Author Archives: T Hatch

This week, the discussion of the evolution of the Olympia Schools continues with a focus on the school’s development since it moved to a new K-12 campus in 2010. Established initially as a small kindergarten in 2003 by Ms. Minh An Pham and several other parents, Olympia has grown to encompass a kindergarten and a primary, middle, and high school with a combined enrollment of 1,200 in Hanoi. The post is based on a conversation between Thomas Hatch and Minh An Pham (Co-founder, Board of Directors), Quoc Dan Tran (Head Of Mathematics Department, Vice-head of Academic Council), Dr.Thuc Anh Vo (Head of Foreign Languages Department; English teacher), and Thanh Ha Le (Head of Science & Technology Department). Last week’s post, The Evolution of an Alternative Educational Approach in Vietnam, covers the first part of this conversation.

This discussion builds on previous posts documenting the founding and evolution of a variety of different schools and educational programs including the development of the ETU School in China (Beyond Fear: Yinuo Li On What It Takes To Create New Schools), the Citizens Foundation in Pakistan (Expanding to Say “Yes”: The Ongoing Work of The Citizens Foundation in Pakistan), Second Chance in Liberia, (Accelerating Learning in Africa: The Expansion and Adaptations of Second Chance), and Fount of Nations in Malawi (Building equal learning opportunities for differently-abled children in Malawi: An interview with Patience Mkandawire on the evolution of Fount for Nations). Taken together, these post show how powerful educational experiences, often ones that deviate from conventional and “accepted” practice, can take off in all kinds of contexts.

Since 2010:  The “school of change”

In describing the Olympia School’s development since its move to a new campus, Ms. Pham and her colleagues called it “a school of change.” Every summer, they seem to be making repairs and improvements in their classrooms in the school environment, but they are also constantly changing and improving their curriculum. As I talked with Ms. Pham and her colleagues, however, I began to get a sense that Olympia could be termed “a school of incremental change” – a school striving to make a series of small changes and adaptations every year rather than radical leaps. Dr. Vo, Head of the Foreign Languages Department, described the steps toward interdisciplinary project-based learning since her arrival in 2015. “Every summer,” Dr. Vo told me, “we’ve been working on improving the program while teachers are on holiday.“ At first, she explained, English teachers might take 2 hours out of the 7 hours a week they spent with in class with their students; but gradually, they began working with other teachers to pursue a project where they might try to integrate another subject into the English projects. More recently, however, their project-based approach has grown as teachers from a number of different subjects work together to create projects that are truly interdisciplinary, pursued across subjects, in and out of school.

To illustrate, Dr. Vo described a sustainable development project organized around critical questions like: “Should we build more hydro-electric plants?” and “is hydro-electric power sustainable?” In the process, students explored issues in natural science, history, and geography by looking at how electricity is delivered to different communities in Vietnam and how the factories affect local life.  Students worked in a group to do a report – which they also had to write up in English. For math, students calculated costs and benefits. For economics, they had to develop a sustainable idea to present to their peers and teachers in a kind of competition (inspired by the show “Shark Tank”). Over the years, what might have begun as a project carried out in a subject like physics, has expanded to engage the whole school, culminating in an entire day devoted to sustainable development with a showcase where students at many different levels can share what they have learned.

Olympia has now reached a point where the process of developing a theme and guidelines for school-wide projects has become an integral part of their planning for the year. That planning includes collaborative meetings during the summer – and through weekly collaborative meetings throughout the school year – among all the teachers who look together at the national curriculum requirements, the school requirements, and the student needs in order to pick a theme for the year.  They then decide which over-arching questions to ask, which products to produce, and what kinds of assessments to have. Recently, they have begun engaging the students in the selection of the themes as well.  Last year, they selected the theme “learn smart, be happy, and go global.” As part of that effort, students designed a variety of different products including a “floating house” to help farmers deal with flood season and model of a ”smart home” with an alarm system for fire safety (which was covered on the VTV News).

Changing time

The school has also made some critical structural changes which have helped it to use time to support both students’ academic development and their wellbeing. For example, during the COVID-19 school closures, they planned their schedule taking into account both the content they needed to cover as well as concerns about the amount of time students needed to spend on their screens. Aided by the fact that the Vietnamese government reduced some of the requirements for content coverage, to reduce screen time, they decided to start the students’ day later and end earlier than normal; instead of scheduling periods back-to-back, they also gave students a break in between classes. In addition, they made room for movement activities in both the morning and the afternoon. Although many aspects of the schedule shifted back after the closures ended, the school has created a period after lunch when students can get more one-on-one support from their teachers and advisors. 

In order to meet the demands of the national curriculum and to prepare students for the entrance tests and university admissions requirements in the US, the UK and other countries, the school has also shifted their ninth grade – normally the last year of lower secondary school in Vietnam – into the first grade in high school (similar to the US).  As Ms. Pham explained, that move gave their 9th graders a chance to get acquainted with their high school program and to build a strong academic foundation; but it also created time in their schedule to take a number of elective courses and to choose an academic specialization in a subject of interest like social studies, psychology, or economics before they graduated high school. This arrangement enables students to prepare both for college entrance tests like the SAT or IELTS used in other countries and for the Vietnamese national exams in mathematics, literature, foreign languages, and natural sciences or social sciences (which can also be used for admission to Vietnamese universities).

Ultimately, this arrangement makes it possible for their students to participate in the school’s three different programs of activities: their academic program; an art, music, and physical education program (that is also reflected in their extra-curricular offerings); and their LIFE program (focusing on student wellbeing and social-emotional development).  With these changes, Olympia has now had thirteen graduating classes, with last year’s class including 76 graduates.

Managing resistance?

With such an unusual educational approach, some resistance and friction in a conventional system is to be expected, but the school has found ways to work with the larger system. Those efforts have included participating in some of Vietnam’s early efforts to explore competency-based learning as an alternative to “textbook-based” teaching in 2013. As part of a pilot project, the school’s science teachers began looking at how they could make their classes more experiential and active. Although they did not know it at the time, that project set them up well for the government’s announcement in 2017 that the whole country would shift to a competency-based curriculum.

Not surprisingly, the emphasis on testing and exams in the Vietnamese system has presented some constraints. In Hanoi, in particular, at the end of 9^th grade, students have to take an exam in Vietnamese language and in Mathematics to get a certificate to graduate and enter upper secondary school.  Naturally, many schools focus specifically on preparing their students for those tests. At Olympia, however, given that the 9^th graders are already part of the high school and almost all continue on to 10^th grade they submitted a proposal to the municipal government to use their own 9^th grade assessments in place of Hanoi’s 9^th grade graduation exams. Olympia’s approach included formative assessments such as projects and writing portfolios used throughout the year along with some traditional, summative exams at the end of the year. When Hanoi agreed to that proposal, Olympia was able to admit their students directly to Olympia high school without taking the city’s test. Since that time, many other private schools have followed suit with their own assessment approaches.

Olympia’s older students still face some exam pressures, but perhaps not as much as in some other systems because in Vietnam students are now allowed to use their grade point average for college admissions and, in some cases, they can use scores from the SAT’s or the IELTS for both entrance to college in Vietnam and in the US and elsewhere. In addition, students who began at Olympia in primary school have had instruction in English throughout their school year, and, as a result, are often able to take and pass the national exams in English well before their final year, further relieving some of the exam pressure that often coalesces at the end of students’ high school experience.

Even with a long record of getting their students into university in Vietnam and other countries, some resistance from parents, particularly those who are used to more conventional approaches, is inevitable.  As Ms. Pham described, “It’s very difficult to make all of the people satisfied. Some parents want to reduce the burden for their students, and others want to make sure their students are getting enough academics, and they want the teacher to make sure the students are doing their work and aren’t playing games.” In response, the school regularly spends time helping families understand what they school is doing and why. Those efforts include ongoing workshops for families that are designed to help parents learn how to support their children through different developmental stages and how to support them academically. “It’s only when parents don’t understand that they resist.,” Ms. Pham says, “and whenever we roll something out, we have a lot of meetings and workshops so we can listen to each other and work together to find a solution. We have a lot of opinions, but we agree that the teachers need support for the children.”

On to the next stage…

“This is a time for the school to enter a new stage. We’ve been through the “setting up” stage; we’ve made changes to the curriculum; and now it’s time for a focus on innovation and improving our quality.” 

When our conversation turned to the next steps for the school, Ms. Pham and her colleagues pointed to deeper learning as a critical point of emphasis. As she put it, they want to see students applying their knowledge and really understanding what they are learning and why they are learning it. As part of that emphasis, the teachers are working on developing interdisciplinary projects and on learning how they can use ChatGPT productively to help teachers teach the content and to be more student-centered at the same time. Ms. Pham summed it up this way: “This is a time for the school to enter a new stage. We’ve been through the “setting up” stage; we’ve made changes to the curriculum; and now it’s time for a focus on innovation and improving our quality.”

This week IEN discusses the evolution of the Olympia Schools, founded as a small kindergarten in 2003 by Ms. Minh An Pham and several other parents. Since that time, Olympia has grown to encompass a kindergarten and a primary, middle, and high school with a combined enrollment of 1,200 on a common campus in Hanoi. The post is based on a conversation between Thomas Hatch and Minh An Pham (Co-founder, Board of Directors), Quoc DanTran (Head Of Mathematics Department, Vice-head of Academic Council), Dr.Thuc AnhVo (Head of Foreign Languages Department; English teacher),and Thanh HaLe (Head of Science & Technology Department).

This discussion builds on previous posts documenting the founding and evolution of a variety of different schools and educational programs including the development of the ETU School in China (Beyond Fear: Yinuo Li On What It Takes To Create New Schools), the Citizens Foundation in Pakistan (Expanding to Say “Yes”: The Ongoing Work of The Citizens Foundation in Pakistan), Second Chance in Liberia, (Accelerating Learning in Africa: The Expansion and Adaptations of Second Chance), and Fount of Nations in Malawi (Building equal learning opportunities for differently-abled children in Malawi: An interview with Patience Mkandawire on the evolution of Fount for Nations). Taken together, these post show how powerful educational experiences, often ones that deviate from conventional and “accepted” practice, can take off in all kinds of contexts.

The power of love, dissatisfaction, and determination

The founding and development of the Olympia Schools is a familiar but inspiring story. The story begins with love and a deep belief in education. It requires some money or material resources but relies on determination, connections, and social capital. Along the way, success builds on a whole series of critical decisions – and sometimes “fortunate accidents” – that contribute to micro-innovations and adaptations that make it possible for the school to find a supportive community and create the conditions where alternative approaches to education can take root.

The story of the Olympia School begins in 2003 in Hanoi, when Ms. Minh An Pham and three of her friends were looking for kindergartens for their children. It was almost ten years since the Vietnamese government had begun loosening some requirements related to education and other sectors. Economic development was in full swing, and more and more international companies were finding their way to Vietnam.  All four friends got jobs at one of those international companies and Ms. Pham told me that experience gave them opportunities to see the confidence and independence of their co-workers’ children. That exposure reinforced their concern that – although many Vietnamese students excel in academics – they often seemed to lack what she called “life skills.” As Ms. Pham put it, it seemed as if Vietnamese students had lost their confidence in speaking up and sharing their ideas. She attributed that to a school system based on a Confucian education tradition that emphasized memorization, examination, and respect for teachers, coupled with a tendency for Vietnamese parents to constantly compare how their children were doing and how they ranked academically.

With a growing international community and increasing opportunities for international work, Ms. Pham and her friends wanted to make sure that their children gained both academic and life skills and that their children could learn English along with Vietnamese. When they looked around to find a school that could meeting those goals, however, they did not see any public kindergartens that met these criteria. There were a few private options that Ms. Pham and her friends thought seemed more like day-care centers than schools, and there was one private kindergarten imported from Singapore. But even that – very expensive – option only ran from 9 – 3 PM, still not long enough to take care of their children while the four women worked. Seeing no other options, the four friends began to think about creating a kindergarten of their own.

With a growing international community and increasing opportunities for international work, Ms. Pham and her friends wanted to make sure that their children gained both academic and life skills and that their children could learn English along with Vietnamese.

The power of social networks

Their first steps toward developing a school came with the help of another colleague at work. Although Ms. Pham had graduated from a teacher training institution in Vietnam, she went straight into the business world after graduation. As a consequence, she had never worked in schools and was not that familiar with early childhood education. But, Ms. Pham told me, the four friends were fortunate to work with a woman whose mother was a well-known educator who specialized in kindergarten. As Ms. Pham described it, “she was our first teacher,” and introduced the four friends to a number of educational experts who helped them learn about other early childhood approaches, including the “Reggio approach” that originated in Reggio Emilio, Italy. As they visited local schools and traveled to observe private kindergartens in places like Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore, they focused more and more on schools that emphasized “developmentally appropriate practice” as well as some schools that were inspired by Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. On the one hand, Ms. Pham explained, these approaches provided broad support for children’s development and encouraged children to be independent. On the other hand, they also fit well with the Vietnamese national kindergarten curriculum. Notably, the national curriculum was already divided into areas that concentrated on physical, musical, and ethical development, and the four friends felt those subjects aligned well with the different strengths and abilities highlighted in theory of multiple intelligences.

They expanded their group of advisors as they were introduced to more and more people, including several working with not-for-profits like Save the Children, who had extensive experience in Vietnam. Those advisors looked at the plans to combine MI-based and developmentally appropriate curriculum with the Vietnamese national curriculum and concluded: “this is doable.” With that green light, Ms. Pham bought textbooks and gathered teaching materials and, with the help of their network of experts, reviewed and aligned them with the national curriculum. They rented a small house in an alley of Hanoi and worked with a designer to renovate it; they drew on the connections and expertise of their advisors to recruit and hire teachers; and, after an intense six months, opened their doors to the “Dream House” kindergarten and welcomed a small group of six students – four children of their own and two children who lived nearby.  To make it all possible, Ms. Pham worked the evening shift at her job and spent the whole morning at the kindergarten.

Key developments in the first years

The four friends were fortunate to have the means and the relationships to get the school off the ground, but, as Ms. Pham explained, they also had to credit their houses to the bank, draw on their salaries to make sure they had enough money to pay the teachers, and “every time a student quit the school, we worried so much that we would not have enough money to keep going…” Nonetheless, the school grew year-by-year, from 6 students to 12 students, from 20 students to 60, as the first cohort expanded and progressed through the grades.

By 2007, they were able to start the year with both a group of primary school students and a group of secondary school students. Along the way, several key decisions helped to create the time in the day and the space in the curriculum that they needed to stay true to their original vision of a developmentally based, holistic, education aligned with the national curriculum.  First, they decided to teach Vietnamese and English in an integrated way. As Ms. Pham explained, she had seen private schools in Ho Chi Minh City that were teaching English, but only as a separate subject. “Our innovation,” Ms. Pham said, “was to teach English along with the other subjects.” That meant teaching key skills and concepts in math, science, and history in Vietnamese and then teaching the related English vocabulary in the same class. This innovation created space in their schedule because they did not have to find time to teach a separate English course. Furthermore, the subject teachers teaching in Vietnamese could co-teach with their colleagues teaching English, making coordination and communication easier. Perhaps most importantly, from the students’ perspectives, instead of having to make connections between concepts and vocabulary taught in different classes, they encountered an integrated curriculum that reduced confusion.

“Our innovation,” Ms. Pham said, “was to teach English along with the other subjects.” That meant teaching key skills and concepts in math, science, and history in Vietnamese and then teaching the related English vocabulary in the same class.

Second, although Vietnamese public schools generally ran for a half-day (usually from about 7:30 AM to 12 PM, 6 days a week), Dream House decided to run a full-day program, from 8 AM – 4:30 PM. That decision created additional time during the school day that allowed them to meet the national curriculum requirements, add and integrate the teaching of English, and incorporate the teaching of their own “life skills” curriculum. In particular, the national curriculum requirements for social science included both ethics and society and nature, but Dream House chose to split social science up by teaching nature during their science classes and then teaching ethics and society in their life skills class. As Ms. Pham put it, “we reconfigured all the subjects in the school day and made it a comprehensive approach, integrating Vietnamese and English.”

With those critical decisions and strategic choices, the basic structures for their primary, middle, and high school were in place. Capping off this period of development, what began as Dream House, moved to a new, larger campus in 2010.  As part of a competition to come up with a new name, the Olympia School was born, the winning teacher paper declaring it a symbol for wisdom and success.

Next week: The “School of Change”: The Olympia School Story (Part 2)

This week, Thomas Hatch shares IEN’s annual scan of headlines that are trying to anticipate key trends and development for education in the New Year. For comparison, review the previous scans of the “looking ahead” headlines from 2022, 2021 part 1, 2021 part 2, and 2020. Last week’s post featured articles that looked back on the key issues and stories from 2023; previous posts looking back on the year in education also can be found for 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019 part 1, 2019 part 2.  This article was originally published on 01/11/2024 on internationalednews.com.

         In some ways, the predictions for schools and education in 2024 reflect “more of the same” – continuing discussions of the influence of technology and AI on education; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on attendance, academic outcomes, and wellbeing; the challenges of education financing as pandemic funding runs out; and problems caused by teacher shortages and divisive politics:

This is a critical year as the nation grapples with the long-term effects of the pandemic amid a technological revolution, a still-unfolding refugee crisis, and a presidential election that could intensify political tensions.

In 2024, expect new debates about AI, gender, and guns, New York Times

Educators should expect debates over school choice, teacher pay measures, artificial intelligence, and standardized testing in state legislatures and on Capitol Hill in 2024

What 2024 Will Bring for K-12 Policy: 5 Issues to Watch, Education Week

Budget projections will be easier and more reliable, at least for the calendar year, as the economy continues settling fairly smoothly to a slower pace with inflation easing and interest rates drifting down with it… absent the usual unforeseeables like new wars, oil shocks and pandemics — public finance is returning to something resembling business as usual.

For Public Finance, a Year for Stability and Cautious Optimism, Governing

5 Key Predictions for the Education Market in 2024, EdWeek Market Brief

One of the biggest forces impacting education in 2024 will be labor shortages—and not just in the classroom. Pressures on the wider U.S. workforce caused by a lack of employees with the requisite skills will drive more collaboration between K12 schools and employers… It will also drive a surge in popularity in career and technical education programs.

Education in 2024: Breaking Down 8 Big Trends, District Administration

What Will Teacher Shortages Look Like in 2024 and Beyond? Education Week

“While the rest of us are buying gym memberships we probably won’t use, school leaders are facing far more ambitious New Year’s resolutions: regaining academic ground, tightening those belts, weathering divisive politics, and ensuring more students show up to class.”

Five challenges school district leaders will face in 2024, Education Week

Brown Center scholars look ahead to education in 2024, Brookings

Education Stories We’re Watching In 2024, Chalkbeat

Three Education Stories To Watch In 2024, Peter Greene, Forbes

In 2024, 5 Big Issues Will Shape Education, Vicki Phillips. Forbes

9 Education Predictions for 2024, Larry Ferlazzo, Education Week

3 education innovations to watch in 2024 (hint: it’s not just about skills and AI), Julia Freeland Fisher, Christensen Institute

Looking ahead globally and locally

Five changes the new Government has planned for schools, Stuff (New Zealand)

Top 10 Education trends to watch out for in 2024, Times of India

Literacy, vouchers, an IPS overhaul, and more: Five Indiana education issues to watch in 2024, Chalkbeat Indiana

“New York’s Board of Regents has called for increased investments in the state’s information technology infrastructure, a bolstered educator pipeline, and additional money to update the state’s learning standards.”

Special education data and the teacher pipeline: NY education officials share budget priorities, Chalkbeat New York

Fiscal considerations may weigh on Massachusetts Legislature’s session priorities, Spectrum News

California education issues to watch in 2024 – and predictions, EdSource

Education Technology

“AI is the phrase on everyone’s lips heading into 2024, with 19 education technology experts believing its advantages will range from virtual tutors and faster student feedback to engaging, compelling presentations and better data analysis for teachers. Other predictions include more immersive and multisensory learning experiences, flexible learning locations, and leveraging and reaching community-based help groups.” 

How Will EdTech Change in 2024? TechRound

State of Global E-Learning Market- Ongoing Trends and Seizing Opportunities, EdTech Review

5 Trends Set To Revolutionise Education In 2024, India Today

5 K–12 Ed Tech Trends to Follow in 2024, EdTech Magazine

65 predictions about edtech trends in 2024, eSchoolNews

7 Artificial Intelligence Trends That Will Reshape Education in 2024,The74

AI’s education impact in 2024 could be bigger than many predict, Thomas Arnett, Christensen Institute

To look back on some of the key education issues and stories from 2023, Thomas Hatch shares IEN’s annual roundup of the end-of-the-year headlines from many of the sources on education news and research that we follow. For comparison, take a look at IEN’s scans of the headlines looking back in 2021, 2020, 2019 part 1, and 2019 part 2. The next post will look to 2024 by pulling together some of the education predictions for the coming year. This article was originally published on 01/04/2024 on internationalednews.com.

Reviews of education stories in 2023 highlighted:

• The continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student achievement, student absences, teacher shortages, and other aspects of student and teachers’ health and well-being
• Pandemic recovery initiatives and concerns about a “fiscal cliff” that may cut off funding for those initiatives.
• Developments in education technology and particularly the potential impact of artificial intelligence following the launch of ChatGPT in 2022
• Advocacy for the “science of reading” and foundational learning in literacy and numeracy
• Persistent concerns including inadequate education funding, inequities in educational performance and opportunities, and the challenges of innovation in assessment and instruction.

What High School Is Like in 2023: 25 Essays, Poems, Videos, Photos, a Graph, a GIF, and a Diorama That
Reflect Students and Teachers’ Lives in School, New York Times

Our Top Photos of the Year, Education Week

Key issues and trends

Funding, free school meals, education choice and student loan debt were among the policy topics lawmakers tackled in this year’s legislative sessions

The Top 10 Education Trends for 2023, National Conference of State Legislators

an unusual early childhood experiment up close; wrestling with large datasets to better understand education trends; getting over a fear of math to cover efforts to revolutionize the teaching of calculus; and, yes, talks with professors struggling with adjusting teaching to the presence of AI chatbots

Looking back on the biggest education trends of 2023, EdSurge

The 7 most memorable education stories of 2023, The Grade

from what AI can (and can’t) do to the neuroscience of brain synchrony

17 Articles About Students & Schools We Wish We Had Published in 2023, The74

The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2023, Edutopia

10 Education Studies You Should Know From 2023: new insights on social media, ChatGPT, math, and other topics, Education Week

These are some of the education questions Chalkbeat answered through data in 2023, Chalkbeat

Six Problems Philanthropy Barely Tried to Solve in 2023, Inside Philanthropy

2023 in education charts!

14 Charts that Changed the Way We Looked at America’s Schools in 2023, The74

The Teaching Profession in 2023 (in Charts), Education Week

Global and local reviews

Our top 5 education result stories of 2023, Global Partnership for Education

“changes range from advanced technical programs to revamped school initiatives and innovative examination methods”

Year in review: Five Key Changes In The Education Sector In Rwanda in 2023 , The New Times

“The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced significant changes in 2023, including updated marking-schemes and increased number of exams that candidates can take.”

5 Important Changes Announced By The Central Board Of Secondary Education In India This Year, The Times of India

The top education issues in Massachusetts that captured our attention in 2023, WBUR

New Leaders, COVID Spending, Bus Troubles: 6 Chalkbeat Chicago Stories That Defined 2023, Chalkbeat Chicago

Chronic absenteeism, Democratic control, a fiscal cliff: These were Michigan’s big education themes of 2023, Chalkbeat Detroit

Ohio’s sluggish pandemic recovery in 2023 as seen through six charts, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

— Thomas Hatch

In the second part of this two-part interview, Melanie Ehren talks with Thomas Hatch about the five “waves of funding” designed to help the Dutch education system respond to the learning challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures. The first part of this interview focused on the initial school closures and the suspension of exams in the Netherlands. Ehren is Professor and Director of Research of LEARN! at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This interview is one in a series exploring what can change in schools after the pandemic? Previous interviews and posts have looked at developments in Italy, Poland, Finland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Vietnam. Other blog posts from Melanie Ehren include A view from the Netherlands: Melanie Ehren on school closures and the pandemic; Lead the Change Interview with Melanie Ehren; A call to action in the Netherlands: Addressing rising inequality in a decentralized system. This article was originally published on 10/18/2023 on internationalednews.com.

Thomas Hatch (TH): You and your colleagues spent a considerable amount of time studying how the Dutch government has used a series of funding initiatives to help schools and students in the Netherlands recover from the pandemic. Can you give a sense of these “waves” of funding and how schools and school networks used them?

Melanie Ehren (ME): The Dutch government provided funding to help schools respond to COVID pandemic in five different “waves,” with the first wave in July, 2020, after the initial school closures. At first, consistent with the decentralized Dutch system, schools and local school boards could decide on the type of “catch-up” approach to pursue and which pupils were eligible for the additional support. However, after the first round of funding there was considerable negative press about the unfocused nature of the approaches and the fact that some of them had little, if anything, to do with instruction. For example, in one meeting, I heard some people complaining about a school that used the funds to take their students on a trip to an amusement park (like Disney-land), with the rationale that children had experienced such socio-emotional suffering that they needed a break and a chance to re-establish their relationships with peers and their teachers.

After the initial round, the requirements for the funding were tightened and schools had to use student achievement results to target students with “learning loss” and to choose from a ‘menu of effective interventions’ to help them catch-up.  This menu was modelled directly on a “Toolkit” developed in England to ensure that schools used “catch up” approaches that had some “evidence of effectiveness.” The first version of this was what the Dutch called a “menu card,” which was essentially the English toolkit translated into Dutch.

The “Toolkit” created by the Education Endowment Foundation used in England and the Dutch version based on the English model

I think this move was made because the government felt that schools were not very evidence informed in their thinking about what interventions and programs to implement in the first wave. In fact, when we interviewed schools that had applied for funding about why they picked a particular intervention – asking things like “why are you thinking that this program might lead to improved outcomes for this particular groups?” – many of them had a hard time answering. In some cases, the decisions appeared to be based on professional expertise and their previous experiences of what had worked or didn’t work well for their students. But some schools also told us they were choosing these programs out of convenience or building on partnerships with external agencies that were already in place. For example, they might say “this is a tutoring agency we’ve worked with before; we’ve had good results with them, so we thought that that might be a good way to use the funding” or “this is something that we know we can organize for our school.”

For this second wave of funding, we studied the applications of schools and found that the schools planned to focus mainly on three types of outcomes:

1. School performance (primary education: language and arithmetic; secondary education: core subjects)
2. Well-being/social-emotional development of pupils
3. Learning skills

Despite these plans, we found that many schools actually ended up using the funding quite differently. For example, a school might have planned to spend the funds on after school tutoring; on providing additional remedial instruction at the start of the school day; or on having additional teachers in the classroom.  But then when it came time for implementation, another issue or need might have emerged or  they might have found they couldn’t secure additional teachers. Overall, schools were really struggling to organize these programs as planned because of the constant disruptions to in-person teaching and then there was a second lockdown so they were constantly changing and revising. I also had many conversations with school leaders who said “we did not apply for this funding, because we need more time to actually think about what makes sense for our kids.” We detailed some of this at the time in a blog post “Catch-up and support programmes in primary and secondary education.”

Overall, schools were really struggling to organize these programs as planned because of the constant disruptions to in-person teaching and then there was a second lockdown so they were constantly changing and revising.

Over time, the government did add more background information and context to the menu to help schools to use the information to make choices. For example, the new version produced by the Ministry of Education, Culture & Science (which they referred to as an “Intervention card improving basic skills“) included links to guidance and support for choosing and using the guidance and urged the schools to consider the demands of their own context, stating: “it is important how your school implements a chosen intervention. For a concrete step-by-step plan, you place each approach in the context of your school: does this approach suit the education you provide, your students and the issues you face? The professionalism and autonomy of the teacher are paramount here.” All of this has led to much more emphasis on evidence-based and evidence-informed work in schools, and particularly how the government can support that. That’s another consequence of the pandemic in the Netherlands, I think: A belief that we need to build more capacity in schools for using research evidence to improve education.

TH: What’s happening now and what’s likely to happen in the future? 

ME: Building on the catch-up schemes, the national government has developed a broader funding scheme – the National Program for Education – that is continuing to help schools, particularly schools with a high level of deprivation, to improve reading, writing, and literacy. This program provides an additional investment of 8.5 billion for 2.5 years for the entire education system. This National Program offers funding to improve education in these basic areas, and schools are expected to use the same approach as under the catch-up funding: the schools have to identify children who need additional support and use the menu card to decide on what kind of interventions are effective. But the national program of education has a much wider infrastructure to improve basic skills, including support teams that are initiated by the Ministry of Education to work with schools, but all around this idea of evidence-informed interventions.

“Get started with the NP Education” [translated] a graphic depicting how Dutch schools should select, implement and monitor “catch-up” programs.

Despite the huge amount of funding there have been a lot of critiques of the national government, given the short time span in which the money has to be spent, which doesn’t allow schools to implement more sustainable solutions to improve education and learning outcomes. The funding for example doesn’t allow schools to hire additional staff as these would have to be offered permanent employment which cannot be guaranteed with temporary funding.

Given that the most pressing problems in our education system are teacher shortages, high inequality and a decline in student outcomes in literacy and numeracy, there is an understanding that a long-term investment and program of reform is required to improve education. The short-term catch-up programs seem to have done relatively well in getting students back on track, but they have not been able to buck the wider trends in declining outcomes and increasing shortages of teachers.

In some ways, all of this a natural consequence of problems coming out of the school closures, but it’s reinforced by the fact that the Netherlands’ performance has been declining in international surveys like PISA at the same time that inequality has been increasing. That’s also something that the Dutch Inspector of Education has reported on in their annual reports. All of these reports have been alerting people to the facts that children are not reading at home and that reading scores are declining, and that’s having an effect on other outcomes. All of these things come together in the drive towards trying to improve basic skills.

TH: Can you talk a little about how the response in NL compares to those in other systems you’re familiar with, particularly the UK? 

ME: During the pandemic, the Netherlands had a decentralized approach to allow schools to choose a contextually appropriate response to school closures within a centralized funding framework. This is different from other countries such as the UK that saw a highly centralized roll-out of a tutoring programme. Now, however, we are seeing a much more centralized approach to improving education. Recently an ‘interdepartmental investigation into education (IBO Koersen op kwaliteit en kansengelijkheid) was published with a range of proposals for stronger governmental coordination/control over education to reduce inequality and enhance learning outcomes, including more centralized coordination of the curriculum, compulsory assessments, more inspection, enhancing evidence-informed work in schools (including through an application for funding to hire a school support team to work with a school). Given the Netherlands’ tradition of high autonomy and freedom of education, this is being described as ‘a committed and responsible government’, but it is essentially a move towards greater centralized control.

Now, however, we are seeing a much more centralized approach to improving education... Given the Netherlands’ tradition of high autonomy and freedom of education, this is being described as ‘a committed and responsible government.’

TH: Have you seen any particularly innovative or promising new practices or policies that have grown out of the COVID response? 

ME: Schools are much better equipped to move to online learning when needed. With the train strikes we had in some regions last year, schools closed again but they have been able to take advantage of the new infrastructure and teachers’ skills to teach online. In Higher Education there is some discussion of having a COVID-generation of students (who also talk about themselves in these words) who sometimes find it difficult to engage in on-campus education and feel they should have more support.

Teacher shortages are also increasing and this is partially attributed to the high levels of stress and workload during the pandemic and reduction of the status of teachers in society and the cost of living in relation to teachers’ salaries. Our most recent research also suggests that there may be an increase in the number of teachers working on private contracts (through recruitment agencies). The amount of temporary funding for catch-up programmes and the National Education Program may also lead to an increase in private agencies and what some are calling “edubusinesses,” but I have not yet seen the evidence on this.

Related Resources & Articles:

Subsidie en basisteams voor scholen om basisvaardigheden te verbeteren [English: Subsidies and basic teams for schools to improve basic skills], Rijksoverheid

Eerste inzichten over inhaalprogramma`s in het po en vo [English: Catch-up and support programmes in primary and secondary education], LEARN!

Informatie voor onderwijsprofessionals [English: Information for Professionals], LEARN!

Rapport De Staat van het Onderwijs 2021 [English: Report on The State of Education 2021], Inspectie van het Onderwijs

Rapport De Staat van het Onderwijs 2022 [English: Report on The State of Education 2022], Inspectie van het Onderwijs

This week, IEN scans the headlines of stories reporting on OECD’s Education at a Glance for 2023. Trends in high quality Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs were in focus for this year’s report. OECD’s Education at a Glance provides an annual overview of comparative education statistics. The headlines shared below reflect aspects of the report emphasized by media outlets around the world. See IEN’s Education at a Glance 2022 Scan, Education at a Glance 2021 Scan, Education at a Glance 2019 Scan for comparison. This article was originally published on 10/11/2023 on internationalednews.com.

44% of upper school students are enrolled in VET programs across countries, yet work-based programs–in which students can gain practical skills during vocational programs–remain rare. Less than half of students within VET programs (45%) participate in this type of work-based learning, that’s the conclusion of OECD’s latest Education at a Glance report. Other topics featured in the 2023 report include trends in early childhood education and care enrollment, declines in teacher wages and professionalism, and notable variation in spending per student among OECD countries. Continued learning for Ukrainian refugees forcibly displaced around the world was also featured as a special issue. 

Corresponding to this year’s theme, many of the headlines from articles discussing the report highlighted VET trends within specific countries. Shares of domestic spending on education, as well as issues related to teacher payment and retention, were also featured in this year’s headlines. In-line with past years, nearly all of the headlines focused on problems revealed in the report (Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, South Korea, Turkey), while only a few emphasized the report’s positive findings (Finland, Hungary, Spain).

Global

The Launch of Education at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD

“Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director of Education and Skills, presents data and reveals insights from the 2023 Education at a Glance report, which includes a special feature on Vocational Education and Training, with the aim of empowering educators, policymakers, and stakeholders with the data and analysis to shape their education systems.”

Expand vocational education and training, demands OECD, University World News

“OECD analyst Viktoria Kis told University World News their data clearly shows that ‘young people who benefited from work-based learning while pursuing VET have better employment outcomes’ and that ‘apprenticeships or internships are a powerful way of connecting VET to labor market needs.’ She said: ‘Some countries have a strong tradition of extensive use of apprenticeships, like Germany and Switzerland. The Norwegian VET system is mostly composed of ‘2+2’ apprenticeships: two years spent at school, followed by two years in workplaces.’”

Australia 

OECD report amplifies calls to boost public school funding, The Educator Australia

“The OECD’s latest ‘Education at a Glance’ report, released on Wednesday 13 September 2023, found Australia spends just 1.5% of total government expenditure on upper secondary school education, 28.6% lower than the OECD average of 2.1%. This is despite spending more than twice as much as the OECD average on funding private schools.”

Brazil

Brazil invests less in education than OECD countries, Agência Brasil

“Investment in Brazil fell between 2019 and 2020. In the OECD, total government spending on schooling grew 2.1 percent between 2019 and 2020 on average, at a slower rate than total government spending on services, which was up 9.5 percent. In Brazil, total government spending on instruction went down 10.5 percent, while spending on all services increased 8.9 percent. According to the study, this may have been due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

European Union

OECD Education at a Glance 2023 – How Europe’s Business Leaders Can Help Widen Access to Education for Europe’s Underserved Youth, EU News – Business

“The OECD report found that 44 per cent of all upper secondary students are enrolled in vocational education and training across the OECD; they also note that these programmes are still seen as a “last resort” to many countries. European policymakers have a role to play in shifting this narrative and highlighting the unique benefits of vocational learning to bridge the gap between privilege and potential. Vocational training is also a viable way to attract underserved youth, who may feel rejected or discouraged from mainstream education.”

Finland

Education at a Glance: Vocational education and training is more popular in Finland than in other OECD countries, Finnish Government 

“In Finland, 68% of all those in upper secondary education are enrolled in vocational education and training, whereas in OECD countries the corresponding figure is 44% on average. The high figure in Finland is explained by the number of adult students. A total of 44.8% of 15-19-year-old upper secondary school students in Finland are enrolled in vocational education and training, which is slightly higher than the OECD average (37.4%).”

Hungary

Hungarian vocational training 3rd in OECD rankings, The Budapest Times

“38% of 24-34 year-olds obtain a vocational diploma and are less exposed to the risk of unemployment than those with general secondary education, and can expect a 31% higher salary, the ministry said in a statement.” 

Ireland

Ireland ranks last in spending on education ‘as a percentage of GDP’, study finds, The Irish Times

“Ireland ranked last in a league table of 38 countries based on education expenditure as a percentage of GDP with 3.2 per cent in 2020. It compared to an average of almost 5 per cent for OECD countries.”

Israel 

OECD education report shows Israel’s investment in public education lower than average, Y Net News

“According to the report, which refers to data from 2020-2022, the total government expenditure on public education in Israel (excluding higher education institutions) was significantly lower than the OECD average in 2020 – $8,865 per year compared to $10,949.”

New Zealand 

How does New Zealand’s education system compare? OECD’s Education at a Glance 2023, Education Counts

How Aotearoa’s education compares with other OECD countries, The Post

“While the share has declined, the actual increase in government education expenditure in 2020 was significant, amongst the top five, in percentage terms, across OECD countries.”

Portugal

Portugal spending less on students, The Portugal News

“Portugal spent an amount similar to the average of OECD countries on Education, but expenditure per student is 14% lower in Portugal, at around €10,000 compared to the OECD average of €11,700.”

South Korea

Entry-level teachers’ wages below OECD average, The Korea Herald 

“Korea had the highest percentage of people aged 25-34 who had completed higher or tertiary education — at 69.6 percent in 2022 — among the OECD member countries and 11 others, ranking No. 1 for four consecutive years.”

Spain

Almost 88% of Spaniards aged 15-19 years are in school, six points more than a decade ago, La Moncloa

“In the case of the adult population aged 25-64 years, 41.1% have tertiary education (40.4% in OECD and 37.7% in EU25), 8.5 points more than a decade ago. At the other extreme, the percentage with less than upper secondary education has reduced by 9.5 percentage points, from 45.3% in 2012 to 35.8% in 2022.”

Turkey

Turkey spent less money on education than the OECD average in 2020: report, Turkish Minute 

“The report further revealed that the cumulative spending on each student between the ages of six and 15 adds up to a total of around $112,000 on average across OECD countries, while the figure is less than $50,000 in Colombia, Romania and Turkey.”

United States

From Education Week

U.S. Teachers Work More Hours Than Their Global Peers. Other Countries Are Catching Up, Education Week

“U.S. elementary school teachers’ work hours haven’t changed much since 2019, but at more than 1,000 a year on average, American educators work more than 200 more hours than their peers worldwide. U.S. elementary and high school teachers work more hours than those in any OECD country but Costa Rica, and middle school teachers work more hours than their peers everywhere but Costa Rica and Mexico.”

In this two-part interview, Melanie Ehren talks with Thomas Hatch about how the Dutch education system responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and what has happened since. Ehren is Professor and Director of Research of LEARN! at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This interview is one in a series exploring what can change in schools after the pandemic? Previous interviews and posts have looked at developments in Italy, Poland, Finland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Vietnam. Other IEN blog posts from Melanie Ehren include A view from the Netherlands: Melanie Ehren on school closures and the pandemic; Lead the Change Interview with Melanie Ehren; A call to action in the Netherlands: Addressing rising inequality in a decentralized system. This article was originally published on 09/27/2023 on internationalednews.com.

Thomas Hatch (TH): Can you give us an overview what happened in schools in the Netherlands after the COVID-19 outbreak? When did schools close and how long were they closed?

Melanie Ehren (ME): The national government closed schools three times. The first national closure lasted from March 16 to 10 May 2020 (for primary schools) and until the 2^nd of June (for secondary schools). Teaching and learning was fully online during that time. The second national closure went from the 16^th of December 2020 until the 8^th of February 2021 and then the third national closure went from 14 December 2021 until 10 January 2022, although this was more of an extended Christmas break. All the closures were in response to a rise in cases, but around the time of the second closure there was also a discussion about whether closing schools was the best measure to prevent virus spread. The argument for closing schools included that it would help enforce the working from home policy. Too many people were still going into work and by closing schools, parents had to stay home with their children.

Melanie Ehren

When schools reopened after the first and second closures, schools had to ensure social distancing of 1.5 metres between people inside and ensure good hygiene. Schools were allowed to decide on how to meet these guidelines, with support and proposed models by the national councils for primary and secondary education. In response, schools did things like splitting classes in half with some students attending during the first part of the week and the rest attending at the end of the week. Even though the periods of national school closure were relatively short in comparison to some other countries, the disruption lasted much longer. For example, even when schools were technically open, many teachers and classes had to quarantine for periods of time. Since the beginning of the school closures, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, & Science has monitored the reduction in lesson hours due to COVID over the pandemic in a series of monthly reports. The Dutch Inspectorate of Education also documented the timeline of COVID-related decisions in 2020 (including the start of the second closure in December of 2021) and then again in 2021 in their annual reports on the state of education.

TH: What was the initial response from policymakers and others in terms of support?

ME: In the Netherlands, there was a coordinated approach by the national councils for primary and secondary education, the ministries for education and economic affairs and a national association of school boards. That approach focused on ensuring that all students had access to online learning when schools were closed. These organisations collectively investigated how many students and teachers did not have internet connections or laptops at home. Based on this information, telecom providers searched for the best solutions together with the parties involved. Those solutions included issuing hotspots and creating public Wi-Fi networks and arranging laptops for children who needed them. In addition, NPO Z@ppelin, a national broadcaster, initially offered instruction on television for children without a laptop/tablet.  But I also saw schools where teachers would just hop on their bicycle and tour around the city to check in with families and have conversations on the doorstep.

A lot was left up to the initiative of the boards of each school and the networks responsible for ensuring inclusive education in each region. Honestly, because the Dutch school system is so decentralized, we just don’t know what happened at the school level in a lot of communities. All this raises a really interesting question: are highly centralized systems or more decentralized systems are best equipped to deal with a crisis like the pandemic?  To me, the examples of teachers going door to door to check in with kids really speaks to teacher agency and how teachers understand their role and responsibility.  That agency is a really important thing to have during a pandemic, but also when thinking about school quality in general. My colleagues and I wrote about some of these issues of teacher agency from the perspective of several different education systems (Teaching in the COVID-19 Era: Understanding the Opportunities and Barriers for Teacher Agency).

[A]re highly centralized systems or more decentralized systems best equipped to deal with a crisis like the pandemic?

Overall, though, there was not much focus on internet access because the entire country has good coverage and good broadband access. At the same time, the Dutch government created some exceptions to online learning so that children from parents in key professions like health, education, police, public transport and the fire department could go to school. Local schools could also make exceptions so that children from what the government called “vulnerable populations” could come to school. That included children who were living in confined spaces, did not have access to devices, or who were experiencing other problems at home that might be preventing them from accessing online education.

TH: What happened with exams and testing at the end of the 2019-2020 school years?

ME: The school closures in 2019-2020 meant that standardized tests at the end of primary education (8^th grade; age 11/12) and in secondary education were cancelled. The cancellations of the exams at the end of primary education had a particularly significant impact because, in the Netherlands, students are tracked into different types of secondary schools according to tested ability level. Only those students in the highest track in secondary school will get access to a university. Getting into a higher secondary school type is therefore a defining point in a child’s life. In a normal school year, students are placed into secondary school types on the basis of their primary school teacher’s advice. This can be adjusted upwards (never downwards) on the basis of the national standardised test at the end of primary education. However, estimates from the national planning bureau (CPB) suggest that in the year 2019-2020 when the test at the end of primary school was cancelled, 14,000 pupils were placed in a lower track for secondary school than they would have been if they’d been able to sit the national test. This group represents 8% of all pupils – 2 to 3 students per class in a secondary school – and includes an over-representation of students with parents with low levels of education.

[W]hen the test at the end of primary school was cancelled, 14,000 pupils were placed in a lower track for secondary school than they would have been if they’d been able to sit the national test. This group represents 8% of all pupils – 2 to 3 students per class in a secondary school – and includes an over-representation of students with parents with low levels of education.

Due to these results, the Minister of Education sent out a letter to secondary schools, asking them to implement a range of formative assessments in year 1 to target the students who might have been mis-placed and to put in place transition arrangements to enable them to move upwards if warranted. The next year, in 2020-2021, primary schools were advised to give children the benefit of the doubt in their recommendations for secondary education and err towards a higher track. However, for the most part, this does not seem to have happened.

In contrast, the cancellation of standardized secondary school exams had a more positive effect for students in the Netherlands who wanted to enter university because their final grades were based only on their school-based assessments with no information from the cancelled national exams. Normally, at the end of secondary school, students receive a mark for each subject where 50% is based on school-based exams and 50% on a standardized national exams. The Government decides on which content should be included in the school-based exams and which will be assessed in the national exams. The school decides when and how it assesses the school-based component and can spread this over multiple months and even school years. The only requirement is that the assessments are finalized before the national exams and that the organisation of the school-based assessments (including how it is marked and how the assessment is quality assured) is included in a formal programme of assessment which is approved by the school’s exam board. The exam board decided on the adaptations so this would vary by school (for the official description see School Examens 2023).

For the 2019-20 school year, when the national exams were cancelled, estimates by from the national planning bureau (CPB) suggest that 8% of secondary students would have received a different outcome if they had sat the national exam. To mitigate negative consequences and to give everyone a fair chance to pass, the Dutch Ministry of Education offered all students additional re-tests of their school-based assessments in up to three subjects. This resulted in an overall pass rate above 98%, with almost 7% higher than in preceding years.

Then in 2020-21, standardized tests in primary education returned as normal. However, exams in secondary education were adapted in two ways.  First, following a formal in-school consultation process and including adaptations in the formal ‘programme of assessment’ which is scrutinized by the Dutch Inspectorate of Education during regular inspections, schools were allowed to make their own adaptations to the school-based assessments.

Second, national exams were adapted by having an additional opportunity to sit for the exam, so if you failed twice, you were given a third try.  Schools were also allowed an extended timeframe in which students could sit exams in their various subjects, and students could choose one subject that wouldn’t count towards their final pass/fail decision.

(To be continued in October…)

The final post in IEN’s 2023 Back-to-School series features some of the latest issues – like the use of AI – that many teachers and students are dealing with and surveys some of the education-related topics that are in the headlines in different states and cities in the US. Part 1 of the series shares headlines highlights some of the critical challenges that students, educators and schools are facing in 2023. Part 2 focuses on the stories that covered the natural disasters and climate-change related heat that many schools have had to deal with this year as well. For back-to school headlines from fall 2022 see Hope and trepidation: Scanning the back-to-school headlines in the US; “Over it” but unable to escape it: Going back to school with Covid in 2022; Going back to school in 2022 (Part 3): Scanning headlines from around the world; for fall 2021 see Going back to school has never been quite like this (Part 1): Pandemic effects in the US; Going back to school has never been quite like this (Part 2): Quarantines, shortages, wildfires & hurricanes; for fall 2020 see What does it look like to go back to school? It’s different all around the world…; for 2019 see Headlines around the world: Back to school 2019 edition. This article was originally published on 09/21/2023 on internationalednews.com.

Even as the school year continues for many students in the southern hemisphere, the end of summer vacation and the start of school in many northern school systems provides an opportunity to see what education issues are being covered and highlighted. Among them, the impact of AI – and how to prepare for it – as well as the consequences of the end of COVID relief funding are common topics in the US.

Take a round-the-world tour of the return to school, Education Week

From left to right: “1.) Schoolchildren attend a ceremony for the first day of school in a safe place in an underground subway station, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 1, 2023; 2.) A teacher adjusts the posture of a little boy as children attend a school opening ceremony in Ghergani, Romania, on Sept. 11, 2023. 3.) A classroom sits empty at the closed National School of Republique des Etats-Unis d’Amerique, a public school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Sept. 11, 2023, on what should have been the first day back to school after summer break. According to a few teachers and a parent on site, classes did not resume due to parents’ inability to afford tuition, uniforms and school supplies, as well as families being afraid to go out amid gang violence.”

New Year, New AI?

How widespread will AI be in classrooms this year? Teachers offer some clues, Education Week

A version of OpenAI’s GPT-4 will be ‘teaching’ thousands of kids this fall, Popular Science

“The education nonprofit service Khan Academy, is expanding its Khanmigo AI access to over 8,000 educators and K-12 students as part of its ongoing pilot program for the new technology.”

Beyond ChatGPT: The other AI tools teachers are using, Education Week

Instructors rush to do ‘assignment makeovers’ to respond to ChatGPT, EdSurge

How can educators respond to students presenting AI-generated content as their own?, Open AI

Issues in the Education News around the US

5 signs a district will be at risk when elementary and secondary school emergency relief fund runs out, Education Week

“Once federal relief funds expire, districts nationwide stand to lose an average of $1,200 for each student… That’s an 8 percent reduction in the average amount spent per K-12 pupil nationwide. In some states where per-pupil spending is lower than the average, that $1,200-per-student loss will account for an even larger share. In Arizona, for instance, the end of federal relief funds will translate into a 12 percent loss.”

When can schools consider race in classrooms and events? Biden officials have guidance, ChalkBeat

K-12 teachers shift away from textbooks, K-12 Dive

“Use of printed textbooks has declined in K-12 classrooms by 9% and a slight increase in digital-only textbook usage by 2% during the past school year, according to a survey by Bay View Analytics. The findings indicate a growing utilization of digital and teacher-created materials, with 77% of teachers saying they are supplementing or replacing textbooks with their own content and 78% saying they are sourcing supplemental materials online.”

For teachers, a new year — and new book bans — means more work, Rolling Stone

Issues to watch in States and Cities

California

Gov. Newsom poised to sign legislation to counter book bans and school boards’ censorship, EdSource

“The bill, authored by first-term Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Perris, in Riverside County, would expand existing state law, including the 2011 FAIR Act, which requires instructional materials to accurately portray the history, viewpoints and experiences of California’s diverse and underrepresented racial, ethnic, and other groups, including LGBTQ+ Californians.”

Temecula Valley Unified School District anti-CRT resolution prompts lawsuit from parents and teachers, Education Week

Florida

New laws make teachers anxious about school year, Axios Miami

“[Teacher] Hernandez-Mats says the first couple weeks of school are typically filled with excitement, but this year feels different… She says teachers are confused about what they’re allowed to teach in the classroom. Some have removed literary or historical posters from their walls and others have blocked access to their bookshelves.”

Florida’s new rules for classrooms could get teachers in trouble, Tampa Bay Times

Iowa

An Iowa district used AI to figure out which books to ban, Education Week

“While book bans have proliferated across the country over the past two years, this is the first time a district has relied on artificial intelligence to determine which books should be removed from school libraries, according to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.”

How Des Moines Metro Schools are applying anti-LGBTQ law, Iowa Starting Line

Massachusetts

School meals in Massachusetts will remain free next school year, Axios Boston

“Massachusetts lawmakers passed a budget agreement, allocating $172 million to continue the pandemic-era program that offers free school meals to all K-12 students, ensuring access to essential nutrition and removing social stigma. Governor Maura Healey is expected to sign the budget, freeing up funds for schools as they prepare to reopen in the upcoming weeks.”

Montana

Montana scores rare federal testing waiver in favor of through-year assessment, K-12 Dive

“Montana has been granted approval by the US Department of Education to field test a revamped through-year assessment system in reading/language arts and math for third-through eighth-grade, replacing the existing annual assessment. The move is expected to offer timely insights into student progress while allowing participating schools some waivers from federal assessment and accountability requirements for the 2023-24 school year.”

New York

As NYC’s school year kicks off, here are 5 issues to watch, ChalkBeat

Enrollment drop and fiscal cliff loom as NYC starts school year, The City

NYC school year set to begin with thousands of new migrant students, Gothamist

“Schools Chancellor David Banks said in a briefing on the asylum seeker crisis that… ‘Our focus remains undeterred on the education, well-being and holistic development of every student that steps into a New York City public school, regardless of where they come from or the language that they speak at home.’”

New York City Schools preparing for influx of children of asylum seekers: “We are very confident that the students will be ready“, CBS News

Some migrant families still waiting for school placements, ChalkBeat

“Some families have waited weeks for school placements or don’t have seats at all yet, sparking concerns that some kids won’t have their school plans finalized by the start of classes on September 7.”

Ohio

The Great Recession offers insight about the impact the impending fiscal cliff will have on Ohio school districts, The Fordham Institute

Pennsylvania

All Philadelphia schools set to open in September amid asbestos challenges, ABC

Texas

State takeover ushers in changes to Houston schools, The New York Times

“A state takeover of the Houston Independent School District in Texas, one of the nation’s largest, has sparked contentious changes, including firing librarians and repurposing school libraries for discipline and computer rooms. The takeover, imposed by Governor Greg Abbott, aims to improve reading and math scores in struggling schools, but critics argue the changes are disenfranchising and may further divide the district’s predominantly Black and Hispanic students.”

First day of school comes with mixed student emotions after Texas took over Houston ISD, The New York Times

Part 2 of IEN’S Back-to-School series shares headlines and stories focused on the natural disasters, heat and climate change-related crises that have interfered with the start of school in many parts of the US. This three part series highlights some of the key issues that the education sources we follow are talking about as school resumes in many parts of the Northern hemisphere. Part 1 pulled together headlines that highlight some of the other critical challenges that students, educators and schools are facing in 2023. Part 3 collects some of the back-to-school guidance and the issues to watch in the coming year — including the use of AI in schools. For back-to school headlines from fall 2022 see Hope and trepidation: Scanning the back-to-school headlines in the US; “Over it” but unable to escape it: Going back to school with Covid in 2022; Going back to school in 2022 (Part 3): Scanning headlines from around the world; for fall 2021 see Going back to school has never been quite like this (Part 1): Pandemic effects in the US; Going back to school has never been quite like this (Part 2): Quarantines, shortages, wildfires & hurricanes; for fall 2020 see What does it look like to go back to school? It’s different all around the world…; for 2019 see Headlines around the world: Back to school 2019 edition. This article was originally published on 09/18/2023 on internationalednews.com.

This fall, a number of the back-to-school headlines have shifted focus from the COVID crisis to the many climate change related concerns and disasters like the intense heat in many parts of the world and the tragic fires in Hawaii. As Alexander Russo and colleagues with The Grade, who regularly document and summarize the latest education-related journalism in the US, noted, the big education story of the first week of school “was the heatwave that blanketed much of the Northeast and other parts of the country. The unusually high heat created a major challenge for schools trying to launch the new year — and an irresistible topic for news outlets. Reporters covered schools closing, kids sent home early, canceled recess time, and the lack of AC in many buildings” (Heat wave welcome: The big story of the week).

“The big education story of the first week of school ‘was the heatwave that blanketed much of the Northeast and other parts of the country. The unusually high heat created a major challenge for schools trying to launch the new year — and an irresistible topic for news outlets.’”

Hawaii wildfires thrust educators into disaster response roles, Education Week

“Schools across Maui closed Wednesday—days after the start of a new school year—after a wildfire ravaged a historic region of the Hawaiian island”

Are the challenges of Puerto Rico’s schools a taste of what other districts will face? The Hechinger Report

“Sweltering classrooms due to inadequate cooling systems are hindering student learning and causing health concerns among educators in several US states. Budgetary constraints and the increasing frequency of heat waves are exacerbating the issue, prompting educators to call for better classroom conditions and investments in upgraded cooling systems.” 

Hot classrooms are impairing student learning and health amid record-hot year, teachers say, NBC News

Are heat days the new snow days? Schools are canceling class as temperatures soar, CNN

“Schools really need to be thinking about how climate change is going to impact them and how they can develop and build plans in place to adequately respond…”

As classes resume in sweltering heat, many schools lack air conditioning, NPR

“Heat days:” More than a dozen Denver schools releasing students early Tuesday, ChalkBeat

“With outdoor temperatures soaring into the high 90s, some Denver schools without air conditioning are releasing students early Tuesday. Roughly one-fifth of Denver schools lack cooling systems.”

Chicago public schools teachers adjust to keep classrooms cool as extreme heat bakes city, ChalkBeat

“Teachers, parents and union organizers said they are managing the tough conditions, but it’s time for the district to commit to long-term upgrades instead of “quick fixes and bandaids.”

Philly school dismissals: How extreme heat impacts families, NPR

“What we’re seeing is that climate change is boosting heat not only in Philadelphia, but all over the world.”

Seattle-area teachers brace for sweltering classrooms during heat waves, Seattle Times

“Heat waves have historically fallen outside of the school year, sparing kids and educators. But not so over the past six or seven years.”

What educators need to know about schools and hot weather, Education Week

“With record-setting high temperatures, schools struggle to keep their students cool.”

To get a sense of some of the key issues people are talking about as the new school year begins in many parts of the Northern hemisphere, we’re scanning the back-to-school related headlines of the education sources we follow. Part 1 of 2023’s Back-to-School Series pulls together headlines that collectively show many of the different problems that students, educators and schools are facing in 2023. Part 2 will share the many headlines and stories focused on the natural disasters, heat and climate change related crises that have interfered with the start of school in many parts of the US. Part 3 collects some of the back-to-school guidance and the issues to watch in the coming year — including the use of AI in schools.

For back-to school headlines from fall 2022 see Hope and trepidation: Scanning the back-to-school headlines in the US; “Over it” but unable to escape it: Going back to school with Covid in 2022; Going back to school in 2022 (Part 3): Scanning headlines from around the world; for fall 2021 see Going back to school has never been quite like this (Part 1): Pandemic effects in the US; Going back to school has never been quite like this (Part 2): Quarantines, shortages, wildfires & hurricanes; for fall 2020 see What does it look like to go back to school? It’s different all around the world…; for 2019 see Headlines around the world: Back to school 2019 edition. This article was originally published on 09/14/2023 on internationalednews.com.

If it’s not one crisis it’s another. That sentiment seems to sum up many of the 2023 back-to-school headlines. Around the world, those crises included the:

• Impact of warfare and conflict in Ukraine and Ethiopia ( Ukrainian children brave bombs to return to school;  Kharkiv’s subways are now classrooms as school starts under Russian attacks; In Ethiopia strife in Amrha region threatens to disrupt academic year, University World News)
• Challenges of continuing teacher shortages in places like the Netherlands, Canada and elsewhere (“One in nine children will not have a teacher after the holiday; Principals in Ontario face daily staffing challenges)
• Closures and fallout from England’s failure to deal with the crumbling concrete used in some school buildings (School is back in session … so long as your classroom hasn’t collapsed, The Guardian; ‘An absolute nightmare’: teachers and parents shocked by concrete closures in England’s schools, The Guardian)

In the US, along with the threats from heat and natural disasters, reporters chronicled start of the year challenges for students, teachers, and schools like continuing concerns about COVID-19; lack of funding and supplies; the need to support the many immigrant students who arrived in in cities like New York this year; shortages of teachers, bus drivers, and other personnel;

Under these circumstances, perhaps it’s no surprise that one Washington Post headline declares “In some schools, dread over the new year: ‘We’re scared to teach’.  At the same time, some articles try to set a happier tone even as they chronicle the challenges: “For many students,” Chalkbeat NYC reported, “Thursday marked a joyous return to school. But a possible bus strike and air conditioning issues dimmed some of the good vibes (“First day of school for NYC’s nearly 900,000 kids: Smiles, sweat, and bus strike concerns.”)

COVID-19 & Health Concerns

A new school year, a new COVID-19 variant. What are schools to do?, Education Week

Cleaner air could keep schools open, The New York Times

Some US schools return to face mask requirements, The Washington Post

“Cases of COVID-19 have risen in some areas of the US, and some schools have reinstated face mask mandates, rekindling debate about whether the requirement is necessary or an impingement on personal freedoms. COVID-19 hospitalizations are well below what they were a year ago, but some experts have expressed concern about the fall season as most Americans have not yet gotten the latest updated booster vaccines that are due out soon.”

As children return to school, parents fret over shortage of ADHD meds, KFF Health News

Colorado launches free school lunch, mental health support, CBS Colorado

“The Cherry Creek School District in Colorado is welcoming students back with the launch of “Healthy School Meals for All,” a free school lunch program funded by Prop FF, aiming to support learning. Superintendent Christopher Smith also highlights partnerships with Hazel Health, offering free virtual mental health sessions, and the upcoming opening of Traverse Academy, a unique facility for students dealing with serious mental health challenges.”

Concerns about costs and funding

Enrollment, funding, supply chain issues throw wrench into school construction projects, K-12 Dive

Schools’ insurance costs are soaring—and climate change isn’t the only reason, Education Week

“Districts are seeing higher premiums thanks to a surge in natural disasters and other challenges.”

Cost of school supplies is at an all-time high, NPR

As back-to-school costs soar, more parents & teachers turn to charities for help, The 74

Most teachers spend their own money on school supplies. Should they?, Education Week

School supply funding varies widely across US, Education Week

‘Food is the biggest expense’: Mass. families welcome permanent free school meals for students, WBUR

School lunch prices rise amid challenges, USA Today

“As the new school year approaches, schools nationwide face the challenge of increasing lunch and breakfast costs due to inflation, the end of federal subsidies and potential new regulations — causing the School Nutrition Association to urge federal action. “School meal programs need permanent reimbursement-rate increases to cope with long-term, higher labor costs — especially as many schools still struggle with labor shortages and need to raise wages to fully staff their kitchens,” said Diane Pratt-Heavner, SNA’s director of media relations.”

More students eating for free as growing number of states offer universal school meals, Chalkbeat

Shortages

From ‘crisis’ to ‘catastrophe,’ schools scramble once again to find teachers, NBC News

To fight teacher shortages, schools turn to custodians, bus drivers and aides, Hechinger Report

West Virginia schools facing staffing problems amid new teaching assistant law, The 74

Districts aim to address teacher housing crisis, Axios

“School districts in the US are turning to homebuilding to address the chronic teacher shortage and housing affordability challenges. The move aims to improve teachers’ quality of life and educational outcomes, as many educators struggle to afford living near their schools, potentially leading to increased burnout and reduced time spent with students.”

The shortage in school bus drivers is getting worse, The New York Times

Wake County school bus driver shortage affecting 2,000 students, ABC 11

Severe bus driver shortage in Baton Rouge leads to an emergency school board meeting, WAFB

A district’s bus ‘disaster’ highlights a nationwide driver shortage, Education Week

GOP lawmakers call for special session after school bus debacle, canceled classes, The 74

“After a disastrous first week of school, when some buses didn’t get students home until 10 p.m. and classes were subsequently canceled for two days, Jefferson County Republican lawmakers want to call a special legislative session to enact changes — including a school choice amendment and the possible splitting up of the district. In our latest partnership with the Kentucky Lantern, McKenna Horsley reports that 12 lawmakers signed an open letter last week, saying the district failed to “keep our kids safe” and that structural changes are needed.” 

Why is there a shortage of school bus drivers? Problem worsened by COVID reaches crisis level, USA Today