Here’s my core prediction: Alpha School will not be the place where we finally unveil the holy grail of education technology, where 100 percent of students can learn from a computer. Alpha School will not be the place where Engelmann’s ideas scale to reach every student. Developing curriculum is an empirical science. Designing great curriculum requires endless tinkering and testing and revision. If that testing happens at a $40,000-a-year private school, it simply will not scale to everyone. Alpha School might do great things for a slice of students. That’s cool. But let’s make sure the claims are in line with reality.1
If Alpha School is serious about being “the future of education,” the solution is simple. I’m seeing these allusions to Engelmann. Follow in his footsteps. Partner with a struggling school where outcomes are poor. Test the curriculum there. Refine and iterate with the students who are most likely to struggle. If Alpha School isn’t interested in doing that, I’m not going to pay much attention to the big claims. Go be a successful private school. Live and let live. I’ll head back to my classroom to do the best I can with boring traditional whole-class instruction.
I’ll note that there’s a section of the edtech world that is honest and straightforward that their products are designed to help the most academically capable students. I appreciate that! I know public schools struggle to challenge talented students, I see it every day. I’m happy those products exist. I respect them for being honest about who they’re designed for. If Alpha School marketed themselves that way, I wouldn’t be writing long posts about all this.