K-12 AFTER THE STORMS HEEDING LESSONS LEARNED FROM PANDEMIC, BLACK LIVES MATTER
Both the closure of schools during the pandemic and massive protests over societal inequities have required educators to think about new ways of teaching going forward. Below, the outgoing president of the San Diego Unified Board of Education and a former vice president on the San Diego County Board of Education weigh in on the topic.
The harm caused to our San Diego students during the pandemic is substantial, particularly for our highest-needs students. We need to look to 2021 as a Year of Recovery. Public education suffered devastating funding cuts in the years following the Great Recession of 2008, but our schools emerged stronger. Student achievement improved and we became one of the leading urban districts in the nation. Similarly, we can come out stronger from the pandemic crisis (not just return to “normal”) if we heed the lessons we have learned in this crisis.
Just when our decade-long Vision 2020 for school reform was coming to a culmination, we experienced two major crises: the closure of our schools due to the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter social justice movement. There are four key lessons from these two crises.
We are rethinking what is the most valuable use of our learners’ time. With online learning, time has been divided between large group instruction, small group collaboration and individual time. Until now we have been hindered by the state model of funding by “seat time,” literally the hours and minutes that our students are seated in a classroom. It is not based on what is actually learned or what is the most efficient use of time. Some of these rules have been suspended during online learning and we hope to continue this more f lexible scheduling model once our high school students return to the campus.
We are changing our grading system that has classified our students into categories, rather than focusing on learning by every student. The negative effects are disproportionate for Black and Brown students. We want a system based on mastery of the material. To get a driver’s license, a 16-year-old can retake the test until proving competence. If a student does not achieve the objectives of the course, the student will be given an Incomplete or In Progress until mastering the material, rather than simply failing. During the pandemic we are better able to measure our elementary students’ progress because their report cards are already based on achievement of specific learning standards.
We are changing discipline practices. The Black Lives Matter movement has brought increased attention to disparities between racial groups in the application of discipline. Our Freedom Summer 2020 workshop focused on systemic racism in discipline, hiring practices, curriculum and policing.
As a result we will expand our restorative justice programs, focus on staff diversity, offer more ethnic studies across the curriculum and reimagine the role of our school police. We have always had laudable goals in this area, but now we are putting action and accountability behind our words. We have hired a staff director for diversity and inclusion. We are also instituting an Independent Citizens Oversight Committee for Racial Justice to review on a regular basis the district’s follow-through on the promised actions.
Online learning will continue to be an important component of our teaching and learning. While we very much look forward to in-person learning across our district, we now know that online learning can supplement in-person learning. We already had a few pilot schools that allowed students to take home their school devices for continuity of learning.
During the pandemic we provided devices and internet connections to all students who needed them. When we return we should allow these devices to go between school and home, which effectively erases the digital divide. It will provide more continuity between classroom and home learning on an individualized basis.
It will also provide more effective real-time communication between teachers, students and parents.
“You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone” is the adage. Our families and communities have relearned the value of public education, which must be the cornerstone of any national economic recovery plan. We will succeed if we build on the lessons learned. Just like our new grading system, we are a work “in progress.”
Evans is the outgoing president of the San Diego Unified Board of Education, having served for 12 years. He is a clinical psychologist in private practice in San Diego. He lives in University City.