The Raising Blended Learners (RBL) initiative had a profound and far-reaching impact, transforming experiences for students, empowering educators and school leaders, and influencing broader systems across Texas public education. 

The data offers compelling evidence of what’s possible when personalized learning becomes the standard, not the exception, in Texas schools.

Student Outcomes

Shifts in teaching and learning

In a high-quality blended learning environment, teachers use multiple data sources — including growth-based assessments — to personalize instruction, track student progress, and create intentional groupings. Students take ownership of their learning by setting academic and personal goals, monitoring their progress, and reflecting on strengths and areas for growth, often with targeted coaching. They make meaningful choices about how and when to demonstrate mastery, and which learning activities align best with their goals. As a result, students become self-advocates and active participants in shaping their learning, often extending this advocacy beyond the classroom. Students routinely connect their learning across disciplines and synthesize diverse perspectives. They independently seek out advanced content and show genuine enthusiasm for tackling more complex challenges.

Blended classrooms consistently foster stronger student-teacher relationships, with students reporting a deeper sense of connection, support, and shared goals. These environments also cultivate peer-to-peer collaboration, where high expectations and mutual respect are the norm. This foundation of trust and belonging enables students to take on leadership roles and actively shape their place within a broader learning community.

The Student Voice

The most powerful testament to blended learning is student perspectives on their classroom experience and learning gains. Our team interviewed hundreds of Texas students from Raising Blended Learners Cohort I to listen to, learn from, and elevate their voices. The following series highlights their perspective in five categories: Teacher Connections, Pace of Learning, Student Engagement, Peer Collaboration, and Student Ownership.

Student-Reported Improvements

In addition to these quantitative outcomes, students in RBL classrooms reported improved engagement, agency, and joy in learning. They appreciated the personalized instruction and closer teacher connections, with many advocating for expanding these practices to other classes. 

For example, at Venus ISD, students spoke of their transformation over the 2022–23 school year. Middle and high school students who initially struggled with reading and confidence became enthusiastic learners, benefiting from targeted support and individualized instructional strategies. “It makes you feel like you’re actually being paid attention to,” shared one high school student.

Student Agency

Student voice and agency were central metrics for evaluating RBL II’s success. During year three of the initiative, evaluators measured positive student responses around student engagement, academic responsibility, and relationships. To assess the fidelity of implementation around this indicator, the evaluators reviewed a variety of artifacts uploaded by participating districts. These artifacts included student engagement checklists, pictures of classroom materials, and videos of student 1:1 interviews and focus groups. 

Of the 20 districts initially part of the cohort, 18 continued participating through the end of Year 3. Of these 18 participating districts, 15 (83%) provided evidence of student voice.  The following student comments selected from that report demonstrate this key pillar of blended learning: 

These outcomes underscore how blended learning — when implemented with fidelity — delivers not only stronger academic results but also more empowered, engaged, and confident students.

Teacher Outcomes

Mindset shifts

Across the initiative, one theme came through loud and clear: once teachers experienced blended learning, they didn’t want to go back. This shift didn’t come without resistance – many educators initially felt overwhelmed by the idea of personalizing instruction for every student. As one teacher put it, “It’s like having an individualized education plan [IEP] for all of your students.” But once they understood the systems and supports available, that mindset flipped. Blended learning became less about doing more and more about working smarter.

In a blended classroom, teachers gain real-time insights into student mastery, allowing them to target instruction more precisely, adapt lessons to meet diverse needs, and hold students to high standards – all at once. This approach leads to deeper student engagement, fewer behavioral issues, and a more equitable classroom environment. Teachers report that they know their students better – not just as learners, but as people – and that connection enables more meaningful, effective teaching.

Blended learning also creates room for innovation. Teachers can offer multiple learning pathways simultaneously, support multilingual learners and students with disabilities within the general classroom, and personalize instruction without sacrificing rigor.

Leader Outcomes

Strategic Leadership
and Systemic Change

AImplementing, sustaining, and scaling a district-wide blended learning initiative requires more than instructional shifts – it demands complex change management, visionary leadership, and a willingness to disrupt the status quo. Through their participation in RBL, district and campus leaders not only deepened their instructional leadership skills but also built the systems and structures needed to support sustainable innovation at scale.

Leaders developed and executed business plans, assembled core implementation teams, and created the conditions for success – including carving out space for teacher experimentation, progress over perfection, and responsive professional learning. They focused on what mattered most: protecting PLC time, rethinking master schedules, aligning curriculum and technology departments, and modeling data-driven decision-making. Leaders became more adept at distinguishing what was urgent versus what was important, and they intentionally fostered buy-in by engaging veteran educators in the change process from the outset.

District-wide instructional model

Encouraged by early academic successes, district leaders embraced personalized learning as a cornerstone of their long-term, district-wide instructional models.

Scale & Influence
on the Field

One of the most remarkable aspects of Raising Blended Learners (RBL) is its scale. Spanning eight years and two cohorts, the initiative impacted 40 districts, over 1,900 teachers, and more than 75,000 students across Texas. 

RBL’s influence extended beyond classrooms, shaping legislation, teacher preparation, and state-funded programming.

Texas Education Agency

With the support of HB3, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) developed the Math Innovation Zones and Blended Learning Grant Program, which are now a pathway within the Learning Acceleration Support Opportunities (LASO) grant. This initiative was modeled heavily on RBL and supports districts in planning and implementing a high-quality blended learning model in math and reading language arts with high-quality instructional materials or support strategic operation shifts in scheduling, staffing, and/or budgets.