There's No Such Thing As A "C" Student

How EdTech will democratize learning.

In our current U.S. education system, we tend to “track” students from a very young age — and once on this path, it’s hard for any student who falls behind to change course.

A student who scores a C on a test will likely never go back to review the material they missed because traditional classrooms move on to the next lesson. With this method of learning, students may be doomed to follow an underperforming path as the subject matter builds and they fall further and further behind.

Consider fifth grader Olivia, who learns to divide fractions easily and does well on the tests. She’s likely to build on this high-performing base, while her classmate, Leo, who struggles to understand fractions and scores a C on the tests, may not get to review what he missed. Maybe Leo was absent for a few key concepts, maybe he was out sick or distracted by problems at home or just didn’t grasp the material immediately. Whatever the reason, the school system isn’t designed to get students like Leo back on track. Leo becomes a C student in math.

We find that it becomes extremely difficult for any student to break away from this path over the course of their entire academic career.

Educational research shows that a student’s performance on third-grade tests strongly correlates to their academic performance in 10th grade.

For reading, the outcomes are highly concerning. The research shows that one in six children who are not reading proficiently in third grade do not graduate from high school on time, a rate four times greater than that for proficient readers. One key reason is that students move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” in third grade, as reading becomes the primary means of access to academic lessons.

I believe there’s a better way to approach this so we don’t leave students like Leo falling behind. There’s a way to get kids off this underperforming track, but it takes an innovative approach. We should look at a C student as a student with knowledge gaps that need to be addressed — missing pieces of information, unique to them, requiring additional attention. Identify those exact learning gaps, then work with the student to improve in these areas and the sky’s the limit for what they can achieve.

At Alpha School, we figured out how to do this. Our students rank in the top 2% nationally on core curriculum, yet we don’t self-select our student body based on test scores. It’s based on motivation and giving students time back by making their learning time more efficient, therefore shorter. We’ve found that given the appropriate material adjusted to a student’s needs and the right motivational support, we can change the trajectory of their academic career. We know from decades of learning science that students whose knowledge gaps are identified and addressed can go on to master core curriculum, whether they start in the bottom quartile or the 90th percentile. Our second-grade class at Alpha’s campus in Brownsville averaged in the 31st percentile when we opened that school. One year later, they climbed into the 84th percentile.

Learning is like building a Jenga tower: you start by laying a strong foundation then adding knowledge onto the base, piece by piece. A student building on top of a shaky foundation will likely falter and eventually decide they’re not good at math. How many students in the traditional school system have missed out on meaningful life possibilities — scholarships, internships, college acceptances, and career opportunities simply because they believed they were “not a math person”? Far too many.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With the right resources, every student has the potential to excel. EdTech is advancing rapidly to help educators personalize learning for students of all backgrounds and skill levels. I believe that the appropriate EdTech, with the right guardrails, can be a great equalizer — meeting every student where they are to identify knowledge gaps and build their mastery of core subject matter. The so-called “C student” can be placed on the A student path.

Best Practices For Using EdTech Effectively

Embrace A New Mindset

AI is changing the world around us, and we can choose to see it as a threat or as an opportunity. Much of the rhetoric around AI that I see in the education sector seems to be rooted in fear. But AI can offer students so much more than doing their work for them. Don’t let fear of negative consequences prevent you from seeing the many advantages. Learning how to use AI ethically and think critically about new technologies are skills that will serve students now and well into the future.

Like the internet before it, AI is here to stay and becoming an integral part of the business world. Our students can’t afford to be shut out of this revolutionary technology.

Carefully Vet Learning Apps

New AI learning apps are flooding the market, many available at low or no cost, but not all are suited to every student’s needs. We review and test apps thoroughly to see which can offer personalized tutoring, interactive supplemental lessons, or mastery exercises for multiple skill levels. In our school, we use a combination of proprietary and third-party AI apps to engage our students, including Khan Academy, IXL and TeachTap, a platform that looks like TikTok but helps kids learn high school AP curriculum. (Full disclosure: The tech team that launched the startup LearnWith.AI and the TeachTap app also creates content for our learning platforms.) Students chat with AI-generated historical figures, like Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, Nicola Tesla, and Cleopatra in an engaging way to learn that no textbook can provide.

Treat AI as an Educational Partner

Don’t worry: we don’t put a student in front of an iPad and expect them to learn on their own. Instead, think of AI as an educational partner. We work with students to figure out which concepts they understand and which ones they’re struggling with, then use AI-generated lessons to focus on the trouble areas. We set goals, review their progress, and look for ways to motivate students by tapping into their interests.

Stay Up-To-Date On New EdTech Developments

Edtech is evolving exponentially, and the next best AI learning tool for students might be just around the corner. We stay informed about the latest developments, and keep experimenting with new technologies.

The traditional notion of an A, B, or C student fails to consider the possibilities of a customized learning method. I believe that it's time to reimagine education — and EdTech will play a pivotal role in ensuring that every student has opportunities to excel in academics. There’s no such thing as a “C student” — just students working their way up to mastering the coursework and reaching their fullest potential.

Were you a “C student” growing up? How did this impact your educational experience?