In 1995, just as schools were beginning to get wired for internet access, Dr. Berman partnered with Robert Tinker, President of the Concord Consortium, to submit a grant proposal to the U. S. Department of Education. That effort resulted in winning a grant to launch the first virtual high school in the country. This virtual school was established initially among a set of 30 high schools from across the country. One to two teachers in each high school were taught to offer an online course, based on their expertise and interest, to students in the other high schools. Created as a collaborative to reduce costs for schools and to offer an enriched curriculum to students, the virtual high school expanded rapidly across the five years of the grant and was then launched as a private non-profit organization. The initiative received the Technology Lighthouse Award from the Massachusetts Department of Education in 1998, the Magna Award from the National School Boards Association in 2000, and the Stockholm Challenge Award for Global Excellence in Information Technology in 2001.
Dr. Berman continued to serve as chair and then a member of the board until 2009. The Virtual High School Collaborative, now known as Virtual Learning (https://www.vhslearning.org/), continues to serve schools across the world.
Aguilar, J., Berman, S., Gallien, E., & Johnson-Trammell, K. (2020, May 9). Superintendents share their experience leading in virtual times [Webinar]. CASEL. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BF01gba71k
A consumer’s guide to online courses. School Administrator, Vol. 58, No. 9, October 2001.
The world’s the limit in the virtual high school (with Robert Tinker). In The Jossey-Bass Reader on Technology and Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
The reality of virtual learning. School Administrator, Vol 56, No. 4, April 1999.
The world’s the limit in the Virtual High School (with Robert Tinker). Educational Leadership, Vol. 55, No. 3, November 1997.
