Key points:
The education news is full of trends and predictions for the new school year, but listening to the people doing the work is a more direct path to understanding what educators need right now.
Looking ahead to the 2023-2024 school year, K-12 teachers and principals share their honest opinions about their goals and challenges. Let’s find out what educators really care about and how it’s shaping our schools.
When we asked educators about their top goals for the school year, a whopping 75 percent said “building strong communication” was at the top of their list. This goal is the cornerstone of a successful school year. Because? Because strong, consistent communication between school and home builds trust, which leads to better attendance and academic performance, better behavior, and stronger social-emotional skills. It is even backed by new research showing that students whose families had the highest levels of trust in their community had the best results from remote learning. Therefore, establishing a good communication routine is a fantastic goal for a successful 2023-24.
One way to approach it is to imagine your communication plan as a funnel:
Top of the funnel:
The trick is to ensure that all families receive updates throughout the entire funnel regularly and on a consistent schedule.
Second, 55 percent of respondents mentioned “prioritizing self-care.” It is not only acceptable, but essential, to prioritize self-care. Taking time to rest and recharge is vital for personal well-being and sets an example of healthy practices for the entire school community.
Question 2: Face challenges head-on
One of the main challenges for 71 percent of respondents was “effectively reaching all families with information and communication about back to school.” Ensuring crucial information reaches families is directly related to student success. But it can be a complex task. Families have diverse languages and methods of accessing information, and some face housing instability. To ensure successful learning recovery, it is essential that students return to school, and this begins with effective communication with parents and guardians. Districts should take a multifaceted approach, including clear and positive guidance in families’ home languages about the importance of attendance, group messaging to classes or grades with information and expectations, and individualized communication from teachers, counselors, or counselors.
After the challenge of reaching all families, the next big concern was “making attendance a core value,” mentioned by 45 percent of people. Research shows that taking a punitive approach to attendance can backfire for students. Instead of encouraging them to come forward, it can have the opposite effect. Because? Because students need to know that their presence at school is important. Positive outreach is the way to go.
Promoting attendance as a core value can take many forms, from a letter from the superintendent in the family’s native language, to messages of gratitude for good attendance, to whole-class pizza parties, or simply creating a welcoming atmosphere that makes students students want to be in school.
Below are some interesting tips from other educators that align with the top goals and challenges our respondents identified:
- “We followed our nightly routine and went to bed early.”
- “Coherent, brief and informative communication.”
- “Be positive!! Things will work out.”
- “Starting with an engaging communication activity.”
- “Breathe and find calm.”
- “Keep my planning calendars from previous years. Allows starting from each year a frame. Minor tweaks versus full build.”
- “I started a newsletter to communicate celebrations, expectations and resources for my teachers.”
- “There is a lot to do while we return to school; It’s easy to get distracted. So, I help myself stay on track by choosing a task, setting a timer, and working on that one thing (and I put my phone in a different room to decrease distractions).”
- “Support administrators and teachers to establish multiple avenues of communication. “a phone call, an email, a newsletter, before our ‘Back to School’ event.”
In summary, the key conclusion is communicate openly and take care of yourself.
In these insights from educators, we can see twin themes for a productive year: strong communication and self-care. Communication is our foundation, self-care our strength, and empathy our guide. By fostering confidence, embracing well-being, and addressing challenges head-on, we can make every school day count for every student.
Thanks to all the educators who shared their ideas. Here’s to a year of growth, resilience, and student success!
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