BLENDED LEARNING IN DC PUBLIC SHOOLSDANIEL K. LAUTZENHEISER AND TARYN HOCHLEITNERadvances have opened the door to use technology formore mean<strong>in</strong>gful change. The entire digital educationlandscape is still new and undeveloped, with <strong>schools</strong>and districts across the country try<strong>in</strong>g to figure outwhich tools and models work best for their students.Schools that consider themselves “<strong>blended</strong>” fall acrossall parts of the spectrum when it comes to the amountof onl<strong>in</strong>e versus teacher-led <strong>in</strong>struction they offer.Rather than direct<strong>in</strong>g all <strong>schools</strong> to pursue thesame <strong>blended</strong>-<strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong> model, Rice and his team haveembraced a more organic approach, encourag<strong>in</strong>g sucha transition <strong>in</strong> <strong>schools</strong> they perceive to be most will<strong>in</strong>gand able to do so. While district leaders tout thepresence of <strong>blended</strong> <strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> all district <strong>schools</strong>, theyseem particularly <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g it as an improvementstrategy <strong>in</strong> traditionally underperform<strong>in</strong>g <strong>schools</strong>,where the adm<strong>in</strong>istration is will<strong>in</strong>g and the culture isripe to try someth<strong>in</strong>g new and bold.As such, the <strong>blended</strong>-<strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong> team assumes alargely supportive role, giv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>schools</strong>, pr<strong>in</strong>cipals, andteachers a good deal of latitude to pursue <strong>in</strong>itiatives oftheir choos<strong>in</strong>g. This approach facilitates the growth ofdifferent models, allow<strong>in</strong>g DCPS to learn from earlypilot programs and to gradually coalesce these disparateefforts <strong>in</strong>to a more coherent strategy. DCPS staff, pr<strong>in</strong>cipals,and teachers use such words as “experiment,”“pilot,” and “vett<strong>in</strong>g” to describe these efforts, suggest<strong>in</strong>gthis is an exploratory phase. This approach separatesDCPS from other school districts that have optedto implement more prescribed digital <strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong> modelsuniversally, such as one-to-one laptop or iPad <strong>in</strong>itiatives<strong>in</strong> Mooresville, the Los Angeles Unified School District,and a number of other districts across the country.As Rice puts it, his mission is <strong>in</strong>stead to “support the<strong>schools</strong>, not dictate to them what you th<strong>in</strong>k is best.”In practice, this organic approach yields a diverselandscape. In a press release before the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g ofthe 2013–14 school year, DCPS leadership advertisedthe districtwide presence of <strong>blended</strong> <strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong>: “Blended<strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong>, which comb<strong>in</strong>es the best of face-to-faceteach<strong>in</strong>g with the best digital resources, is an <strong>in</strong>structionalmodel now available <strong>in</strong> all DCPS <strong>schools</strong>.” 9But a more thorough description of DCPS <strong>blended</strong><strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong>activity quickly becomes a laundry list of various<strong>in</strong>itiatives. Every elementary, middle, and highschool <strong>in</strong> the district has a computer lab, and someportion of <strong>in</strong>struction occurs <strong>in</strong> the lab each week.All DCPS elementary <strong>schools</strong> use a digital math contentprovider every week, and this year the district ispilot<strong>in</strong>g a <strong>blended</strong>-literacy program <strong>in</strong> one-third of its<strong>schools</strong>. A number of <strong>schools</strong> have implemented a station-rotationmodel, where students spend their classesmov<strong>in</strong>g between teacher-led <strong>in</strong>struction, small-grouppractice, and <strong>in</strong>dependent work onl<strong>in</strong>e us<strong>in</strong>g classroomcomputers. 10 Three <strong>schools</strong>—Kramer Middle School,Ketcham Elementary School, and Randle HighlandsElementary School—are us<strong>in</strong>g this station-rotation<strong>in</strong>struction for all core content areas.While district leaders tout the presenceof <strong>blended</strong> <strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> all district <strong>schools</strong>,they seem particularly <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong>us<strong>in</strong>g it as an improvement strategy <strong>in</strong>traditionally underperform<strong>in</strong>g <strong>schools</strong>.Clearly, the experiences of those students spend<strong>in</strong>gjust an hour a week <strong>in</strong> a computer lab differ markedlyfrom that of those who receive their entire core <strong>in</strong>structionvia the station-rotation model. Part of the challengefac<strong>in</strong>g DCPS is to f<strong>in</strong>d the right balance betweenprovid<strong>in</strong>g oversight and lett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>schools</strong> experiment ontheir own, between approv<strong>in</strong>g vendors to ensure qualityand lett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>schools</strong> use the tools that are best for them,and between unit<strong>in</strong>g the district’s efforts and keep<strong>in</strong>groom for <strong>in</strong>novation.Vett<strong>in</strong>g Vendors. One of the most important tasks fora district or school <strong>in</strong> the digital age is select<strong>in</strong>g partnersand content providers. The education technology landscapeis still a bit like the Wild West. The area is floodedwith a sea of vendors try<strong>in</strong>g to sell their software, apps,tablets, games, portals, and e-content, yet many venturesare too new to have long-term measures of success.Some are reputable and some are charlatans, andit can be difficult for a district to make sense of it all.When it comes to select<strong>in</strong>g the right vendors, BrianPick emphasizes patience, especially for big districtswith no shortage of will<strong>in</strong>g partners: “There are groupsthat we’ve been dat<strong>in</strong>g for many years now [and] it is4
BLENDED LEARNING IN DC PUBLIC SHOOLSDANIEL K. LAUTZENHEISER AND TARYN HOCHLEITNERSpatial Temporal Math, or ST Math, is a game-basedvisual math <strong>in</strong>structional software program developedby the MIND Research Institute <strong>in</strong> Irv<strong>in</strong>e, California.The 17-year-old program emphasizes visual, asopposed to language-based, <strong>in</strong>struction. While it hasmet success nationally, student improvement has beenespecially noteworthy <strong>in</strong> Wash<strong>in</strong>gton, DC.Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Matthew Peterson, cofounder of theMIND Research Institute, DC students who usedST Math achieved a 17-percentage-po<strong>in</strong>t ga<strong>in</strong> on theDC Comprehensive Assessment System (DC CAS),the district’s standardized academic proficiency testtaken by all students each April, versus a 4.5-percentage-po<strong>in</strong>tga<strong>in</strong> for students who did not use the program—a“remarkable outcome” <strong>in</strong> Peterson’s words.The results were impressive enough <strong>in</strong> the 31 <strong>schools</strong>that used ST Math last year to prompt Rice to expandit to 33 <strong>schools</strong> for the 2013–14 year. (First <strong>in</strong> Math isalso see<strong>in</strong>g good results, with students who are deemedhigh users of the program improv<strong>in</strong>g their proficiencyscores on the DC CAS.)ST Math provides extensive support to teachers and<strong>schools</strong> after a contract has been established, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>gtra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g on how to use the software as well as technicalsupport. Jessica McKenzie, the ST Math representativefor the DC region, estimates that she visits DCST MATH<strong>schools</strong> three to four days per week. McKenzie helpsthe district plan professional development workshopsfor teachers, delivers the actual tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, and assistswith the implementation of the program throughoutthe entire year. ST Math provides an <strong>in</strong>troductoryworkshop for teachers, which runs three to fourhours, followed by a two-hour workshop four to sixweeks later, which focuses on how to use data andhow to <strong>in</strong>corporate ST Math <strong>in</strong>to <strong>in</strong>struction. Oncea year, McKenzie meets with adm<strong>in</strong>istrators at eachschool implement<strong>in</strong>g ST Math, and return<strong>in</strong>g teachers(those who already used ST Math for a full year)receive a 90-m<strong>in</strong>ute professional development sessiondur<strong>in</strong>g year two.MIND Research Institute tailors its approach foreach district; McKenzie expla<strong>in</strong>ed that DCPS optedto start implement<strong>in</strong>g with third through fifth gradersand gradually work down to the k<strong>in</strong>dergarten levelover a period of three years. The <strong>in</strong>stitute has alignedthe software’s content to the scope and sequenceDCPS prefers and provides weekly data updates onstudent performance to Rice and Pick. Work<strong>in</strong>gwith MIND, Rice and Pick set benchmarks for howmany hours each school needs to use ST Math, whileallow<strong>in</strong>g each school to set its own schedules to meetthose targets.important to be patient. Especially <strong>in</strong> a district likeDCPS, a lot of people want to get <strong>in</strong> the door. It takesreally good discipl<strong>in</strong>e to be able to say no, but cont<strong>in</strong>ueto build the relationship <strong>in</strong> such a way that when youare ready you are fir<strong>in</strong>g on all cyl<strong>in</strong>ders.”Select<strong>in</strong>g which companies to work with and whichproducts to procure for the district’s <strong>schools</strong> is one ofJohn Rice’s primary job functions. In do<strong>in</strong>g so he isadamant about align<strong>in</strong>g <strong>blended</strong>-<strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong> tools withlarger DCPS priorities. For the 2012–13 school year,the district was focused on Common Core math. Atthe time, <strong>schools</strong> across the district used various vendorsfor their onl<strong>in</strong>e math <strong>in</strong>struction. After track<strong>in</strong>gtheir performance over the course of the year, Rice andhis team found that two vendors stood out: ST Mathand First <strong>in</strong> Math. Other vendors were phased out,and now, <strong>in</strong> the 2013–14 school year, every elementaryschool is able to use one of these two programs.ST Math (see sidebar) is currently <strong>in</strong> 33 elementary<strong>schools</strong> across the district. Although the $34,000 perschoolcost is largely funded via f<strong>in</strong>ancial support fromST Math itself <strong>in</strong> conjunction with private donors,Rice acknowledges the cost is “a little prohibitive” whenit comes to expand<strong>in</strong>g to more <strong>schools</strong>. First <strong>in</strong> Math isused <strong>in</strong> the other 27 elementary <strong>schools</strong>, and a handfulof <strong>schools</strong> purchased additional products not curatedby the central office to meet their needs.Chancellor Henderson’s literacy priorities havespurred a similar approach for English Language Arts(ELA) dur<strong>in</strong>g the current 2013–14 school year. Last5