Just 12 years ago, none of the 50 states used the Web to provide courses to middle grades or high school students, but by 2000, several of the 16 SREB states, including Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana and West Virginia, had or were beginning to implement state-sponsored virtual schools. The North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) reports that 38 states have established e-learning initiatives and that there are currently 25 state-wide or state-led virtual schools in the United States.

"Online courses are growing because they fill students’ academic needs, regardless of where they live in their state,” said Bill Thomas, director of SREB Educational Technology. "They are especially invaluable for students who need academic courses their school cannot provide, for those who need to retake a course — or for students who have schedule conflicts that do not allow them to take courses they want or need."

While the trend is gaining momentum, there are some hurdles to implementing online learning across public school systems. Because a state virtual school is a new entity that typically requires each state to establish new funding, creating quality control and management policies can take time and can be difficult for those who do not understand the benefits of this approach, according to SREB.

With 14 of the SREB's 16 member states overseeing online schools and the remaining two members preparing to follow suit soon, the organization is encouraged that the southern region has more statewide or state-led virtual-school programs than all other regions of the country combined.

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