To America鈥檚 resilient educators:
Take a moment to reflect on your many accomplishments during the pandemic, as well as the challenges you have faced.
You鈥檝e supported your teams, your students, your school families and communities, all while balancing your own lives. In spite of every obstacle, you pushed through because that鈥檚 what you do. Every day.
And then, this spring, the sun seemed to shine a bit brighter. The safe and reliable vaccines that were slowing the spread of the virus forecasted a return to a normal-ish school year ahead. But COVID-19 had another plan, and its name was the Delta variant.
So here we are. And it鈥檚 complicated.
The cover of this year鈥檚 Big Ideas report from 91制片厂视频 Week and the 10 essays inside reflect this moment and the constellation of emotions we know you鈥檙e experiencing: hope, excitement, grief, urgency, trepidation, and a deep sense of purpose.
In the report, we ask hard questions about education鈥檚 big challenges and offer some solutions. Keep scrolling for a roundup of these challenges and some new ways to think about them.
The report also includes results from an exclusive survey on educator stress, what you did well during the pandemic, and more.
Please connect with us on social media by using or by emailing bigideas@educationweek.org. May the year ahead be a safe and fruitful one for you.
1. Schools are doing too much
We鈥檙e asking schools to accomplish more than what their funding allows and we鈥檙e asking their employees to do far more than they鈥檝e been trained to do. Read more.
2. Student homelessness
The pandemic has only made student homelessness situation more volatile. Schools don鈥檛 have to go it alone. Read more.
3. Racism in schools
Born and raised in India, reporter Eesha Pendharkar isn鈥檛 convinced that America鈥檚 anti-racist efforts are enough to make students of color feel like they belong. Read more.
4. Teacher mental health
The pandemic has put teachers through the wringer. Administrators must think about their educators鈥� well-being differently. Read more.
5. Educator grief
Faced with so many loses stemming from the pandemic, what can be done to help teachers manage their own grief? Read more.
6. The well-being of school leaders
By overlooking the well-being of their school leaders, districts could limit how much their schools can flourish. Read more.
7. Remote learning
Educators in schools who were technologically prepared for the pandemic say the remote-learning emergency has provided new opportunities to explore better ways to connect with students and adapt instruction. Read more.
8. Setting students up for success
Educators know a lot more about students鈥� home learning environments than before the pandemic. How might schools build on that awareness and use it to improve their future work? Read more.
9. Parent engagement
When school went remote, families got a better sense of what their children were learning. It鈥檚 something schools can build on, if they can make key cultural shifts. Read more.
10. Knowing your purpose
We can鈥檛 build resilient schools until we agree on what education鈥檚 core role should be. And right now, we don鈥檛 agree. Read more.
