The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning in America

Heather C. StakerSenior Research Fellow

The best companies

Moving from integrated, expensive to modular, affordable

Mainframe computer

Minicomputer

Personal computer

Handheld

$2,000,000

$200,000

$2,000

$200

45% on $250,000 or65% on $500,000?

The disruptive innovation pattern appears in every sector

state universities

community colleges

online colleges

Higher Education

Automobiles

Ford Toyota CheryHyundai

Retail

department stores

Wal-Mart Amazon.com

Airlines

Delta Southwest Air Taxis

Innosight Institute applies disruptive innovation theories to problems in the social sector

Prime examples of nonconsumption

Looming budget cuts and teacher shortages are an opportunity, not a threat

• Credit recovery• Drop outs• AP/advanced courses• Scheduling conflicts• Home-schooled and homebound

students• Small, rural, urban schools• Unit recovery• Disaster preparedness

• Tutoring

• Professional development• Pre-K• After school• In the home• Incarcerated youth• In-school suspension• School bus commute• Summer school• Teacher absenteeism

Online learning is gaining adoption in line with a disruption

Follows the telltale “S-curve” pattern

% new

50% of high school courses

online by 2019

• 39 states have online learning initiative• 30 states have supplemental state-led programs

• Districts increasingly getting into the game• Drop-out recovery• Credit-recovery• Homeschoolers

Public schools are getting in on the transformation

Online learning is increasingly a blended phenomenon

90% need a physical school

Definition of blended learningAny time a student learns in part in a supervised brick-and-

mortar place away from home

At least in part through online delivery, with some element of student control over time, place, path and/or pace

and

• Traditional school

• Tech-rich school

• Electronic white board with online curriculum to lecture

• Online textbooks

• 1:1 laptops/devices in and of themselves

• Virtual school

Blended learning is not . . .

Emerging menu of possibilities

Online-option schools

Blendedschools

Transitional virtualschools

Emerging menu of possibilities

• Self-blend model

• Online-lab model

Online-option schools

Blendedschools

Transitional virtualschools

Emerging menu of possibilities

• Classroom- rotation model

• Off-site-rotation model

• Flex model

Online-option schools

Blendedschools

Transitional virtualschools

Teacher-led Instruction

(adapted based on data from Online

Instruction)

Collaborative standards-

driven activities & stations

Individualized Online

Instruction

Classroom-Rotation Model

Source: Education Elements

Emerging menu of possibilities

Online-option schools

Blendedschools

Transitional virtualschools

EPGY Online High School Albuquerque eCADEMY

How will online and blended learning affect Arizona?

Opportunities and risk

More time for teachers and guided instruction

T

T

T

Learning Lab

Direct Instruction

Independent Study

15:1

60:1

P

90 students3 Teachers (T)1 Paraprofessional (P)Source: Alex Hernandez, Charter School

Growth Fund

Intervention

Seminar

5:1

12:1

Career growth for teachers and HR flexibility

Teacher

Rigor Faculty Relationship Faculty Relevance FacultyDiscipline

Faculty

Self-paced, one-on-one learning for students

Limitless content, globally accessible

• 2.2 billion children in the world

• 1.9 live in developing countries

• Almost half live in poverty

Source: UNICEF

New cost options and flexibilityAlbuquerque eCADEMY Alternative School

Instruction

Administration and Operations

School Services

Student SupportsCentral

Instruction

Administration and Operations

School Services

Student SupportsCentral

$10,000

Spen

d pe

r pup

il Personnel efficiencies

Textbook savings

Facilities savings School services

savings

Source: Parthenon Group

Challenges and risks

• Seat time

• Teacher certifications

• Geographic restrictions

• Little provision for broadband/wireless

• Old funding models

• Little autonomy

• In general, focus on inputs instead of outcomes

Old policies with unintended legacies

“Race to the Bottom” in terms of quality

Sloppy systems and training

• Poor purchasing strategies

• Cutting costs above all else

• Lack of accountability

• Lack of data

• Inability to act based on data

• Poor interoperability among systems

• New technology crammed into old teaching models

• Antiquated professional development

Policy priorities

Tie funding to outcomes. Prevent the cost cutting “race-to-the-bottom” trap

Act on Digital Learning Now! recommendations

Create uncapped autonomous zones for innovation

Eliminate input-based rules (ratios, certifications, procedures, etc.)

Focus on outputs (the what), not inputs (the how)

Why wait?1. Start with areas of

nonconsumption

2. Move to mastery-based models

3. Expand autonomy as much as possible, but with accountability

4. Experiment with time, space, and staffing

5. Learn from the trailblazers