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"A Virtual Start to the School Year" by Phil Roeder is licensed under CC BY 2.0
K-12 Dive
8 trends influencing K-12 in 2021
With the effects of multiple crises likely to linger at all levels for
years to come, these key factors will influence the direction of
schools in the coming year.
Roger Riddell, Naaz Modan, Kara Arundel
Jan. 4, 2021
In the wake of an unprecedented and unpredictable 2020, the novel
coronavirus pandemic has reshaped the K-12 landscape, shifting — and in
some cases outright derailing — the trends guiding what 21st century
education looks like.
The nation's public education system was forced to shift almost
entirely to a virtual model overnight, catalyzing debates over the
future of assessment, teacher burnout, recruitment and retention,
online learning and more. At the same time, a dual crisis emerged as
the nation confronted the role of systemic racism across society in the
wake of the police-involved deaths of Black Americans.
With the effects of these crises likely to linger at all levels of
school districts for years to come, these eight trends will be critical
to watch in the coming year.
Vaccine navigation
As COVID-19 vaccines become readily available, teachers are potentially
in the second phase of distribution, after frontline healthcare workers
and long-term care residents, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. However, whether states and districts will
require school employees to get vaccinated is unclear, and leaders have
expressed concern about vaccine mistrust among the public.
Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents
Association, previously told K-12 Dive he expects resistance and legal
challenges to vaccinations in some places, but that the majority of
districts may mandate them.
Vaccine mandates and exceptions could vary by state and locality. Even
for traditional student vaccinations, 45 states and the District of
Columbia grant religious exemptions to vaccine requirements with some
variation in implementation. (There is no COVID-19 vaccine authorized
for children under 16 years old.)
David L. Barron, a Texas lawyer in labor and employment law, told our
sister publication HR Dive school districts can look to older federal
guidance for some direction. For example, the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission's 2009 guidance on pandemic preparedness and the
Americans with Disabilities Act stated an employer covered by the ADA
may not compel all employees to receive an influenza vaccine regardless
of their medical conditions or religious beliefs. The guidance was
released during the H1N1 influenza pandemic and updated this year
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 relief and Biden administration policy shifts
Prior to the second stimulus package's passage in Congress and signing
into law by President Donald Trump Dec. 27, superintendents, advocacy
organizations, associations and unions expressed the need for
everything from targeted E-rate funding to greater meal flexibilities
to more PPE funding in 2021.
Some believe the relief amount included for K-12 schools won't be enough to cover schools from budget cuts.
With an administration change right around the corner, Mike Petrilli,
president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a right-leaning think
tank, told K-12 Dive the Biden administration may try to pass
significant agenda policy items, like teacher pay and Title I funding
increases, through a separate COVID-19 relief bill.
Considering Biden, a Democrat, may be working with a
Republican-majority in the Senate, the incoming president may not be
able to carry out his agenda items "as boldly as he would have liked,"
Petrilli said. (The Senate's makeup will be determined with a January
runoff in Georgia.)
But still, Petrilli and others said, Biden may be able to make headway increasing education spending.
Others are eager to see what Biden may do in controversial areas like
school choice. Some think a Biden administration may be bad news for
those efforts, while others think the new president could be better for
opening doors to "more constructive conversation around education
reform again."
School models
Given the vast amount of resources expended last year to transition
schools to a flexible virtual model, the pieces that worked well are
likely here to stay — and those that didn't may still be ironed out for
effectiveness.
While much attention was given to the challenges schools faced under
the new model, a portion of students thrived in virtual environments.
As a result of COVID-19 shutdowns, many districts now have the
infrastructure to facilitate this option in the future, potentially
helping traditional public education remain competitive.
That's just one piece of the evolving school model puzzle. In places
where teachers with subject matter expertise previously were
unavailable, districts now may be able to add classes in specialty or
advanced subject areas for students with strong interests in subjects
like computer science, thanks to the widespread use of virtual learning.
Before the pandemic, there was a growing call for a shift away from the
industrial model of public education, where students in rows of desks
are lead by an instructor, to one where they are spaced out in a
flexible environment comparable to modern open offices while their
teacher serves as more of a guide to their learning than a preacher of
knowledge.
The pandemic has had a silver lining of further requiring schools to
reconsider classroom design and the "when," "where" and "how" of
learning. To what extent and how quickly these lessons drive the
formation of K-12's next iteration is uncertain, but the table is set
with significant opportunities for forward-thinking districts this year.
Assessments and accountability
While districts have resumed interim assessments, many are pushing to
rethink them entirely for equity or other reasons. The U.S. Department
of Education, which provided blanket waivers for state assessments
required by ESSA for the 2019-20 school year, resumed assessment
accountability this school year.
However, that decision has been met with mixed feelings.
Prior to the Education Department's announcement, lawmakers and states
boards expressed the need to postpone state testing for the 2020-21
school year. When Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp and State School
Superintendent Richard Woods jointly announced their decision to apply
for suspension of standardized testing to the Department of Education,
they said the decision was "in line with our longstanding shared belief
that assessment has a place and a purpose in education, but the current
high-stakes testing regime is excessive."
While the Education Department did not grant those requests, Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos did encourage school leaders to consider the
period a good opportunity to "rethink" assessments. And while testing
experts don't foresee a successful push away from standardized testing,
they do suggest schools look into detangling results from the high
stakes attached to them, like teacher raises and student program
placements.
In some places, district leaders are already talking with states, hoping to bring change to current assessment models.
Lost learning and social growth recovery
The disruption to learning and socialization due to the pandemic means
as school life returns to normal as expected this year, educators will
be pressured to help students recover essential skills. Indeed, this
has already been a focus of many state and local school systems,
principals and teachers, as well as parents.
How far students have fallen behind academically continues to be
calculated, but data from the fall show concerning trends across the
country. An initial analysis of NWEA MAP Growth assessments indicates
dips in math performance, with students in grades 3-8 scoring between 5
and 10 percentile points lower than average compared to fall 2019.
School districts nationwide also are reporting more failing grades for
the first semester of the 2020-21 school year. Fears of growing
achievement gaps of vulnerable students, such as those who are English
learners, from low-income families, students of color and students with
disabilities, compared to their peers are fueling creative approaches
to reach those most at risk for falling behind.
Responding to student trauma developed due to being separated from
regular school life, the scariness of the novel coronavirus and the
repercussions of the pandemic, such as job losses, illnesses and even
deaths, will be an important factor in post-pandemic schooling, experts
say.
Recruitment and retention of teachers and students
Despite school districts’ efforts to distribute devices and establish
safe in-person learning spaces in order to continue teaching students
during the pandemic, many districts reported a significant drop in
student attendance at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.
Additionally, school systems are raising concerns about the depleting
availability of quality teachers and other school personnel.
These dilemmas are perhaps some of the initial obstacles school
districts will need to tackle as a regular school environment returns
in 2021, as expected.
Early data suggests millions of students across the country missed a
significant amount of school during the pandemic, according to a
December 2020 report by Attendance Works. Enrolling and encouraging
participation of students is already a mission at many school
districts. Schools are assigning staff to keep in regular contact with
each family and to help meet their unique needs. Schools are also
offering classes in the evenings and weekends to provide flexibility to
those unable to participate in weekday lessons.
The ability to offer personalized and rigorous lessons is also hampered
by teacher shortages, including the lack of substitute teachers. When
the National Education Association polled educators in 2020, it found
28% said the pandemic has made them more likely to retire early or
leave the profession. The NEA poll also showed 43% of Black teachers
say they’re now more likely to retire early or leave.
Certain incentives such as differentiating staffing models, providing
leadership and professional development opportunities for staff and
showing appreciation for school personnel could help with staffing woes
but a comprehensive and collaborative approach to teacher recruitment
and retainment is likely needed to help school systems recover from the
damage COVID-19 has brought.
Teacher burnout
Teacher burnout has steadily increased in recent years amid the
pressures of high-stakes accountability metrics, the rise of more
demanding learning models like project-based learning, stagnant pay and
the shouldering of much of the blame when policy and reform efforts
don't pan out as hoped.
And then the COVID-19 pandemic ramped everything up.
Practically overnight, K-12 educators shifted to and adapted lessons
for remote learning — a model they and their students were largely
unfamiliar with. Figuring out how to do so effectively as concerns also
grew for students' personal and academic needs took its toll. And as
some schools nationwide reopened in varying degrees this fall,
stressors grew as many teachers and staff remained concerned about
potential health risks. Those in hybrid models also had to navigate
teaching both virtually and in-person simultaneously.
The result: A National Education Association poll in August found 28%
of teachers were likely to leave the profession or retire because of
COVID-19, with one in five teachers with less than 10 years experience
expressing this sentiment compared to 40% with 21 to 30 years of
experience and 55% with more than 30 years. In an Illinois Education
Association poll, more than a third of members said they have
considered a career change, 76% said this year’s workload is “somewhat”
or “much” heavier than last year, and 66% reported being more “burned
out” than usual.
Addressing this issue will be critical to retain skilled and rising educators in the coming years.
Social justice and anti-racist practices
While some schools had laid a path to increase cultural responsiveness,
the deaths last year of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Rayshard
Brooks — all unarmed Black people who died at the hands of law
enforcement — sparked a reckoning nationwide that placed schools in the
forefront of the movement to quash racial prejudices and systemic bias.
That work will continue and grow stronger many school districts have
promised. Those districts are making voluntary efforts to rewrite
strategic plans, expand curriculums for diverse student bodies,
integrate schools and put resources into professional development.
Individual teachers and administrators also are taking proactive
approaches to better understand how their words and actions can create
inclusive classes and school cultures.
Derek McCoy, principal of North Asheboro Middle School in Asheboro,
North Carolina, told K12 Dive in June: “What’s going on right now is a
call for all of us to really make sure that we’re focused on teaching
the right things.”
As schools emerge from the pandemic, educators will need to rethink how
to distribute what could be limited resources for providing equitable
student experiences. The challenges of rebuilding post-pandemic school
systems, including teachers shortages, learning losses and trauma
response, hopefully will not dilute progress toward equitable
practices, say those educators, administrators and groups advocating
for change.
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