Q&A with Rocketship Education’s John Danner: ‘There are things that the computer does best and things that teachers do best’
Maricela Guerrero is principal at one of the Rocketship schools.
In 2006, former software engineer John Danner co-founded Rocketship Education, a national nonprofit elementary charter school network based in San Jose, Calif., with Preston Smith. The network is gaining attention for its “hybrid” model of learning, which blends classroom teaching with small-group tutoring and individualized online learning. Danner, who won the John P. McNulty Prize last year for his innovations, has no small ambition: He wants to expand the Rocketship model to 50 U.S. cities and eliminate the achievement gap by 2020.
Rocketship’s expansion agenda comes at a time when online learning is exploding and as President Barack
