The K-12 Dive Outlook on 2021

In the wake of an unprecedented and unpredictable 2020, the novel coronavirus pandemic has reshaped the K-12 landscape, shifting — and in some cases outright derailing — the trends guiding what 21st century education looks like.

The nation's public education system was forced to shift almost entirely to a virtual model overnight, catalyzing debates over the future of assessment, teacher burnout, recruitment and retention, online learning and more. At the same time, a dual crisis emerged as the nation confronted the role of systemic racism across society in the wake of the police-involved deaths of Black Americans.

With the effects of these crises likely to linger at all levels of school districts for years to come, these eight trends will be critical to watch in the coming year.

Vaccine navigation

As COVID-19 vaccines become readily available, teachers are potentially in the second phase of distribution, after frontline healthcare workers and long-term care residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, whether states and districts will require school employees to get vaccinated is unclear, and leaders have expressed concern about vaccine mistrust among the public.

Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, previously told K-12 Dive he expects resistance and legal challenges to vaccinations in some places, but that the majority of districts may mandate them.

Vaccine mandates and exceptions could vary by state and locality. Even for traditional student vaccinations, 45 states and the District of Columbia grant religious exemptions to vaccine requirements with some variation in implementation. (There is no COVID-19 vaccine authorized for children under 16 years old.) 

David L. Barron, a Texas lawyer in labor and employment law, told our sister publication HR Dive school districts can look to older federal guidance for some direction. For example, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's 2009 guidance on pandemic preparedness and the Americans with Disabilities Act stated an employer covered by the ADA may not compel all employees to receive an influenza vaccine regardless of their medical conditions or religious beliefs. The guidance was released during the H1N1 influenza pandemic and updated this year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 relief and Biden administration policy shifts

Prior to the second stimulus package's passage in Congress and signing into law by President Donald Trump Dec. 27, superintendents, advocacy organizations, associations and unions expressed the need for everything from targeted E-rate funding to greater meal flexibilities to more PPE funding in 2021.

Some believe the relief amount included for K-12 schools won't be enough to cover schools from budget cuts. 

With an administration change right around the corner, Mike Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a right-leaning think tank, told K-12 Dive the Biden administration may try to pass significant agenda policy items, like teacher pay and Title I funding increases, through a separate COVID-19 relief bill. 

Considering Biden, a Democrat, may be working with a Republican-majority in the Senate, the incoming president may not be able to carry out his agenda items "as boldly as he would have liked," Petrilli said. (The Senate's makeup will be determined with a January runoff in Georgia.)

But still, Petrilli and others said, Biden may be able to make headway increasing education spending. 

Others are eager to see what Biden may do in controversial areas like school choice. Some think a Biden administration may be bad news for those efforts, while others think the new president could be better for opening doors to "more constructive conversation around education reform again." 

School models

Given the vast amount of resources expended last year to transition schools to a flexible virtual model, the pieces that worked well are likely here to stay — and those that didn't may still be ironed out for effectiveness.

While much attention was given to the challenges schools faced under the new model, a portion of students thrived in virtual environments. As a result of COVID-19 shutdowns, many districts now have the infrastructure to facilitate this option in the future, potentially helping traditional public education remain competitive.

That's just one piece of the evolving school model puzzle. In places where teachers with subject matter expertise previously were unavailable, districts now may be able to add classes in specialty or advanced subject areas for students with strong interests in subjects like computer science, thanks to the widespread use of virtual learning.

Before the pandemic, there was a growing call for a shift away from the industrial model of public education, where students in rows of desks are lead by an instructor, to one where they are spaced out in a flexible environment comparable to modern open offices while their teacher serves as more of a guide to their learning than a preacher of knowledge.

The pandemic has had a silver lining of further requiring schools to reconsider classroom design and the "when," "where" and "how" of learning. To what extent and how quickly these lessons drive the formation of K-12's next iteration is uncertain, but the table is set with significant opportunities for forward-thinking districts this year.

Assessments and accountability

While districts have resumed interim assessments, many are pushing to rethink them entirely for equity or other reasons. The U.S. Department of Education, which provided blanket waivers for state assessments required by ESSA for the 2019-20 school year, resumed assessment accountability this school year.

However, that decision has been met with mixed feelings.

Prior to the Education Department's announcement, lawmakers and states boards expressed the need to postpone state testing for the 2020-21 school year. When Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp and State School Superintendent Richard Woods jointly announced their decision to apply for suspension of standardized testing to the Department of Education, they said the decision was "in line with our longstanding shared belief that assessment has a place and a purpose in education, but the current high-stakes testing regime is excessive." 

While the Education Department did not grant those requests, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos did encourage school leaders to consider the period a good opportunity to "rethink" assessments. And while testing experts don't foresee a successful push away from standardized testing, they do suggest schools look into detangling results from the high stakes attached to them, like teacher raises and student program placements.

In some places, district leaders are already talking with states, hoping to bring change to current assessment models.

Lost learning and social growth recovery

The disruption to learning and socialization due to the pandemic means as school life returns to normal as expected this year, educators will be pressured to help students recover essential skills. Indeed, this has already been a focus of many state and local school systems, principals and teachers, as well as parents. 

How far students have fallen behind academically continues to be calculated, but data from the fall show concerning trends across the country. An initial analysis of NWEA MAP Growth assessments indicates dips in math performance, with students in grades 3-8 scoring between 5 and 10 percentile points lower than average compared to fall 2019.

School districts nationwide also are reporting more failing grades for the first semester of the 2020-21 school year. Fears of growing achievement gaps of vulnerable students, such as those who are English learners, from low-income families, students of color and students with disabilities, compared to their peers are fueling creative approaches to reach those most at risk for falling behind. 

Responding to student trauma developed due to being separated from regular school life, the scariness of the novel coronavirus and the repercussions of the pandemic, such as job losses, illnesses and even deaths, will be an important factor in post-pandemic schooling, experts say. 

Recruitment and retention of teachers and students

Despite school districts’ efforts to distribute devices and establish safe in-person learning spaces in order to continue teaching students during the pandemic, many districts reported a significant drop in student attendance at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. Additionally, school systems are raising concerns about the depleting availability of quality teachers and other school personnel.

These dilemmas are perhaps some of the initial obstacles school districts will need to tackle as a regular school environment returns in 2021, as expected. 

Early data suggests millions of students across the country missed a significant amount of school during the pandemic, according to a December 2020 report by Attendance Works. Enrolling and encouraging participation of students is already a mission at many school districts. Schools are assigning staff to keep in regular contact with each family and to help meet their unique needs. Schools are also offering classes in the evenings and weekends to provide flexibility to those unable to participate in weekday lessons. 

The ability to offer personalized and rigorous lessons is also hampered by teacher shortages, including the lack of substitute teachers. When the National Education Association polled educators in 2020, it found 28% said the pandemic has made them more likely to retire early or leave the profession. The NEA poll also showed 43% of Black teachers say they’re now more likely to retire early or leave. 

Certain incentives such as differentiating staffing models, providing leadership and professional development opportunities for staff and showing appreciation for school personnel could help with staffing woes but a comprehensive and collaborative approach to teacher recruitment and retainment is likely needed to help school systems recover from the damage COVID-19 has brought.

Teacher burnout

Teacher burnout has steadily increased in recent years amid the pressures of high-stakes accountability metrics, the rise of more demanding learning models like project-based learning, stagnant pay and the shouldering of much of the blame when policy and reform efforts don't pan out as hoped.

And then the COVID-19 pandemic ramped everything up.

Practically overnight, K-12 educators shifted to and adapted lessons for remote learning — a model they and their students were largely unfamiliar with. Figuring out how to do so effectively as concerns also grew for students' personal and academic needs took its toll. And as some schools nationwide reopened in varying degrees this fall, stressors grew as many teachers and staff remained concerned about potential health risks. Those in hybrid models also had to navigate teaching both virtually and in-person simultaneously.

The result: A National Education Association poll in August found 28% of teachers were likely to leave the profession or retire because of COVID-19, with one in five teachers with less than 10 years experience expressing this sentiment compared to 40% with 21 to 30 years of experience and 55% with more than 30 years. In an Illinois Education Association poll, more than a third of members said they have considered a career change, 76% said this year’s workload is “somewhat” or “much” heavier than last year, and 66% reported being more “burned out” than usual.

Addressing this issue will be critical to retain skilled and rising educators in the coming years.

Social justice and anti-racist practices

While some schools had laid a path to increase cultural responsiveness, the deaths last year of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks — all unarmed Black people who died at the hands of law enforcement — sparked a reckoning nationwide that placed schools in the forefront of the movement to quash racial prejudices and systemic bias. 

That work will continue and grow stronger many school districts have promised. Those districts are making voluntary efforts to rewrite strategic plans, expand curriculums for diverse student bodies, integrate schools and put resources into professional development. Individual teachers and administrators also are taking proactive approaches to better understand how their words and actions can create inclusive classes and school cultures. 

Derek McCoy, principal of North Asheboro Middle School in Asheboro, North Carolina, told K12 Dive in June: “What’s going on right now is a call for all of us to really make sure that we’re focused on teaching the right things.”

As schools emerge from the pandemic, educators will need to rethink how to distribute what could be limited resources for providing equitable student experiences. The challenges of rebuilding post-pandemic school systems, including teachers shortages, learning losses and trauma response, hopefully will not dilute progress toward equitable practices, say those educators, administrators and groups advocating for change.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. in March, Joliet Public Schools in Illinois went into what Director of Technology and Information Services John Armstrong calls “emergency learning.”

It consisted of “choice boards, paper packets — things that could be done either online or not online,” he said.

That’s since changed. Armstrong said before March, only students in two grade levels had full 1:1 access, meaning each of the students had a device. Now, all of the district's 10,337 students need to have devices to attend school remotely.

In the two months after COVID-19 hit, the nation’s school districts used an average of 1,300 education technology tools each month, according to EdTech Insights research showing just how much districts depend on technology to educate students remotely. That change is unlikely to slow down in 2021

Here are five ed tech trends experts predict will continue making their mark in the new year.

Online learning spurs self-paced learning

While some districts have resumed in-person or hybrid classes, many others are continuing to educate students in a fully remote environment. 

“[When] the pandemic ends and we go to whatever normal is supposed to be, I believe that remote learning will continue in some way, shape or form," Armstrong said. "And I think that for the students that benefit from the online remote experience, having the ability to continue to do their schooling that way really provides opportunities that we’ve never even looked at before."

Keith Krueger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, said technology has enabled students to have a more personalized learning experience.

“I think that we see ... whether it’s content applications or using learning management systems, that we all don’t have to go through the same printed textbook in a linear way,” he said. “It’s possible with digital content to say, ‘You have to go through this content, but you can do it at your own pace. You can jump ahead to this other module that interests you and then go back to the other ones.’”

That’s something that shouldn’t go away when students return to classrooms, said Liz Lee, director of online learning at the International Society for Technology in Education.

“We still want student agency, we still want choice and voice, we still want collaboration wherever possible, and technology can be a great resource to help us meet those goals,” she said.

Teacher training shifts from 'how to use' approach

Lee also said more teachers have been asking for professional development since going online, which Krueger’s CoSN has identified as a “key enabler” for the evolution of teaching and learning that schools should address in 2021, according to upcoming research.

“We heard from a lot of leaders that their teachers were trying to do whatever they were doing in face-to-face classrooms in an online setting, which doesn’t always work totally well,” Lee said. Now teachers want to learn how to leverage technology to improve learning and not just get by, she said.

Nicholas Svensson, president and CEO of SMART Technologies, creator of the SMART Board, said over time, more tech companies will prioritize integration and pedagogy-driven support, so teacher training is less focused on how to use particular products and more on integrating that technology into the flow of the classroom.

“Educators deserve to have their preferred tools at their fingertips, without having to constantly move students across different platforms and sites,” he said in an email. “Integration has always been a request of schools, but in 2021, I suspect we’ll see more teachers insist that ed tech companies consider their workflow in a more intentional way.”

Data privacy issues become more complex

Mindy Frisbee, senior director of learning partnerships at the International Society for Technology in Education, said her son has come home from school showing off new apps, but it’s unclear what data the apps are collecting and how they know information about him, the user. 

“We can’t expect teachers to be privacy lawyers and experts, but they really should understand data practices and what the tools they’re bringing into the classroom are collecting,” she said. “With the shift to online learning, there was a massive movement and now hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent on new tools faster than ever before. It’s given us an opportunity to leverage what’s happened during COVID. It’s given us an opportunity to really highlight the conversation that’s always there, but it really needs to happen more in depth.” 

Svensson said over the last five years, numerous districts and states have been rethinking their data privacy policies, which often means updating outdated policies for current technology. 

“But, not all schools — or ed tech companies — have kept pace yet,” he said. “The challenge has been compounded by the fact that students are now learning outside their school and protected school network, creating a new sense of urgency in ensuring the privacy of student data.”

So while this isn’t a new trend, Svensson said, he believes 2021 “will be the year when strong data privacy policies become the norm, not the exception.” 

Cybersecurity concerns deepen

While cybsecurity issues aren’t new either, they have become prevalent in the COVID-19 era — from “Zoom bombings” to ransomware attacks.

In September, Las Vegas’ Clark County School District became the largest school district to fall victim to hackers at the time since the pandemic began. 

“I feel confident in making a prediction that this is going to be a significant issue for schools — whether they’re online or not,” said Doug Levin, president and founder of EdTech Strategies, founder of the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center and national director of K-12 Security Information Exchange. 

“[School districts have] more users of their systems and devices but because everyone is working remotely, they needed to loosen up controls to let people install software and to remotely support those users, and that creates opportunities for mayhem and mischief,” he said. 

Levin said school districts made these changes out of necessity, but now that they’ve had more time to plan, he thinks they’ll be tightening up again — though “there’s always a push and pull between sort of pragmatic and innovative educators who are looking for the best resources for their students and those who are more attuned to privacy and security issues.”

Congress has discussed getting schools more help on cybersecurity issues, but until there’s “political will to solve it,” things could keep getting worse, Levin said.

Connectivity challenges, 'homework gap' persist

Like many other school districts, Fresno Unified School District in California deployed devices for all students learning at home during the pandemic, said Philip Neufeld, the district’s executive officer of information technology. But that isn’t always enough.

Now, the district is working on building a private LTE network to make connectivity available for students without affordable access to high-quality broadband.

A recent Common Sense report shows 30% of U.S. students learning remotely lack adequate internet or devices to sustain effective remote learning. 

Neufeld suggests 2021 will likely see more schools start to address the so-called “homework gap,” as COVID-19 has “ripped the Band-aid off the problem of inequitable internet access.”

“There’s no silver bullet here. It’s going to take multiple ways,” he said. “It’s going to take a while to change that equation, and districts are going to have to find ways to do this — and more and more are.”

Many school district leaders stepped up to the technological, economic and emotional difficulties brought on by the novel coronavirus in 2020. Indeed, there are an abundance of stories of the creative measures administrators took to not only care for students' and families’ basic needs, as well as to ensure learning continued. 

Superintendents and system administrators were given credit for small and big successes, and blamed for disappointing progress or results. In many cases, they had to balance the demands of parents wanting in-person instruction for their children and of employees’ hesitation about on-campus learning during a public health crisis.

It’s a new year, but the pandemic-related concerns remain the same and are combined with tough issues school systems faced before COVID-19, such as equity in learning and hiring, district financial health and the academic advancement of all students.

Many district leaders have pledged to build a better post-pandemic school system than the one in place prior to 2020. Here are four exceptional ones to watch as they navigate the immediate challenges of recovery and plan for sustainable system-wide improvements.

Scott Muri - Ector County Independent School District, Texas

Two months after Scott Muri became superintendent of the 32,000-student Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, Texas, in July 2019, a mass shooting occurred in the community, killing and injuring more than two dozen people. Months later, the novel coronavirus forced the closure of school buildings. Through both crises, Muri did not lose momentum. In fact, he became more determined to gather stakeholders and collaborators to find solutions. 

“This is the right place for me. I feel it,” Muri told OA Online in September 2020. As one board member said in the article, Muri probably could have taken the top education job anywhere. He had previously worked as a superintendent, deputy superintendent, district chief information officer, teacher and principal in various parts of the country, according to profiles on the websites of ECISD and Chiefs for Change. 

By the fall of 2020, ECISD opened school buildings for in-person learning in phases, starting with students who did not have internet access and students with disabilities. In the middle of setting safety and cleaning protocols and navigating the logistics of bringing more students and staff to campuses, the district focused on academic advancement by fast-tracking the rollout of its strategic plan, according to a paper written by Muri and published in EdSurge.

He has pledged the pandemic will lead to a better school system that individualizes learning, embraces change and provides education equitably. 

While giving attention to long-term goals, Muri also worked with community partners to address the immediate need of providing internet access to rural areas in the district. As a result, a partnership with SpaceX is expected to bring satellite-based internet to the homes of students and educators. 

Baron Davis - Richland School District Two, South Carolina

While many school leaders have recently pledged to boost diversity and inclusion efforts, Baron Davis, superintendent of Richland School District Two in Columbia, South Carolina, has made these efforts a mission throughout his professional career.

By methodically building supportive systems and practices, equitable approaches have become integrated in the many different facets of the 27,000-student school system and could serve as a model for other district leaders eager to expand diversity in their districts.

Under Davis’ leadership, area voters agreed in 2018 to a $468 million bond to upgrade learning spaces, technology, transportation, and arts and athletic facilities. In the last few years, the district has expanded the number of underrepresented students taking Advanced Placement courses, as well as increased or maintained the number of students earning an AP Exam score of 3 or higher. Those efforts led to the district being placed on the 10th Annual AP District Honor Roll by the College Board.

The district has also launched an initiative to recruit and retain male and minority teachers, mentors and role models. The district’s 6% average of male and minority teachers is above the national average of 2%, according to the district’s website.

Davis’s work in equity has been recognized at the state and national levels. In December, AASA, The School Superintendents Association awarded Davis and two other superintendents the 2021 Dr. Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award for his commitment to the advancement and mentorship of minorities and women. 

Susana Cordova - Dallas Independent School District, Texas

It’s not unusual for superintendents and school boards to disagree, but when Susana Cordova, a life-long resident of Denver, Colorado, long-time educator and first Latina superintendent for the 92,000-student Denver Public Schools system announced her resignation late last year, it made many wonder if divisiveness was driving an effective administrator away.

Cordova who's work in Denver included creating strong school leadership pipelines and boosting the status of underperforming schools, accepted a new position with the Dallas Independent School District as deputy superintendent of Leading and Learning. She'll be working with her mentor, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa.

In Denver, Cordova scheduled visits to different regions in the district not just to do walkthroughs of the schools but to really get to know school communities by sitting in on parent meetings, listening to education stakeholders, helping school leaders understand performance data and participating in other activities to help build community engagement. By fulling understanding a school community's pulse, Cordova and the district were better equipped to provide a variety of supports to help underperforming schools rise higher. 

Cordova is also a believer that schools need effective and prepared leaders. Under her tenure, Denver Public Schools strengthened its leadership training program so novice school administrators had opportunities for residency programs and coaching support.

Aaron Spence - Virginia Beach City Public Schools, Virginia

In a school district with 67,000 students and 10,000 employees, it can be difficult to get the superintendent’s attention about a specific grievance or celebration, but Virginia Beach City Public Schools Superintendent Aaron Spence tries to give that individual level of attentiveness while tackling broader issues that call for systemic improvement. 

In the six years he’s led the VBCPS system, Spence, a graduate of the school system, is credited with advancing the district’s efforts to provide equitable academic opportunities for all students and for increasing student engagement and participation in higher level academic courses. That’s not an easy feat for a district that has a robust military presence as well as areas of high levels of wealth and poverty.

He also advocated for the review of disproportionality in discipline, which led to the creation of a Student Discipline Task Force whose members represent various education stakeholders, worked to reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions, and increased instructional time for all students, according to information on the district website. 

In recognizing Spence as the 2018 Virginia Superintendent of the Year, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents said, “His systemic approach to addressing this problem is a textbook example of leadership necessary to make large-scale changes in an organization that produce significant changes and positive results.”

Under his leadership, the district also built up a 1:1 technology program, which allows all students to have access to a device — an initiative that helped the school system better adapt to the abrupt move to fully remote instruction at the start of the pandemic. And while Spence is an advocate for technology use in education, digital learning should complement, not replace on-campus experiences, he told K-12 Dive in 2020.

Over the past year, the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic and the nation's reckoning with systemic racism have presented school leaders a bevy of challenges to contend with. Roughly two weeks into a new year, those challenges persist as principals seek to maintain positive school culture while keeping students and educators alike engaged in learning environments that remain largely remote due to ongoing school closures.

Though far from ideal, it's the kind of scenario that hones and truly defines strong leadership as principals navigate pain points and develop best practices to overcome the challenges facing their school communities. As we move into 2021, these four principals are leaders you'll want to keep an eye on.

Wanda Tharpe — Dacusville Middle School in Easley, South Carolina

Wanda Tharpe joined Dacusville Middle School in the 2013-14 school year, bringing with her experience as an administrator for six years and a decade of experience as a social studies teacher, according to South Carolina's local news coverage. She leads in a tight-knit school community, where many of her staff previously attended the school as children. 

However, being the leader of a small rural school, one with only 330 students spread across grades 6-8, comes with a number of challenges. While rural communities often have difficulty accessing things readily available to urban or suburban communities like internet and CTE classes, Tharpe has worked to expand online course options for her middle school students.

By contracting with the online learning company SC Virtual, a free state-sponsored online course program for students in grades 7-12, Dacusville Middle School was able to provide business elective courses. The school, which has half of its student population on free or reduced-priced lunches, expanded the program so that it now offers more than a dozen electives including languages, personal finance, keyboarding, and more.

The virtual classes not only offer high school credits to students in 7th and 8th grades so they often enter high school ahead of their peers, but also allows them to personalize their learning. "Being in a small school and being able to provide opportunities for our students and allowing them to personalize their learning is great," Tharpe told K-12 Dive. 

What's more, the previously established program also meant the small rural middle school was ahead of the curve when it came to COVID-19 school closures. 

Quentin Lee — Childersburg High School in Childersburg, Alabama

While remaining focused on meeting students' learning and personal needs has been a core focus for school and district leaders during the novel coronavirus pandemic, a little levity can also go a long way to lift spirits and boost school culture in trying times. For Quentin Lee of Childersburg High School, that meant taking time out of the day to share his feelings with the school community through song.

One such video begins with Lee, a former band director, seated behind his desk with a keyboard, telling viewers he wants to sing a song that he hopes brings them hope, joy and "lets you know how I've been feeling during this COVID-19 pandemic." He then plays several notes before letting out a cathartic scream that his peers and students can likely relate to.

Perhaps most notably, however, he recorded a COVID-themed music video parody of M.C. Hammer's 1990 hit "U Can't Touch This" after penning new lyrics himself.

I love it !!! ???????????? Salute Dr.Lee pic.twitter.com/2ohVRypuAe

— MC HAMMER (@MCHammer) August 4, 2020

In a statement on its website, the school said, "We take COVID 19 very seriously, but wanted to bring some comic relief to a tough situation. We can't wait to have our students back on campus!" There's certainly a fine line to walk in this area, but done right, it can allow a school leader to be seen as more open and relatable to students and staff alike.

Michelle Kefford — Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida

In just her second year leading Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Michelle Kefford has gone from taking the reins on the school's ongoing recovery from a 2018 mass shooting that took the lives of 17 students and faculty members, to guiding it through the COVID-19 pandemic.

A finalist for the National Association of Secondary School Principals' 2021 National Principal of the Year award, Kefford was previously recognized as 2019 Florida Principal of the Year for leading her previous school, Charles W. Flanagan High, to its first "A" grade from the state, which it held for six of her seven years as principal.

Core to Kefford's leadership strategy is a commitment to building positive relationships with students, and to connect with Marjory Stoneman Douglas' 3,000 pupils, student reporters Eden Rothstein and Lexi Dalva write that she launched "Kefford's Kitchen," a program allowing students to issue questions and concerns to her over lunch.

Mitchell Albert, a hospitality and tourism teacher at the school, also told the students, "Number one, she genuinely cares about her staff and students. She also communicates really well, which is so helpful in these stressful times."

Whitney Weathers — Manual High School in Denver, Colorado

In the wake of civil rights protests sparked by the police-involved deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans, assistant principal of Denver's Manual High School, Whitney Weathers, was moved to action. She made it a point to check in with her Black male teachers, and supported her pupils — a majority of whom are students of color — through heavy conversations and reflections. 

But Weathers hasn't just supported staff and students. In fact, she regularly advocates for the diversification of district staff and teaching material.

"I said, 'You have got to recruit teachers of color in positions of academic power.' Right now, if you are Black, you are pushed to be a school leader or district leader with SEL," she told K-12 Dive previously. "But when it comes to academics, we are missing."

I told a colleague the other day: “if the only time you see black people is when they are your students or your direct reports, you don’t understand our humanity: you only understand our subservience.” #BLM @trussleadership

— WeatherstheWriter (@Weathers_Writes) June 8, 2020

Weathers regularly turns this belief into action, noting microaggressive actions within her school setting, sharing with her leaders how spaces could be made more inclusive, and bringing culturally insensitive material to the attention of her district leaders. 

Integrating technology into the classroom has been the overwhelming focus of teacher professional development in recent years. EAB K-12 Strategic Research Director Ben Court estimates nearly 70% of professional learning programs have centered around that topic, compared to 30% on instruction methods.

“Teachers still have a lot of opportunities to become more comfortable or use advanced methods, but other key areas are rising to the top for professional learning,” said Court, who specializes in K-12 leadership development, planning and strategy. “It’s time to flip the ratio to focus more on instruction.”

The coronavirus has required teachers, like their students, to shift how they receive training and support. Even when schools can return to “normal,” these forced changes are resulting in long-term benefits. These are four PD trends to watch in 2021 and beyond.  

"PL in Pajamas"

In Texas’ Arlington Independent School District, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Connie Wallace has coined the phrase “PL in Pajamas.” Wallace recognized teachers no longer have the luxury of blocking out several hours, or a full day, to attend a PD workshop. Aside from time, teachers are learning as they go and need troubleshooting tips at a moment’s notice.

“When they are up at 2 a.m. putting together a video for a class, they don’t have time to wait,” Wallace said. “Having on-demand PD experiences has been enhanced by COVID and will likely be continuing well into the future.”

The time crunch being felt by all staff is also limiting teachers' access to other staff for help. Taking a similar approach to higher education, Wallace has introduced online office hours to ease that pain point.

“We put in place virtual office hours, so at any given time [educators can] log into a Zoom to link and engage with members of our department to get on-demand support,” she said.

Timeliness and flexibility are the buzzwords when it comes to designing PD for the COVID-19 era. Following retail’s trend of “pop-up” stores, impromptu PD opportunities have been another approach used by the Otsego Northern Catskills Board of Cooperative Educational Services in upstate New York. 

These nimble, short sessions address immediate challenges teachers have asked for help with, as indicated through surveys. “This is a collaborative effort that can be used to address many topics in a short time,” said Stacy Ward, director of instructional support services for ONC BOCES.

Bite-sized and personalized

Pre-pandemic, 44% of professionals across industries cited time as a reason for not finishing talent development programs, according to LinkedIn's 2018 Workplace Learning Report. With time and energy stretched to a breaking point during the past year, that percentage is likely to now be higher. 

Providing content in smaller nuggets increases engagement and participation by aligning staff needs and allowing them to fulfill PD goals with the time they have available. Sessions as short as 10 minutes that focus on a specific skill are the way of the future, experts says, as educators need in-the-moment solutions.

Tightly focused training in half- or hour-long segments will make the most of the time teachers have available for professional learning. Wallace, for instance, has created “choice boards” to allow users to pair the self-paced work with their level of expertise.

“It’s like a bingo board,” she said. “We put together small snipes on a topic that range from basic information to those that go deeper for someone established in the content area, so they are making the best use of their time.”

Wallace added that this approach has been particularly helpful in supporting staff in advancing beyond their knowledge base. For example, a new teacher may need more support around phonics, whereas a principal who was a former early childhood literacy teacher is familiar.

“Having them spend time in a session restating something they already know is not the best use of their time,” she said. “With choice boards, they can pick the content they need to propel themselves to the next level.”

Shifts in focus

Court’s call for flipping the focus of PD away from how to use technology is happening in districts around the country. In some cases, this is a matter of going from how to use the tool to how to teach with the tool: Student engagement in a virtual environment and school connectedness are among top-requested topics by teachers. 

But the importance of training around social-emotional learning is also on the rise.

“We’ve seen some districts elevate wellness and sustainability topics to protect teacher well-being,” Court said. “We encourage school leaders to think about how to design PD that encourages teachers to focus on self-care.”

Last summer,  the ONC BOCES instructional development staff used the “Take Time for You: Self-Care Action Plans for Educators” workbook. Their plan is to roll out the workbook and accompanying exercises on a wider scale.

“We had been bringing SEL to the district slowly, and this has to speed that up,” Ward said.

At the School District of Manatee County in Florida, Melinda Lundy, the district’s director of professional learning and leadership development, quickly realized redesigning PD extended beyond teachers to the business and operations side.

“That was a big ‘a-ha’ moment that we had, to look at how PD had to be changed for the workforce as a whole,” she said. “We had to deliver playlists based on our course libraries and develop courses for staff who are bus drivers, food service workers, maintenance and different operational staff.”

Breaking down silos

Teachers operate in a silo in the best of times, and the pandemic has deepened those divides for some, according to Court. Districts that are encouraging staff to share their knowledge and to leverage the power of a person’s expertise are finding greater success in shifting PD opportunities.

“The fact that we’re virtual means we can reach a wider audience,” Ward said. “There are four BOCES that work together to divide and deliver the work because there are different services we each do well.”

These changes to PD prove the importance of more focused and timely learning opportunities to support immediate needs. Much of the shift is positive, and Ward is hopeful that will continue. However, she is worried that as summer approaches, educators are going to need a break at a crucial time when learning standards are changing.

“We have brand new standards for 2021-2022 in New York, and we are going to have to help our teachers prepare while respecting the fatigue of the last year,” Ward said.