Each year millions of American K-12 students take classes online, augmenting traditional coursework or attempting to recover lost credits on the road to graduation. Despite its growing presence in schools, however, digital instruction can often have mixed results.

Vanderbilt University’s Carolyn Heinrich recently led a multi-year study of dozens of urban high schools to find out how – and how well – students are learning online.

She joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss her findings – including a negative association between online course taking and learning – and some valuable takeaways for schools leaders, teachers, and policymakers.

Featured research: Heinrich, Carolyn J., Jennifer Darling-Aduana, Annalee Good, and Huiping (Emily) Cheng. “A Look Inside Online Educational Settings in High School: Promise and Pitfalls for Improving Educational Opportunities and Outcomes.” American Educational Research Journal, (March 2019).