Frontline Blog

These days, technology is as essential to learning as pencils and paper. Technology use is interwoven with how educators teach and how students digest new content and practice new skills. Yet, the growth of technology use in schools — ballooned exponentially by COVID-19 — has meant that technology teams across the nation have hustled to maintain order as more devices than ever enter their district’s ecosystem. For your technology team, now is the time to prepare for an orderly, efficient, and successful device collection process at the end of this school year. Continue Reading

Believe it or not, data wasn’t always a factor in decision-making in schools. A lot of decisions were made subjectively. Lacking efficient digital records, educators didn’t have the data needed to make objective decisions. Fortunately, teaching has evolved into a science based on facts.

In early April, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that schools should be reopened and “full-fledged in person” come fall 2021, regardless of vaccination status. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona echoed this in early May, saying that he expects a full return for all students in the fall.

Schools have had to face many new challenges in response to the coronavirus pandemic. While the vaccine rollout may signal the coming end of the pandemic – and the end of some of those challenges – there is one issue that the vaccine will not remedy: declining enrollment.

The COVID-19 crisis is an unprecedented challenge that has exposed many of the difficulties in delivering quality remote learning, at scale, to students across the country. While some school districts had all the pieces in place to instantly flip to virtual education delivery, many did not. With states shutting schools down in mid-March 2020, a lack of technology resources and preparedness resulted in sub-optimal learning for students and, in some cases, districts were forced to raise the white flag and end the school year early. The magnitude and complexity of this crisis cannot be understated regarding the speed and scale at which it impacted U.S. education.

For the past 10 years or so, school districts have wrestled with implementing social and emotional learning (SEL) standards within their schools. To support the social emotional needs of their students, school districts have attempted a variety of solutions, including hiring student support staff members such as guidance counselors, social workers, and/or psychologists to provide targeted interventions and support for students. Some districts have purchased research-based curricula, student response surveys, and strategies for teachers to incorporate into their daily lessons.