Planes, Trains & Automobiles

All three are exactly alike really. They are merely different modes of transportation, designed to take people and/or products from one place to another -- from Point A to Point B.

Yet, they each have a niche and those who serve their niche well thrive.

Done properly they can complement each other and the overall economy is the better for it.

The same is true in education. Virtual, blended and traditional. Public, private and charter. Choose any three you like. Alternative, home-based, homeschool. The words are interchangeable. Each is merely a different mode of educating the young. Each has a niche to serve.

Those who understand their niche, cater to it, design for it, market to it, and serve it properly will thrive. Imagine though if each mode of education complemented each other rather than competed against one another.

What would learning look like then?

houston@figment-consulting.com

Failure is not tolerated

Middle schoolers in this public school must write a two-page paper on why they failed and what they intend to do about it each time they receive a D or F on a test or project. Then, they must get their parents to sign it along with the teacher, and even the principal if it is a recurring problem.

Why? Because at this school "failure is not tolerated."

The result is that the students get to redo the project or retake the test and the scores are averaged together. Who wins? Sounds like the school does to me.

What exactly does this teach the students? Does it teach them the difference between failing and failure? Does it teach them that failing is part of the success process? Does it teach them that failing can actually lead to success?

Or, does it teach them to fear the prospect of failure? And, when we are afraid to fail, we become afraid to try. And, when we are afraid to try, mediocrity sets in, ambivalence takes over, and apathy becomes our driver.

Edison might have given up if he had to write a two-page paper each time he failed. Steve Jobs may never have pushed through with the Mac II when the original Mac sales were disappointing. Walt Disney would have never found Mickey. And, none of us would be standing right now, let alone walking (because as a baby we become intimately acquainted with failure as we learn to stand and walk).

We tend to think the problem with education is found in grammar, math, and history. I wonder if it is found in the way we treat those we say we care about the most.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Waste is a terrible thing to mind

We mind waste when we have students taking test after test after test with no regard to what it means for them.

We mind waste when we spend all of our time prepping for these tests instead of fostering a learning passion that goes beyond memorization and test-taking skills.

We mind waste when we bypass what the child wants to learn so we can make sure they understand what we think they should know.

We mind waste when we treat each student the same.

We mind waste when we treat certain students differently than others.

We mind waste when we measure the wrong results.

We mind waste when we continue to tweak instead of re-imagine.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Listening posts

97% of our parents would recommend our virtual school to their friends.

It's what most virtual schools like to say on their web site. Yet, only 55-65% of those same parents return each year.

What's the deal?

Skewed surveys in order to receive the responses we desire so we can put them on our web site? Perhaps.

More importantly, as virtual schools we need to set up multiple listening posts in a variety of ways in order to receive real-time, and accurate results, in essence, that answer the question -- How are we doing?

Listening posts are pro-active ways to hear what your customers are telling you about your performance. They also establish a culture of listening to your customers and open the door to ongoing, even anecdotal information that is actionable intelligence. Comments relayed from a parent to a teacher, Facebook posts, student comments during synchronous sessions, and other organic conduits, when taken together and when received in an environment built on listening, can be vital to improving the overall experience.

Combine that with the more formal, preconceived listening posts throughout the year and you have great potential to build a remarkable learning experience for students and parents.

For real impact, it must be more than beginning, mid, and end-of-year surveys.

The next step is determining real questions that can help you, as the school, arrive at real solutions.

Take time to analyze in what ways are you listening to your customers.

Listening is the first step to hearing.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Cause and effect

In today's virtual schools it is simple for teachers to see when students are falling behind or not even logging in for lessons. They are also able to keep track easily of students who are not participating in live sessions online, or clubs, or field trips.

The difficulty comes in determining the cause of this lack of engagement.

Too often if a student is falling behind in math, virtual schools attack this effect as if it is the cause. They simply focus too much on the academic issue at hand -- falling behind in math.

In my 16+ years now in the realm of virtual and blended schools, I have noticed how often there is not a 1-to-1 correlation. Meaning, if a student is falling behind in a subject, the cause of it is very seldom related directly to that subject. Indeed, there is something else at hand that is the true cause.

Sometimes a headache is not really a headache. Determine the true cause before prescribing the medicine.

Too many times we assume an academic issue is related to an academic deficiency, or lack of trying by the student. In reality, it may be something quite disparate that is the real cause, yet part of the effect is evidenced in the academics.

Virtual schools need to spend more time caring about their students and families. Each family is on a journey -- one that is far more than merely academic. Each piece of that journey can be a cause that manifests itself academically.

How well do you know your families? How much do you care? How much do they know you care?

Sometimes an academic issue doesn't require an academic solution.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Authenticity, transparency, and vulnernability

Authenticity is a difficult ask because it means we admit to our flaws.

Transparency though is tougher because it means our flaws are shared.

And that leads us to vulnerability - which is what we are most afraid of.

When we feel vulnerable we are exposed.

Before you can be authentic and even transparent with your students, you must first be willing to be vulnerable, to be exposed for what you are not.

Know who you are, accept who you are, be who you are, and you have the potential to develop a meaningful relationship with your students and families that is built on trust.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Join us

In some form or fashion that is what all virtual schools are asking families to do -- join us.

So, what does "us" look like?

I know you are tuition-free but that is not a description of "us."

You are accredited yet that is not a description of "us."

You claim to be rigorous but that is not a description of "us."

You are asking families to join yet never define "us."

houston@figment-consulting.com

Timing matters

As a virtual school you must begin to ask yourself what time of year is most important to you when it comes to enrollment -- October 1 or May 31?

If you say "Both" then October 1 is the real answer.

However, if you determine May 31 is more critical then you begin to open the door to the real possibility of growing with purpose.

Today's virtual schools spend millions each year trying to recruit new students and at the same time only thousands to retain the ones they have. What would happen if we reversed that?

houston@figment-consulting.com