Is anything actually going to change? Or are we going to do the same things we always have?

What is Going to Change?

Education is notoriously slow at changing.

We put plans in place, and then we try, and it takes a lot of time for us to actually implement things.

We start with needs assessments, plans, pilots, and implementation phases, taking up to five years.

While reluctant to adopt even simple asynchronous learning opportunities in the past, many teachers have adopted the weekend challenge to start distance learning immediately.

It has been amazing.

This graphic is from a webinar I did this week with Education Elements (I’ve got another one on April 28th).

Now that we know we can make some quick changes, and we know that we will survive, what are we going to go back to once this is all over?

The federal government made it easy for states to opt out of State testing. For Alaska, this has happened twice now in the last four years.

Jeremy Williams asked on Twitter “If states are willing to scrap the standardized tests due to #Covid19, how essential are they really?”

This is a worthwhile question to ask.

In addition to ditching the tests, states and districts have greatly reduced expectations for activity during this time.

Governor Dunleavy, in Alaska, basically said “Two extra weeks of spring break!”

Colleges are offering Pass/Fail options after grades are posted at the end of the term, with no impact on GPAs.

Districts are paying teachers and other employees to work from home (which is a really great thing to do).

And California is loosening its requirements for grades and SAT scores for admission to UC schools. (While warning that this is not permanent.)

Now that we’ve done all these changes, what is it going to look like when we go back to school?

Do kids really have to come to school every single day?

Do we have have school for 180 days per year or 1000 hours?

Do we really have to take standardized tests?

Do we really have to grade kids how we’ve always graded them?

Do we really have to do that project we’ve done for years, because we’ve done it for years?

Do we really have to grade based on participation and compliance?

Do we really have to use grades, assignments and policies as weapons of mass destruction?

Can we start trusting teachers and students?

Can we start focusing on student strengths and passions instead of trying to fit them all into a little box?

Can we allow students and families to drive their own learning?

Do we really have to teach all the standards, or can we focus on just the essentials (or power standards)?

What I hope school leaders and teachers take away from this experience is an opportunity to step back and ask these difficult questions.

What are you going to do differently when you have the gift to be with your students again?