Experiences with TTU K-12 (Texas Tech) or University of Texas High School? Or do you know of accredited (not religious) online school with live virtual lessons that costs no more than $5,000 per year?

[Kay3]

After recently moving away from Texas (after child completed 8th grade in Texas public school), we are considering enrolling our child for 9th grade in either TTU K-12 (Texas Tech) or University of Texas High School diploma program (full time online high school culminating in public high school diploma --- available to out-of-state students if you pay tuition). 

Do any of you have experience with either of these schools?  Or have heard about others' experiences with them? 

In particular, I am interested in hearing about how content is delivered and student learning is assessed (are there videos? does teacher actually grade very many assignments and give feedback?), how responsive the teachers were to emails/messages/questions (and do teachers have drop in office hours that are live virtual interactions, such as zoom meetings?), and how much interaction there is between students and teachers (and students and their peers/other students - are there student clubs and student message boards/group chats?).

I am concerned that the courses will consist nearly entirely of a lot of reading, ungraded assignments where you check your own work against an answer key that is provided, and auto-graded quizzes and exams and that teachers will be less than helpful when messaged.  

We like that you can end up with a Texas public high school diploma (feel that may give some level of credibility that can help with both college admissions/merit scholarships and in case we decide to transition into brick and mortar local public school in our new state later) and that they follow TEKS standards (our kids went to Texas public schools until recently...so we are familiar with these state curriculum standards and thus it gives us some assurance as to quality of learning outcomes). 

Based on the demo classes I saw on University of Texas High School website, the lesson modules appear to have a lot of text directly in Canvas (Learning Management System) that you read, a bunch of assignments where you are supposed to write out your answers and then check your own answers against an answer key that is provided, and some check you understanding multiple choice quizzes (that you must complete satisfactorily to move on to next material, but which don't appear to count for a grade).  There are also exams, but I can't see those (and I assume they will be either all or mostly multiple choice). I am guessing there would also be the occasional paper or project that would be graded by the teacher.  But still, the demo classes give the impression that your daily routine would be a ton of reading (textbook type information), writing out answers to questions and comparing your answers to the answer key (until you get tired of this and just start skipping to looking at the answer key and deciding "yeah, this looks easy...I knew all this"), and taking multiple choice quizzes.  That seems like quite the monotonous grind without any real interaction with teachers or any video lectures. 

TTU K-12 (Texas Tech) does not have demo classes on their website, but I did find some short YouTube clips where they give a very brief overview of their classes and they appear to have more variety in their lesson modules (some brief videos, but still not true lecture videos featuring the teacher; discussion boards; etc.) and did not give the impression there was a lot of the "write your answers and then check your own answers against an answer key" kinds of "assignments."

Alternatively, do you know of accredited (not religious) online schools (that issue high school diploma) with live virtual lessons that cost no more than $5,000 per year?  We are looking for an online high school with a diploma program (not interested in piecing together classes from different schools). 

We considered Williamsburg Academy (because it is affordable, accredited, and does have live lessons), but their courses don't align with the local public school curriculum (requires a bunch of leadership classes, doesn't offer biology in 9th grade, doesn't offer world history until 12th grade, math classes mix algebra and geometry together so they don't line up neatly with where my kid is at in math, etc.) and they don't offer AP classes or enough electives that interest my kid. 

We are hoping that public health conditions will allow a transition to local brick and mortar public school in 10th or 11th grade (high risk household). So, we need an accredited online high school that has a traditional curriculum that lines up with the local public high school curriculum (e.g., biology and world history in 9th grade). TTU K-12 (Texas Tech) and University of Texas High School look like their curriculum lines up with the local public high school curriculum in our new state, but I am just concerned that those courses are going to feel like they are on auto-pilot with nobody really teaching them (no real instructor presence) and may feel like a crushing workload of monotonous reading and multiple choice quizzes. 

[cintinative]

@Lanny I think (?) one of your dc's had experience with one of these?

OP, have you looked at FLVS?  I don't know really anything about it, other than it is mentioned every now and then on here.  https://www.flvs.net/full-time?source=hslanding  Never mind. To enroll full time you have to be a FL resident.

Edited June 26, 2022 by cintinative

[Malam]

Whoch state are you now in? You could also consider connections academy.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Well Trained Mind Academy is now accredited. Looks like full year courses are $750 or less. So you should be able to do a full year for under $5,000.

My son used them for pre-calculus and calculus and was happy with the courses.

[Kay3]

We are now in Mississippi.

[HomeAgain]

we did TTU K-12 for 9th and an extra class or two during b&m school.

The courses are asynchronous and as such, each has different requirements or classroom assistance.  Some teachers are very responsive, some have a policy of only unlocking material/grading every two weeks and may need a kick in the butt by complaining above their heads when they get particularly slow.

DS's classes were usually in this format: a unit's worth of work meant to last 1-2 weeks, with 3-5 assignments per unit.  Each teacher set their own kind of work, so even something like Spanish 1 would have a variety of assignments consisting of written work and speaking work that needed to be sent in, but offer video and cultural exercises in the virtual classroom.  Most teachers were great, offering direct feedback and emailing with their students as they found the time or need.

Our biggest issue was making sure ds had a proctored place to take semester exams.  Each class had an exit exam that needed to be done with an outside proctor.  We were able to use the college for this, paying about $20-25 per test for her time.  Since we staggered courses, starting a different one each month, ds was in with her a LOT.  If a student didn't pass on the first try, they had a second attempt before needing to redo the course.  The exams are difficult - ds learned the hard way the first time that he really needed to absorb the information and create a study plan for himself. 

He had no trouble sliding into a b&m school for 10th and arranged with the school to continue taking classes through TTU that the school didn't offer or he wanted more time with.  It meant that he got in 5 years of math in 4 years doing this.  He also breezed through classes because TTU was harder.

Our takeaways from the TTU format from a parent's perspective:

1. I needed to make sure that both ds and I were on the same page. Even though he was in high school, sitting there with him and creating a daily work plan for each unit was invaluable to our sanity.

2. I also needed to read his textbooks.  I couldn't help him when he got stuck or know that he was glossing over info that was highlighted and bold if I left him to read them himself.  Pointing out HOW to read a textbook helped him.

3. I needed to make sure that he knew the skills he had spent 8 years learning were, in fact, actually skills for life.  Outlines, diagrams, etc. were not optional. They were necessary study aids.

4. Teaching him how to ask for help from his professors was also a long term teaching opportunity. 

[AmandaVT]

On 6/26/2022 at 5:27 PM, Sebastian (a lady) said:

Well Trained Mind Academy is now accredited. Looks like full year courses are $750 or less. So you should be able to do a full year for under $5,000.

My son used them for pre-calculus and calculus and was happy with the courses.

This is what we are doing - they have a class cohort program too, which is an advisory group that meets regularly. And they meet with parents to help with planning, and issue transcripts. DS took 6 classes through WTMA last year (one was a 1/2 year class) and is signed up for 5 plus the advisory class next year. It works well - classes are live and so far the teachers have been high quality. 

[Dmmetler]

Check state scholarships before getting a diploma from an outside school. I don't know on MS, but for some, it can make a difference in eligibility. Individual classes are generally fine, even if they add up to a full time load.