Virtual Education in Rhode Island’s K-12 Public Schools: Current Status and Perceptions of Administrators

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature and extent of virtual education implementation in Rhode Island‟s K-12 public schools, and to explore the school administrators‟ perceived importance of and barriers to implementation of distance learning in their schools. The study also explored if there were differences in the perceptions of administrators based on location and school structure. In 2009, Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Deborah A. Gist announced a statewide reform agenda that included establishing a statewide virtual high school (Projo.com, 2009). Unlike traditional education, administrators seeking resources to aide in virtual program formulation will find a scarcity of research in the K-12 levels (Barbour & Reeves, 2009; Cavanaugh, Barbour, & Clark, 2009; Picciano & Seaman, 2009; Tankersley, 2006). This study was designed to assist in the RIDE implementation of virtual education and to address the gap in resources available to Rhode Island‟s K-12 school administrators