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Deep Dive
3 ways K-12 schools can evolve post-pandemic
With COVID-19 creating a scenario where "things a year ago that seemed
impossible are not," educators and advocates see a system ripe for
change.
Kara Arundel
Nov. 17, 2020
The pandemic-driven upheaval of the K-12 education system is doing
something many say has been nearly impossible — opening a door for
significant reforms that would disrupt decades or century-old practices
and rituals.
And even though school administrators are in the midst of responding to
the immediate health crisis, they are setting aside time to discuss
long-term planning for how post-pandemic schools could be even better
than before the health crisis.
“I’m so excited about the modernization of public education that will
now come,” said Michael Johnson, commissioner of the Alaska Department
of Education and Early Development, during a Council of Chief State
School Officers virtual forum Nov. 10. “The move from the old models to
the new models, we want them to be effective.”
Conversations are only just beginning nationwide about reforming
education based on lessons learned during the pandemic. In some cases,
however, educators are realizing tools and strategies that exist may
gain widespread momentum due to pandemic-era experiences.
“We’re just starting to scratch the surface,” said Michael Lubelfeld,
superintendent of the North Shore School District 112 in Highland Park,
Illinois. “A system that has been criticized for not being receptive to
change has changed overnight.”
Here are a few ways educators and education stakeholders are rethinking education.
Flexibility in learning formats
Traditionally, K-12 public education came in one format — in-person
learning. That is, until students, teachers and families had to shutter
schools in March amid shelter-in-place orders.
Now that school communities are more comfortable with video
conferencing and asynchronous learning approaches, some school
administrators predict there will be demand for the choice of in-person
and online learning and other flexibilities, especially for older
students who are juggling other commitments, such as jobs.
“In 2025, preparing [students] for their future I think will require
more skills-based learning than ever before,” said Johnson. “The
quality of instruction will still matter. However, how we will deliver
instruction and how students access their learning will be different.
The choice and customization they’ve experienced outside of school,
indeed in the last six months, will need to be present in schooling in
greater degrees to keep them engaged.”
Online learning will need to be refined so students are accessing
high-quality instruction that is personalized and engaging, said Kayla
Solinsky, head of school and director of strategic partnerships for
Macbeth Academy, an online school that partners with several
traditional public school systems to provide virtual classes.
Rethinking school schedules
Robert Avossa, founder of K-12 Leadership Matters and a former teacher,
principal and superintendent, predicts growth in options for online
learning, as well as flexibility for high school students to attend
classes when it best fits their schedules — similar to how college
course schedules are structured.
“High school is ripe for innovation,” he said.
Educators also are discussing alterations to the school year and daily
schedules. "Everyone is afraid to change because our society has been
so accustomed to the nine-month schedule," Avossa said.
Angélica Infante-Green, commissioner of the Rhode Island Department of
Education, said at the CCSSO forum, “In five years, my hope is that
school looks totally different, that we’re more flexible. Instruction
is really around students. It doesn’t have to be this 9 to 3, 2 o’clock
[school day]; we’ve broken those barriers.”
“We’ve been doing school for our needs or what we feel comfortable with, but now that’s changed,” Infante-Green added.
Lengthening the school day through community schools models, which can
provide health, education and other wrap-around services, may also be a
post-pandemic possibility, said Miriam Rollin, director of the
Education Civil Rights Alliance, convened by the National Center for
Youth Law. Providing students access to the best services should be a
priority when discussing school reform, Rollin said.
“There are signs of hope we can transform schools in a way that they are more effective, engaging and equitable,” Rollin said.
Creating stronger partnerships
Education experts said the popularity and familiarity of video
conferencing will continue to grow and help strengthen partnerships
that will benefit students and school communities. For example,
professional development trainings will become easier to access if they
are provided online without the need for travel.
Districts will also have more opportunities to work collaboratively and
share best practices, such as learning platforms that are efficient and
effective, said Ron Hager, managing attorney for education and
employment for the National Disability Rights Network.
School systems are reporting greater engagement with parents since the
pandemic began, likely because of the need for greater communication
around changing plans dependent on the pandemic. The use of video
conferencing also has led to greater and richer participation from
parents in school meetings and in individualized education program team
meetings for students with disabilities, according to several educators.
In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz, a former teacher, has convened a 22-member
Education Roundtable, which began meeting in September to discuss
improving equity in education, according to emails sent to Education
Dive from Teddy Tschann, spokesperson for the governor and Stephanie
Graff, special advisor on education reform in Walz’s office.
Angela Jerabek, founder and executive director of the BARR Center in
Minnesota and a member of the roundtable, said the group has discussed
a host of possibilities for improving education — some of which would
be dependent on schools working collaboratively with other agencies or
organizations.
For example, meal distribution during the pandemic for students from
low-income families has been a joint effort between schools and
community agencies. The roundtable is discussing how that may look
after the pandemic, especially if students have the option for hybrid
learning, Jerabek said.
The group is also discussing equitable education approaches and
implications for student attendance, earning course credits, school
funding, curriculum, professional development and more.
"In many ways, [we’re asking] how can post-pandemic look better than
pre-COVID, especially when we’re looking at these equity issues,
because we know the system pre-COVID hitting needed revision. But in
some ways, this has given permission to say some of those guardrails
that people said you can never talk about ... we’re recognizing there
are other ways to do it because we’re forced to look at it," Jerabek
said.
"Things a year ago that seemed impossible are not," she added.
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