Local schools are increasingly providing their students who are enrolled in an online course with an on-site facilitator as a means for increasing online pass rates. However, few studies have examined how online teachers and on-site facilitators work in conjunction to support online students. Successful on-site facilitators (n = 12) and online…

Efforts to identify K-12 online instructional best practices and standards have been limited because they largely ignored students' voice--the primary stakeholder in any educational context. In this case study, we conducted 20 interviews among 10 students enrolled in a cyber charter high school. Qualitative analysis of interviews found that…

Despite high growth rates, cyber charter schools experience higher attrition rates than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Students' reasons for failing an online course are complex and students may require a high level of teacher support to be successful online. Research examining effective teacher engagement has relied heavily on teacher…

Student disconnectedness remains a serious concern in K-12 online learning--especially in programs where students take most or all of their coursework online. In this research we examined a "shepherding program" designed to encourage a sense of community among teachers and students at an online charter school. Every online teacher served…

As K-12 online programs mature, it is increasingly important that they work to retain their effective teachers. However, there is little research that has examined teacher satisfaction in K-12 online learning environments. Our analysis of 22 interviews with 11 teachers at an online charter school identified three primary factors that influenced…

A growing number of adolescents are taking all or most of their courses online. This places a greater responsibility on parents to support and facilitate their students' learning. This case study used teacher surveys and interviews to better understand how teachers perceived and supported parents' attempts to support their online students at a…

Distance education has historically contained little or no learner-learner interactions. Currently the Internet allows for unprecedented levels of learner-learner interaction and has the potential to transform how students learn online. However, many courses offered online focus more on flexibility and independence than on interaction and…