Dive Brief:

• Guthrie Common School District in West Texas created Guthrie Virtual School to provide Spanish instruction to its rural student population, joining a growing trend helping to provide subject matter experts in remote locations.
• By using online learning, districts like Guthrie can save money while allowing educators in disparate locations to lead instruction.
• Hundreds of students participate daily in the blended program, which is supplemented through the use of Rosetta Stone software and cultural projects, speaking and writing activities, and quizzes.

Dive Insight:

Schools in remote areas face some significant challenges that are entirely different from those faced by urban or suburban school systems — especially when it comes to recruiting teachers in subjects like foreign language and computer science, where experts can be few and far between. Innovation and creativity can help, and Guthrie's virtual approach is one way that seems to be working.

Yet blended learning programs can sometimes be difficult to implement in rural areas. Many remote school districts still face significant challenges when it comes to securing and maintaining high-speed internet, and cost is a factor. Some have turned to the use of satellite internet connections, since they don't require terrestrial infrastructure.

When it comes to Spanish language learning in particular, a teacher shortage compounds the problem. Guthrie couldn't afford a full-time language teacher, and even if the district did have the money to spend, finding a candidate might have been trying. In other Texas districts, like Dallas ISD, teachers from Puerto Rico are being imported to meet the needs of increasing English language learner populations and to counter pressing teacher shortages.