Predicting Success of Virtual High School Students

Abstract

Results are reported on a preliminary use of the Educational Success Prediction Instrument (ESPRI), a measure designed to discriminate between successful and unsuccessful students in virtual high school (VHS) courses and provide a basis for counseling and support for future VHS students to make them more effective online learners. When used with 135 students in 13 virtual high schools, the instrument was found to discriminate with high accuracy and reliability between groups of successful and unsuccessful students. Suggestions are given for how ESPRI results might be used to help VHS students, and recommendations are discussed for further research in this area.