This ~5 min piece for Getting Smart illuminates the tension between what it takes to keep schools open in Covid times and what it takes for kids to learn. Spoiler: they are rarely the same.
Education administrators need to lead with two ends in mind: keep schools open and keep students learning. To make this second piece happen, leaders must embrace a different “4C’s.” Without them, students might show up when the calendar says, attend assigned classes and courses, stay COVID-free, but not learn or grow in the ways they should.
Educators are struggling with this tension every day. It takes so much energy to follow the rules and protocols of staying Covid safe. Administrators moonlight as contact tracers. Teachers can't get fidgety students to focus and pay attention because flexible seating is hard while social distancing. In schools and classrooms across America, teachers are making learning happen every day. But living in the tension is taxing and tiring teachers and students out.
This piece calls on education leaders to continue meeting the 4Cs of keeping schools open--Covid-19 protocols, compliance requirements, calendars and class schedules, content and catch-up--while giving extra attention to the 4Cs of student success: competencies, connections, credentials, and cash.