14 Using a qualitative research method, states’ primary and secondary education codes were collected. Then, a section on virtual education program was identified, analyzed, and categorized into themes. The results of the study provided answers to the research questions. Target Population According to the 2019 NEPC’s Virtual Schools in the U.S. publication, 34 states offered some form of virtual education program and reported student enrollment in public virtual schools. The virtual school performance of 34 states, measured in graduation rate for 2017-2018, was also reported and shown in Figure 1. South Dakota had the lowest graduation rate of 16.9%, and Florida had the highest graduation rate of 80.1% (Molnar et al., 2019). For the current study, 34 states were classified into three performance groups based on the state’s virtual school graduation rate. They were 0-39%, 40-59%, and 60% and above. Of the 34 states, the researcher found that 31 states had a section on distance, online, or virtual education program in their elementary and secondary education code. Three states—Alaska, North Carolina, and Ohio—did not have a state legislated law on virtual education program, therefore, were excluded from the study’s population. Results The result of analyzing 31 states’ virtual education code revealed that while the attributes of virtual education programs varied enormously from state to state, there was a consistency in the codes’ theme. Six attributes were collected and identified. They were 1) code word count, 2) location of virtual education code, 3) authorizer of virtual education program, 4) academic provider, 5) virtual school implementor, and 6) virtual school types. Word count on virtual education code ranged from the shortest at 240 words (Louisiana) to longest at 6,624 words (Colorado). The average word count was 2,391 words. The Judy Yi, EdD Figure 1. Full-time Virtual School Graduation Rate by State, 2017-2018 Note: Graduation rates for AL, KY, LA, MA, and TX were not reported in the NEPC’s 2019 publication.
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