The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees certain rights and protections to students with disabilities enrolled in public schools, and to their families. Even though virtual schools are one of the fastest growing trends in public k-12 education, there is evidence that these schools may not be fully implementing IDEA for enrolled students with disabilities. There has been some concern regarding the appropriateness of virtual education for student with disabilities, as well as some concern for the spectrum of services being offered in virtual schools. This case study examined the implementation of special education supports and services in one public virtual k-12 school in the United States. Interviews, document review, and participant observations were used to collect data. Findings indicated that components of IDEA were not being universally implemented for students with disabilities. Limited programming options, large special education caseloads, and an over-dependence on parents and other non-teacher adults limits students’ access to Free and Appropriate Public Education, Least Restrictive Environment, and Individualized Education Plans. Issues were also identified in the provision of Appropriate Evaluation, Parent Participation, and Procedural Safeguards. Regardless of documented challenges, benefits to virtual education were noted. Parent, faculty and staff participants reported being happier with virtual school than brick-and-mortar. Faculty enjoys easy access to a multitude of academic data. Relationships and communication among community members was reported to be stronger than what was previously experienced in brick-and-mortar schools. Faculty, staff and parent participants discussed students’ emotional and physical safety as a benefit of virtual education.

eLearning is rapidly spreading into the high school learning environment. This research attempts to find desirable and workable features of an eLearning resource that would sustain high school learning communities. The basis of the instrumental case study was the Cambridge International Examination course offered by an eLearning institution over a period of two and a half years. Data was gathered by means of various questionnaires, focus groups, interviews and quantitative analysis of computer log files of activity. Content analysis was performed by comparing research data with information (such as various eLearning models) obtained from the literature review. Similarities and differences were found in the way eLearning is used by high school learners and teachers versus university students and lecturers. Desirable and workable features were identified and the reasons for these explored. A number of suggestions are made that would contribute to sustaining eLearning for high school learners. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Information Science / unrestricted

This exploratory study investigates how American and Canadian parents living in Saudi Arabia perceive enrolling their children in an online virtual school. This research is relevant to North Americans living and working overseas and how these parents access educational opportunities for their children. North American parents living in Saudi Arabia with children have limited local educational options. If parents decided not to enroll their child in traditional private local international education, alternatives include boarding school, homeschool, or online school. Of the surveyed participants, 68% of parents had enrolled their children in online education or expressed interest in enrolling their children in online education but many lack information and knowledge about online education. A qualitative study analyzed participants in semi-structured interviews. Besides academic satisfaction, the most common reasons for alternative education are the lack of available competitive sports and the arts, including theatre and music. Four themes emerged from the data. Parent satisfaction about their children's education shifts from positive to negative around 8th or 9th grade. Parents are, in general, unwilling to take a risk on an unproven online school. Local private international schools are the focal point of extra-curricular activities and social events, but families lack connections and a supportive environment within the local Saudi Arabian community. Overall, parents do view full-time online education as a viable option for K-12 education; however, perhaps not for their children. Though standalone online classes, within a traditional face-to-face school, was received positively by many families.

Florida Virtual School (FLVS) was established in 1997 as an online education alternative for the residents of Florida. The purpose of this study was to identify policy changes at the organizational, state, and federal levels that had the propensity to impact student success (as measured by student's final letter grade) at FLVS. In addition, this study identified which type of institutional isomporphic policy (coercive, mimetic, or normative) best classified major policy changes in the organization from 1997-2007. The use of institutional theory as the guiding framework for this study proved to be beneficial and enabled the researcher to conclude which types of policy are the most effective in increasing student success in the secondary online education environment. This study utilized ANOVA and regression analysis to detect whether or not changes in policy at the organizational and federal level have a statistically significant impact on student success in the secondary online education environment. This study reveals that student success at FLVS is consistently decreasing and that the change is statistically significant. Regression analysis found that the policy changes at FLVS in this study explain some of the variance detected in the change in the mean, or GPA, of the school. This study found that both coercive and mimetic policies have a statistically significant impact on student success in the secondary online education environment as identified in the isomorphic mechanisms outlined in institutional theory. This study is important to the field of literature regarding secondary online education in that it opens the discussion regarding types of policy and the potential impact that policy changes have on student success in the secondary online education environment. In addition, this study serves as a framework upon which future studies can be conducted and are recommended in this study.

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Virtual preschool seems to contradict the Montessori Method, a hands-on, sensorial-based early childhood curriculum. However, many virtual Montessori schools, borne out of the temporary need for isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, seek to continue this new implementation of Montessori education permanently. This qualitative study examined how eight preschool teachers in one US-based virtual Montessori program described how they made sense of implementing the Montessori curriculum in an online setting, how they understood the academic and social experiences of their preschool students, and what advantages and disadvantages they perceived for children in the enactment of Montessori education in the virtual format. Using a thematic analysis, this study found that teachers described many adaptations to Montessori education in the virtual format, including to the materials and to the class structure. They felt that their offerings generally met the academic and social needs of their students, while staying as true to the Montessori Method as possible. Teachers found various advantages in the enactment of virtual Montessori school, including the potential to reach children and families who would otherwise not have access to Montessori education in their local communities. Teachers also found various disadvantages, including the uncertainty of the future of the program, and the interference of the screen in a child’s path towards deep concentration, and did not feel that virtual Montessori preschool was an adequate stand-alone replacement for in-person Montessori preschool. Further research is needed on the effectiveness of other virtual Montessori preschools, on the experiences of children completing a full three-year cycle in the virtual Montessori Children’s House program, and on the academic and social readiness of children emerging from virtual Montessori preschool programs for both in-person Montessori and traditional elementary school.

Es ist weithin anerkannt, dass globale Solidarität in Zeiten globaler Krisen von größter Bedeutung ist. Sie ist auch wesentlich für Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (Education for Sustainable Development/ESD). Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich in diesem Kontext mit Virtuellem Schulgartenaustausch (Virtual School Garden Exchange/VSGE). In VSGEs tauschen sich Grund- und Sekundarschüler*innen des Globalen Nordens und Globalen Südens über ihre Erfahrungen im Schulgarten mithilfe digitaler Medien aus. In drei Fachartikeln werden empirische Befunde aus vor allem qualitativer Empirie vorgestellt. Die erste Publikation umfasst einen systematischen Literaturreview. Dieser ergab, dass im Feld der internationalen Schulgartenforschung bisher kaum dieser Ansatz thematisiert wurde. Artikel 2 & 3 analysieren konkrete VSGEs. Hierfür wurden 23 semi-strukturierte Interviews mit Pädagog*innen geführt, die mittels der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet wurden. Im zweiten Artiekl wurden die Intentionen der Pädagog*innen hinsichtlich der Lernergebnisse der Schüler*innen untersucht. Diese zeigen einige Überschneidungen mit den Zielen von ESD auf. Um dies näher zu untersuchen, widmete sich die dritte Publikation den von Pädagog*innen beobachteten Lernergebnissen ihrer Schüler*innen. Es konnte die Förderung einiger der erwünschten Lernergebnisse beobachtet werden. Außerdem wurden die Schüler*innen durch die VSGEs zu Transformativem Lernen und zu Othering angeregt. Während ersteres mit den Zielen von BNE im Einklang steht, widerspricht Othering diesen. Zusammenfassend zeigte sich, dass VSGE ein innovativer Ansatz ist. Einerseits eignet er sich dazu, die globale Perspektive von BNE im Schulgarten umzusetzen. Andererseits zeigt die vorliegende Studie auch, dass VSGEs keine Garantie für eine gute BNE-Praxis sind, da diese auch Othering fördern. Die Arbeit schließt mit Handlungsempfehlungen für zukünftige Forschung sowie für interessierte und bereits aktive VSGE-Pädagog*innen ab. / It is widely recognized that global solidarity is of paramount importance in times of global crises. It is also essential for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). In this context, this study deals with Virtual School Garden Exchanges (VSGEs). In VSGEs, primary and secondary school students from the Global North and Global South exchange virtually on their school gardening experiences. Three scientific articles present new findings from primarily qualitative empirical research and examine VSGEs under ESD criteria. The first publication is based on a systematic literature review. It revealed that in the field of international school garden research, little to no attention has been paid to VSGEs. In Articles 2 & 3 concrete VSGEs were analyzed with a particular focus on student learning outcomes from educators' perspectives. For this purpose, 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The second publication examines VSGE educators' intentions for students’ learning outcomes. These are compared with research on ESD, which indicated some overlap. To investigate this further, the third publication focused on educators’ observations regarding students’ learning. First, the promotion of some of the desired learning outcomes was observed. Furthermore, educators observed that, on the one hand, Transformative Learning and on the other hand Othering was stimulated by VSGEs. While Transformative Learning is in line with ESD objectives, Othering contradicts the aims of ESD. In summary, it has been shown that VSGE is an innovative approach and an opportunity to implement the global perspective of ESD in school gardens. Nevertheless, this study also shows that VSGEs are not a guarantee of good ESD practice. They also risk creating Othering between international students instead of fostering solidarity. The study concludes with recommendations for future research as well as for interested and already active VSGE educators.

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