More on Microschools

My friend Nate McClennan, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation at Getting Smart, along with his associate Jordan Luster, published an article earlier this month titled “Small Schools, Big Umbrella: Expanding, Defining and Scaling the Microschool System.”

McClennan and Luster write,

“Microschools, while not a new concept, are currently garnering increasing attention as an educational innovation. Microschools are small learning environments with typically less than 150 students that offer personalized and student-centered learning experiences. Teachers hungry for more autonomy, families seeking personalized learning, and the constraints of school budgets are all fueling the demand for microschools…”

“The microschool landscape has grown tremendously in both public and private sectors. Our early research classified microschools into four unique categories: operators, intermediaries, schools within schools or programs, and incubators. Through continued efforts within out microschool initiatives, we’ve identified a more complex ecosystem that exists with both the private and public sectors, as well as unique public-private partnerships. Additionally, homeschools and learning pods (multi-family) fall in the microschool landscape. While we have articulated a number of elements across the landscape, we also acknowledge the overlap in some of these models. By naming the elements within the landscape, all educators and parents can see opportunities for more options across all sectors to better serve their students and children.”

“When we hear the term scaling as it relates to growth, we often loosely define it as simply expanding. Harvard’s business school defines scaling as ‘a business growing revenue more quickly than its cost’ and growth as ‘the process of increasing revenues and resources at an even rate.’ But how does that translate to microschools?”

“Growth in microschools refers to the process of increasing enrollment, resources, and educational offerings – usually at a single site. This might include adding more teachers, expanding facilities, or introducing new programs to meet the needs of a growing student population.”

“Scaling in microschools involves expanding the reach and impact of the educational model while maintaining or improving the quality of education provided. This expansion might include impacting more students by increasing the number of campuses or developing partnerships with other educational institutions.”

“As the demand for innovation and personalized learning options grows, so does the need for microschools. This demand can be met by both growth and scaling approaches.”

“A significant number of private microschools have launched over the last four years…Some of these microschool leaders want to expand their reach deep and not wide. Private-sector microschools can scale their model through decentralized or centralized networks.”

“In decentralized networks, microschools codify their framework for replication by others. This form of scaling gives the school leader full autonomy of their own site while utilizing an existing framework. Although this type of scaling involves some risk in quality control, it provides leadership with autonomy to tailor a school model to the community it serves – a primary objective for many microschools…”

“Other private microschools scaled their impact through more centralized efforts. This allows them to maintain the quality and assurance of their model by opening and operating multiple sites and building a centralized affiliate network…”

“Microschools in the public sector are not a new concept. These include the original one-room schoolhouses, existing rural schools, and the school within a school model. However, with the emerging growth of the private microschools sector, new models are surfacing and existing models are rebranding, utilizing microschools as platforms for researching, designing, and scaling equitable practices in the public sector.”

“We have found that microschools can exist within a district to provide unique and niche offerings, similar to that of a magnet choice school. These program-specific models are designed to support niche offerings in the school that is not intended to scale throughout the district.”

…

“Although we’ve identified many ways in which microschools can exist both publicly and privately, that is not to say it must be either/or. Microschools are not monolithic.”

…

“The diversification of school models reflects a broader understanding that one size does not fit all in education. Across public, private and innovative partnerships between public and private sectors, these microschool models represent a big tent of efforts aimed at making education not only more personalized but also more accessible and effective. By embracing these varied educational landscapes across the public and private sectors, communities can better cater to the diverse needs of learners, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive in a changing world.”

…

In order for microschools to scale and grow, certain building blocks need to be in place:

1. A better talent pipeline needs to be established in order to train adult learning leaders to be better at defining, planning, executing, and evaluating learning by the young learners within their learning cohort.
2. A better system to match adult learning leaders with their cohort of young learners needs creation.
3. Education Savings Accounts need to continue increasing across the country, with those ESAs being eligible to support other out school learning opportunities instead of only supporting existing private schools with public money.

The next 50 years will tell us if out of school learning experiences, like microschools and learning pods, might replace some of the market share currently held by the traditional public school system.

Friday News Roundup tomorrow. Til then. SVB