Planning for a Pivotal School Year
A K-12 Leader's Guide to Get Ready for 2021-22
April 28, 2021
69传媒 across the country are poised to come roaring back to full life this fall.
It鈥檚 a hopeful and promise-filled prospect after a year in which district and school leaders shepherded wary communities through virtual learning, socially-distanced classrooms and bus rides, mask-wearing mandates, and contact tracing and quarantines鈥攐ften in a fog of confusing and contradictory guidance. They鈥檝e learned a lot about how to operate schools in a public health crisis.
But plenty of uncertainty lingers ahead of the 2021-22 academic year. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and no one knows when it will end.
How hard will it be for some students to re-acclimate to full-time, in-person learning? How must teachers adapt instruction for the moment we鈥檙e in? How can schools be ready to address the widening social-emotional and mental-health needs of students and employees? And after saving education from complete collapse in the pandemic, how will schools evolve their use of educational technology and remote learning for new realities?
In this four-part series, EdWeek journalists tackle those and other big questions to help district and school leaders reset and get ready for another pivotal year.
We鈥檒l start with some reporting on how to rethink鈥攁nd use鈥攖he summer months. We'll follow with three other installments in the weeks ahead, with reporting that digs into student well-being, instructional imperatives, and where we go next with virtual learning.
It鈥檚 a hopeful and promise-filled prospect after a year in which district and school leaders shepherded wary communities through virtual learning, socially-distanced classrooms and bus rides, mask-wearing mandates, and contact tracing and quarantines鈥攐ften in a fog of confusing and contradictory guidance. They鈥檝e learned a lot about how to operate schools in a public health crisis.
But plenty of uncertainty lingers ahead of the 2021-22 academic year. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and no one knows when it will end.
How hard will it be for some students to re-acclimate to full-time, in-person learning? How must teachers adapt instruction for the moment we鈥檙e in? How can schools be ready to address the widening social-emotional and mental-health needs of students and employees? And after saving education from complete collapse in the pandemic, how will schools evolve their use of educational technology and remote learning for new realities?
In this four-part series, EdWeek journalists tackle those and other big questions to help district and school leaders reset and get ready for another pivotal year.
We鈥檒l start with some reporting on how to rethink鈥攁nd use鈥攖he summer months. We'll follow with three other installments in the weeks ahead, with reporting that digs into student well-being, instructional imperatives, and where we go next with virtual learning.
Summer 2021: How 69传媒 Can Make the Most of It
Ways that students, teachers, and school and district leaders can restore and retool this summer and come back charged for the year ahead.
How to Help 69传媒 Recover From a Broken Year
What schools do to help students bounce back from stress, trauma, and disrupted schooling鈥攁nd whether retention helps or hurts kids.
Tackling Learning Gaps This Fall: Advice for Teachers
This series of case studies examines what the slippery concept of 鈥渁cceleration鈥 really means for students in three key areas: 1st grade literacy and numeracy, Algebra 1, and English-language acquisition.
Optimizing Digital Learning for the New School Year
As students return to school buildings, big decisions must be made about how to adjust the use of technology for the 鈥渘ew normal.鈥
Series Illustrations: Vanessa Solis
Visuals Series Editor: Emma Patti Harris
Series Editor: Lesli A. Maxwell