Share Paper: Special Needs Education Goes Digital: Cyber Charter Schools and Special Needs Education

  1. Chris Carnahan, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, United States
  2. Lacey Fulton, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, United States
Wednesday, March 9 6:30 PM-8:00 PM Hermitage C

Abstract: This paper examines the issue of students with learning disabilities in K-12 cyber schools in the state of Pennsylvania. This seldom discussed group makes up over 25% of the student population in some cyber schools. These learners face additional sets of challenges when learning through online methods. In the 2008/2009 school year, there were nearly 2700 students classified with a learning disability in Pennsylvania cyber schools, yet little previous research or literature discusses them.