virtual school program built specifically for the online environment. It has delivered full-time fully online school to over one million students since its founding, and in the 2021-22 school year, 47 Connections Academy schools will serve students in 30 states.
I spoke with Mickey Revenaugh, co-founder of Connections Academy about the online school's history of hearing from families since 2001, and how the then-start-up built a culture of continuous feedback and improvement.
"Back then, virtual school was totally new. Our program and technology were hot off the press, as was the idea of allowing students to attend school from anywhere and anytime via the Internet. We were also operating in the highly regulated field of public education, and we felt incredible responsibility to the pioneering students who enrolled in the schools. A lot was riding on us getting it right for these families and the authorizers that granted us access to operate in a state. Hearing directly from parents and education partners about what was working and what wasn't was essential to our development and growth. Early on, that meant informal conversations with families at all hours of the day and night, but we soon evolved an invaluable cycle of surveys, reviews and other formalized feedback. It's a practice we carry on today -- our culture is steeped in these kinds of customer relationships."
Key to securing this feedback is Connections Academy's annual Parent Satisfaction Survey which has delivered insights from hundreds of thousands of families directly to Connections Academy educators and technology developers so they can do more of, "what works best in online education," according to Revenaugh.
The 2021 Connections Academy Parent Satisfaction Survey drew responses from over 20,000 parents and revealed that 93% of parents were satisfied with their Connections Academy school overall and 90% gave their school an "A" or "B" grade. Ninety-two percent of parents gave teachers high marks, noting teacher support and responsiveness, while three out of four parents said their child's attitude toward learning had improved at Connections Academy.
When it comes to academic achievement, national data shows that Connections Academy students exceed national performance on benchmark assessments. Plus, Connections Academy students did not experience the "COVID slide" that other students experienced last year. It's not surprising then that 90% of parents were satisfied with the school's curriculum and 94% give the learning platform a thumbs up.
Beyond the annual survey, Connections Academy's online curriculum offers a nifty "rate my lesson" feature at the end of each lesson. Students can rate a lesson with 1-5 stars and comment on the lesson -- where wording may be confusing or where the embedded online activity may not be as fun as it could be, for example. Educators get this real-time feedback and can nimbly modify lessons to make the learning experience better. On average, Connections Academy lessons earn 4.3 stars.
Revenaugh also commented on the growing collection of online reviews for schools and emphasized the need for parents to do their homework.
"Choosing a school for your child is a major decision and parents are encouraged to attend information sessions and talk to other enrolled families to learn more. Review sites and social media offer additional insights, but like using any online consumer review, be sure to gather information from a variety of sources," says Revenaugh. "I can speak for Connections Academy -- we aim to provide the best student experience around and welcome education shoppers who want to explore our virtual school program."
Learn more at ConnectionsAcademy.com