February 19, 2008

Online Master's-of-Education Program in Texas Proves Popular

Schoolteachers in Texas are flocking to a quick and cheap online master’s-degree program created by a partnership between Lamar University, in Beaumont, Tex., and a company run by a Dallas entrepreneur, Randy Best, The Dallas Morning News reports.

The online program offers students the opportunity to earn a master’s in school administration or teacher leadership in 18 months, and at less than half the cost of most other master’s-of-education programs in the state. Since the program began, in October, it has enrolled 1,800 teachers, most of whom receive incentives from their school districts for earning the degrees.

Under the unusual public-private deal, Lamar, a public university, oversees the program’s curriculum, instruction, and admissions process, while Mr. Best’s company, Higher Education Holdings, provides the marketing; the two entities share profits from the program, which costs students $4,950 each.

While some observers have questioned whether such a short program can adequately prepare educators and administrators, it has been endorsed by several Texas school districts.

“So many teachers are suddenly interested,” said Mr. Best, a banker and prominent figure in for-profit education. In 2005 he bought a struggling Roman Catholic college in suburban Chicago and transformed it into a for-profit teachers college, the American College of Education.

“Why would it be that this level of interest would occur if it had not been a great unmet demand?” he said. —Paula Wasley

Comments

1. I think it is fantastic that Lamar U is able to offer the M.Ed online at such an affordable price. Many teachers will certainly benefit from this because online learning is very flexbile for busy schedules and it will give educators the advantage of convenience.

   — Derrick    Feb 19, 03:16 PM    #

2. “Quick and cheap” ? Most masters degrees can be taken residentially in 18 months. The difference in this on-line program is that the students can more efficiently budget their time and resources while earning the degree. On-line degrees targeted to a specific working professional must recognize the prior knowledge of students. If it does, then it will be successful. By the numbers in Lamar’s program, I think it has accomplished this.

   — Suzanne    Feb 19, 03:28 PM    #

3. More power to him! and the teachers!

   — Good ol' Bubba    Feb 19, 03:36 PM    #

4. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and looks like a duck… it’s a duck. This is a degree mill program in the guise of education. Lamar should be ashamed, and instead of getting in bed with “entrepreneurs” like Best (The Chronicle ought to do a little investigative reporting on the inside deals of this partnership) — start working on improving, rather than doing further damage, its academic reputation around the state.

   — Bill    Feb 19, 03:37 PM    #

5. Bill, you’ve sure got my attention. Obviously you know a lot more about this than the brief here or the Morning News story reveals. So share with us: What are those inside deals? Also, since you know it’s a duck, you must know a lot about the course content, too. C’mon … don’t be such a tease. Tell us what you know!

   — BertW    Feb 19, 03:53 PM    #

6. A degree mill? Please. They are delivering learning options that fit the needs of a huge portion of the population who don’t have the luxury of full-time residential study. Graduates and their employers determine the value of the degree, not sour grape elitists who are becoming less relevant by the hour.

   — DavidA    Feb 19, 03:57 PM    #

7. Bill, Please clarify. Are you saying that 1) Higher Education Holdings, not Lamar U., is actually in control of the curricula and is creating diploma mill quaility courses; 2) Lamar U. faculty are incapable of creating quality online courses or 3) any institution that offeres online degrees (including Duke, Penn State and Stanford) is, by definition, a diploma mill?

   — AnthonyP    Feb 19, 04:22 PM    #

8. Since there are no real standards or widespread consensus regarding what is required for a graduate degree or professional endorsement in education, every teacher in every district in every state can choose whatever option is most enticing. For example, looking at what State U. requires for their online program, a teacher who finds the same piece of parchment available by attending half as many classes for half as long per class, or for half the money, can get the same promotion as those who spend more time and/or more money. Nobody in the district or state licensing offices seems to care, and they don’t have the power to distinguish one program from another, so there is wide variation from one degree program to another, regarding things like how many class sessions there are, how long each session lasts, what work is required, or what evaluations are used to gauge learning outcomes.

   — Jerry    Feb 19, 04:36 PM    #

9. Lamar is ahead of and responding to the needs of the marketplace. If everyone thought like the academic elitists that look down their noses towards anything non-traditional, they would soon find out about what it takes to actually have to work for a living instead of just going to school and trying to equate theory with reality.

   — Chris    Feb 19, 04:36 PM    #

10. Hang in there Bill. You are on the right track. As teacher educators ought to know the three most important variables in post-secondary learning are: time on task, teacher-student learning, peer learning. Most formal assessments of online graduate programs reveal that time on task is student controlled and without complex peer-peer, student-teacher communication and discussion, whether online or in residence, neither occurs at the level graduate learning should. Further, the most expensive part of delivering online in ensuring complex peer-peer and teacher-student learning. Let Lamar assess their 1800 students vs a residential program and show us the academic character of their program.

    — Lloyd    Feb 19, 04:40 PM    #

11. instead of lambasting Lamar’s entrepreneurial approach, critics would be wise to suggest that the program be carefully assessed and compared to other on-line teacher ed. programs. This is the only way to determine the program’s “quality”

    — john minnis    Feb 19, 04:48 PM    #

12. The irony here, of course, is that teachers’ time would be more productively spent getting a Masters in Penology. LearnBall anyone?

    — marci    Feb 19, 06:03 PM    #

13. Education programs have developed quite a reputation that varies sharply among those that take that route and those that assess what is happening. Measuring outcomes will not help. Get real. Anyone can justify anything in today’s open, free market.

    Who knows who knows?

    Accreditation is all but dead and meaningless; this is problematic at best and indicative of where the education industry is going. The bottom line is profit with little regard for a field grossly lacking in common standards.

    — Quirked    Feb 20, 12:31 AM    #

14. My questions are not just about the learning involved, but the level of learning involved. They also are about the quality of the time on task. Is the structure such that the level of learning is assessed only in ways that measure memory and recognition, or do students actually demonstrate analysis, synthesis and evaluation? Is there appropriate security and monitoring that validates the time on task and the originality/individuality of the academic work?

    — Maggie    Feb 20, 08:59 AM    #

15. Why are instructors so afraid of online learning opportunities? For people such as myself, this was the only way I could earn my Masters in Education. I received it from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. without ever stepping on campus. It was a wonderful program and a great opportunity for a working mom with two children to progress my career.

    — Sue    Feb 20, 09:17 AM    #

16. I stand by my questions. I have no doubt that some individuals will place a high bar on their own learning. I just would like to know what structures are in place that keep the bar at a certain level for those who may not be as motivated.

    — Maggie    Feb 20, 10:08 AM    #

17. It is ironic that debating this program goes on in isolation from the whole issue of whether schools and teachers are effective in the current national context. Instead of online teaching maybe we should design graduate teacher education to be similar to medical education with intensive internships to help learning through experience rather than just learning through assignments and teachers.

    — Lloyd    Feb 20, 11:09 AM    #

18. Can someone explain to me how sitting in a classroom is more effective than learning and studying online. In my college education, I would say that the vast majority of what I learned didn’t actually take place in the lecture hall, but when I was back in my dorm pouring through the text book and trying to apply the information. By taking the course online, teachers will be able to cotinue to work in the environment where they will learn the best. They can study at night and apply it in the real world during the day. This seems much more effective than taking a year or two off and removing yourself from the classroom.

    — Keith    Feb 25, 05:19 PM    #

19. Lloyd’s posting brought about some conversation with our department. Bottom line… would you go to a medical doctor who received his or her degree online. We are professionals, we need to act as such.

    — mac    Feb 25, 06:29 PM    #

Previous: U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Hear Xavier U.'s Hurricane Katrina Case
Next: Student Lender Loses a Lawsuit, Loses Critical Business, and Sees Victory