K-12 education is often one-size-fits-all in the United States. Standardized tests, eight-hour school days, and memorizing textbooks don’t create space for critical thinking or genuine academic and personal growth in students. 

Instead, it often halts children’s natural creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and love of learning. With this rigid learning structure so ingrained in the American education system, is a better way for our children realistic? 

Kerry McDonald of the Foundation for Economic Education visited 35 parents and educators in five communities around the United States and discovered the answer is: Yes. She found entrepreneurial educators transforming education everywhere – from big metropolises to small towns. Did you know about Detroit’s homeschooling movement, the forest schools in Texas, or the play-based learning models in Virginia?

These schools embrace every student’s unique gifts with learning models designed to cater to learners’ individual needs. That’s because education that is responsive to families results in better outcomes than a top-down system. After all, the purpose of education is to help students discover their unique abilities so they can contribute and find fulfillment. 

The entrepreneurs all took slightly different approaches to solving their education problems, but they all shared the same five qualities, McDonald found: They were ideologically, geographically, and demographically diverse; they favored individualized and decentralized solutions; they collaborated with each other and made their programs as accessible as possible. 

Let’s take a look at the five places where McDonald found inspiring education transformations.

Dallas and Fort Worth: Educators respond to COVID by creating better schools

It took poor pandemic policy for many to say “enough is enough” with bureaucratic schooling methods. When the government demanded all students be taught remotely, avoid interaction with other students when they returned to the classroom, and take weeks off school if they became ill — Dallas-Fort Worth educators and parents said enough is enough. 

Educators began opening forest schools, STEM-focused microschools, and faith-based schooling programs. Barefoot University is one such example. Each week the Barefoot University homeschoolers gather for walks in parks, nature preserves, forests, and hiking trails. Each walk comes with an outdoor-themed learning activity to combine fun with learning.  

In other parts of the region, students are learning in innovative ways indoors as well as outdoors. Braveheart Christian Academy is a microschool that may look like a more traditional school, however, it’s anything but. When students struggle to keep up with their peers in the same grade, they aren’t pushed along through the system in the hopes of just getting them to graduate. Instead, they are given individualized attention focused on mastering skills before moving on. 

“We had one child who entered school as a fourth grader by age but who performed at a first-grade level. Now, after a school year and a half with us, that student has nearly caught up academically to his fifth-grade peers,” founder Chrystal Bernard said.

Grants Pass, Oregon: Where grit and growth matter more than letter grades

The traditional classroom can feel disconnected to reality for students, especially those in rural America. In a ranching community like Grants Pass, hands-on knowledge and common sense know-how is a lot more important than the ability to sit still at a desk for eight hours. 

That’s why educators here took it upon themselves to restructure the learning environment with alternative K-12 education techniques that embrace qualities important to the community– like entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency. At the Madrona Folk School, homeschoolers are introduced to nature immersion, and traditional farming skills that will help them thrive for years to come. The best part is these classes, taught on a renovated homestead property, are all tailored to each child’s individual needs and mastery levels. 

Other schools, like River’s Edge Academy Charter School only have students attend class on campus part-time. The rest of the time, they are out in the community participating in educational programs, like 4-H.

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For more of McDonald’s takeaways, get the full report; or learn why McDonald is so optimistic about the future of education.

Learn more about Stand Together’s education efforts, and explore ways you can partner with us.