New school models focusing on individualizing learning
Posted by michael_horn | Under Charter Schools, Non-consumption, Online learning, Schools Thursday Jun 4, 2009New school models are appearing that attempt to personalize learning and push education in a more student-centric direction. Some target drop-out students—a classic group of non-consumers—and therefore appear to have some disruptive elements potentially, whereas others are more conventional, but either way, all are something to pay attention to as we rethink what “schooling” should actually look like.
As Clayton Christensen and Jason Hwang write in The Innovator’s Prescription, when there is no non-consumption in a field, the only way for disruption to occur is for something to come in that is both significantly less expensive and better so that the decision to switch over makes consummate sense. Most chartered schools to this point haven’t hit on one or both of these, which has stymied their ability to scale and have broader impact. The below models may give us some clues as to how that could change.
One model is a new chartered school called the Redmond Proficiency Academy. Operated by Personalized Learning, Inc., the school plans to combine the best from “college-, online- and project-based class learning” to formulate a personalized learning experience for students. The school is also moving away from seat-time metrics and time spent in the conventional classroom and instead focuses on demonstration of “proficiency” or mastery inside and outside the classroom to satisfy state and federal requirements.
Westwood’s Cyber High School is another model to follow. It has two models that it lets students choose between. One is “My School,” which has a virtual and a physical component to it where students come into a school lab a couple times a week. The second is called “Not School” where the experience is entirely online. The concept comes from the “Not School” Program in the United Kingdom, and Westwood’s founders have studied the model to learn from its mistakes and successes. The schools target disaffected or drop-out students by allowing them to work in a proficiency-based model of online project-based learning. And it seems to have hit a niche, as many students are gobbling up the offering from all over Michigan.
One other school model that has some exciting potential is Mavericks in Education. It, too, targets drop-out students, with a model that turns the traditional school day on its head as it offers online learning with on-site mentors in its physical buildings during different times of the day for fewer hours to match each student’s unique circumstances—and all students have 24/7 access to learning from anywhere as well. It also has some neat perks that it has built in to motivate students to learn and accelerate their progress.
Learning from these models could go a long way in helping us transform education into a student-centric experience.
Note: The original post contained an error as it referred to the Redmond Proficiency Academy as the Richmond Proficiency Academy. I have corrected it above and regret the error.
Last summer’s reading included your book Disrupting Class, and only then did I finally feel as if I had an advocate as a public education teacher of 15 years, and a early childhood educator of 10 years. Being steeped in the educational philosophy of Montessori, Papert, Freire, Adler, and of course Dewey, constructivism as a student-centric pedagogy has haunted my professional career. Most recently though, my haunt has allowed me to focus in on the idea of a series of networked 21st century one-room schoolhouses located in major urban areas in America.
Using the infrastructure already created in these urban areas to facilitate the needs of students and teachers - restaurants, public libraries, wireless Internet, public transportation, museums, wetlands, rivers – a series of five networked small school, 9-12 grade, 60 students in each facility, are connected to each other using various cooperative technologies. A networked cluster of five small schools, one in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta, all serving the needs of inner city youth, all networked seamlessly with each other, and all performing authentic critical learning and thinking in a project-based learning environment.
The school would function year round, similar to higher education, using the breaks in between semesters for the clusters to retreat into a rural setting – residential camp in the Catskill Mountains for example, that allow students to focus on creating their curriculum and future projects.
Being this is the first time this particular idea has ever been uttered in text, and re-reading the idea, I might just begin the research for a proposal. Your thoughts?
Thanks for your post and your comments. At first blush this sounds really intriguing. Would you first target students who had left the school system? Please keep us posted.
Currently a proposal is being outlined that will service high school students with the greatest threat of dropping out of public education. The five major cities we are interested in targeting with a pilot program would be Detroit, Philadelphia, Dallas, New York, and Allentown, PA (home advantage). All of these educational institutions are at the top of the threat list for student dropouts. A non-profit organization called Socratic Commons is forming this summer and will begin the grueling task of seeks the necessary funding for the pilot program to come to fruition. Socratic Commons is developing a list of possible board directors, of which, Mr. Christensen and you have made the shortlist. Once the proposal is completed, we would like to forward you a copy to review for your perspective, and possible network sharing of likeminded educators.
at laciest