Teacher Support and Professional Development Needs in a New Virtual Academy

ABSTRACT As the need for virtual learning options for K-12 public students rapidly grew in large part as a response to COVID-19, Foothills Virtual Academy[1] (FVA) has developed as an option for online learning for students enrolled in the School District of Foothills County[2] (SDFC), a district of approximately 16,000 students located in South Carolina. This educational program offers families the option for their students to become full-time virtual students while still remaining enrolled as a student in SDFC. This program features instructional programs specifically tailored for each age and grade level and features a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities through a variety of online platforms. With students from Kindergarten through 8th grade in the district choosing this option, it requires a separate allocation of teachers and support personnel to staff and operate. Properly supporting and preparing these teachers and staff is important so that they can provide the best learning opportunity for all of the students in SDFC regardless of their learning method, race, socioeconomic level, or location. New online programs like FVA are an important piece of a school system’s instructional delivery model. While teachers need support to be able to teach effectively in virtual settings, the types of supports and professional development teachers need is not well understood. This study helped to determine the types of support and professional development the teachers and staff of this new program needed in order to feel supported and be successful in educating each and every student enrolled in SDFC. As the district moved forward, it was important that the teachers in this program felt supported and prepared so that appropriate time, resources, and effort could be dedicated into helping the teachers be better prepared to teach in this new format and program. Results may help inform other districts in South Carolina and around the nation as they face similar issues and seek options for online learning. [1] Foothills Virtual Academy (FVA) (see Footnote 1) is a pseudonym to protect the identity of the school district program. [2] School District of Foothills County (SDFC) (see Footnote 2) is a pseudonym to protect the identity of the school district.