Opening a virtual school: Examining leadership effectiveness for stakeholders success
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Parents were looking for alternatives to brick-and-mortar schools due to socio-cultural changes and modern technologies that allow their children to learn virtually from home. School leaders researched and considered different forms of virtual schooling with the hope of meeting the changing demands of students and stakeholders. The success and future of distance education depend on providing leaders with the skillsets required for them to be effective. Creating a vision for the future, providing direction for the effective use of technology, managing ensuing change, supervising distance education staff, and guiding faculty in transitioning from face-to-face learning environment to the virtual environment and using the right pedagogy requires effective leadership. The purpose of this study was to gather experiences, perceptions, and challenges of planning and implementing a virtual school. This study will make a significant contribution to the body of research on determining what skillsets influential public school district leaders used to open and implement effective virtual academies successfully. This study is also important and timely as many public-school leaders had to implement online learning due to COVID school closures.