4 Ways States Can Mitigate K-12 Student Learning Losses
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A paper from the National Association of Governors and the nation’s school chiefs reviews what steps states are taking to help students make up for Covid-slide gaps and recommends new strategies and approaches.
After more than a year of classroom disruptions due to the pandemic, a paper highlighting ways states and educators are accelerating student learning was released by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers.
The preliminary analysis shows ways states and school leaders have helped K-12 students make up for gaps in learning. Available state plans, websites, media reports and gubernatorial State of the State addresses for most states were reviewed.
Four major steps states are taking to accelerate student learning are featured. The first major step is getting organized and understanding what needs to happen. It suggests states and educators communicate their plans and engage key stakeholders to boost learning.
Second, the memo highlights ways states and educators are planning to use summer programs to accelerate learning. This step advises district leaders to implement summer activities that enable students to reconnect, including: tutoring programs, community service, apprenticeships and learning camps.
Overall support for more students to be successful learners was provided as a third step to accelerate learning. The analysis points to states’ use of new federal funds to strengthen more learning time, during and after school, to address students' academic issues and well-being.
Lastly, states are considering future issues that stem from the effect Covid-19 had on student learning. The analysis advises states to:+ Strategically use one-time federal funds.
+ Recruit and retain high-quality educators; deploy them to schools that need them the most; and find more creative ways to support them.+ Identify the students who are struggling the most, and provide them the needed resources, including instructional assistance and mental-health support. +Implement a common plan for school leaders, policymakers and agencies to best help with the efforts.
+ Evaluate long-standing structures and find innovations in strategies and approaches that “have long undergirded how the K12 system operates.”
To get more information about the analysis click here.
Brent Woodie is an associate editor at Route Fifty.
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