Field Notes & News
Field Notes feature knowledge and insights from our expert partners and coaches, bringing to light practical guidance from the work we’ve done with school districts across the country. This page also shares the latest news about Always Ready for Learning so you can stay up-to-date with our developments.
Field Notes
Good News: In The Debate About School Re-opening, There Are A Few Things Schools Don’t Actually Need To Do
As schools across the United States near the end of the year, teachers, leaders, and students are grappling with the challenges associated with a variety of teaching and learning modalities, ranging from in-person instruction to hybrid and fully remote learning.
Are You Ready? Real-World Support for Reopening
The Parabola Project is a unique, cross-sector initiative that brings together education expertise from The Learning Accelerator and public health expertise from Ariadne Labs.
News
TLA’s Real-Time Redesign Toolkit Helps Schools Make Practical and Positive Change: Early in the pandemic, TLA launched its “Always Ready for Learning Strategy Lab.” This networked community of school system leaders came together to proactively collaborate and openly share their co-designed solutions for navigating the challenges of COVID-19. (3/17/21)
How Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Reduced Their Failure Rate by over 60%: Two hours south of San Francisco, Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh and Assistant Superintendent Beth Wodecki have been working patiently and tirelessly with their team to reduce the failure rate of their students in Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. (3/8/21)
A Reliable Hybrid Learning Model: Cedar Rapids Schools Respond to Setbacks: In response to the pandemic, Cedar Rapids established three models as options for families: in-person, hybrid, and all virtual. (3/3/21)
Phoenix Charter Academy on The Primary Person Advisory Model: Phoenix Charter’s unique model for individualized student support, known as the Primary Person Model, is a one-on-one advisory system that puts mental health and wellness at the forefront of student progress. (2/19/21)
How the Race Between Vaccinations and COVID Variants Affects School Reopening: President Biden has made reopening K-12 schools as one of his top priorities for the first 100 days of his administration, or by the end of April. With COVID-19 vaccinations rolling out across the country, there’s hope that that will happen. (2/2/21)
Lucid Dreaming: Planning for a Better Future in a School Crisis: Before the pandemic, the challenges of inequality, systemic racism, and antiquated learning models already plagued the American education system. The pandemic offers an opening for schools to both reimagine more than just high schools and re-engineer towards equity and resiliency: through “lucid dreaming.” (12/9/20)
Coaches Collaborate for Change: An Option For Districts in Need: Flashback to early 2020, March, specifically. Schools and education leaders needed to adapt at unprecedented speed, and at a level never before experienced by the sector. (12/2/20)
In These Reopened Schools, Students Exceed Expectations Following Safety Rules: Milford High School, in Massachusetts, developed detailed return-to-school plans and safety procedures in preparation for this school year. (11/24/20)
OPINION: Fires, storms and Covid: How some school districts focused on equity during decision time: Learning from adversity featuring lessons from Strategy Lab Districts who planned for a year like no other while prioritizing equity. (11/10/20)
Teaching Through Change, Stories of Resilience: Ms. Stacey Shapiro, a first-grade teacher in Austin Independent School District, is showing her students how to persevere through any adventure, by not only focusing on her relationships with students and peers but also taking time for self-care. (10/26/20)
Communicating Through Change: How a CA District Is Supporting Families in the Year Ahead: In the midst of chaos, Monterey Peninsula USD prioritized communication with families in simple, respectful, and transparent ways. (10/2/20)
#EngageEquitably Helps Education Leaders Communicate Effectively During an Uncertain School Year: New resource offers guidance and templates for a variety of scenarios and issues school leaders may need to address during the COVID-19 pandemic. (9/18/20)
Building the Car While We’re Driving It: Lessons Learned and Back-to-School Priorities in Four Districts: The last six months have posed an unprecedented level of instructional and operational challenge as school systems navigated closure and planned return. (9/12/20)
Ariadne Labs and The Learning Accelerator Launch the Parabola Project to Help Schools Minimize COVID-19 Health Risks While Maximizing Learning: Ariadne Labs and The Learning Accelerator announced the launch of the Parabola Project, an initiative that aims to rapidly develop evidence-informed tools to help school system leaders identify options for school reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic. (8/5/20)
Grantee-Partners Spearhead New Network to Support School Districts During COVID-19: National, philanthropically-supported initiative works to ensure K-12 school districts receive urgent customized guidance on how to successfully shift to remote learning and prepare for instruction in the fall and beyond. (6/26/20)