Alva Review-Courier
Epic Charter grads less likely to enroll in college
Mar by Jennifer Palmer
Oklahoma Watch
06 Like many teenagers, Maggie
Waldon caught a sort of senioritis
halfway
through a than 28,000 students this year.
traditional high
2020 school. She
was ready to be
done.
Page With two
years left, she
0008 enrolled in Epic
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Clip that is now one of the largest virtual
resized schools in the country.
At Epic, Waldon said she easily
41% raised her grades from Cs and Fs to
As and Bs. She said she did so with
little interaction with her teacher,
spending long days clicking
through the curriculum. “There
were days I asked my teacher for
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out,” Waldon said.
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year what would have taken two in
a traditional school. She was one
of 2,500 students in Epic’s class of
2019.
That’s when she discovered
she wasn’t prepared for college,
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“failed, majorly.” She has put her
dream of becoming a kindergarten
teacher on hold.
“I wish Epic actually helped
prepare you for a future, because
we all grow up and become adults.
That’s something they didn’t do,”
Waldon said.
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college or university last fall. Its
rate was lower than rates for all
of the state’s 10 largest school
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Watch analysis of education data.
The data was collected from every
college and university in the state.
Epic reported far more high
school graduates than the 10
districts, but far fewer enrolled in a
state college.
Epic, through its public relations
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own data suggests graduates’
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state average. But it did not provide
any data to establish that.
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several issues that help explain
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Some described an educational
system that makes it easy to
speed through classes with little
learning and little or no structured
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
counseling to prepare for college.
Epic, which is operated by
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by the school’s founders, Epic
Youth Services, reported more
Students complete most of their
studies online with oversight from,
and periodic interaction with, an
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preparedness for college is their
score on the ACT college readiness
exam.
Most regional universities want
to see at least a 20 composite score
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State University admits students
with minimum of 22 to 24, and
the average score of University
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state average is 18.9.
Epic’s graduating class of 2019
scored an average 16.5. That’s a
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previous year, when far fewer
students took the exam.
Just 4% of Epic students met
all four of the college readiness
benchmarks established by the
ACT, compared to 15% statewide.
Epic says it’s working to
improve students’ ACT scores
and college readiness. “Last year,
we graduated more than 2,500
kids. While we don’t follow all
of them after high school, we do
know that many of them have
gone on to college, entered the
workforce or are now serving in the
military,” said Shelly Hickman, a
spokeswoman for the school.
They’ve introduced several
strategies, including providing all
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calculator, providing teachers
training on ACT prep and reducing
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can connect students with ACT
resources and study guides. Epic
also plans to identify struggling
students earlier to shore up their
learning before high school.
“Epic isn’t passive where ACT
scores are concerned and we have
been implementing programs
and supports to help our students
perform better,” Hickman said.
She said the school’s average
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already below grade level when
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students in the 2019 ACT report,
only 152 had been enrolled in Epic
three years or more, Hickman said.
“Their scores are more a
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rather than on Epic because … the
ACT is a cumulative knowledge
assessment,” Hickman said.
Epic Superintendent Bart
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Epic does to graduate students who
otherwise wouldn’t have graduated.
“The vast majority of students
who come to Epic are at least one
grade level behind,” he said.
Percent Meeting College
Readiness Benchmarks
The percent of Epic students
who met all four of ACT’s college
readiness benchmarks – in English,
math, reading and science – also
dropped in 2019. Students who
meet these benchmarks have a 50%
chance of earning a B or higher in
the corresponding college course.
State data shows Epic’s
student population in 2018 was
on par with the state’s in terms of
students in poverty (68% eligible
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compared with 63% statewide)
and in special education (16.5%
compared with 16.1% statewide). It
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white compared with 49% for all
public school districts.)
Across the state, about half
of graduates from 2015 to 2017
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of Educational Quality and
Accountability. Just 23% of Epic
students did.
Studies show earning a degree
is still the surest path to a secure
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are more likely to earn at least
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likely to be unemployed and are
less likely to be living in poverty,
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and others show.
More than half of all “good
jobs” now require a bachelor’s
degree, according to Georgetown
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a “good job” as one paying at least
$35,000 for younger workers and
$45,000 for older workers.
Graduates who delay
college lower the odds they will
successfully earn a degree.
Finishing Early
The pace of some students’
studies at Epic raises questions
about how much they’re learning.
Waldon, the aspiring
kindergarten teacher, left her
traditional high school after
sophomore year. She was making
poor to average grades and racking
up absences.
With Epic, she was able to speed
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senior year in two months – two of
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in a single day.
“I was just going, going, going,
and didn’t really have time to sit
there and actually look at what I
was doing,” said Waldon. “When
you do that, you’re not really
learning anything.”
That became evident when she
took the ACT; she said she “failed,
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old plans to attend a community
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fall.
Several other graduates talked
about using Epic as an opportunity
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they went on to college or not.
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valedictorians, Bradon Adams,
of Edmond, shortened his school
career by two full years, taking the
stage at commencement last June at
16 years old.
Fantasya Wood, a young mother
in Heavener, says she completed
three years of high school in just
one school year while caring for
two toddlers and working at a
chicken plant.
“They were working at trying
to get me out of there as soon as
possible,” she said. She’s expecting
Maggie Waldon has been working at a child care facility in Norman
since graduating from Epic Charter Schools in June. Photo byWhitney
Bryen, Oklahoma Watch
Epic’s ACT Scores
The ACT is the state’s most widely used college readiness exam.
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2019.
YearEpic Charter Schools Oklahoma
2015 55 30,844
2016 103 32,854
2017 152 42,405
2018 182 42,388
2019 1,414 42,234
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School’s Class of 2019.
With the jump, Epic students’ average composite score on the ACT
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score is 36.
her third child and has no plans for she said. “Epic students’ pace is
college. not dependent on their peers like
Hickman, the Epic LQ D WUDGLWLRQDO EULFNDQGPRUWDU
spokeswoman, said these students’ classroom.”
pacing “are not typical of the The faster pace possible at Epic
Epic experience.” She would not LVDV\PSWRPRIWKHIRUSUR¿WPRGHO
provide data on how many students of education and is much more
graduated early or accelerated, and unlikely in a traditional school,
the state Education Department VDLG6WDWH5HS-RKQ:DOGURQZKR
does not track it. taught for 20 years at Booker T.
2NODKRPD UHTXLUHV  FUHGLWV Washington High School in Tulsa.
for graduation: four English, three “You know what young people
math, three laboratory science, are like. You give them a shortcut
three history, two world language and they’re going to take it,” he
RUFRPSXWHUVFLHQFHRQH¿QHDUWV said. “Human development is about
one additional core course and six a lot more than getting answers
electives. In traditional schools, right.”
most students take six or seven ,QDIRUSUR¿WVFKRROOLNH(SLF
courses at a time. the strategy is to attract more
Two Epic students described students, and one way of doing so
completing entire high school is providing an easy way to sprint
English classes without reading a through high school, he said.
VLQJOHQRYHO2QHRIWKHPDOVRVDLG Epic has stood out in recent years
she did laboratory science courses for its rapid growth in enrollment,
by watching videos of experiments which is counted for purposes of
and answering questions about VWDWHIXQGLQJLQ2FWREHU,WVWDUWHG
them. in 2011 with 1,712 students and is
Students were not having expected to reach 30,000 this year.
“genuine learning experiences,” Waldron said in his experience,
said Trina Menzie, of Norman, who the students who wrapped up high
taught for Epic until 2017, when school early did so by only about
her contract wasn’t renewed. one semester, and then they often
“You start noticing that they’re took college courses at the same
completing a huge chunk in like 45 time.
minutes of something that should Less Interaction
take them three hours to do,” In traditional high schools,
Menzie said of her former students. counselors play a key role in
³$QG LW¶V EHFDXVH WKH\ MXVW ÀLS steering students into college, says
through all the screens of learning &KULVWL 6WXUJHRQ D KLJKVFKRRO
material, get to the test, and then counselor who serves on the board
just Google the answers until they RIWKH2NODKRPD6FKRRO&RXQVHORU
get them right at a high enough rate $VVRFLDWLRQ7KH\KHOSVWXGHQWV¿OO
that they can move forward.” out college applications, identify
The issue is especially prevalent scholarships, connect them with
DPRQJ KLJKVFKRRO VWXGHQWV VKH internships and encourage them to
said. “I think the parents need to take challenging classes all the way
know: These kids, they’re not ready through senior year.
for college,” Menzie said. ³2XUJRDOLVWRZRUNRQHRQRQH
Hickman, the Epic ZLWK VWXGHQWV WR KHOS WKHP ¿JXUH
spokeswoman, said the school’s out what their direction is, where
model allows students to learn they’re headed and what they want,
more content if they put in the time. so that we’re helping them meet
“Curriculum can be paced for a their needs,” Sturgeon said.
student to be exposed to more than The state maximum is 450
one year’s worth of learning, either
to graduate in less than four years
or as a credit recovery strategy,” See Charter Page 12
 Alva Review-Courier
Charter
Mar
06
From Page 8
2020 G
students per counselor for
Page secondary schools, and the state’s
0013
s largest districts employ 40 to 100
Clip
e counselors each.
resized
85% v. Epic employed just three
e counselors last year for 21,000
From
0008 t enrolled students, according to state
e Education Department data. That
; far exceeds the maximum ratio, but
h charter schools are exempt from the
requirement.
s Epic instead relies on teachers to
h provide college guidance. Epic says
t its teachers work with students to
) ensure they have the classes needed
to graduate; the school also has
d a graduation support department
t and contracts with a third party for
y psychological services.
0 Not all students interviewed by
9 Oklahoma Watch said the teachers
t spoke to them about college.
y Carmen Wright, who graduated
, in 2019 and works full-time at a
5 bank, said her Epic teacher never
t talked to her about college. She
wouldn’t have been interested
l anyway; her experience working at
w. DFR൵HHVKRSLQKLJKVFKRROKHOSHG
her get a full-time job in customer
service at a bank after graduation.
“College, it wasn’t really
e stressed,” she said. “Epic was just
e a bit more laid back.”
t Personal Challenges
Many students are drawn to Epic
l because they are facing challenges
such as trauma, bullying, parenting
n or health issues. Some transferred
. from districts such as Tulsa and
- Oklahoma City public schools,
where many students are low-
income and face similar issues.
r One Epic graduate says it’s these
s personal challenges preventing
i many students from going to
college, not Epic itself.
n Stacia Flynn battled depression
.
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
and anxiety after her mother went
to prison her sophomore year. She
planned to drop out and her school
counselor suggested she try Epic
¿UVW
Stacia Flynn attends the
University of Central Oklahoma
and works at a restaurant in
Midwest City. Flynn is a 2019
graduate of Epic Charter Schools.
(Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch)
Flynn worked two jobs while
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often disappear from her teacher for
months at a time, then cram all her
schoolwork into a few weeks. Her
teacher, she said, helped speed her
along by allowing her to complete
several credits in Study Island,
a program that is supposed to be
supplemental.
She graduated with a 3.4 grade
point average but she, too, struggled
on the ACT. Her score was 18,
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needed for college.
Epic didn’t prepare her for the
ACT, she said. But she shoulders
some of that blame, too.
“I had ACT prep courses I was
supposed to work through, and I
didn’t, but that was because I was
a really busy teenager, working
two or three jobs. It was hard to
do something that wasn’t actually
required,” she said.
She’s now a student at the
University of Central Oklahoma,
is in her second semester and is
taking all her classes online.
“Most people, when they start
Epic, are already going through
something,” she said. “I can see
how most Epic graduates wouldn’t
continue on afterwards to college.”