As the Legislature returned to work Jan. 12, lawmakers are preparing to take a hard look at the state’s kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) education system.
Arizona Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, said the state’s K-12 system faces several foundational challenges, and criticized its accountability system for giving high grades to schools with low proficiency, creating a misleading picture of school performance.
Gress plans to introduce a bill that would create a multiyear education commission to examine the state’s school letter grade and accountability system, education funding formula, class standards, school assessments, and graduation requirements.
As those discussions take shape, digital learning leaders argue that many of the reforms lawmakers are debating are already operating within Arizona’s virtual and hybrid learning models.
Gress has said state funding should prioritize direct instruction and teacher allocation, particularly as districts face tighter budgets. Digital learning leaders say those pressures are already shaping how schools deliver instruction, with virtual and hybrid models increasingly used to extend limited resources.
One of the clearest examples, they say, can be seen in how schools serve rural students. Kay Johnson, director of strategic communications at ASU Prep and co-editor of “Virtual Schools, Actual Learning: Digital Education in America,” said virtual learning models allow districts, especially rural ones, to stretch instructional dollars further without cutting course offerings.
She explained that rural districts often can’t afford to hire teachers for every subject students need to pass to meet Arizona Board of Regents requirements. She pointed out that digital learning models can “fill that gap” by providing those courses which otherwise might not be offered due to staffing or budget constraints.
“It also could come into play, say, if a small school doesn’t have advanced courses,” Johnson said. “That puts those students at a disadvantage against students in a larger district that might have a much larger course catalog to draw from… So digital learning, again, can kind of come in and fill that gap.”
Moreover, hybrid approaches, such as using digital teachers with on-site facilitators, give rural students even more support and access while maximizing limited resources.
Johnson began her career about 30 years ago as a classroom teacher in Florida, eventually migrating over to Florida Online High School, which would later become Florida Virtual School – the nation’s first statewide, Internet-based public school. It was also the first to have a performance-based funding model tied to successful course completions.
In 2018 she was recruited to ASU Prep by Julie Young, founder of both Florida Virtual School and ASU Prep Digital and a co-editor of “Virtual Schools, Actual Learning: Digital Education in America.”
With decades of experience in pioneering digital learning models, Johnson said these approaches do more than expand access – they also provide tools for tracking student progress in ways traditional funding and staffing models cannot.
That focus on student progress highlights another area of concern for state lawmakers: how the state measures school performance.
Gress has criticized Arizona’s A-F school grading system, which he calls “laughable,” noting that schools can earn high grades despite low proficiency scores.
Johnson said the state’s accountability system captures only a slice in time using state assessments and annual metrics, and that proficiency might be better assessed through mastery standards.
“Ideally, what we’re driving towards…is mastery. Standard by standard mastery,” she explained.
“We envision a day – and we’re working actively toward a day – where a student might be able to see … a honeycomb of all the standards they need to master to graduate or to get into their college of choice.
“It becomes less about ‘Did I pass 10th grade?’ and more about ‘I’ve mastered these standards…Here’s some standards I need to work on.’ It’s far more specific and far more about outcomes than just that slice-in-time moment,” Johnson said.
Lawmakers’ concern about how schools are assessed is mirrored in how student learning is measured.
Gress has said he wants to see research and ideas focused on improving proficiency rather than other metrics like growth.
Digital learning models, Johnson said, can address that very concern by giving students a daily, detailed view of their progress, allowing them to define what specific concepts they need to work on to achieve proficiency in a subject.
She added that in a good digital program, students should be having conversations with teachers or supporting staff – ASU Prep Digital students work with success coaches – to help students analyze their own data, recognize where they are falling behind, and set goals.
“That’s a life skill for kids, and too often they’re not trained that way in a traditional classroom,” Johnson said.
“So, state testing is helpful for things like just catching large, mega trends, or seeing where entire schools might be having some struggles; but for a student that’s just a slice in time…one little snapshot.
“It really doesn’t tell them all the details of where they’ve come from and how they’re progressing. And if we think every student progresses at their own pace, then it’s important for every student to have access to data that tells them how they’re progressing,” he continued.
Gress said he also wants to see graduation requirements examined. Johnson explained that mastery standards allow digital learning models to approach graduation differently, letting students earn credit at their own pace by demonstrating what they know and can do.
Johnson argues that digital learning models represent a shift away from traditional seat-time toward mastery, ideally making grade levels irrelevant in the long run.
“It’s more about, ‘what do you know, and what can you do with what you know?’” she said.
Johnson said she spoke with a principal in North Dakota whose school has switched to a completely competency-based model. He shared that they are working on giving students credit for things outside of school that could be considered competency-based learning.
“Let’s say a student gets tasked with creating a social media campaign for her employer. Well, could that translate to some English standards or some business skills standards that that student could actually get credit for? So that’s what we’re working towards,” Johnson said.
Johnson said her advice to legislators entering this session is to not let the pandemic-era disruption overshadow the progress made in digital learning.
While emergency remote learning exposed gaps in access and design, she said high-quality online programs have long demonstrated how digital tools can complement traditional classrooms, fill gaps, and provide flexible pathways for students.
She emphasized traditional schools and digital learning models are not as far apart as one might think, and that lawmakers should consider how virtual learning can be leveraged for students.
“I’ve been around this since 2001. These are things we were doing even back then,” Johnson said. “We’ve been doing this for a long, long time, and it’s a great tool in your arsenal.
“It used to be more of a choice between online and on-site learning. Now all those lines are blurring to where … learning really, truly is – as we’ve always said – anywhere, anytime, any path, at any pace. But that’s becoming even more true with artificial intelligence [AI] facilitating off site learning.
“And so we’re just encouraging leaders in the education space and in the legislative space to think about how we can leverage that for kids, and not pigeonhole kids into just the old traditional model of ‘learning happens from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day.’
“We know that it doesn’t have to look that way.”