Asora® Education Enterprises has as its major development effort, the Stellar Schools Franchising Project, which is based on the Asora instructional format using methods, technologies, content, and organizational structures known to work in relevant contexts. Our goal is no less than Ending Education As We Know It.
In fact, ASORA is an acronym descriptive of the principal features of Stellar Schools as follows:
- A: Asynchronous (on-demand)
- S: Self-paced learning
- O: On-line instruction
- R: Rigorous academic content
- A: Assessment integrated curriculum
Asora schools have been designed to provide three critical benefits to students and their families:
- I: Superior instruction
- II: Lower tuition
- III: No social promotion
On this last point, we stress our belief that social promotion is the most serious dysfunction in K-12 schools, whether private or public.
To enter the world of the Stellar Schools Franchising Project, which embodies the just mentioned ASORA principles, click here and we'll take you there. A similar effort in the non-profit world is being undertaken by the Stellar Schools Development Corporation, which can be accessed here.
Asora Consulting ServicesCurrently, our primary activity at Asora® Education Enterprises is the provision of consulting services mainly in the area of achievement test analysis- the conclusions of which support our preference for self-paced learning. To learn about Asora Consulting, please click here.
Asora's Subsidiary Efforts and ServicesAs we have developed our plans for Stellar Schools we have undertaken a number of other activities in support of that effort. To learn more about these other services, click here for some additional information.
Help Asora Reform K-12 Education and be RewardedThe primary goal of Asora Education Enterprises is to reform K-12 education by developing and offering schooling in the for-profit sector. We believe, however, that an effort in the non-profit world can complement this activity by drawing on the unique resources available there. Therefore, we shall also help launch a parallel non-profit organization, the Stellar Schools Development Corporation, that will also develop Stellar Schools. We additionally envisage SSDC taking on a major role as a research and development vehicle that will benefit not only Asora's for-profit enterprise but also other operators in the field.
Whether in the for-profit or non-profit sectors, to advance this kind of K-12 school reform we apply an optimal business organizational format- that of franchising or licensing- and combine that with a cost-effective Web based instructional system. Such an instructional format is part of an educational philosophy in which various forms of automation and economies of scale will enable us to provide superior instruction for lower costs in our various client institutions.
Licensing and franchising networks will permit some local control of each school as well as providing instructional services to home schooling families. Our online instructional methodologies and technologies utilize a variety of instructional formats, including distance learning, video lectures, self-pacing, student tutors, digitized texts, and a testing requirement based on mastery learning- sometimes called mastery education.
For our curriculum we plan to use a fairly rigorous program of learning that includes the study of Latin (starting in the middle school years as is the practice at the Hillsdale Academy). In the early primary years an important subset of our curricular content will be taken from the Core Knowledge Sequence of E. D. Hirsch, Jr.. From the middle school years through high school we are considering adopting the very solid academic program developed by the Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter School (of Marlborough, Massachusetts), which includes passing eight AP courses as a requirement for graduation. Participation in the International Baccaclaureate Diploma program is also being evaluated. Thus a Stellar Schools diploma will represent a level of achievement well beyond typical state graduation requirements.
Economics education is one of the weakest areas of instruction in contemporary public and private schools. Asora's Stellar Schools plan to integrate basic concepts of economics into its other content areas as well as require mastery of a "standalone" high school level course as part of its high school graduation requirements.
By automating routine instructional chores, teachers will be able to give more individual attention to students. In the production of our Web based courseware we are beginning to implement a quartet team teaching format (two teachers and two student questioners) in the production of the video lectures and their associated lecture notes- to be provided in both digital and hardcopy formats.
Asora's Stellar Schools will accept both full-time and part-time students. Students will receive mastery certification for courses they pass and, additionally, full-time students can work towards a high school diploma based on mastering the Stellar Schools curriculum.
Whether operated in a non-profit environment or as a for-profit enterprise, the structures, methods, and technologies remain the same. Thus all kinds of existing schools, including non-profit, for-profit, religious, parochial, charter, public, and home schools can benefit from participation in or imitation of Stellar Schools formats.
We are also motivated by the dysfunctions we see in public and private schools, including high dropout rates, inflated student test scores from achievement tests, and majorities of students performing below grade level. Many of these problems are closely connected to the massive and pervasive levels of social promotion practiced in our schools. We think that the inflation of state reported proficiency percentages, as compared to those reported by the NAEP, indicates a lack of integrity in public education. To deal with the inflated test results Asora Consulting has developed mapping methods to convert the distorted scores into ones consistent with the Nation's Report Card- as the NAEP or National Assessment of Educational Progress is also known.
Much of the insight that led us to Stellar Schools (or Steller Schools according to the afcionados of phonics) has come to us from two giants of economics: Adam Smith and Milton Friedman. Both understood the harm coming from government subsidies and both championed a free market for education. We are particularly indebted to the late Professor Friedman for the support and advice he provided early in this effort.
