In 2013 as an IEW Educational Consultant, I conducted the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style® (TWSS) seminar at Legacy Christian Academy, a hybrid school in Bakersfield, California. As the school prepared for the new school year, the principal wanted live professional development for her faculty. She wanted to include parents in the training because of the hybrid school model.
Based on my experience teaching a boot camp for parents earlier in my career, I realized that the Legacy parents participating in the two-day TWSS seminar would be well prepared to support their children at home. I was excited to visit the school. The faculty members and parents were eager to learn the Structure and Style method, participated enthusiastically, and asked excellent questions. Undeniably, the principal understood that consistency between teachers and parents would be crucial to student success at Legacy. Part 1 of this blog series details the importance of a consistent method of writing instruction as well as the research that affirms the efficacy of the Structure and Style method in any learning environment.
Hybrid schools have become an increasingly popular option. Students in a hybrid school spend part of the week with a classroom teacher for instruction and the rest of the week at home with a parent, who facilitates learning.
In an interview with Jonathan Wai in Psychology Today, Mike McShane, director of national research at EdChoice and author of Hybrid Homeschooling: A Guide to the Future of Education, describes hybrid schools as “a best-of-both worlds approach, with the benefits from having a classroom learning community and all of the good things that a traditional school arrangement offers with the individualization and personalization that homeschooling provides.” The 2024 Kennesaw State University National Hybrid Schools Survey included this data about hybrid school trends:
- Hybrid schools are growing in number and in size. The average enrollment has consistently grown over the past several years from an average of 152 students in 2018 to an average of 263 students in 2023.
- Hybrid schools seem to be a phenomenon of suburban areas, suggesting that they are a school choice option for more middle class families.
- More hybrid school students than last year were considered to be homeschoolers rather than students enrolled in a school.
- The average hybrid school’s tuition is below the average education savings account (ESA) value in states with current ESA programs.
Hybrid schools benefit students and their families in several ways, including individualized learning, increased parental involvement, and flexibility. While the classroom teacher is primarily responsible for instruction, the parents’ role is pivotal—supervising learning on home days and working together with teachers and administrators. Jennifer Mauser, IEW Educational Consultant and learning differences specialist, illustrates the shared support provided by the teacher and parent as well as the student’s role in learning in her blog post “The Triangle of Writing Success.”
In addition to being an Educational Consultant at IEW, Renee Vasher is a teacher at Legacy Alliance School, a hybrid school in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. Last fall, she interviewed the administrative team for the IEW 2024 Arts of Language Magalog for Schools and Hybrid Schools. In Renee’s article, “Trust the System,” Michelle Stansell, a board member and teacher at the school, shares the improvements seen in students’ writing as a result of using IEW:
As they use IEW, students become more comfortable with the writing process. In achieving higher comfort levels, their writing tends to become more clear and interesting. Many times, students learn better grammar as they write because the methods (dress-ups, sentence openers, etc.) reinforce grammatical concepts. Perhaps the best outcome is an increased fondness for writing and a better understanding of the value of developing good communication skills for life.
Parents have an abundance of educational options to consider before choosing the one that best fits the needs of their family and their children. In ever increasing numbers, they are choosing hybrid schools. IEW offers a wealth of resources to help hybrid schools and their families with the information and guidance they need. Visit IEW’s Hybrid Schools Help page for information about the Structure and Style method, curriculum options, teacher training, parent training, and IEW’s Hybrid Schools Consultants.
by Jean Nichols with Renee Vasher
Works Cited
Wai, Jonathan. “Hybrid Homeschooling and the Future of School.” Psychology Today
Sussex Publishers, 21 Dec. 2021, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-the-next-einstein/202112/
hybrid-homeschooling-and-the-future-school.
Wearne, Eric and Thompson, John. “National Hybrid Schools Survey 2024.” National
Hybrid Schools Project. Kennesaw State University Coles College of Business. August 2024.
https://www.kennesaw.edu/coles/centers/education-economics-center/national-hybrid-schools-project/
documents/2024-national-hybrid-schools-survey.pdf. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
