To Improve Assessment, Georgia District Turns To Teachers

IDEAS

To improve assessment, Georgia district turns to teachers

By Amanda Lynch

Categories: Collaboration, Learning systems/planning, Outcomes, Teacher leadership

Educators everywhere are responding to the realities of student learning loss, unfinished learning, or disrupted learning as we continue to experience the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even two years later, studies are documenting lasting drops in students’ academic achievement in reading and math since the onset of the pandemic (Kuhfeld et al., 2022). Moreover, we know students of color and students attending high-poverty schools experienced the largest achievement declines, increasing pre-existing gaps for already marginalized students (Lewis et al., 2021; Dorn et al., 2021). Teachers and leaders are working to maximize instructional time to ensure students are able to rebound academically, while grappling with staffing shortages, mental health concerns, increased disruptive behaviors, absenteeism, and other pandemic-influenced realities. Large-scale assessments can do more than

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References

Dorn, E., Hancock, B., Sarakatsannis, J., & Viruleg, E. (2021). COVID-19 and education: An emerging K-shaped recovery. McKinsey & Company. www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-an-emerging-k-shaped-recovery

Kuhfeld, M., Soland, J., Lewis, K., & Morton, E. (2022). The pandemic has had devastating impacts on learning. What will it take to help students catch up? The Brookings Institution. www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2022/03/03/the-pandemic-has-had-devastating-impacts-on-learning-what-will-it-take-to-help-students-catch-up/

Learning Forward. (2022). Standards for Professional Learning. Author.

Lewis, K., Kuhfeld, M., Ruzek, E., & McEachin, A. (2021). Learning during COVID-19: Reading and math achievement in the 2020-21 school year. NWEA. www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2021/07/Learning-during-COVID-19-Reading-and-math-achievement-in-the-2020-2021-school-year.research-brief-1.pdf

Amanda Lynch

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Amanda D. Lynch (amanda.lynch@csdecatur.net) is chief of staff in City Schools of Decatur and a former assessment coordinator in Fulton County Schools in Georgia.