As school district administrators explore how to best educate their students during the COVID-19 pandemic, some administrators have turned to a concurrent instruction model. Universities have used concurrent instruction (often known as HyFlex in a higher-education context) for years, but school districts rarely implemented the model prior to this year.
District administrators across the nation implemented concurrent instruction this yearAlthough the precise number of school districts that currently use concurrent instruction remains unclear, EAB interviews find implementation fairly common across the country. For example, the following districts currently use—or plan to implement—concurrent instruction.
Fairfax County Public Schools (187,797 students): According to this district’s updates, the district has begun to use concurrent instruction for both elementary school and secondary school.Stamford Public Schools (15,942 students): This district's Reopening Plan indicates that administrators split students into two cohorts, each attending in-person school two days per week. Students in the other cohort attend classes via live-streamed instruction.Pelham Public Schools (2,896 students): According to this district’s Model Overview, administrators split students into two cohorts, each of which attends school in-person two days per week. While one cohort learns in school, the other cohort attends the same lesson at home. EAB identified significant drawbacks to concurrent instructionWhile peer-reviewed research on the long-term effectiveness of K-12 concurrent instruction has yet to emerge, EAB’s interviews with dozens of district leaders and virtual learning research experts across the country revealed the following advantages and disadvantages to concurrent instruction.
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