Lesson 1

The Whirlwind Change In Education

Educational change has been an ongoing process over the past ten years. Educators have watched the pendulum swing. This swing can be understood as educational ideas change, altered curricula to meet societies' needs, educational materials transition, and often opinions about what is best for students changes. Deep down inside the goal and interest in the students stay consistent, even in the haze of confusion, which may be challenging to see clearly.

Throughout this whirlwind, teachers continue to seek knowledge and training that promotes the best interest of the students, as they are held accountable for the well-being of academic learning on a daily basis. But at a price, that price is teacher challenges in transmitting the change to the classroom setting as the pendulum often swings at a quick rate.

Here are some examples of the "pendulum swing:

1878 - 2022 Standardized testing

-1978 Minimum Basic Skills (MBS) testing program for reading and mathematics, third-, sixth- and ninth-grade students 

-1982 Ninth-grade students were required to pass the Minimum Basic Skills Test for high school diploma

-1983 High School Proficiency Test (HSTP11) from the ninth to eleventh grade

-1988 Grade 8 Early Warning Test(EWT)

-1996 Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS) 

-1997 - 2002 Elementary School Proficiency Assessment (ESPA)

-1998 Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA),

-2001 High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), which replaced the HSPT11 as the state's graduation test for all students who entered the eleventh grade

-2001 No Child Left Behind Act

-2003 NJASk 3 and NJASk 4

-2004 NJ Science Assessment for grade 4

-2006 NJASK for grades 5-7

-NJ ASK 3-8, HSPA, the Alternate Proficiency Assessment (APA) for students with severe cognitive disabilities, and end-of-course high school competency assessments in biology and algebra

-2010 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics and English language arts/literacy

-2011 No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

-2010 state joined the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)

-2014 and 2015, the PARCC electronic assessments replaced the NJASK in grades 3-8 and HSPA

-2014 The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were adopted by the State Board of Education 

-2016 NJ State Board of Education adopted the revised mathematics and English language arts standards

-2016 New Jersey Student Learning Standards replaced PARCC

We can observe by the timeline that education has constantly changed and the effects it places on teachers for professional development, curricula changes, and student preparation.

Pandemic/COVID 19, DELTA, OMICRON VARIANTS

March 9, 2020 - Current

We are all aware of the impact Covid-19 and the variants have had on education, as you as educators lived it and breathed it daily and continue to do so. It has disrupted schools, homes, businesses, and all walks of life on very different levels.

Time Away from the Classroom:

*Short time frame away from the classroom, which turned into long term virtual learning (remote)

*Return to the classroom in a hybrid schedule:

*Teachers and Students return to the classroom full time *Exceptions - contract traced or positive test results (time away from school varies)

*Time frame for school absences with varied for vaccinated and unvaccinated

This continual change in education affected every part of the process. Parents acted as teachers, teachers juggled professional and personal situations, including their own kids' education, and the concern of teaching in a "normal" way in an "unnormal" time.

What Was Needed:

Educators set up "home classrooms", new technology entered in the workspace, from the second monitor, Google Meets, Zoom Meetings, learning management systems (delivery systems for assigning quizzes, tracking progress, data, and sharing/posting), blue-light-blocking glasses, mini-whiteboards, document cameras, laptop stands, wireless keyboard and mouse, Ring Light, printer, USB Microphone, seat cushion (yes...was greatly needed, ask any teacher), and the tools to keep meetings in-progress without internet connectivity issues.

We know teachers needed to invest in these items, whether on their own or from the school, yet they needed to learn the process of the "how-to" incorporates these tools, which differed per individual and their access. Noise control was also a new item that needed to be addressed. Background noise became a great distraction from both the teacher and student perspectives.

What We Realized:

Students and teachers alike were forced to adapt to the changing idea of education and figure out a way to continue learning and engaging through virtual classrooms. This posed great stress on both the students and the teachers, along with a new beginning of positives and negatives.

We Wished:

We wished the process of change was not so sudden and unexpected. Additional time to prepare and troubleshoot possible issues would have allowed for a greater success rate. One never would have predicted the impact on students would be permanent and would affect them in the weeks, months, and years to come

We hoped that our class's attention would remain consistent in attendance, participation, and work habits. Also, a desire that virtual learning would maintain a consistent pattern that we once had with in-person learning.

Although these wishes may not have happened, we learned how to deal with the unexpected and move forward to create a safe and inviting environment.

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We will address these items further in the upcoming lessons, along with solutions to everyday teacher concerns, those that have been expressed through our conversations with educators.

Changes, whether those affected by constant changing of standards, curricula, teaching materials, or pandemic/health issues, educators can look at these experiences and move forward.

~WHAT WE GAINED~

• Refreshed Teaching Ideas - we know more than before on a richer, more advanced level
• Updated Teacher Devices - technology at our fingers utilized for purposeful sharing
• Deliberate Connections with students and staff members
• Resilence - accepting change and taking immediate action
• Lesson Design and how to plan without "recreating the wheel"
• Awareness of Self-Care
• Reliance on others and know it is okay to ask for assistance

The whirlwind in education took on other scenarios during these times too. We know there will be more changes to come as we continue to address, define, and observe the changing needs of students.

Reflective Assignment:

1. Looking back on your experiences over the past few years, how have you become a more intellectual and advanced learner?
2. What were your greatest struggles recently in education, and how did you adapt to them on a professional level?
3. What are the components in education that need to be addressed that would enhance the way you teach?

As always, you are free to communicate these ideas in the comment box below or keep mental notes or a working journal for your own professional development.

Best wishes,

KerryAnn O'Connor

Course Instructor

Learning Exchange Academy