With students headed back to school, leaders provided updates at the recent Joint Appropriations and House Ways and Means Committee meeting. Here’s an overview with important highlights regarding student engagement:
Joint Appropriations and House Ways and Means Committee
August 12, 2021
Mohammed Choudhury, State Superintendent of Schools
- Returning to full-day, 5 days a week in-person learning for all students in all 24 local school systems
- Every school system will offer in-person learning for the upcoming school year
- Each local school system, nonpublic school, and childcare program may set their own policies and procedures
- Strongly recommend unvaccinated people to continue to wear face covering in all indoor settings
- We are recovering all the learning loss. What are we recovering to? Returning to “how it was before” won’t be sufficient for student growth
- Doubling down on social and emotional health of students to create proficient learning
- American Rescue Plan
- 3 priorities: Accelerating student engagement, Supporting mental/social-emotional health, Addressing disrupted education
- Virtual Learning
- Currently, only 1-2% of students will be participating in virtual learning during 2021-202
- 22 of 24 local school systems offering a virtual option
- Programs have strong requirements; must be approved by MSDE
- MSDE providing technical assistance/support
- Many virtual offerings don’t get it done when it comes to student achievement/learning
- Very specific students will be better with virtual learning than others
- Self-discipline; independent, effective communicators; socioeconomic status; intrinsically motivated; good time-management; etc.
- Strategies in place to provide assistance to students engaged in virtual learning and ensure they are in a successful environment
- Tutoring (virtual and face-to-face)
- Evaluated individual student attendance and achievement data
- Mentors
- Virtual help desk for parents/guardians
- Constantly evaluating, implementing best practices
Sean Bulson, Superintendent of Harford County
- Virtual Learning
- Have to make sure we have the right students in virtual
- Constantly evaluating; laser focus
- Health is still the primary focus
- Still concerned about enrollment
- Taking the implementation and the blueprint very seriously
- School superintendents should treat masking like any other disciplinary issue/infraction
- Health services among young students
- School nurses are very overworked currently
- Finding ways to use federal funds/grants to give back to nurses
- Discussing teacher vaccinations; would like to see it be a state initiative
Cheryl Bost, President of Maryland State Education Association
- Must prioritize the health and safety of all those going back to schools
- A return to normal is not good enough, must use funds and opportunities to better students
- Goal is to open school in-person and stay in-person throughout the year
- Vaccines
- Have been pushing for everyone who is eligible to receive the vaccine to get vaccinated
- Prepared to work with state and local leaders to develop protocols by which all employees either have proof of vaccination or are subject to frequent testing
- Coronavirus vaccine would need state initiative, as other vaccines are state statute
- Everyone should be wearing a mask, following CDC guidelines
- Need additional support for employee social and mental health
Diamonte Brown, Baltimore Teachers Union
- Engagement is important for going back to school
- How to improve engagement; reopening input and feedback sessions
- Must be intentional about staff that focus on engagement and meeting students’ mental health needs
- Haven’t surveyed members about vaccine mandate; no date for when that survey goes out; communication among all parties is key
