All educational leaders operate in their own worlds shaped by the culture of their community, but there is such a magic and synergy when you’re able to bring them together to discuss and share how we’re all so connected in supporting our kids. This happens at conferences and large events, but also can be powerful through the intimacy of small-group virtual meetings.
We have a select group of customers and thought leaders that we at Shmoop bring together twice a year to share, collaborate, and learn. It is called our Customer Advisory Board. This was our fourth engagement, our first being the Winter of 2021 when we were amidst the return of students to school. Now a year later, we opened a discussion around learning loss. We reviewed some of the data released from the recent NWEA and Harvard review and proposed some questions to the room.
The first thing discussed was some of the inherent issues with the data and how it’s presented. If you do the math around the weeks of learning loss, particularly for those who were out of school the longest, and apply to the categories of race and economic status that display the greatest gaps, there is seemingly no solution. It’s poised as such a bleak and unsolvable problem.
In contrast we heard a “glass half full” perspective from our leaders, and how each of them took an aggressive path toward success. Rather than approach the problem with a bandaid to “stop the bleeding”, each carefully navigated their situation and took efforts to solve for the root of the problems exacerbated by the pandemic.
A reframe of the problem:
The posture of the group was not to let the concept of “learning loss” be an excuse or crutch. They drew on stories, data, and the past to find evidence of effective practices and then to simply not let go of the gas. A few key examples were looking at the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and analyzing the success that Piedmont CIty Schools saw during the pandemic. One suggestion was to change the literal verbiage to “learning acceleration”. A shift in tonality and effort to say, “We can’t do more, but we can do better.” Another reality to accept was how the problem cannot be isolated to the students. Teachers, professionals, and leaders all lost a sense of their core and how to draw on best practices. Re-teaching teachers had to be a part of the solution.
Doing better:
Our conversation then moved to analyzing some of the foundational issues, and admitting that trauma around the learning experience has occurred and must be acknowledged seriously. The way to address trauma is not to keep applying those experiences in excess, but to rebridge those experiences positively. It’s obvious then that aggressive testing is not the pathway to healing, so what is it? We all agreed that it was necessary to make a massive shift toward the root of what makes learning occur at its core; relationships and connectivity. Each educator was able to echo their passion for protecting our students’ identity as learners, and share how they tried to stop “boiling the ocean” in regards to curriculum, and prioritize efforts that brought a sense of belonging, connectivity, and wellness into the classroom. One of many strategies shared was the 2:10 for behavior; the simplicity of having a teacher invest two minutes for ten days in a row engaging with a student. I spent some time reading about its impact after the meeting, and the stories from teachers describing how it changed their framework for instruction was remarkable. All to showcase the need for a complete reset on how we think about learning.
Action that will last:
As we continued to discuss these root and foundational issues, leaders began to dive into where they've seen the systemic changes that are going to make long impact. It came down to policies that keep kids in school, redistributing resources, and taking steps to evaluate infrastructures and regulations to make sure every element of the system is driving impact. Several leaders noted the importance of using this moment to expose our weaknesses honestly so we make smart pivots. One leader shared how they evaluated a program that was taking up valuable resources and was able to completely redistribute efficiently. Something that would normally have taken potentially years was able to be done swiftly around the urgency of pandemic recovery.
That rounded out the discussion for me. The humility and maturity of using this season to take a birds eye view of what is really impactful will absolutely be the biggest catalyst for change for our students. We all have a rare opportunity through the recovery of COVID to make bolder moves, innovate, and take action that every leader should lean on and take advantage of today.