Fight or Flight: Pods as a Third Way
KaiPod Learning
We make education personal. ?? We empower educators to start microschools and help parents find schools their kids love.
A Guest Essay written by KaiPod Founder, CEO Amar Kumar published on Ed Tech Thoughts.
By every single measure you can find, public education – a real driver of America’s growth over the last century – is in a great deal of trouble.?
Despite being a product of and an ardent supporter of public education, I see the system entering a vicious and self-reinforcing spiral. We are?spending more money and?hiring more people, but?achieving the same or worse outcomes.?
- The best teachers are?leaving?in droves, concerned that teaching affords them neither a living wage nor respect. As these teachers leave, schools are being forced to?pay more?to retain the ones that remain.
- There’s less money left over for everything else, whether it’s basic?infrastructure?or new learning pathways to help students. Unsurprisingly, when great teachers leave and schools cut learning pathways, academic outcomes accelerate their trend downwards.?
- Parents looking for higher quality learning are joining the?exodus?out of public schools and into alternative options. When parents leave, their tuition dollars follow, which further exacerbates the funding shortfall, starting a whole new round of teacher departures.
And the flywheel spins.
As if all this weren’t enough, school budgets are about to hit a “cliff”, the likes of which we have never seen. More than $190 billion was allocated for COVID-era education stabilization, equaling ~$3,800/student, all of which is set to expire in September 2024 – just as the system starts to recover.
Parents seeking alternatives at higher rates
The pandemic-era “Zoom classroom” gave parents a first-person view of the quality of their children’s education and many are voting with their feet to leave the public system. District public school enrollment continued its decline from 2020 and?dropped ~10%?between Spring 2021 and Spring 2022.
In addition to private and charter schools, parents are looking to alternative models more than ever before in history. April 2022 data from 18 states shows that homeschooling is still?45% higher?than pre-pandemic levels.? Data from Stride, the nation’s largest network of online schools, shows that their online schools are still filled to the brim, with enrollment at?23% higher levels?in April 2022 than in early 2020.
And, this whole segment is poised to grow even faster!
The real rate limiter here is not supply, funding, or regulation, but a mindset: most parents don’t see themselves as homeschoolers. They are concerned about balancing work and family obligations, their child’s ability to build social skills, and, of course, their need for childcare.
A solution emerges
“Hybrid learning pods” can solve many of these challenges for parents curious about alternative education. These pods are groups of 8-10 learners who meet regularly to work on academics, collaborate on projects, and socialize. Pods can meet anywhere, but are at their best when they meet in a dedicated space for “co-learning.” Pods can be led by any trusted adult, but are at their best when led by former teachers with classroom experience and a passion for personalizing learning. Students can work on any curriculum; some choose to join an accredited online school and others develop a homeschool plan with their parent. Today, thousands of families use these hybrid learning pods as a “full-school replacement.” Children come to the pod every day to work on their online curriculum and get support from the Learning Coach on site. Because of the small group nature of the pod, parents get unparalleled visibility into student progress and achievement. Children get to build a co-learning community with similar-aged students while maintaining their own unique academic journeys.
These hybrid learning pods bring together the best aspects of education:
- A learning experience that is highly-personalized and digitally-enabled moving at the pace of each child (not that of the “average” student)
- Deep connections and community with a small group of peers that deters bullying and harassment
- Enrichment opportunities that are flexible and geared to spark student interests rather than administrative availability
- Custodial care that is highly flexible for working parents, including extended hours, vacation week enrichments, and summer programming
- And, a far better lifestyle for educators. Most Learning Pods pair their Learning Coaches with groups of just 8-10 students and their families. Ultimately, this solution creates more well-paying, local, and sustainable jobs for educators.
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Learning pods are still a relatively new solution and we are building?KaiPod Learning with outcomes-tracking in mind. Here is what we’ve seen across our network so far:
- 90% of the students who attend regularly pass their classes as opposed to 25% of the students who don’t (and regular attendees achieve 2 letter grades higher on coursework)
- 100% of our students from last year chose to return to the pod this year with many calling last year their “best year of school ever”
- Parent Net Promoter Score stands at 94
- Our KaiPod Coaches call this their best job ever
It is no wonder that an entire industry of microschools and learning pods is popping up across the country. It doesn’t require large physical buildings or district administration, it is local, and it’s structured entirely around the needs of the parents and students in these communities.
A cautionary tale
I grew up in a large Indian city where 50-70% of students enrolled in private schools. Decades ago, the government failed to listen to parents when it came to public education (e.g., desire for English medium instruction, better facilities). Parents left for the significantly more innovative private options available to them. The Indian public education sector will never be able to attract those families back. The U.S. education sector is poised to start a similar one-way trip. Today, less than 10% of students go to private schools. But here is what we don’t appreciate: households with 18-20M children could afford private options if they needed to. They choose not to today because of the American ideal of public schooling. The pandemic called this ideal into question. These are the families that public education leaders must?win back.
Two scenarios for the future
Having been in education for more than 15 years, learning pods are the first innovation that truly excites me – not as the end, but as an important means to the end. Pods can be the vehicle to help us deliver more effective, more personalized, more agile, more local, and more convenient learning experiences for every child in America.?
What remains to be seen is whether the public education system absorbs or rejects this innovation.
In one scenario, public system leaders reject the chance to offer new pathways, instead doubling down on the current ‘one size fits all’ approach. Frustrated parents who feel ignored become angry activists, asking for?vouchers?and?ESA programs?as a pressure relief valve. If this scenario comes true, the poor performance flywheel will spin faster.
In another scenario, public system leaders provide alternative options like learning pods?within?the public system. Small-cohort pods would provide targeted and customizable support for learners with different learning abilities, athletic or cultural talents, or other preferences – all at the same or less cost to traditional schooling. Schools who use alternative options alongside their existing physical footprint and position of trust in their communities will have a stronger argument to retain the 20M students with the means to leave the system and win many families back.
Nationally,?72% of registered voters?already express support for school choice, with majorities across every party affiliation and demographic group. If school leaders can build choice into the public system, I believe it could be the start of a new?golden age in education, where enrollment resurges, teachers have more opportunities to work their craft, and children start to enjoy learning again.
As a founder in this space, I see the tension between these two scenarios playing out every single day. We have many hills to climb but I’m determined to see our public system thrive. I am using my energies to develop pathways that strengthen public education in partnership with districts, using existing infrastructure and funding, all while improving life and learning for all those within it.
The future is bright.
Writer and Education Visionary
2 年So well said, Amar Kumar