Are microschools the future of education?

Key points:

This article originally appeared on the Christensen Institute blog and is republished here with permission.

Microschools have become a hot topic in recent years. Their great appeal is that they promise to do a better job addressing the individual needs and interests of students and families. But right now, they only serve 2 to 4 percent of American students. So could microschools eventually become the new normal in schooling?

Well, let's see what innovation theory has to say about this question. To start, we first need to quickly dive into the history of the steel industry (and yes, and I promise it is related).

From the mid-19th century until the 1960s, steel came from huge integrated factories. These large mills did everything from reacting iron ore, coke and limestone in blast furnaces to rolling finished products at the other end. It would cost more than $12 billion to build a huge new integrated factory today.

Then, in the 1960s, a new type of steel mill called a mini-mill came onto the scene. Unlike their giant predecessors, which needed large blast furnaces to process raw ore, mini-mills made new steel products by melting scrap steel using a new technology called an electric arc furnace.

These mini-mills transformed the economics of steel production. While today an integrated plant might cover two to four square miles and cost about $12 billion to build, minimills are less than a tenth the size of an integrated plant and only cost about $800 million. Dollars.

But the first mini-mills had a problem. Because the scrap steel they recycled varied in chemical composition, they could only make certain steel products such as rebar.

But between the 1960s and 1990s, as technology improved, minimills were gradually able to produce more and more products made in larger, more expensive integrated factories. First, angle iron, then structural steel for buildings, and finally sheet steel for things like soup cans and automobiles.

What does this have to do with microschools?

Microschools are small, independent school programs. They often have students from different age groups and one or two educators who facilitate the learning experiences.

Just as mini-mills operate on a smaller scale compared to integrated factories, micro-schools are much smaller than conventional schools. They typically only serve between 15 and 40 students, a much smaller size than a typical school with hundreds or thousands of students.

As with minimills, the physical facilities of most microschools are also small and simple. While most conventional schools have large, expensive campuses with multiple buildings, playgrounds, and sports fields, microschools often operate out of homes, churches, retail locations, or office buildings, and use nearby public parks for their outdoor facilities. fresh air.

Additionally, just as mini-mills keep their costs down by recycling scrap steel, micro-schools take advantage of online and community resources to keep their costs down.

It remains to be seen whether microschools will become mainstream alternatives to conventional schooling.

Just as mini-mills have had to improve their technology over time to offer a broader range of steel products, micro-schools will have to evolve if they hope to serve a broader range of students and families.

Today's microschools are not for everyone. They have a limited ability to provide diverse social interactions, extracurricular activities, and specialized support for unique educational needs, making them an untested and unattractive option for many families.

So what is the conclusion? Microschools may one day disrupt conventional schooling, just as mini-mills disrupted integrated factories. They definitely have some of the key ingredients. But we will have to wait and see whether they can evolve into compelling alternatives to conventional schooling.