Over the past two years, Bellwether launched two grant programs to expand access to flexible, personalized learning opportunities for students and families — particularly families furthest from opportunity. The Filling the Gap Program supported grantees focused on increasing access to supplemental educational programs, while the Assembly Grant Program supported solutions that help families access any flexible learning option, including supplemental, career-focused, or alternative schooling opportunities.
As we reflect on these programs and the grantees’ work, several key themes and insights emerge. This series of blog posts will share the approaches our grantees used to support families and the lessons we learned about ensuring all families can access educational experiences tailored to learners’ needs, interests, and goals.
In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, families increasingly seek flexible, personalized learning experiences for their children. Providers are eager to offer those options, but this comes with a new challenge: How can families effectively navigate and evaluate the available options?
Grantees consistently saw that families need tools to help them sift through and assess learning options, with a particular emphasis on quality. This need is especially pronounced among families furthest from opportunity, who may need more resources or connections to find the necessary information. Factors such as budget, location, schedule, and transportation can make it challenging to choose in-person learning options. Moreover, the abundance of virtual options can lead to being overwhelmed or concerned about low-quality options. Below are four examples of how Filling the Gap and Assembly grantees Outschool.org, GreatSchools, NavigatEd Arizona, and Minnesota Afterschool Advance deployed different strategies to ease the burden on families.
Providing One-on-One Coaching
The Outbridge initiative from Outschool.org supported families in Virginia in accessing the state’s microgrants for tutoring and special education resources using a variety of tiered supports, the most intensive of which was one-on-one coaching with families. Staff answered incoming calls and made outgoing calls to families, many of which lasted an hour or more as they worked together to identify tutoring options that fit a family’s needs. While this level of intensity is not always sustainable or necessary for all families, Outbridge found that it was particularly effective for families with the most barriers to access. Within just one week in March 2024, Outbridge saw a 45% increase in spending from families who received coaching support.
Vetting High-Quality Partners
Determining the quality of a learning provider can be tricky in the flexible learning space, given the different types of services offered and the sheer number of providers available in-person or online. GreatSchools aims to reduce decision fatigue for families by connecting them with vetted, high-quality providers. It launched this service by partnering with UPchieve, a nonprofit recognized for offering effective high-dosage tutoring to low-income students. With a trusted partner, GreatSchools could focus on identifying eligible families and sending targeted emails highlighting UPchieve’s services. As a result of the information campaign, over 300 families explored UPchieve as a tutoring option for their children.
Providing Call Center Support
When faced with difficulty navigating learning options, many families want to speak directly with someone familiar with their local context and education options. NavigatEd Arizona provides a call center where staff are trained to answer questions about education and state programs.
As part of the Assembly Grant Program, NavigatEd improved these services by creating a detailed inventory of personalized learning options for staff to reference. The inventory includes over 100 innovative learning partners organized by geographical region. It also contains rich qualitative information about each option’s flexibility and unique attributes. This enables the call center to provide families with neutral, accurate, and actionable information for each option. Over just three months, NavigatEd Arizona’s call center conducted over 2,000 calls with families.
Connecting Families With Funding
Affordability is a top concern for families exploring flexible learning; after all, even a perfect, high-quality provider can’t make a difference if its services are out of reach for a family. While some states might offer direct funding programs that defray these costs, the technicalities of these programs can pose challenges for families furthest from opportunity. For example, Minnesota provides funds for flexible learning through a tax credit program, meaning families can access funds only when they file their taxes.
Minnesota Afterschool Advance (MAA) helps address this challenge by providing interest-free loans to families. To help families repay the loan, MAA assists families in filing for Minnesota’s K-12 Education Tax Credit. By combining upfront funding with tax assistance, MAA can bridge the gap between families’ immediate educational needs and the tax cycle to make educational expenses more accessible and manageable for low-income families.
Conclusion
Navigating today’s diverse educational options can be overwhelming for families. Still, Assembly and Filling the Gap grantees offer practical solutions that empower families to access funds for flexible learning and make informed decisions about the options that will work best for their children. As the educational landscape evolves, continuing to refine and expand these efforts is crucial to ensure all families can successfully navigate and benefit from flexible learning options.
