From K-12 Dive, March 22, 2021, by Kara Arundel

School system leaders are cautiously optimistic that the 2021-22 school year will see more students learning in-person and that the school day will resemble pre-pandemic routines, but with safety protocols in place. Increased vaccine administration for adults and the hope of childhood vaccines this fall, winter or early in 2022 are helping drive this confidence.

Superintendents, however, say it’s difficult to predict the status of the pandemic five months from now. That uncertainty is pushing them to prepare for multiple scenarios as COVID-19 continues to be a major health crisis.

“So, big picture is flexibility and agility,” said Scott Muri, superintendent of the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, Texas, which has 32,000 students. “Just like we did last year, we never know.”

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It’s not enough just to add instructional time, the superintendents agreed. The additional time has to be planned strategically so student learning is optimized. For example, Muri points to Opportunity Culture, an initiative by Public Impact that helps schools create multi-classroom leaders who mentor small teams of teachers through co-planning, coaching and modeling instruction. Read more…