As the Legislature returned to work Jan. 12, lawmakers are preparing to take a hard look at the state\u2019s kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) education system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arizona Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, said the state\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Gress plans to introduce a bill that would create a multiyear education commission to examine the state\u2019s school letter grade and accountability system, education funding formula, class standards, school assessments, and graduation requirements.<\/p>\n
As those discussions take shape, digital learning leaders argue that many of the reforms lawmakers are debating are already operating within Arizona\u2019s virtual and hybrid learning models.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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 \u201cVirtual Schools, Actual Learning: Digital Education in America,\u201d said virtual learning models allow districts, especially rural ones, to stretch instructional dollars further without cutting course offerings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She explained that rural districts often can\u2019t 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 \u201cfill that gap\u201d by providing those courses which otherwise might not be offered due to staffing or budget constraints.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also could come into play, say, if a small school doesn\u2019t have advanced courses,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moreover, hybrid approaches,\u00a0 such as using digital teachers with on-site facilitators, give rural students even more support and access while maximizing limited resources.<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 the nation\u2019s first statewide, Internet-based public school. It was also the first to have a performance-based funding model tied to successful course completions.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cVirtual Schools, Actual Learning: Digital Education in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
With decades of experience in pioneering digital learning models, Johnson said these approaches do more than expand access \u2013 they also provide tools for tracking student progress in ways traditional funding and staffing models cannot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That focus on student progress highlights another area of concern for state lawmakers: how the state measures school performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gress has criticized Arizona\u2019s A-F school grading system, which he calls \u201claughable,\u201d noting that schools can earn high grades despite low proficiency scores.<\/p>\n
Johnson said the state\u2019s accountability system captures only a slice in time using state assessments and annual metrics, and that proficiency might be better assessed through mastery standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIdeally, what we\u2019re driving towards\u2026is mastery. Standard by standard mastery,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe envision a day \u2013 and we\u2019re working actively toward a day \u2013 where a student might be able to see \u2026 a honeycomb of all the standards they need to master to graduate or to get into their college of choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt becomes less about \u2018Did I pass 10th grade?\u2019 and more about \u2018I\u2019ve mastered these standards\u2026Here\u2019s some standards I need to work on.\u2019 It\u2019s far more specific and far more about outcomes than just that slice-in-time moment,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers\u2019 concern about how schools are assessed is mirrored in how student learning is measured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gress has said he wants to see research and ideas focused on improving proficiency rather than other metrics like growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
She added that in a good digital program, students should be having conversations with teachers or supporting staff \u2013 ASU Prep Digital students work with success coaches \u2013 to help students analyze their own data, recognize where they are falling behind, and set goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a life skill for kids, and too often they\u2019re not trained that way in a traditional classroom,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, 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\u2019s just a slice in time\u2026one little snapshot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really doesn\u2019t tell them all the details of where they\u2019ve come from and how they\u2019re progressing. And if we think every student progresses at their own pace, then it\u2019s important for every student to have access to data that tells them how they\u2019re progressing,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more about, \u2018what do you know, and what can you do with what you know?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s 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\u2019s what we\u2019re working towards,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Johnson said her advice to legislators entering this session is to not let the pandemic-era disruption overshadow the progress made in digital learning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been around this since 2001. These are things we were doing even back then,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for a long, long time, and it\u2019s a great tool in your arsenal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt used to be more of a choice between online and on-site learning. Now all those lines are blurring to where \u2026 learning really, truly is \u2013 as we\u2019ve always said \u2013 anywhere, anytime, any path, at any pace. But that\u2019s becoming even more true with artificial intelligence [AI] facilitating off site learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so we\u2019re 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.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We know that it doesn\u2019t have to look that way.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Legislature returned to work Jan. 12, lawmakers are preparing to take a hard look at the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":525034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,233274,1587,233276,233275,233273,56477,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-525033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-asu-prep-digital","tag-az","tag-florida-virtual-school","tag-julie-young","tag-kay-johnson","tag-matt-gress","tag-phoenix","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115915909287791712","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}