When people hear about the 2 Hour Learning model, they have a lot of questions: Can kids actually learn academics in two hours? How is that enough time? Why is it so different?

The short answer to the first question is a categorical “yes.” The other questions require more-in-depth answers.

Let’s answer the last question first.

Why such a radically different instructional model?

The 2 Hour Learning model was created because the traditional six-hour school day isn’t working. 

The numbers prove it. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) measures the academic performance of fourth and eighth graders across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. 

In 2024, NAEP results show that students’ math skills have not recovered from the declines caused by the 2020 pandemic. Reading skills are still declining, with 33% of eighth graders —  the largest percentage ever recorded — not reading at even a basic level.

That’s not to say that educators in traditional schools aren’t doing their best. But the conventional approach leaves those educators with heavy workloads that keep them from giving their students individualized support. Consequently, parents find that their children are bored, disengaged, not retaining what’s taught or just not understanding it.

The 2 Hour Learning model has resolved these problems. At our flagship school, Alpha, located in Austin, Texas, students have the highest SAT scores in the state and earn 4s and 5s on Advanced Placement exams. Alpha alumni have been accepted to prestigious universities such as Stanford and Howard University.

That success isn’t due to 2 hour schools attracting already academically successful students. When we opened our campus in Brownsville, Texas, children entering the second grade class averaged in the 31st percentile. In just one year, they climbed into the 84th percentile.

The 2 Hour Learning model takes its name from the fact that in two hours, students learn twice as much, twice as fast. For example, a fifth grader who gains four points in math at a traditional school typically gains eight points at Alpha School.

How the 2 Hour Learning model works

So, how can students learn twice as much in just two hours a day?

2 Hour Learning takes advantage of the most effective form of instruction — personalized learning, particularly in the form of tutoring. The National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the United States, reports that frequent high-quality tutoring conducted one-on-one or in small groups speeds up  students’ learning by three to 15 months.

Previously, one-on-one tutoring had been too expensive for anyone but the wealthy. Our learning model levels the playing field through the use of AI tutors, with human educators serving as mentors or “guides.”

In the 2 Hour Learning model, students spend weekday mornings working on personalized, AI-led lessons. The AI identifies gaps in each child’s knowledge of the core subjects — math, reading, science, and social science — in real time. That means students can address misconceptions and gaps right away.

This process starts as early as kindergarten and first grade. At our flagship Alpha school, young learners spend those two hours in the morning in lessons that may involve preparing a presentation about their favorite dinosaur, mastering 600 sight words, or gaining math fluency. And no matter where they are academically when they come to us, those students are in the top 1% in the country by the time they leave first grade.

If students ever need extra help understanding a concept, the human guides are available for “coaching calls.” In addition, guides reinforce the “personal” aspect of the personalized learning experience by building relationships with students. They get to know what motivates each student, where each student needs the most help, and how to unlock that student’s potential.

Academics only make up the morning component of children’s learning day. Four hours of the afternoon are spent on athletics and physical fitness, entrepreneurship programs, financial literacy, public speaking training, social skills training, and community engagement.

Let’s take the example of kindergarteners and first graders once more. Those students spend their afternoons taking on challenges such as learning to swim or tie their own shoes, doing a 100-piece puzzle or participating in a five-mile bike race. Getting kids to achieve these things helps them realize that there are no limits to what they can do. 

And it’s not just what they can do alone. Those youngsters participate in a workshop called “Better Together” where they learn how to play games fairly, not cry when they lose or quit in the middle, and encourage and cheer their classmates on. The workshop builds a foundation for self-confidence and self-directed learning that sets those students up for success.