Over the past few weeks, I've heard a new question as well: What should independent schools make of AltSchool?
In case you've missed the news, AltSchool is a startup preK–8 model created and funded ($133 million in venture capital so far) by Silicon Valley wunderkinds from Google, Uber and Facebook. With tuition under $21,000, it's not cheap—but it does cost less than many independent schools. It costs less to operate, too, as the facilities at each of the four AltSchools so far (eight by 2016) consist of a single room loaded with the latest in technology.
So here's what everyone really wants to know: Is AltSchool just the latest edtech flavor of the month? Or could it be a real preK–12 "disruptor," to quote Michael Horn, that that not only competes with independent schools, publics and charters, but also turns a tidy profit for its wealthy investors?
I can't predict the future. However, the more I hear about AltSchool, the more I am reminded of Michael Horn's observation that many disruptions that were initially dismissed later turned out to be the ultimate game changers. At the same time, I wish the media would look beyond their excitement over AltSchool and report on the fact that great independent schools, including many of NBOA's 1,200 member schools, are already delivering on much of what AltSchol promises. Take student-centered learning. As NBOA members well know, personalized classroom learning, combined with a culture in which each teacher knows each student well, has set independent schools apart within the preK–12 market for decades.
However, there is much that independent schools can learn from AltSchool, which accelerates technology's potential into hyperdrive. Consider "My.AltSchool," which provides each student with a personalized lesson plan on his or her handheld, according to this Wired article. Brilliant—and not at all outside the realm of possibility for independent schools.
Another example: Tech-savvy independent school leaders understand that successful integration of technology in the classroom is not about the technology, it's about the student. AltSchool's mantra is to "close the gap between teachers and students, especially when it comes to technology." The model focuses relentlessly on the needs of teachers and students to ensure that technology supports the transfer of knowledge. By comparison, I hear all too often that many technology decisions at independent schools are made without broad input. Can we, too, use a more bottom-up approach to identify technology solutions?
Finally, whereas most conventional schools make changes very slowly, often bogged down by bureaucracy, the AltSchool model supports making changes in real time every day. How can independent schools embrace change with more of an entrepreneurial spirit?
My biggest takeaway involving AltSchool? Metrics. At once simple and impactful, they demand that each AltSchool measure and prove customer satisfaction, teacher satisfaction and results.
Take those metrics into your next Trustee meeting, along with a few concrete plans involving technology and personalization, and your school could be well on its way to distinguishing itself as "an AltSchool" in its own right—only with a far nicer campus.
