Hindsight is 20/20

[steppingstonemomma]

If you have a high schooler that took an online writing class that prepared them very well for high school writing, what was the class. And how did it prepare them? What about the class did you like?

Conversely, if you have a high schooler that took an online writing class that DID NOT prepare them very well for high school writing, what what the class? Why did it not prepare them? What about the class did you not like?

Then, 

If you have a college-age or dual enrolled student that took an online writing class that prepared them very well for high school writing what was the class. And how did it prepare them? What about the class did you like?

Conversely, if you have a college-aged or dual enrolled student that took an online writing class that DID NOT prepare them very well for high school writing, what was the class? Why did it not prepare them? What about the class did you not like?

[MamaSprout]

Not online, but Writing with Skill was good for skill improvement here for late middle school early high school. We haven't done any online writing classes, though.

[BookwormTo2]

We used some homeschool curriculum early on (not online writing class) including Seton English, Vocabulary and Reading in elementary and middle school; in 9th grade we used Windows to the World (this was great and I saw huge leaps in her writing which was already advanced). Homeschool Connections (recorded classes) Julius Caesar and Flannery O'Connor was very helpful in exposing her to different literature and doing different critical thinking questions and essays  (they offer some courses w/ add'l fee a teacher will grade your students papers). Kolbe Rhetoric online class was very good; now they have folded the Rhetoric class into English 11 I think. The Rhetoric was a very interactive class where both writing and speaking was done.  A couple months after DD finished 11 grade, she passed the CLEP Composition with essay with a high score (getting 6 college credits), so we did something right! I wouldn't discount extracurricular writing like writing for an online student newsletter offered at some online providers. Generally, the more practice writing, the better one gets. Also, maybe it's just me but I wouldn't have my kids take a dual enrollment Composition class. A lot depends on how much the professor cares and how good at teaching writing he/she is, and I feel like I can do a better job teaching writing or finding curriculum or an online class that will teach them better than a professor. 

What wasn't helpful - online British Lit. class w/ Classes by Beth (now Seasons LLC). To be fair, this may have been because the coursework demanded lots of busywork which may be helpful for struggling writers but not for advanced ones. Also, not a writing class but the Chemistry class at Classes by Beth was my DD's favorite science high school class. She is dual enrolled and finishing her 2nd science class at the local university. What I realized as DD went through high school is to adapt as needed -- a few courses we dropped due to a bad fit. 

[RootAnn]

My writing-phobic student improved in structure, grammar, & confidence with a very gentle approach with a teacher who is no longer teaching in an online class that is now titled differently and possibly taught very differently. It has been too many years & changes to name the provider & class but the Master Online class list on the Gen Ed board has my review of several online writing classes.

I will give tips on choosing an online writing class from my perspective:

Pick a teacher who gives specific, helpful, but not overwhelming feedback. (Our best experience with this is Cindy Lange who now teaches at Integritas Academy.)

Make sure your expectations for the class match the teacher's. This is where you email back and forth with a perspective teacher to see what his/her goals are for the class, what he or she is going to teach that year, and what level the teaching is going to be at. Is the class going to be going over things your kid already has mastered? Is the class going to be too advanced for where your kid is? Is daily vocab assigned? Creative writing assignments? Discussion board posts? Short papers? Long papers? Chapter summaries? Are these what you are looking for?

Check time requirements -- how much time is the class expected to take? How often are assignments due?

How quickly & how often is feedback given? We had one class where the first written & personalized feedback was 6 weeks or more into the semester when written assignments were due twice per week. We had another where you often didn't have the last paper back before submitting the final draft of the next paper.

Our needs changed from year to year. I found that I didn't care for some classes or teachers when they had been raved about here or elsewhere. Each kid is different. If my younger kids took online writing classes, they would need a different approach than my oldest did. Good luck findng what works for your kid.