Tom Vander Ark: A First Responder's Take on 'Quality Control in K-12 Digital Learning'

Fordham is launching a series of working papers on digital learning. Rick Hess makes an important contribution with the first paper focused on quality.
For the hundred experts that contributed to Digital Learning Now this was the thorniest issue. To a person they expressed interest in quality but wrestled with limitations and barriers of input-driven approaches common to education. The final DLN report points to
outcome oriented approaches but doesn’t provide much detail.
Hess makes a solid contribution by outlining input-oriented, outcome-driven and market-based approaches to promoting quality. He makes clear the shortcomings of applying input controls to digital learning. Teacher certification strategies don’t seem to add much value
and attempts to certify teachers in online and blended learning strategies would remain hopelessly out of date with best practice. Applying a textbook review processes to dynamic and adaptive digital content libraries would damper innovation, limit access and do
little to assure quality.
Click here to read more about what I think of Rick's work and why I believe states should continue to authorize statewide online learning providers based on their track record of producing academic results.
Click here to read Rich Hess's Quality Control in K-12 Digital Learning: Three (Imperfect) Approaches.