The basic assumption behind traditional schooling was quite simple: Put same-aged students together in the same grade, march them through the same curriculum at the same speed, and most will learn what they need to succeed. It was a beautifully efficient system if your goal was to produce a compliant industrial-era workforce… but it doesn’t work.
The problem with teaching to the middle
How could it? One teacher lecturing upwards of 30 students for 50 minutes stands no chance of reaching every student in the classroom. Indeed, even a class the size of a great marble hall – an auditorium of students – can’t help but leave some inside feeling neglected.
Every student – whether they are behind, just keeping up, or way out in front of the lesson – gets the same instruction at the same time. Those who got it the first time must wait for those who didn’t, or feel bored… or maybe even a little humiliated. Those desperately trying to keep up rarely have a chance to ask for additional instruction because the bell has rung and it’s on to the next class.
A small minority – less than half of 9th graders – fall into the “keeping up” category.
What real-time data changes about teaching
Moving to online education means more than just being able to learn from anywhere. It also allows for more personalized learning experiences since the system can track the student’s progress in real time to identify where they struggle or excel. This is the concept of formative assessment put to practice in the best possible way. In case a student is having difficulty with a fundamental aspect of algebra, for example, the system will recognize this immediately and the teacher can step in with support before the situation worsens.
Pacing as equity, not accommodation
One of the unsung flaws of the traditional approach is how it handles pace. Students who grasp material quickly are often labeled as “smart.” Those who take more time face stigma. CBE removes the toxic components from this mindset.
The truth is, learning something new for the first time often requires repetition – and the brain can only handle so much new info at once. Speed rarely correlates to true understanding. A student who requires two extra weeks to fully wrap their brain around decimals isn’t slower or dumber. They’ve just set a more solid foundation.
On the flip side, a student who flies through a unit on history by memorising dates and names isn’t smarter or faster, or any other proxy for “better.” They just happen to have been able to regurgitate facts quickly without being caught. So why should they move on to the next unit because 75% of classmates have “mastered” the material (after copying them in a quiz)?
The middle school window
There is a specific window in a student’s education where the individualized platform has a greater influence: middle school. Online Middle School is a bridge between the protected, structured learning environment that characterizes elementary school and the more self-directed learning that awaits students in high school. Our online middle school students take courses at the level that’s right for them, not necessarily the level that aligns with their grade, which helps to ensure they don’t fall through the cracks.
Student agency – the level of control a student has over their own learning – tends to be quite high in solid online middle school programs as well. When a student can have more ownership over their education and pursue courses that genuinely interest them, they are much more likely to be intrinsically motivated. This isn’t a nice-to-have benefit. It’s an essential tactic for keeping students engaged.
The teacher’s role after the shift
Tailored instruction is the key. Discussing the subject after a student has proven they don’t understand the basics is a big waste of time. Teaching a dyslexic student to read without considering what that adds to an already very full cognitive burden is daft.
Teaching algebra to a kid who doesn’t understand why or how they might use it is futile. Teaching a child to write before you’ve helped them verbalize their thoughts is a separate exercise in transcription, not a writing class.
But graded, teacher-led instruction is one-size-fits-all by design. It doesn’t cost the teacher more to teach the class as a group and follow up. It’s just tedious for many and not very helpful for most students.
Moving forward
The traditional education model did not consider how students actually learn. Rather, it was based on the most efficient way for institutions to handle a large group of people at a low cost. While those factors were real and important at the time, they created a system that was sufficient enough to endure for many years.
However, things are different now. We have data analysis tools and asynchronous learning systems. The reasoning behind forcing all students to learn at the same speed, follow the same curriculum, and adhere to the same arbitrary schedule is becoming increasingly unreasonable.
