The Virtual High School(VHS Inc.),a non-profit organization empowering schools with the industry’s most extensive variety of online and blended learning programs, reported that the students taking its Latin IIcourse have outperformed the nationwide average on the National Latin Exam (NLE), a 40-question, multiple-choice test sponsored by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. This is the first time VHS students have participated in the exam. The national average was 25 correct answers, and VHS students taking the online exam averaged 32 correct answers.
This year the NLE was administered to more than 143,000 students throughout the United States and, despite its name, in countries such as Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and more. The exam assesses a student’s ability to read and comprehend Latin as outlined in the American Classical League’s Standards for Classical Languages. Students also answer questions on mythology, literature, Roman life, history, geography, oral Latin and Latin in use in the modern world.
NLE participants earn awards for different levels of high performance, and all of the VHS students earned award certificates. One student received a gold medal along with a summa cum laude certificate for being a top scorer, and two received silver medals and maxima cum laude certificates. The remaining students received magna cum laude and cum laude honors.
The VHS Latin IIcourse is a reading-based exploration of Latin grammar that builds on the grammar points learned in Latin I. Students read stories about three major heroes while learning those remaining grammar points. The three main goals for the course are: learning the grammar, learning vocabulary, and a continued exploration of the culture and history of the Romans they began in Latin I. That exploration is conducted through research, projects, and discussions.
“I am extremely proud of how well these students did on this exam, especially the two youngest who were both 10th graders. It’s a challenging course and yet the VHS curriculum for Latin IIactually exceeded the criteria on the NLE syllabus, “said Marilee Osier, VHS instructor for ELA and Latin.
“Learning Latin has many useful benefits, including preparing students to learn Romance languages such as French or Spanish, enabling students to more easily decipher unfamiliar English words, and training students to think analytically. We are thrilled our students achieved at the highest performance levels and were recognized for their efforts,” said Carol Ribeiro, President & CEO of The Virtual High School.
About The Virtual High School Inc.
The Virtual High School (VHS Inc.) is an online learning pioneer. Since 1996, the nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts has set the standard for quality online education. VHS provides courses taught in global online classrooms for secondary school students and online professional development for educators. The organization also meets the unique educational needs of schools through custom course development and individualized course offerings. VHS design and delivery standards are the model used by the National Education Association in their recommended standards for online learning. The organization has won numerous awards, including the Stockholm Challenge Award for Global Excellence in Information Technology, and is a three-time winner of the United States Distance Learning Association’s (USDLA) award for Excellence in Programming and Excellence in Best Practices. For more information, visit www.vhslearning.orgor call (978) 897-1900.
# # #
