Next Generation Learning: Defining and Scaling the Opportunity

BOSTON, Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine a world in which students receive personalized instruction based on need, skill and interest, and where technology enhances the ability of all students to reach their individual learning potential. This is no idealist view, but rather a description of Next Generation Learning (NGL), a nascent movement embraced by a new generation of educators, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and policy makers. At its center is a dramatic re-envisioning of each student's experience.

"Our team at Parthenon has a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing Next Generation Learning given our broad network and experience across both the demand and supply side of the K12 and Higher Education systems.   We believe that if done well, Next Generation Learning will fundamentally transform the K-12 learning experience and shift many deeply embedded notions about when, where and how learning ought to take place," said Tamara Butler Battaglino, partner and head of the Education Center of Excellence for The Parthenon Group, a global strategic advisory firm.

Parthenon, in collaboration with Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Opportunity Equation and Stupski Foundation, led a comprehensive market analysis of the NGL landscape. Two resulting papers provide the first comprehensive overview: Next Generation Learning – Defining the Opportunity and Next Generation Learning – Scaling the Opportunity.

But what is Next Generation Learning? Moreover, can NGL truly deliver on the promise of its central tenet: new school models that can personalize learning for all students?  

As with any "disruptive" movement, NGL success requires efforts that align all stakeholders while allowing for innovation and flexibility. To help define the NGL opportunity and assess the viability of scaling the movement, Parthenon built upon existing education sector expertise through research and interviews with more than 100 district- and state-level practitioners, entrepreneurs, funders, policy experts and suppliers. The findings underscored that:

• NGL ensures that students receive subject content in a manner and timeframe tailored to individual needs. Even with myriad school models, NGL will rest on three essential building blocks:
  • Knowing individual students through frequent diagnosis and assessment
  • Providing modular unbundled content and learning activities pegged to world-class standards
  • Applying a variety of delivery methods
• Scaling NGL requires that stakeholders:
  • "Want to" (be motivated by NGL)
  • "Be allowed to" (remove any policy barriers)
  • Understand "how to" (create the necessary tools and platforms)
• Technology is one form of instructional delivery but not the ultimate goal of NGL. Instead, most emerging NGL models are hybrids that combine technology with other forms of instruction (e.g., whole-class or small-group tutoring, independent study) to alleviate resource constraints of traditional models (e.g., human capital, time and space).
• NGL can also accelerate innovation through collaboration and more equitable and efficient sharing of knowledge and experiences.  
• Eliminating barriers to NGL requires specific action from four key stakeholder groups:
  • District and state officials to generate demand from the ground up
  • Funders to support demand generation and capacity building
  • Policy and advocacy groups to remove regulatory obstacles that prevent innovation
  • Entrepreneurs to build research-based NGL models

The promise of NGL appears significant, but success will require greater marketplace refinement and the removal of system-level barriers that currently prevent growth.

"Parthenon is pleased to inform the NGL debate, and we look forward to deep engagement across the NGL movement," said Seth Reynolds, a partner within Parthenon's Education Center of Excellence. "With concerted effort by educators, entrepreneurs, funders and policy makers, we will reach our goal of fulfilling each child's individual learning ability while maximizing the potential of innovative models in education."

About The Parthenon Group 

The Parthenon Group, founded in 1991, is a leading strategy consulting firm, with offices in Boston, London, Mumbai and San Francisco. Its education practice – the Education Center of Excellence – is the first of its kind in the consulting sector with a mission to provide exceptional expertise to the global education industry. The experience, skills and resources of ECE's management team extends across public sector and nonprofit education providers, foundations, for-profit companies and service providers, and investors.

For more information, please visit www.parthenon.com

CONTACT: Caitlin Hool, +1-212-220-4444

SOURCE The Parthenon Group