NCAA Declines Coursework From 24 Virtual High Schools

• By Kanoe Namahoe
• 04/23/14

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sent notice this month to 24 schools, affiliated with virtual school provider K12 Inc., that their coursework would no longer be accepted for the initial eligibility certification process for prospective Division I and II athletes. According to a statement from the NCAA, the coursework does not fulfill its course requirements for nontraditional high schools.

Jeff Kwitowski, senior vice president of corporate communications at K12, responded to the NCAA's decision in a blog post on the organization's web site. According to his post, the new policy requires students and instructors to have "ongoing access to one another" and "regular interaction" throughout courses. He further stipulated that the legislation does not include a "measurable standard or rubric used to determine what they believe is a suitable level of student-teacher interaction."

"These vague standards and unclear review process leave schools to only guess what passes NCAA's eligibility test," said Kwitowski in his post. The NCAA has not responded to K12's request for guidelines outlining student-teacher interaction.

Thirteen of the schools are from California. Eleven of these schools belong to California Virtual Academy's network of schools. All of the schools are approved public schools that meet state content and instructional time standards and graduation requirements, according to a statement from K12.

The schools are:

• California Virtual Academy -- San Joaquin
• California Virtual Academy -- San Diego
• California Virtual Academy -- Los Angeles
• California Virtual Academy -- Sutter
• California Virtual Academy -- Jamestown
• California Virtual Academy -- Kern
• California Virtual Academy -- San Mateo
• California Virtual Academy -- Kings
• California Virtual Academy -- Sonoma
• California Virtual Academy -- LA High
• California Virtual Academy -- Santa Ysabel
• San Francisco Flex Academy (CA)
• Silicon Valley Flex Academy (Morgan Hill, CA)
• Colorado Virtual Academy Cova (North Glenn, CO)
• Georgia Cyber Academy (Atlanta, GA)
• Nevada Virtual Academy (Las Vegas, NV)
• Ohio Virtual Academy (Maumee, OH)
• Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy (Nicoma Park, OK)
• Agora Cyber Charter School (Wayne, PA)
• South Carolina Virtual Charter (Columbia, SC)
• Washington Virtual Academy -- Monroe (Tacoma, WA)
• Insight School of Colorado (Westminster, CO)
• Insight School of Washington (Tacoma, WA)
• IQ Academy Washington (Vancouver, WA)

Each school has asked the NCAA to supply the specific coursework that was reviewed in making the decision. All schools may appeal the decision.

The NCAA's new policy goes into effect immediately. The organization will no longer approve coursework from these schools as of the 2014-15 school year. Coursework completed from Spring 2013 through this spring will be evaluated on an individual case basis and will require additional documentation. School work completed Fall 2012 or earlier will be accepted without additional review.

Other K12 network schools will remain under Extended Evaluation with the NCAA. The organization will scrutinize all coursework from these schools to determine if it meets NCAA standards for nontraditional coursework. Prospective student athletes from these schools will need to submit additional documentation regardless of when the work was completed.