Here is the Good News...
This is the 10th year that veteran Teacher Mark Harman has compiled a list of what he considers the best and worst education news of the previous 12 months (you can see links to all the news items at the end of this post).
He writes: “Most years, I have wished that education was more in the news. This year, though, gave truth to the old saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for …’”
As usual, these are not listed in any order of importance (except for the first ones listed under both the “best” and “worst” list). Ferlazzo wants to hear your feedback — whether you agree or disagree with his choices, and what news he missed. His choices are sure to stimulate debate.
Ferlazzo’s best education news of 2021
● There’s little question that the best education news of the year was the reopening in the spring of many schools that had been closed, and the return in the fall of the vast majority of students and teachers. These reopenings and returns resulted in large part because of mask mandates in many, though not all, places; the availability of teacher and student vaccines; and changes facilitated by federal funds. Even in some states where mask mandates were prohibited, some districts courageously defied those prohibitions and instituted them anyway. Though the return of students was the best news for most of us, it comes with a big asterisk — many educators, family members, and children could have had the coronavirus transmitted to them while at school (or on their way to and from them).
● A related piece of “best” news to help ensure that schools will remain safely open are growing teacher vaccine mandates and the beginning of mandates for students, with the state of California and individual districts there taking the lead and a majority of Americans supporting them.
● Billions of dollars from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan were integral to the physical reopening of schools, and researchers are clear that this kind of additional financial school support can directly result in increased student success. The same law included many other measures to assist our students’ families, including expanding the child tax credit. Since countless studies have found that the majority of factors that affect student achievement exist outside the schoolhouse walls, these additional supports should have a major positive impact on student learning for years to come. Speaking of additional support, the Biden administration also approved the biggest increase ever to food assistance benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (it’s hard for hungry students to concentrate on school).
● But that’s not all the additional funding the Biden administration is planning to provide to education. Congress is on track to support a huge increase in money for Title 1 schools (those with large numbers of low-income students) and for programs to support disabled students. In addition, the roughly $2 trillion Build Back Better plan passed by the House provides funds directly for schools to support K-12 programs as well as creating universal pre-K programs to be at least partly provided by schools. Even though Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) said he opposes the plan, he has also said he supports the expansion of pre-K programs.
● Teaching about systemic racism is under attack (see the “worst news” section), and New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’s “1619 Project” was a prime target. The related “best” news is that not only did she and her collaborators publish expanded books for adults and children, but the Pulitzer Center expanded its teaching resources about it and created a new website at 1619 Education. I’m sure it will become one of the most popular teacher resource sites on the Web.
● School districts across the country are finally beginning to either overhaul or eliminate “gifted and talented” programs that have shut out many African American and Latino students for years. In addition, cities like New York City and Boston are changing their admission processes for select high schools to try to deal with similar disparities.
● Last year’s “best” news list included the University of California beginning the process to end the use of the SAT and ACT in its admission requirements. Not only has this change been finalized, but UC has just decided to eliminate the use of any kind of standardized test whatsoever in its admission process. This change should benefit many low-income and vulnerable students, especially English-language learners. This decision is likely to influence colleges and universities across the country. In fact, Harvard University just announced it would extend for four years a policy that allows applicants to apply without an SAT or ACT score.
● Speaking of California, the state has led in other education areas this year. It’s providing tens of billions of dollars in extra funding to schools, becoming the first state to require taking a high school ethnic studies class to graduate, passing a law that schools need to provide free tampons to students, and launching the largest free lunch program in the nation.
● California isn’t the only state that can be a model for others. Illinois passed a law requiring that Asian American History be a part of the public school curriculum.
● It’s a definite plus to have a teacher, principal, and former English Language Learner as U.S. secretary of education. Even though I, and many other educators, felt that Miguel Cardona made the wrong call on requiring standardized testing last spring (see worst news section), I believe most educators would choose him over Betsy DeVos — President Donald Trump’s education secretary — any day of the week. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt to have a practicing teacher living in the White House: first lady Jill Biden.
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