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Another academic year is now underway. This is the fourth year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year's seniors were first-year high school students when the pandemic hit.

As worries about the virus begin to recede, educators are hoping now is the time for schools to confront the legacies of the pandemic.

They're facing strains on mental health, a large numbers of students who are behind academically, threats to school safety, and heightened political tensions around how and what they teach.

News 12's Elizabeth Hashagen was joined by Rob Zywicki, the superintendent of schools for the Mount Olive Township School District, and Kevin Coyne, the president of the Brentwood Teachers Association and a member of NYSUT's board of directors, to talk about education.

Looking for more information on the State of our Schools? Click on the links below for updates from the tri-state area: <a href="https://bronx.news12.com/category/bronx-state-of-our-schools">Bronx State of our Schools</a> <a href="https://brooklyn.news12.com/category/brooklyn-state-of-our-schools">Brooklyn State of our Schools</a> <a href="https://connecticut.news12.com/category/connecticut-state-of-our-schools">Connecticut State of our Schools</a> <a href="https://hudsonvalley.news12.com/category/hudson-valley-state-of-our-schools">Hudson Valley State of our Schools</a> <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/category/long-island-state-of-our-schools">Long Island State of our Schools</a> <a href="https://newjersey.news12.com/category/new-jersey-state-of-our-schools">New Jersey State of our Schools</a> <a href="https://westchester.news12.com/category/westchester-state-of-our-schools">Westchester State of our Schools</a>

News 12's Elizabeth Hashagen was joined by Rob Zywicki and Kevin Coyne to talk about education.

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The New Normal: How are educators confronting legacies of pandemic challenges?

0914NewNormalSchoolsEducation

So doctors a wiki I want to start with you and talk about this learning loss. We take a look at the academic growth of of students and really what's missing you know right now. So thanks for having me on again. Um I think the biggest um data point where people are kind of freaking out right now are the nape assessments. And the assessments are a sampling from across the country. So it's not a single state. Um And it kind of looks longitudinal and Nate has been around for decades. So it's not a flash pan assessment created by a textbook company. So we have real validity. Um And what the nape assessment show us is that learning loss is real. That the closures had a long sustained negative impact on our kids. Math overall um was the largest decline but also reading um in the in you know the U. K. And in europe they've made that connection between reading and math. I think it's about time that we start to have that conversation that kids in order to do well in math. They have to read word problems. So these two things are not in silos. Um But you know this is really a um you know it's a clarion call to everyone in education and I hope a lot of politicians are listening um there you know learning loss was real. Yeah. And specifically taking a look at those nine year old math and reading levels dropping you know to levels we haven't seen in decades basically it. And so if you if you step back and look at the history, it has undone the progress that we made, starting in 2001 to the prize, and has we have gone back to the point where, you know, Ronald Reagan, you know, he famously gave the speech a nation at risk, right? We're back to that point. Um so that's very disconcerting and and kevin, what is it like, you know, as educators in the classroom and trying to figure out where these students are and then how to, you know, move them forward or uh you know, we got an opportunity to take a look at the class list of kids who are coming into our rooms, you know, review some of their previous year's progress, but it's not really too there in front of you and you're engaging them in these conversations uh and the work to be done and and um listen, quite honestly, we all know the early formative years, you know, ages three through seven, where you're developing reading skills and and things of that nature. You know, our kids weren't in schools getting that kind of professional um learning opportunities and, you know, our parents did an incredible job doing what they had to do while we all were, but there really is no substitute for kids being in school, being in front of professionals have, you know, our TSR monitors are are reading and math consultants, working with our kids with most risks, you know, and I think I would agree with rob, I do hope that politicians are learning because this problem isn't gonna go away in a day or a year, it's gonna take a long term financial investment in our schools so that we can provide these areas to help get kids caught up for sure. And also, you know, doctors, when you take a look at it, it also seems to be widening the gap between the lower performing students and those in the top and what the data suggests, which is, you know what some people started to see during the pandemic. You know, traditionally high performing students um actually did pretty well in the pandemic, right. They were equipped to handle the technology, they already had like style levels and reading levels that were already high enough that they could sustain, um you know, their academic progress, but the kids who were at risk, you know, those bubble kids, um they had the biggest decline, you know, the, the online learning was really hard for them and it's frustrating for teachers because teachers know this, but there's only been so much that they can do, they were physically separated from their kids. But but yeah, so that that gap has gotten wider and there's more inequities now than ever before. So now how do you, how do you make up for this learning loss kevin when you take a look at these at these classrooms, how do you start to accelerate to get them back where they need to be for their age and grade level partnerships? Uh, listen, fortunately here in Brentwood, I can speak very highly of the current current Board of Education who is working collaboratively with teachers with our central administration and our superintendent. We really have put our heads together to try and um develop and work on programs where we feel the most need is we've added additional teachers thankfully. You know, our board of Ed has been, has been very supportive and really telling our Superintendent tell us what you need because we want to make sure we do what we have to uh, it's really application of state funding. The additional state funding that we receive and putting in place is to really try and fill those holes and and that has been done through the addition of, you know, reading coaches and read math consultants and, and academic intervention services that are given during the day to help boost up those kids. Um, we've expanded our our our, our our school day to a nine period day to give kids more opportunities to engage in learning. So, um, it really is about partnership between all the stakeholders to put their heads together and say this is how we're going to make an investment because our kids are worth it. Uh, and it's a must, you know, and rob, I wonder too, you know, I alluded to it a little bit in the beginning, but I wondered too about the high school seniors, right? They were freshmen when this whole thing started, Are they even, you know, ready to go to college? And you see that data to that more kids who are being accepted to college are having to basically their freshman year um take remedial classes, essentially the retaking algebra two as college freshmen. Right? And so we, you know, it's funny, we just had the student loan forgiveness debate. Well, those kids are taking loans to take remedial classes. They're not even in freshman freshman math one on one, like how, you know what, you know, you know that we're getting the dog is wagging the tail, the dog on this, right? Um it is completely a crisis and it's not just K to 12, it's it's pouring into the post secondary level as well. I do want to talk about mental health because we're talking obviously about academic, you know, issues in the classroom and learning loss, but you know, we're also hearing about behavioral um you know, problems within our schools as well and you know, a lot of that could be tied to the mental health component of this pandemic kevin. Yeah. You know, again, you know, we're fortunate here in Brentwood, there has been an unprecedented investment in in psychologists and social workers and an additional guidance counselors, uh you know, our directors of guidance and social work and psychology or are working collaboratively to develop opportunities for kids um to seek out and and more importantly because kids don't always come to us, it's giving our counsel dollars and our psychologists and social workers opportunities to seek out kids who we know may need it. They're actually getting out of their out of their offices there, getting into classrooms, they're seeing kids up front and this collaborative approach of identifying kids early on uh and teachers are keenly aware of it now more than they have ever been about getting kids into uh into these services and helping them boost up um themselves, you know, emotionally, physically and and getting them re engaged in this in the school process because doctors wiki now we really have identified the problems that we're facing. So how do we tackle this year and make sure that all those needs are met. So we have a playbook and the playbook came about in 2004 in the reauthorization of the individuals disabilities education act and that's for a response to intervention, also known as multi tiered systems of support. So we know it's it's similar to triaging um if you will have a medical analogy. So we know where kids are at, so we can provide, we have the data, we can provide tier one to support two kids who are kind of on grade level, tier two to the kids who are just below grade level and then tier three supports um to the kids who are really far behind. So we have the place to do this. The problem is, is funding staffing and and academic resources and not every district has that right now. So we have the data, we have the plan, we have the research to know that this works, it's, it's having the human and physical capital to get it done right. And when you talk about that physical capital, I know kevin that Brentwood is really trying to do this, grow your own program. 100%. And I'm so grateful. I have a truly dedicated group of teachers up at our high school when I pitched this to them about, you know, take a look at teaching. Nice has been on the forefront of the teacher shortage and and what we're gonna be dealing with, you know, moving forward uh and had offered local brands and and so we took full advantage of it here. Uh you know, we are constantly talking about, you know, having our own kids come in and teach uh become teachers, become professionals having kids in our classroom, see kids who looked and sounded like them in their classrooms. Uh It helps with the diversity of our hiring process is, but for sure are dedicated high school staff as you know, really created the old future teachers of America clubs to take a look at teaching now and we are really uh you know, I think we had 45 or 50 kids at the end of the year. Last year, we're partnering with a local community college stuff at community college to get kids in their comfortable in the college setting. Uh, and then really talking to them about what our profession looks like. You know, it's, it's not about four years of college and then coming in and teaching high school english, there's so much more to the profession that brings enjoyment to it, uh, and really a wealth to your life. And so those connections that we're making quick kids, uh, you know, listen, 26 years in the profession, I'm, some of my former students show up at my new teacher orientation. You talk about pride. It's those former students that show up and so we're hoping to really build and develop on that. It's in our high school right now, we're gonna move into our freshman center and then down to our middle school. So kids really see the pathway from middle school through high school and how they can become a teacher or guidance counselors, social workers. It's vitally important to what we have to do to preserve and move our profession forward.

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