One-room schoolhouses are making a comeback in the so-called micro-schooling movement. While a typical public high school might cram 2,000 students into a single grade, micro-schools cap out at around 150 for all grades. That allows students to mix across ages and interests while building skill-based knowledge and proficiency. Teachers function more as guides than instructors and learning is intensely personalized and individualized. Think of micro-schools as "Montessouri meets Silicon Valley."

Reason's Nick Gillespie spoke with Tyler Koteskey, an education analyst at Reason Foundation, who has a story on the micro-schooling movement in the March issue of Reason. They discuss the personalized approach of micro-schooling, the militaristic, Prussian origins of American factory-model education, and the costs and benefits of different modes of learning.