![]() Smith concedes the network is at an “inflection point.” Rocketship CEO and co-founder Preston Smith staunchly defends the organization against critics who accuse it of pushing too hard to expand blended learning’s boundaries.īut even Mr. A sweeping experiment with flexible classrooms during the 2012-13 school year resulted in sharp networkwide test-score drops and dissension among the organization’s rank and file. Ramin Rahimian for Education WeekĪnd the on-the-ground reality has been messy, too. Red flags also have come up around finances: Documents and interviews make clear that the new, flexible classrooms were originally devised as part of an audacious plan to cut staff, save $200,000 annually per school, and redirect the funds to help start up new Rocketship schools-a strategy that proved too aggressive, even for Rocketship, and has since been dialed back.įourth-graders show their work during a lesson on figurative language in a new "flexible classroom" at Rocketship Meteo Sheedy Elementary School. Some Rocketship leaders, for example, now acknowledge that their original blended learning model-which powered the organization’s initial growth, to nine schools and 5,200 students, before its impact could be rigorously studied-may be more effective at teaching students to follow directions than to think for themselves. Rather than resolve that tension, the new flexible classrooms have, by Rocketship’s own admission, further strained the organization and exposed underlying problems glossed over during the group’s ascent. Although test scores have steadily declined as the network has added schools and students, Rocketship has maintained its voracious appetite for growth. Many look at Rocketship’s new approach, which represents a significant departure from the blended learning model that helped launch the Bay Area nonprofit to national prominence, and see the future.īut the story behind the organization’s flexible classrooms is also a cautionary tale about the belief that technological innovation can fuel rapid school expansion without compromising quality. Only those students who met al CDE criteria for inclusion in state accountability reports were included. SOURCES: Rocketship Education At the request of Education Week the California Department of Education calculated the total percentage of all tested students in Rocketship schools who scored proficient or above on California Standards Tests in each of the past five school years.
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