Blended Learning Implementation Pilot Project Success in Southern MN Adult ESL Programs

This article outlines findings from two southern Minnesota programs who participated in a recent implementation of blended learning, highlighting what was successful in order to share these strategies with the field.

Triton

Triton Community Education, nestled in Triton Elementary School, serves English language learners with in-person classes. A conversation between Angela Donlon (longtime MN teacher and Burlington English trainer) and Triton staff led to setting some goals for the spring:

1. Increase measurable skill gains, measured by student performance on CASAS STEPS tests.
2. Increase proxy hours, measured by BurlingtonEnglish proxy reports.
3. Increase student confidence using BE, and explore BE as a primary classroom curriculum, measured by feedback from students and teachers.

The pilot ran March 2025-May 2025, and the results are as follows:

1. All 6 of 6 students tested earned a level gain on their CASAS assessment.
2. Comparing the month prior to the pilot to the ending pilot month, proxy hours increased 95% from February 2025 to May 2025, from 16 minutes average per learner to 1 hour and 58 minutes average per learner.
3. 100% of learners reported a good/great experiences with BE in class, and 100% of learners reported a good/great experiences with BE outside of school. 55% of learners stated that they chose ELL classes to learn more English. The top 3 areas learners reported BE helping them with were: listening, speaking, and reading. The biggest barrier learners reported to attending class was being busy with jobs/work. 85% of learners plan to return to class in the fall. The biggest barriers noted by teachers include a constantly rotating student roster and struggles to have students return for their post-test.

Some of the strategies employed to obtain these results were:

• An implementation and goal setting meeting between Triton staff and BE staff.
• Staff and student training in use of BE.
• Creating a class structure including in-class lesson time, “drift-in” time, and expectations for out of class time.
• Repeatedly modeling the login process for students.
• A blended learning schedule including:
  • 20 minutes of review and warmup
  • 90 minutes of in-class lesson
  • 15 minutes of CASAS STEPS prep
  • 10 minutes of checking in on student independent work
• Printed BE instructions in English and Spanish
• Burlington trainer modeled lesson for teachers to observe

Of the results, the teacher noted: “All favorable with many learning experiences happening for students, as well as instructors and managers.” Teachers also noted that using BE in-class lessons as their primary curriculum required less prep time than the curriculum used prior.

Owatonna

At Owatonna Community Education, adult learners attend multilevel ELL classes with goals to make career transitions, communicate with others in their community, and prepare for higher education. During May-June 2025, teachers piloted a new way of teaching with their blended learning curriculum, focused on the goal of increasing student proxy hours and measurable skill gains.

The results speak for themselves: in summer 2024, learners completed an average of 4 proxy hours, and in summer 2025, learners completed an average of 13 proxy hours, over 3 times the amount.

Strategies were discussed before beginning the pilot, aimed at improving learners’ independent learning. Additionally, learner measurable skill gains increased in 2025 compared to 2024, from 31.2% to 36.4%. There are multiple factors that contributed to the increase in measurable skill gains, including:

• Regularly scheduled meetings with teachers, administrators & BE trainer, based on outcomes from BE users from across the country which prove that laying a firm foundation of strategic implementation decisions as well as teacher training is essential to meeting every metric for program success.
• BurlingtonEnglish trainer demonstrated teaching the first lesson, giving teacher & students opportunity to observe the In Class Lesson (ICL) process. Teacher and Trainer followed up with Q/A after class.
• BurlingtonEnglish trainer orientated students to accessing their own accounts and practicing English, done with the intention that teachers would observe orientation and do these in the future.
• Scheduled time for teacher to check students’ progress in BE: built-in ‘progress peek’ each morning.
• Teacher showed students how to see their own progress information and encouraged them to check it often.
• Teacher showed students how to see their own progress information and encouraged them to check it often.
• Scheduled time for teacher/student 1:1 check-in: instructor used 20-minute warm-up time and 20-minute wrap-up time at end of class for independent student BE work and 1:1 check-in with students – two students per class.