Keeping Pace builds on a five year history that includes several important sponsors who are no longer involved with the project, as well as some who have been with us throughout. The first Keeping Pace was published in 2004, in response to a request for timely online education policy information by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). Stevan Kalmon, then of the CDE, was a strong advocate for the report, and helped with raising funds, writing and editing. Cathy Gunn, then of Learning Point Associates, was instrumental in suggesting and overseeing publication and distribution. The four funding organizations in the first year were the CDE, Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS), Learning Point Associates, and Wisconsin Virtual School. The 2004 report was a smaller effort than subsequent years, surveying 22 states and conducting in-depth research into 11 of them.
In 2005 Keeping Pace expanded to review all 50 states, largely in response to the vision of Matthew Wicks of IVHS, and the 2006 report continued this broad approach.
For the 2009 report, sponsors included Advanced Academics, Connections Academy, Florida Virtual School, Insight Schools, Michigan Virtual School, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning - iNACOL (formerly North American Council for Online Learning), Pearson, Texas Education Agency, Virtual High School Global Consortium and the Wyoming Department of Education.
The sponsor organizations have provided critically important expertise and guidance over the years. Recent reports have built on the leadership and experience of the following people:
Scott Bullock, Wyoming Department of Education
Jamey Fitzpatrick, Michigan Virtual University
Lisa Gillis, Insight Schools
Todd Hitchcock, Pearson
Kate Loughrey, Texas Education Agency
Chuck Mitchell, Wyoming Department of Education
Liz Pape, Virtual High School
Allison Powell, International Association for K-12 Online Learning
Mickey Revenaugh, Connections Academy
Andy Scantland, Advanced AcademicsDan Schultz, Michigan Virtual University
Matt Wicks, Illinois Virtual High School
Julie Young, Florida Virtual School
Keeping Pace 2009 includes the popular section, Notes from the Field, an in-depth examination of important new issues in online learning. We thank the authors of the following articles:
- Quality Standards for Online Programs, by Liz Pape and Matthew Wicks
- Using Data to Improve Outcomes in K-12 Online Learning, by Joseph R. Freidhoff
- Innovations in Online K-12 Teaching and Learning, by Rick Ferdig
- Demographics of Participants in Online Programs, by David B. Glick
- Online Laboratory Science: An Update on Policy, Research, and Practice, by Kemi Jona
- Online Course Funding: the Influence of Resources on Practices, by Cathy Cavanaugh
Another set of key contributors to the report are the people associated with an online program or education agency who gave their time to provide the information that is the basis for Keeping Pace. We have been consistently surprised and gratified by the amount of time and quality of responses we receive from people around the country. This report would not be possible without their input.
