The Texas Education Agency recently released new findings to help quantify the initial impact of COVID-19 on Texas Students. Anne Wicks, the Bush Institute's Ann Kimball Johnson Education Reform Initiative Director, explains the importance of this data and how education leadership should use it.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently released new findings to help quantify the initial impact of COVID-19 on Texas students. As identified by the data, COVID-19 has upended our education system and TEA reported student learning loss.
The 2020-2021 school year saw rapid innovation attempting to meet this new instructional moment. Anne Wicks, the Ann Kimball Johnson Education Reform Initiative Director, says it’s time for federal, state, and local leaders to focus on two things: The first is safety for kids and education. The second is accelerating academic progress for all kids, regardless of race, ethnicity, or disability. In newly released policy recommendations, Wicks identifies how the power of tests support all children through and beyond this school year.
In separate policy recommendations to state and local leaders, Wicks reminds us that this is an opportunity for state chiefs, superintendents, and central office leaders to show brave and innovative leadership. One clear way to support student learning during this time is to remove the burden of the health and safety aspects of pandemic planning and response from the school building so that teachers and principals can focus on what they do best — educating our nation’s children.