Lessons Learned By Schools after Re-entering Classrooms Post-COVID and How To Approach the New School Year

For many communities, the 2021–2022 school year was the first year of back-to-school normalcy following the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 99% of school districts were fully in-person, with a small percentage adopting a hybrid learning model.

At the start of this great return, many schools were focusing the majority of their resources and energy on simply evaluating where each student stood, and this proved to be challenging for everyone involved. Some students had missed over a year of in-person education and socialization, and some, who started their kindergarten year during the pandemic, were experiencing their first in-person educational experience ever.

Teachers reported that the first half of the 2021–2022 school year was spent evaluating this progress — or learning slip — and working to bring students to grade level, either academically, behaviorally or socially. Only after these evaluations were completed could educators truly launch into the aggressive learning schedules necessary to keep children on pace for their grade level.

While teachers and administrators did their best to incorporate academics throughout the process, the work of reminding students how to “do” school was certainly a distraction.

New school year challenges

As school systems look toward the 2022–2023 school year, there is a dichotomy of hope and even more challenging circumstances ahead for educators.

Schools are struggling to source the educators necessary to achieve their educational goals during the 2022–2023 school year due to the ongoing teacher shortage. In December 2021, 5.4% of education jobs were open, more than two times the 2020 statistic. Worse, only 4.3% of first-year college students in 2018 intended to pursue a major in education, far less than the 11% who intended to pursue the pathway in 2000.

Federal funding support

To counteract this, schools are planning ahead to utilize the federal funding provided for COVID-related academic recovery efforts. Bringing outside help during the school day, after school or during a summer session will fill that gap while continuing to serve the most in-need students.

An important caveat of the federal funding, however, is that it can only be used through August of 2024. This leaves leaders pressed to make the most of the available funds in a way that will not set both students and teachers up to experience yet another learning slide once those resources are gone. There is a possibility that students will be able to catch up before the start of the 2024 school year, given they receive the right support.

As schools approach the upcoming school year, strategic resource utilization can lead to long-term wins as schools approach the upcoming school year. Providing specialized attention will allow classroom teachers to create a great learning environment for the students who are ready to progress. This also allows for an instructional environment that does not force new information on students who have yet to master the prerequisite skills.