Kerry McDonald: Are Microschools the Future of American Education?
Oct 12, 2023
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Kerry McDonald, a well-versed advocate for alternative education, discusses the history of American education, rise of homeschooling/micro-schooling, and the impact of COVID-19. The episode explores the challenges faced by education entrepreneurs, the concept of micro schools and their different approach, and available financial resources for alternative education.
The education system is shifting towards a marketplace of options, allowing families to choose personalized and individualized educational models that cater to specific needs and interests.
Education entrepreneurs face challenges such as restrictive licensing requirements, zoning regulations, and compulsory schooling laws when trying to create unconventional learning models.
Micro schools, including learning centers, pods, and low-cost private schools, offer highly individualized and learner-centered approaches, outperforming traditional public schools in academic achievement and serving diverse communities and marginalized groups.
Deep dives
Education as a Marketplace of Options
The education system is shifting towards a marketplace of options, similar to the breakfast food aisle in a grocery store. It is no longer a one-size-fits-all mass schooling model. Families have the freedom to choose the educational option that best suits their needs and preferences, just like choosing between granola and Lucky Charms for breakfast. This shift is driven by education entrepreneurs who are creating innovative learning models, such as micro schools and homeschooling. These models offer personalized and individualized education, targeting specific needs and interests of students. They prioritize factors beyond standardized test scores, including creativity, curiosity, happiness, and joy. This educational marketplace is not limited by location, with emerging models found in diverse areas, from rural communities to metropolises. The ultimate vision is to have an education system that provides a wide range of options, catering to individual learners and fostering competition, innovation, and accountability.
Roadblocks for Education Entrepreneurs
Education entrepreneurs face various challenges when trying to create unconventional learning models. These challenges include restrictive childcare licensing requirements, difficulty in opening private schools, zoning regulations that undermine location choices, and restrictive compulsory schooling laws. Additionally, regulatory barriers hinder the ability to launch new unconventional educational models. For instance, an Iowa teacher who wanted to open a Sudbury model school faced a year-long battle with the State Department of Education. Another entrepreneur encountered zoning and occupancy regulations that required three bathrooms for 20 students. These roadblocks reflect a traditional focus on institutions and a lack of understanding of emerging innovative learning models.
The Power of Market-driven Education
Market-driven education promotes innovation, personalization, and accountability. Education entrepreneurs are leading the way, driving change and building a new education system. This process is not without its challenges, including bureaucratic barriers and regulatory roadblocks. However, these entrepreneurs offer new ideas and approaches, providing solutions for families and addressing the shortcomings of traditional mass schooling. The market-driven education system empowers families to choose the best educational options that meet their needs, improving academic achievement, college and career readiness, and overall well-being. By embracing competition, innovation, and individualization, the market-driven education system has the potential to deliver better outcomes for all students.
The Rise of Micro Schools
Micro schools are an important element of the emerging market-driven education system. These schools, often founded by former public school teachers, offer a highly individualized and personalized learning experience. Micro schools provide a small class size, customized curriculum, and a learner-centered approach. They prioritize the needs and interests of students while fostering creativity, curiosity, and passion-based learning. Micro schools often outperform traditional public schools in terms of academic achievement and student satisfaction. They serve as an innovative alternative to the one-size-fits-all model of mass schooling and are found in various communities, catering to a wide range of students across the United States.
Diverse and Individualized Learning Models in Micro Schools
Micro schools encompass a broad range of unconventional, learner-centered, and individualized learning models. They include learning centers for homeschoolers, learning pods, pandemic pods, and small low-cost private schools. These schools prioritize individualized learning, mixed-age play, and a learner-centered curriculum. The National Microschool Center estimates that there are around 125,000 micro schools in the US, serving about 1.5 million students. Despite having diverse educational philosophies, these micro schools share a common commitment to innovative education that challenges traditional classroom experiences.
Accessibility and Growth of Micro Schools
Micro schools are becoming increasingly accessible to low-income families and historically marginalized groups. The Vela Education Fund, which supports unconventional learning models, has provided grants to over 2,400 parent and teacher-run micro schools, totaling more than $28 million. Surveys have found that 93% of learners and families served by these micro schools come from low-income or historically marginalized backgrounds. Moreover, many micro school founders specifically focus on serving low-income communities and communities of color. The growth and diversification of micro schools are driven by communities themselves and a mission to provide hyper-local, community-based education options for all students.
Today I’m speaking with Kerry McDonald. Kerry is a fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education, a writer for Forbes and The 74, host of the LiberatED Podcast, and author of Unschooled. Kerry is one of the most well versed people I know when it comes to what is happening in the alternative education movement. In this episode, we talk about the history of education in America, the inception of the public school system, and how we slowly forgot that we knew how to educate ourselves. We also talk about the rise of the homeschooling/micro-schooling movement and the momentum we are seeing in alternative education since the pandemic, exploring the different types and micro-schools, how they are funded, and how the school-choice movement is propelling change in the education system. Kerry is doing incrediblly important work in the education space and provides a compelling and enlightening viewpoint on the future of learning in a landscape of educational freedom.
Chapters:
0:00 - Kerry McDonald
6:00 - How Entrepreneurs are driving the engine of change in education
8:00 - Why is it so hard to innovate in the education space from a legal standpoint?
15:40 - How did public school become mandatory?
22:30 - How the sentiments in the public have changed surrounding education
27:00 - Roadblocks that arise when starting a micro-school
33:30 - Are micro-school regulations side-effects or purposefully implemented
39:00 - Does a lack of regulation lead to poor educational outcomes?
52:00 - What does the ideal education landscape look like?
57:30 - What exactly is a micro-school? What makes it different?
1:07:30 - Are micro-schools and alternative education models available for low income families?
1:14:00 - What cultural narratives need to be changed to continue the momentum of school-choice
1:22:00 - Financial resources for parents looking to pull their kids from public school
1:25:00 - How to connect with Kerry
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Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Engaged Detroit
Connect with Guest:
Podcast | liberatedpodcast.com
Twitter | @kerry_edu
Connect with Hannah Frankman:
Twitter | @hannahfrankman
Website | http://hannahfrankman.com
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