A teacher wearing a protective mask and face shield looks at the work of a student at an elementary ... [+]
As new political leaders prepare to take office in Washington and around our country, schools continue to face an unprecedented scenario that will shape an entire generation of young people. It is incumbent upon the administration of President-elect Joe Biden, the new Congress, and local and state officials to prioritize education as a critical step in our nation’s recovery. Here are some clear actions our elected officials can take to ensure students are more prepared for the future.
Secure the new stimulus funds that schools need so desperately to reopen and rebuild
No easy feat, but schools will need billions more in stimulus funding to recover from and succeed beyond the pandemic. The Council of Chief State School Officers estimates schools will need between $158.1 billion and $244.6 billion—beyond the CARES funding passed earlier this year—to serve students properly throughout the school year. Too many students still lack the devices and internet connection needed for effective remote learning. Teachers will require more training and support for a learning environment they never imagined. Schools will need to become proficient in meeting a whole new standard of “safe school”—from enhanced cleaning procedures to expensive air filtration systems. There must be enough budgetary balance to meet the new standard and yet avoid drastic actions like sweeping teacher layoffs.
Support our most vulnerable students
English learners, students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness or who are from low-income families have struggled deeply during the pandemic. For many of them, virtual learning has failed. Districts have reported that thousands of students they expected to enroll are simply missing—including a large number of kindergartners. Parental engagement, language barriers, psychological needs, proper learning devices and connectivity—these are all factors that make equitable education that much tougher for these communities. They need significant support or risk falling further and further behind.
Double down on the science of reading
We’ve known for decades—at least since the National Reading Panel report—that phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension are essential elements for building strong readers. Yet, for too long, many of America’s students have been denied this instruction. There are encouraging signs this is shifting, but we must not let the focus on quality literacy instruction slip as we address pandemic-related challenges.
Commit to annual statewide assessments
In a year filled with so much uncertainty, our teachers need a complete and consistent picture of how each student is doing. Annual assessments inform parents about how their child is doing so they can be part of the catch-up process. They also inform teachers and their instruction by providing a complete and consistent picture of each student’s progress. In fact, support for assessments is a rare area in which Biden and President Donald Trump voters agree, according to polling that we collaborated with Heart+Mind Strategies on following the Nov. 3 election.
The Biden administration should stand firm in the federal commitment to annual testing of every student—a step that’s supported by many civil rights organizations, the business community, and education advocacy organizations like mine. Otherwise, we will likely be “flying blind” without a key metric to understanding the impact of the pandemic on students.
It’s encouraging to see that state assessment vendors are already working on ways to provide flexibility around the length of the test, timeliness of the results and the ability to proctor remotely to ensure safety. We will need this data more than ever after federal officials said recently they are postponing the administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress test.
Rethink Accountability Measures While Schools Recover
Five years ago, Congress passed the landmark bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act. At its core, ESSA called for equity in U.S. schools while also handing the power to make many education decisions back to states. States were charged with setting, measuring and addressing educational goals set in their respective education plans. While the fundamental goal and spirit of ESSA remain, we live in a vastly different environment that calls for a careful rethinking of what accountability requirements schools should be required to meet.
Teachers and parents have been champions during the pandemic—instructing classes from their homes, helping students with technical and connectivity issues, providing additional tutoring and support. For teachers working in a “hybrid” learning environment, consider the added dynamic of social distancing and cleaning protocols. It is exhausting, scary, and unsustainable without a reconsideration of how our country teaches our students. Superintendents from three of the largest school districts in the country recently called for a kind of “Marshall Plan” to address the impacts on student learning. They believe that the amount of learning lost is comparable to a national disaster and deserves a similar federal response. I do not disagree. But an important factor of this kind of movement will be retaining the civil rights guardrails established by a law like ESSA. The pandemic has provided too much opportunity to widen the already troubling achievement gaps hurting historically underserved kids.
We know there are more tough times ahead for schools. Many governors and their agencies are planning for budget reductions of as much as 15 or 20 percent—the types of cuts that will be felt across all of the education world. It’s critical in these times that leaders of all levels of government take the actions necessary to help all students recover and excel.
