The research in this document provides a comprehensive investigation of public K " 12 funding in Virginia over the time period from 1974-75 to 2002-2003. No previous examination has been conducted for the Commonwealth of Virginia that has comprehensively analyzed the data over the life of the current finance formula. Over this approximate thirty-year time period, the trends in fiscal equity among school divisions were determined. The purpose of this research was to provide a better understanding of the current status of funding equity for the Commonwealth of Virginia and to document information that could be used in future litigation concerning the issue of both fiscal equity and educational adequacy. To conduct this study, research studies and information pertaining to national funding issues, as well as Virginia funding issues, were collected and analyzed. This information, as well as prior litigation, was obtained from searches on ERIC, the Internet, and Westlaw. Next, fiscal and student data were obtained from the Virginia Education Association (VEA), the United States Department of Education, Bureau of Federal Impact Aid, and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) for the funding periods from FYs 1975 to 2003. These data included information regarding state expenditures, local expenditures, state sales taxes, federal revenue, and other fiscal and non-fiscal data pursuant to each of the approximately one hundred and thirty-five school divisions in Virginia. The study also provided an analysis of the evolution of fiscal equity litigation during this time period. Further, the data obtained from the VEA and VDOE were examined to determine whether the funding disparities among school divisions have become more evident or less evident over this time period. In order to determine this, a series of statistics were applied to comparable data to determine the level of fiscal equity achieved by the Commonwealth for each of the selected fiscal years. The Verstegen-Stevens Fiscal Equity Statistics software was used with permission to apply the generally accepted equity statistics. / Ed. D.

Although a relatively small number of K-12 students are currently enrolled in online classes, the dramatic growth in online enrollments in recent years suggests that online education will play a significant role in the future landscape of public education. While our understanding of online teaching and learning continues to grow, relatively little is known about the experiences of teachers as they engage in online teaching. In particular, very little is known about the concerns of teachers as they navigate their teaching roles and responsibilities in an online teaching environment. Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach, this qualitative study explored the concerns of seven online K-12 teachers through video interviews and bi-monthly journal entries. The findings in this study resulted in six themes with associated sub-themes. These themes suggest that online teachers are highly concerned about themselves, their roles, and their students, along with concerns found at the intersections of these areas. Additionally, this study reveals that the political, educational, and organizational contexts surrounding these online learning environments significantly influence the development and degree of teachers' concerns. The implications of this research encourages greater dialogue between teachers and online educational leaders to better understand teacher concerns and mitigate the negative impact of these concerns on online teachers.

No description available.

No description available.