How the Next Mayor Can Make Remote Learning Effective
For over a month now, hundreds of thousands of children and 75,000 teachers have returned to New York City schools. In that time, families’ resilience has been put to yet another test as Covid-19 cases ebb and flow in communities, with testing for and reporting of Covid cases in schools seemingly far less diligent and transparent than they were last year, and with no proper remote learning option available.
Such problems notwithstanding, Mayor Bill de Blasio shows no signs of deviating from his plan to mandate in-person learning for all but a sliver of children with a prescribed list of serious medical conditions.
So allow me to focus instead on January 1st, when the new mayor — most likely Eric Adams — takes office. Those who care about equitably educating the city’s kids should call for action by the next administration on two urgent priorities.
First, in his campaign’s education position statement, Adams offers key values that will inform his education agenda: a quality education for all, a whole-child approach, and developing young minds from prenatal to career. Specifically, in order to ensure a quality education for all children, Adams commits, in part, to “create the best remote learning experience in the world.” He correctly views online learning as “a vehicle to desegregate” schools.
But creating a world-class online learning experience that also meaningfully counteracts racial injustice demands key, threshold strategic decisions.
Paradoxical though it seems, a world-class remote learning initiative starts on paper. That is, it begins with citywide curriculum planning. Why? Because technology only accelerates what already exists. If the next administration launches a virtual school, for example, without adequate planning and development, teachers will have to design curricula while teaching in online or blended models (as we have seen). The result will be the exponential replication of existing pedagogical inequity. Because designing quality curricula is really, really hard.
That’s why the Adams administration should convene a task force to rapidly design a robust New York City K-12 curricular framework that represents our highest aspirations. Let’s call it, “One City, One World.”
Possibly building off the de Blasio administration’s vaguely defined, late-in-the-game Mosaic universal curriculum initiative, an Adams administration’s framework could embody the hallmarks of any high-quality curriculum, including: culturally responsive inquiries at every grade level; alignment to State and international academic and social-emotional standards; vetted resources and instructional activity templates; and signature project-based assignments designed with local and international cultural institutions.
Curriculum refers not to standards, resources, or assessments alone. Curriculum is material designed to inspire students and teachers to explore ideas and create artifacts of their learning. And a well-designed framework does so in a way that leaves room for schools to include their existing high-quality practices.
There can be no equitable, high-quality online learning experiences for children if the City does not demonstrate curricular leadership, confidence, and stewardship in collaboration with schools and communities. Not top-down, but bottom-up. Not rigidly imposed, but responsively adapted.
Second, a world-class remote learning experience requires a centralized virtual academy model. Since “centralized” might irk some educators, allow me to explain. While the technical infrastructure for citywide online learning can be designed in many ways, the quality of online learning is absolutely critical. As in physical classrooms, just because teachers teach doesn’t mean learners learn.
The next mayor should appoint a deputy chancellor of digital learning dedicated to pulling together an “A Team” of online teachers and instructional designers who adapt the City’s evolving One City, One World framework for online instruction. This team of about 100 full-time teachers will teach students from schools across the city who choose or must learn online for all or some of their classes. After the first year, this A Team can offer a training pathway in which face-to-face teachers can be credentialed to teach part-time for the central virtual academy, either for additional compensation or as part of their brick-and-mortar school responsibilities.
I cannot emphasize enough what negative impact the absence of a deputy chancellor of digital learning has had on families and schools leading up to and during the pandemic. This is the 21st century. With no senior-ranking official making informed decisions and marshaling resources, we have witnessed a parade of greatly avoidable (or at least mitigatable) missteps. New York City’s is the only large school district I am aware of that lacks any semblance of a coherent digital learning strategy.
In the year to come, Covid-19 will again force many students into online models of learning. But families deserve online options anyway – pandemic or not. A world-class remote learning option has a vital role to play in counteracting racial injustice and educational inequity. And if equity means all students and not some, then remote learning must be driven by a systemwide curriculum that honors the limitless talents and dreams of our children.