Journal of K-12 Educational Research 13 However, despite its growing popularity as a viable educational option, the perception of its educational value is not as promising. Questions regarding the effectiveness of virtual learning continue to linger as virtual schools’ performance looks bleak. National reports and the media overwhelmingly expose virtual schools of their low performance and graduation rates (Ahn, 2016; Barbour et al., 2017; Molnar, 2017; Molnar et al., 2019). The NEPC reported only 48.5% of full-time virtual schools and 44.6% of blended virtual schools were rated acceptable by their state standards in the 2017-2018 school year (Molnar et al., 2019). The average graduation rate was 50.1% for full-time and 61.5% for blended virtual schools. While blended virtual schools fared slightly better, they both fell short of the national average of 84% graduation rate in traditional schools (Molnar et al., 2019). Literature Review Interestingly, research studies of online learning reveal something quite different. In fact, there is enough research evidence to indicate that distance and online learning can have the same or even slightly higher student learning outcome when compared to the traditional learning environment. Earlier writings on the effectiveness of K12 online education consisted mainly of opinions, case studies, and descriptive research and lacked empirical evidence (Barker et al., 1999; Berge & Mrozowski, 2009; Moore & Thompson, 1990). However, one of the few areas with extensive empirical research from both K12 and higher education is comparing student performance in the online and traditional learning environments. Cavanaugh et al. (2004) evaluated 14 web-delivered K12 distance education studies published between 1999 and 2004. The 14 studies included a combined population of 7,561 students from Grades 3 to 12 enrolled in a distance education program. Their academic outcomes were compared to control groups who were not enrolled. The analysis of results revealed that the overall effects of web-delivered distance education were not significantly different from the traditionally delivery system, reemphasizing that online education can have the same effect as traditional education (Cavanaugh et al., 2004). Another 2010 meta-analysis study prepared for the U.S. Department of Education examined published literature from 1996 to 2008. The study revealed that online students on average performed modestly better than students in the traditional classroom using the same material (Means et al., 2010). The overall conclusion is that distance and online education can produce the same level of student learning outcome as traditional education; however, this researchbased evidence is not reflected in the current perception of virtual education programs. As to why or under what conditions K12 students succeed or fail in virtual learning, little is known (Pourreau, 2015). The Study To better understand why the current perception and performance of virtual schools do not reflect the researchbased evidence, the current study aimed to explore the state governing practices on virtual education programs. There were two purposes to the current study: 1. Discover a common theme in states’ governing practices by examining state laws written on virtual education program and 2. Identify any difference in states’ governing practices based on three performance groups of virtual school. The researcher addressed the following four research questions: Research Question 1 (RQ1): What are the recurring themes in the legislated statutes regarding the publicly funded virtual education in the United States? Research Question 2 (RQ2): What are the common themes in the legislated statutes of states whose virtual school’s graduation rate was reported 60% and above? Research Question 3 (RQ3): What are the common themes in the legislated statutes of states whose virtual school’s graduation rate was reported between 40 and 59%? Research Question 4 (RQ4): What are the common themes in the legislated statutes of states whose virtual school’s graduation rate was reported below 40%?
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