1494 Copyright © 2015, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 79 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8246-7.ch079 The Ever-Evolving Educator: Examining K-12 Online Teachers in the United States ABSTRACT This chapter reviews the current research on the educational, training, and demographic characteristics of those involved in teaching K-12 online. Although very few colleges of education incorporate any aspect of teaching online into their curricula, the existing online teacher preparation programs are discussed. Past and ongoing research reveals a dramatic disconnect between: (a) the rapidly expanding expectations for and implementation of online education at the K-12 levels and (b) the surprisingly limited extent to which teachers are actually being educated, trained, and otherwise prepared to function in this challeng- ing new educational environment. The implications for teacher education programs and current K-12 virtual schools are clear. Efective online teaching techniques must be defned, empirically proven, and efciently implemented by both future and current K-12 online teachers. INTRODUCTION Online education at the K-12 level is in the early stage of an exponential growth pattern that will ultimately result in an entirely new educational paradigm (Miller & Ribble, 2010). The need for highly-qualified, classroom teachers has always been critical, but now such teachers must also be trained to meet the challenges of conveying knowledge to students that are separated from the teacher in space and time (Charania, 2010). This new category of teachers must be capable of (a) transferring knowledge without face-to-face contact, (b) designing and developing course content in a technology-based environment and (c) delivering content in a way that will both engage the remote student and assure that the content is actually learned. Unfortunately, there is a significant disconnect between the growing expectations for online education and the training Jean Larson Arizona State University, USA Leanna Archambault Arizona State University, USA