Preparation leadership programs for beginning and inexperienced alternative education program leaders are mostly non-existent (Price and Doney 2009). Although finding administrators who have a passion for the alternative education setting is difficult, the challenge and goal to prepare these new leaders to become highly effective leaders in the alternative education environment is just as challenging. "There is little research, however, on exactly what leaders of alternative education programs need in terms of skills, preparation, and training to be successful" (Price and Martin, 2010, p. 3).

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of K-12 alternative education program leaders in the Commonwealth of Virginia on the experiences, skills, training, and preparation needed for effective alternative education program leadership. Utilizing a basic qualitative research design, structured interviews were used to identify the perceptions of K-12 alternative education program leaders in the Commonwealth of Virginia on the experiences, skills, training, and preparation needed for leadership.