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Following the release of the 2022 MCAS results, school districts put emphasis on recovering learning losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Students at all levels statewide showed declines in English scores.

MCAS results show students recovering from the turmoil of pandemic learning but reveal losses in English language arts Following the release of the 2022 statewide testing results, districts put emphasis on recovering learning losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic

“I want my teacher to know I’m smart in Swahili,” Esther said in response to the question “What do you want your teacher to know about you?”

It is important educators "gather data to evaluate and assess each learner, to deeply understand their abilities across languages, and to plan strategies to provide instruction so all students can learn."

How Monolingual Teachers Can Support English Language Acquisition for Multilingual Learners - EdSurge News “I want my teacher to know I’m smart in Swahili,” one student wrote, changing the future of this teacher’s practice.

In Tennessee, educators work to improve dismal literacy rates statewide, especially in regards to the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. ELLs bear the most brunt: 85% of Tennessee's ELLs perform below grade level in both math and English last school year.

Educators have to deal with lack of resources unfortunately. Tennessee’s largest school district, for example, does not currently offer any bilingual pre-K classes. And only one school — Treadwell Elementary — has a dual language program, which serves 200 students, according to Chalkbeat's Samantha West.

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Today, we honor and pay respect to the teachers who continue to play important roles in our lives.

Language diversity often goes uncelebrated in today’s classrooms. It’s important for schools to be thoughtful and capitalize on students’ strengths – rather than condemning student differences.

“These children are often highly intelligent and highly motivated. The language is a barrier, not their intellectual capacity.” — Kenneth Patterson, teacher leader at Woodmoor Elementary School in Baltimore, MD.

A recent study provides a potential solution for closing pandemic-related learning gaps: mastery learning. Khan Academy's Chief Learning Officer recommends that schools allow for more flexibility when scheduling pacing guides and reevaluate the meaning of grades, two ways to implement mastery learning in classrooms.

Teachers prefer using mastery learning to close learning gaps A recent study by Khan Academy provides another potential solution for closing pandemic-related learning gaps.