Assistant Superintendent Dr. Ann Forrest, who oversees the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the ConVal School District, recently gave two presentations to the School Board.
The first presentation addressed the learning loss that students in all grades experienced as the COVID pandemic showed negative impacts on learning, beginning in the second half of the 2019-2020 school year.
“A review of fall assessment data nationwide revealed that students, on average, were about one and a half months behind where they would typically be in reading and about three months behind in where they would typically be in math as a result of the ‘shutdown’ last spring,” Dr. Forrest noted.
For the slide deck that covers the first portion of the two-part presentation, please click here.
The second presentation addressed the strategies that are required to achieve successful learning recovery across a broad spectrum of focus areas through the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.
These solution-oriented approaches include, among others:
- expanded learning time — before, during, and after school as well as during the summer months — for both existing academic programming and through high-intensity tutoring;
- learning acceleration based on a focus on vertically-aligned priority standards in ELA/literacy and mathematics; and
- attention to social-emotional learning, including the creation of supportive environments for self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
The second presentation contains detailed recommendations for the elementary school, middle school, and high school levels in the ConVal School District. It also lays out what the projected cost factors are that will be associated with the implementation of the learning recovery plan, from professional development opportunities for existing teachers and paraprofessionals to required new staffing.
“All costs associated with the key recommendations of the learning recovery plan will be covered using federal grant monies,” Dr. Forrest concluded. “By the same token, any additional positions would be temporary in nature and also be grant funded.”
For the slide deck of the second presentation, please click here.
