On December 15, 2020, 1:30 P.M. at the Brookings, Washington DC, an online presentation occurred bringing together educators in various positions of administration and teaching in the US schools to assess primarily the school system of grades K-12--as to how they're doing during the Pandemic in meeting educative goals. There were so many participants, the discussants were divided into two panels moderated by Brookings people in the Brown Center for Education Policy: Douglas Harris and Jon Valant, moderators.
The participants willingly imparted their views as to what's going on in the schools and by whom, etc.--a veritable outpouring of ideas and assessments of current trends throughout the country. Significantly, they seemed to concur in assessing new trends.
1. There's plenty of educational institutions now given the green light for government support: the public schools, the charter schools, private schools--Catholic, and religious offerings in the elementary and high school levels. Loads of options implied thereby for children whatever their backgrounds or native language. These schools offer usually a lunch program and have available modest medical care on site. There may be after-school activities conducted, too. They veritably function as a home away from home--except the kids sleep at home!
2. Virtual learning is available in cities and towns, but in rural areas, students may not have access to a computer--may not be given one to use while in school. One participant pointed out that virtual learning usually is not led by a teacher specifically trained in the special features that online learning afford. Possibly, the teacher in a virtual learning atmosphere functions more like a sports coach, say, in football, than as a dispenser of knowledge and truth--the traditional classroom role.
3. As the discussions proceeded in each panel, I was made aware that fundamentally the teachers in these schools fall back upon the children's parents for the authority of their presence and conduct in the schools. This is made clear in the selection process of the school to which the parents decide to send each of their children: whether to a traditional school or charter, for example.
That being implied, it would behoove the schools to establish a rapport with the parents--reach out to them for their ideas and comments. In a tutor situation, for instance, the tutored child's parents could be visited in their home, one day when a child was accompanied with his tutor for a at-home visit. One person voiced the opinion that the students should be involved in the designs of the educative experiences at the school.
Another participant claimed from her experience that the native language of the child should be taught additionally to the language spoken where he resides, whenever possible, to make the cultural transition smooth.
4. Emphasis was given to the need to translate employment opportunity into curriculum offerings and topics to make meaningful the economics involved in learning new knowledge and skills, especially, computer programs irrespective of student social backgrounds.
5. The need for accountability regarding what is offered in the classroom that will be useful to the students and the groups that should do the school and curricula evaluations was taken up. Colleges and universities tend to be relied upon as the traditional evaluators of whether the educative experience of grades K-12 is valuable to students is now conjoined with the community colleges who are mindful of what talents and skills should be developed in the lower grades as emphasized through their technical programs, developed with business people.
All-in-all, I found the two-hour presentation chuck-full of ideas and thoughts as fodder for future planning sessions of how schools can meet the needs of learning what will be useful to their students turned adults.
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