Superintendent's Posts

Dear Lincoln Families,

This past week was filled with many opportunities in which students, teachers, staff, and school leaders connected with one another. Our community is buzzing with activity - planning, training, cleaning, creating, communicating, organizing - and it feels GREAT! We are so looking forward to having students on campus next Wednesday. 

Some of you may be concerned about the loss of learning during the past 18 months of the pandemic. This is a term being used everywhere these days -  “learning loss refers to any specific or general loss of knowledge and skills caused by extended gaps or discontinuities in a student’s education.” (Glossary of Education Reform) This is not a new concept - students have experienced gaps in their learning due to illness, inclement weather, summer vacations, frequent moves, etc. This pandemic certainly caused interruptions in school as we knew it and what is important now is that we find positive ways to address any lack of learning. Some institutions are lobbying for measures such as holding students back a grade or expecting teachers to cover more material faster, others are asking for a focus on remediation and catch-up work, and avoiding challenging material. Such deficit models can do more harm than good, and using punitive measures can cause students to feel targeted, to lose self-confidence, and to feel even more disengaged from learning. 

Here at Lincoln, we will address learning gaps, but we want to do so in the context of overall development. We want to prioritize students’ social and emotional well being and to look at their individual situation and include them in finding solutions. Also, we cannot ignore what students did learn during quarantine at home and we need to find ways to leverage their experiences so that students feel empowered. The last thing we want is for any student to feel defeated or to see themselves as a failure. We want students to see themselves as resilient, having coped through a challenging situation, accumulating valuable skills and experiences that will serve them well in their lives. One of the best ways to do this is to provide interesting lessons with challenging material and provocative questions that promote complex thinking and the use of multi-disciplinary skills and knowledge. This is what makes schools inspiring places for learning! 

Below are two interesting articles about this topic:
Too Much Focus on ‘Learning Loss’ Will Be a Historic Mistake
Our Kids Are Not Broken

Sending you all best wishes this weekend. 
 

Sincerely,
Madeleine