Education Entrepreneurship

Parents Creating Immense Change in Their Own Communities

August 21, 2023 | Sharon Sedlar

“Parents and education professionals are creating immense and positive change in their own communities.  They’re reducing bureaucracy, returning focus to the children, respecting parent authority, and taking back education on their terms. We’re here for it!”

5 Surprising Facts About Microschooling

December 22, 2022 | Kerry McDonald

“One of the most popular and fastest-growing educational trends today is microschooling. Microschools are intentionally small, mixed-age, K-12 learning communities with personalized curriculum approaches that are sprouting rapidly across the U.S. They harken back to the one-room schoolhouses of yesteryear and were gaining traction even before the education disruption of 2020 unleashed greater exposure to this learning model. Over the past couple of years, interest in microschools has soared, with some estimates suggesting that as many as two million students are now attending microschools full-time. From large cities to rural villages coast-to-coast, microschools are catching on with parents, teachers, and learners.”

Foundation for Economic Education

Kerry McDonald

Kerry McDonald is a Senior Education Fellow at FEE and host of the weekly LiberatED podcast. She is the author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019). In addition to her role at FEE, Kerry is also the Velinda Jonson Family Education Fellow at State Policy Network, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a regular Forbes contributor.

“Kerry’s research interests include homeschooling and schooling alternatives, self-directed learning, education entrepreneurship, parent empowerment, school choice, and family and child policy. Her articles have appeared at The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, Newsweek, NPR, Education Next, Reason Magazine, Washington Examiner, City Journal, Entrepreneur, and the Journal of School Choice, among others. She has a master’s degree in education policy from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Bowdoin College.”

“So You Want To Start A Microschool“

March 2, 2021 | Mike McShane

“Whether termed ‘pandemic pods’ or ‘microschools’ or a host of other names that have popped up, these small educational institutions have seen a tremendous increase in interest in the past few months. Will they be a flash in the pan or something more sustainable? Are microschools going to become a substantial part of the education landscape?”

“Microschools, Hybrid Schools Offer More Options for Parents“

May 18, 2023 | Colleen Hroncich and Sharon Sedlar

“Frequently, these new educational options are launched by parents who want something different for their children or former teachers who feel constrained by the public school system. While they may not have planned to become education entrepreneurs, they see a need and step up.

“Parents whom we have talked with and who have taken the leap into microschools or hybrid schools are typically very happy with their decisions. If you’ve been considering other options for your children, there’s no time like the present to give them a chance.”

“How microschools can succeed“

October 19, 2023 | Daniel Buck

“My colleague Mike Petrilli believes that these “hybrid homeschools” will likely remain a niche phenomenon. Perhaps they will. But 5.4 percent of 73.1 million children is still a lot of children, and trends suggest an even larger share of the population will begin to homeschool in the coming years. To ensure that those children receive the education they deserve, it will require policymakers to craft smart laws to govern these new institutions and the movement itself to interrogate its own beliefs and practices, experimenting with new educational practices, yes, but willing to alter course if they’re proving unsuccessful.”

“Listening To Educational Entrepreneurs“

April 25, 2023 | Mike McShane

“Access to capital, help navigating regulations, and support for educators who want to become businesspeople is a short but simple summary of what entrepreneurs say that they need. If we want to see more educational entrepreneurs, we need to figure out how to support them with information, resources, and training so they can thrive in an evolving K-12 education ecosystem.”

Educational Innovations: A 50-State Guide to Microschooling and Mix-and-Match Learning

“Microschooling. Course choice. Parentpreneurs. Youth-directed education. Enrichment center. Freedom to play. Educational innovation. Unbundling education. Education a la carte. 

“Education is evolving, and if you’ve stumbled into an education conversation or joined a parent discussion group recently, chances are you’ve heard of learning arrangements or styles you didn’t even know existed. Today, many families are finding the flexibility, customization,  and community they desire in learning arrangements at least partially outside their traditional public school or parochial school. Today, more than 1 million families participate in “microschooling,” localized learning groups they’ve discovered or designed. While families who microschool may legally be homeschoolers or private schoolers, they share an entrepreneurial mindset that sets them apart. 

“Beyond microschooling, many families are simply mixing and matching different education types; for example, enrolling part-time in public school classes, online classes, or apprenticeship programs while homeschooling. To help you understand microschooling and other unconventional learning choices in your state, we’ve created this guide. “