Addressing these challenges will require a new level of focus on proven strategies to accelerate student learning..."
According to
TNTP Reimagine Teaching,
schools can get students on track by diagnosing lost learning and putting every student on a fast track back to grade level using a strategy designed to accelerate their exposure to grade-appropriate work, not delay it.
Acceleration entails focusing on key building blocks, or standards. Looking closely at what students know and don’t through a variety of check-ins and allowing teachers to change how students are grouped. Every unit starts with a pretest; then teachers use “asynchronous” or independent time to catch students up. Students consistently receive grade-level materials, tasks, and assignments. Instead of sending students backwards to fill in all of the learning gaps, the strategy recommends educators focus on filling in only the most critical gaps—and not in isolation, but at the moment they’re needed.
Educators know that overcoming learning loss will be challenging, but it's not unattainable. During this pandemic, our students – across all grades – have developed skills and coped with difficulties that no one would have expected them to learn at their ages. Despite ongoing obstacles, our kids have shown us that they can do far more than anyone ever expected!