We are at an interesting inflection point in education. I think that there are a few things that we can generally agree on.
- In-person learning is better than remote learning for the vast majority of students.
- Not having in-person learning as an option is seemingly disproportionately impacting those students who are traditionally underserved.
- There currently exist many opportunities for us to examine our educational practices and make necessary evolutions in our process and performance.
- Educators are more tired, stressed, and weary than ever before and it seems as though many other citizens are equally tired of hearing how tired and weary educators are.
There is something being talked about quite often that I DO NOT think we should generally agree on. I reject the idea of learning loss (generally discussed at the elementary level) as the primary issue schools need to focus on right now. Personally, I am much more concerned about the credit crisis at the high school level.
Learning loss seems to indicate one of two things. We are behind on standardized measures compared to where we typically are OR we are behind against an arbitrary, fictional competitor. After all, this is a GLOBAL pandemic. Anyways, four quick points on that.
First, our elementary data (for a district who has been in-person, remote, and hybrid over the last 11 months) is NOT at all scary at the elementary level. In fact, it is encouraging. This is just meant to demonstrate, maybe we need to relax and evaluate things deeply in the coming months/years instead of deciding we have a crisis 11 months into something none of us have ever experienced before.
Second, elementary schools are quite literally built for skill remediation through MTSS and RtI processes. I have supreme confidence that we have this and over time this will not be an issue. Each and every day elementary schools across the country skillfully identify areas of skill deficiency and provide targeted support to struggling students. This is precisely what is necessary IF there are instances of clear ‘learning loss.’
Third, people tend to be myopic in their lens. The fact that there is not a national database to tell how many districts and students are current remote / hybrid /in-person is ridiculous, but people in my community are shocked when I tell them that ONLY about 10 percent of students have the option for full face-to-face instruction. The country and the world right now has just about every learning condition imaginable. So, who exactly and what are we falling behind again? And even if we are, aren’t we confident we can catch up? And if we are ALL behind because of you know, a Global Pandemic, don’t you think we will find a way to adjust to do better?
Lastly, when I hear learning loss getting tossed around as a phrase I have always and will always immediately think of BIG EDU BUSINESS. Who is set to capitalize most with a panic about learning loss? A vendor with a solution. Absolutely. The person who capitalizes the next most is someone who wanted to find fault with public education anyway. The fact is that whatever learning environment a school or district is trying to create right now is done with the best of intentions. It is not easy. We are living and leading and teaching and learning through a Pandemic. Perceived learning loss 11 months in should not, in my estimation, be our focus.
All of that said, the credit crisis is real and is what deserves attention in terms of having a deficit mentality. (The point of this blog is singular – but we also have to worry about SEL of kids, staff, and the impending massive teacher shortage, etc. – but that is a topic for another day). Data from many districts are being released with failures being double, triple, and quadruple what they typically are at the high school level. This means less credit is being earned. Every credit NOT EARNED is one step closer to someone not graduating high school. This is the crisis right now that we should be talking about. But I fear it is not being talked about because there is less money to be made off of the solutions necessary to solve this problem.