It has become imperative for teachers to receive support to meet the challenges of virtual learning practices as the number of virtual schools increases. This qualitative case study explored virtual instructional coaches' educational experiences within an online virtual charter school in the Central Southwest utilizing Garrison et al.'s (2000)…

While school accountability systems were implemented to improve student outcomes through increased transparency, creating linkages between successful behaviors and rewards, they have often faced controversy. One strand of criticism posits that the systems are designed to reward conformity, punishing schools that deviate from standardization.…

The 'virtual school' is an approach to supporting care-experienced children and young people in education. The Virtual School Head (VSH) has been a statutory role within the education landscape in England since 2014. In Scotland, where the education, social care and legal systems are distinct from those in England, there has been a recent increase…

This research update from Research for Action's PACER project revisits and expands on prior analyses of fund balances across Pennsylvania's public education sectors using the most recent 2023-24 data. The findings show that cyber charter schools continue to grow per-pupil fund balances at a much faster rate than school districts or…

The research presented in this Case Study examines adjunct faculty satisfaction at an online public institution of higher education. Specifically, I analyzed student-, individual-, and institution-related factors of faculty satisfaction based on a previously constructed survey instrument found in the literature. While carrying out the research,…

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, in response to Senate Bill 168 (135th General Assembly), initiated a pilot program in the 2024-2025 school year to test the feasibility of remotely administered and proctored state assessments. This pilot aimed to explore the potential of remote testing to enhance flexibility and accessibility for…

Social anxiety is a mental illness and can lead to problematic behaviors in adolescents, which can have a detrimental effect on student academic success. The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation existed between social anxiety and academic achievement emotions in virtual high school students. I used the control-value theory of…

Districts and schools constantly troubleshoot and mitigate new and ongoing challenges. Rather than addressing each challenge ad hoc, they are looking to adopt a systematic, repeatable process proven to diagnose and respond to challenges efficiently and effectively. One such approach with wide application and use in education is a Networked…

This study reviewed 31 articles on parental support and parent-school relationships of K-12 online students. Under the guidance of the Academic Communities of Engagement framework, this literature review explored existing studies on the interactions between online students' personal, course, and school community support. The challenges faced by…

In the dynamic realm of virtual education, the successful execution of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) becomes essential for promoting student achievement. This study examines a particular aspect of this educational framework, explicitly investigating the teachers' perceptions of the fidelity of implementing an MTSS framework within an…

Most proponents of flexible online learning, and critics alike, have little more than anecdotal evidence to support their claims about the benefits or drawbacks of flexibility (Houlden & Veletsianos, 2019; Veletsianos & Houlden, 2019). This study departs from past literature that characterizes flexibility as a universal experience of…

While K-12 online distance education (ODE) continues to expand, demand-side factors contributing to its growth continue to be understudied. Student and parent experiences of online schooling have had growing attention, particularly during and post COVID-19, while research exploring exit factors remains scant. This literature review considers key…

Alongside the growing demand for doctoral degrees, there has been an increasing number of online doctoral programmes and online doctoral students enrolled across the globe. While the importance of mediating roles that communication technology plays in online doctoral education has been extensively documented, a comprehensive account of how and for…

The problem this qualitative case study addressed is how poor online teacher communication has resulted in students enrolled in full-time virtual schools underperforming academically with assignment completion. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perceptions of how their online communication strategies contribute to the timeliness…

This qualitative case study explores teacher support and persistence in a large virtual charter school in the midwestern part of the United States. Using self-determination theory as a theoretical lens, this study examines how the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness of teachers in a virtual charter school are supported or…