Bill Hansen, CEO of Building Hope, and Raphael Gang, Director of K12 Education at Stand Together Trust, joined me to discuss the launch of a pioneering microloan fund specifically designed for microschool founders.
The challenge I see is the thinking that a school needs to be a singular place instead of a myriad of small (micro) options. Of course parents and students need to better understand what education relevant to their child even means but as more information sources such as yours keep coming on mainstream, heads are starting to pop up. If you have ever been duck hunting you would get the picture.
I know you drift in this direction regarding the flaw in the College For All format we have pushed on our students. That mantra has only been serving the minority of our students leaving the majority wanting and left out. Yes I believe in college, but when a person chooses to engage at that level there should be clearer options than k-12 systems that tracks and sorts students telling them by their GPA whether they are college material or not. This monicker hangs around their neck as they push forward holding them back if that system tracked and qualified them as deficient. Seymour Papert covers learning phobia in his 1980 book"Mindstorms" and the life long destructive nature of it. If we are to be life long learners education models should foster that for all students no matter their deficiencies at the time school chooses to asses them.
Diversity in educational options will not be the singular school option and I see micro loans as a meaningful path forward if these schools with diverse formats can connect students as to their learning bent. AI as in Khanmigo has promise in this arena that others could take hold of.
You’re raising such important points. The “one-size-fits-all” model has left too many students labeled rather than supported as lifelong learners. Microschools are one way to flip that script.
That’s why we designed the loan program the way we did: to give founders flexibility to build models that meet students where they are, rather than forcing them into a singular mold. The applications we reviewed and approved demonstrate the wide range of approaches available to families. While we weren't able to underwrite programs without a commercial lease (we had a school in the woods that wanted to apply, but we couldn't underwrite a program in the woods), we did approve a wide range of programs, including an entrepreneurial school in Iowa and a hybrid home school co-op program in Virginia.
I also agree with AI’s potential. If tools like Khanmigo (and others) can personalize learning inside these micro-environments, we may finally be able to deliver both relevance and sustainability at scale.
First, thanks for your incredible work on this program. Second, yes to all you said. And third, yes, I agree -- if AI is to have impact, it will likely be in these new environments/models.
In Oren Cass's book "The Once and Future Worker" he describes an education format that serves the majority of students (the median) and the ones who are more college bound attend that level of instruction at additional night classes. This idea totally freaks out the college administrations that keep pushing k-12 to qualify themselves by advertising their college readiness even though the fact is only the high end 30% are ready and less than that ever graduate from the schools of higher education. The statics are all out there but getting anyone to use them constructively is the challenge.
The challenge I see is the thinking that a school needs to be a singular place instead of a myriad of small (micro) options. Of course parents and students need to better understand what education relevant to their child even means but as more information sources such as yours keep coming on mainstream, heads are starting to pop up. If you have ever been duck hunting you would get the picture.
I know you drift in this direction regarding the flaw in the College For All format we have pushed on our students. That mantra has only been serving the minority of our students leaving the majority wanting and left out. Yes I believe in college, but when a person chooses to engage at that level there should be clearer options than k-12 systems that tracks and sorts students telling them by their GPA whether they are college material or not. This monicker hangs around their neck as they push forward holding them back if that system tracked and qualified them as deficient. Seymour Papert covers learning phobia in his 1980 book"Mindstorms" and the life long destructive nature of it. If we are to be life long learners education models should foster that for all students no matter their deficiencies at the time school chooses to asses them.
Diversity in educational options will not be the singular school option and I see micro loans as a meaningful path forward if these schools with diverse formats can connect students as to their learning bent. AI as in Khanmigo has promise in this arena that others could take hold of.
You’re raising such important points. The “one-size-fits-all” model has left too many students labeled rather than supported as lifelong learners. Microschools are one way to flip that script.
That’s why we designed the loan program the way we did: to give founders flexibility to build models that meet students where they are, rather than forcing them into a singular mold. The applications we reviewed and approved demonstrate the wide range of approaches available to families. While we weren't able to underwrite programs without a commercial lease (we had a school in the woods that wanted to apply, but we couldn't underwrite a program in the woods), we did approve a wide range of programs, including an entrepreneurial school in Iowa and a hybrid home school co-op program in Virginia.
I also agree with AI’s potential. If tools like Khanmigo (and others) can personalize learning inside these micro-environments, we may finally be able to deliver both relevance and sustainability at scale.
First, thanks for your incredible work on this program. Second, yes to all you said. And third, yes, I agree -- if AI is to have impact, it will likely be in these new environments/models.
We're on the same wavelength. Appreciate this set of pts!
In Oren Cass's book "The Once and Future Worker" he describes an education format that serves the majority of students (the median) and the ones who are more college bound attend that level of instruction at additional night classes. This idea totally freaks out the college administrations that keep pushing k-12 to qualify themselves by advertising their college readiness even though the fact is only the high end 30% are ready and less than that ever graduate from the schools of higher education. The statics are all out there but getting anyone to use them constructively is the challenge.