At-risk high school students and online learning: Characteristics and instructional design strategies

While online classes may hold promise as a venue for reaching at-risk high school students, the high school graduation dropout rate continues to be a concern in the United States (America's Promise Alliance, Droput prevention, 2009; Balfanz, Fox, Bridgeland, & McNaught, Grad nation, 2009). Additional research to guide programming efforts will benefit those involved as decisions are made for these fragile learners. Using a mixed-methods Delphi study, an expert panel in one Midwestern state identified 110 unique characteristics and instructional needs of at-risk high school students in online settings and instructional design strategies that may begin to address those characteristics and needs. The results of this research study indicated that definitions of at-risk students vary, and perceptions as well as facts influence decisions about how students receive this at-risk identification. Research study data agreed with research literature that characteristics of at-risk students cannot be considered in aggregate. The expert panel identified unique characteristics and instructional needs that could be placed within Watson and Gemin's (Using online learning for at-risk students and credit recovery, 2008) four risk factor categories: individual, family, school, and community. Themes that emerged from the panel's suggestions for instructional design strategies included serving a wide variety of learners, providing multiple means for presentation and assessment, communicating, forming interpersonal connections, and accessing technology and providing training for its use. The results may be used as baseline data for understanding who at-risk high school students are and what may help them be successful in an online environment as well as instructional design strategies that may effectively begin to address these learners' characteristics and needs. Findings can also be used to guide professionals as they develop and implement high school online learning. This research study suggested that design strategies must include considerations beyond academics, including personal values of students, their beliefs about learning and need for formal education, the availability and extent of family and community support, and student perceptions and expectations of the school system and authority figures as they affect students' educational journeys and experiences.