Home, School Community
What
The Home, School, Community is a quasi virtual, geographically based school that provides virtual core classes integrated with exciting community learning opportunities while dramatically decreasing local per-student funding requirements. This concept will revolutionize education by decreasing costs while enriching learning.
Why
Legislators in North Carolina are voting to lift the cap on class sizes in K-3 classrooms after passing a similar bill for grades 4-12. According to the NCES, in 2008 there were 14 students per teacher in North Carolina. But the total number of education staff to student ratio is closer to 7:1. That's data showing how top heavy we are and that we are moving in the wrong direction.
By the end of a 30 year career, NC's current 5-year pay freeze will cost new teachers $120,000 each. This indicates funding is a major problem, but the solution is design, not cash flow. Since 1900 we have steadily and dauntingly increased the burden on public schools, but we have barely changed the design. Einstein said that any fool can make things more complex, but it takes a genius to simplify.
By the end of a 30 year career, NC's current 5-year pay freeze will cost new teachers $120,000 each. This indicates funding is a major problem, but the solution is design, not cash flow. Since 1900 we have steadily and dauntingly increased the burden on public schools, but we have barely changed the design. Einstein said that any fool can make things more complex, but it takes a genius to simplify.
How
The concept is a 10th through 12th grade program that exists online nationally and in small, local factions that have workspaces locally. It doesn't fit into any blended classification from the Innosight Institute; it's completely outside the box and genius in its simplicity:
10 students make up a tribe, and 7 tribes make up a faction. Each tribe has one adviser, and everyone in the tribe, adviser included, lives within a 2-3 mile radius. Each adviser meets face to face bi-weekly with the 10 students in his tribe and teaches one subject to all 70 students in the faction. The adviser is responsible for the overall success for everyone in his tribe, for instruction in one subject for the entire faction, and for providing weekly community-based adventures. 7 tribes means 7 courses: English, Math, Science, Arts, PE, Foreign Language, and Social Studies. A 10th grade tribe forms and sticks together with the same adviser and student members through graduation.
Missions and Adventures integrate community and add relevance. Missions are unsupervised learning experiences that push students to explore. A quick Mission might be to learn about public transportation by using it, or a more prolonged mission might be to volunteer 40 hours at a local nonprofit. Missions require a blog article summary, and students earn badges for completion. The blog articles also show competency, and admissions offices will be interested in students' real-world learning experiences. Adventures are supervised trips into the community. Examples include lunch with a local newsperson to discuss current events or an ongoing lap-swim at the local Y.
The online courses are created in two-week modules by teachers who are compensated for the course creation work by getting a small percentage for every student who takes their modules. Students select the modules based on a www.ratemyteachers.com model.
The idea needs incubation. It needs policy checks, and it needs powerful support in order to clear the way to find a home. The scalability of this program is powerful -it will go viral quickly, and when it does, it will trim the fat, leaving education funding that goes directly to impact students while doing away with the bureaucratic monster that education in the 21st century has become.
10 students make up a tribe, and 7 tribes make up a faction. Each tribe has one adviser, and everyone in the tribe, adviser included, lives within a 2-3 mile radius. Each adviser meets face to face bi-weekly with the 10 students in his tribe and teaches one subject to all 70 students in the faction. The adviser is responsible for the overall success for everyone in his tribe, for instruction in one subject for the entire faction, and for providing weekly community-based adventures. 7 tribes means 7 courses: English, Math, Science, Arts, PE, Foreign Language, and Social Studies. A 10th grade tribe forms and sticks together with the same adviser and student members through graduation.
Missions and Adventures integrate community and add relevance. Missions are unsupervised learning experiences that push students to explore. A quick Mission might be to learn about public transportation by using it, or a more prolonged mission might be to volunteer 40 hours at a local nonprofit. Missions require a blog article summary, and students earn badges for completion. The blog articles also show competency, and admissions offices will be interested in students' real-world learning experiences. Adventures are supervised trips into the community. Examples include lunch with a local newsperson to discuss current events or an ongoing lap-swim at the local Y.
The online courses are created in two-week modules by teachers who are compensated for the course creation work by getting a small percentage for every student who takes their modules. Students select the modules based on a www.ratemyteachers.com model.
The idea needs incubation. It needs policy checks, and it needs powerful support in order to clear the way to find a home. The scalability of this program is powerful -it will go viral quickly, and when it does, it will trim the fat, leaving education funding that goes directly to impact students while doing away with the bureaucratic monster that education in the 21st century has become.