The lack of large-scale change in education makes us wonder if it is simply a lack of good ideas or a culture that won鈥檛 let them grow. As the leader of an educator-based movement that empowers teachers to build classrooms that respond to students鈥� every need and a researcher and advocate for school innovation, we see administrators and teachers do very inventive things every day. But we also see the immense challenges that stand in the way of expanding ideas beyond an individual classroom or district. It鈥檚 why scaling innovation in education means taking the risk out of failure.

This means making freedom and flexibility non-negotiable. For example, rather than top-down mandates that start at the state or district level and are imposed on teachers, schools need bottom-up approaches that start with teachers and give them a choice in when and how to use a new idea 鈥� or whether to use it at all. Among the schools we work with, the ideas that spread the fastest and last the longest are the ones that begin with teachers. One gets interested in an approach or a piece of technology, starts using it, tells a colleague who starts doing the same, and word keeps spreading until an entire school or district has adopted the idea.

With this model, scale happens from the bottom up and provides a softer landing when initiatives experience failures or setbacks. When district leaders impose an idea on educators and staff, it may stall because of a lack of passion. The stakes of making the initiative work are also higher because the idea is being introduced across the entire district instead of at the classroom-level. But when teachers find ideas, test them in their classrooms with a small group of students and share their progress, it gives them ownership and the opportunity to make adjustments before the idea reaches district-level implementation.   

There鈥檚 another benefit to adopting a teacher-led approach to innovation 鈥� ideas are more likely to stick. Teachers know what instructional practices and technology they need. When they find something that works and solves their problems, they keep using it. Time and again, the education reforms that last are those that frame a problem for teachers and offer a compelling solution. Adoption rates of instructional resources are a good example. shows that teachers are more likely to use textbooks, reference materials and even computers when they enhance students鈥� learning experiences.

Scaling innovation in education is also hurt by an imbalance between structure and flexibility. When businesses scale, leaders often focus on structure, designing strict systems that depend on repeatable processes. Think of an assembly line in a factory: Each worker repeats the same job and each product is built in the same way. This repetition creates efficiency because a company can easily see if goals are met and identify any barriers that might prevent employees from reaching them. Over time, these repeatable processes make it faster for a business to scale production. 

But schools are not factories. Instead of speeding up innovation and minimizing risk, too much structure constrains teachers. There are a lot of variables within a classroom, including student learning levels, personalities and variations in the mastery of a particular concept. Teachers play a , and the most effective ones adapt their instruction to account for these variables. Standardized and rigid structures take away teachers鈥� freedom to make these adjustments for different students, rendering the teachers less effective. 

Rigidity also needs to be removed from the definitions of failure versus success. Often, innovations are evaluated by standards that are already in place. Today, we might use standardized test scores, the amount of time spent teaching or the volume of content covered to judge whether a new idea worked. Instead, if K-12 leaders expand the measures of success to include college and career readiness or a student鈥檚 ability to engage in self-directed learning, it opens new possibilities for how to reach those goals. Add to that the idea that failure is not just part of the journey, but a requirement of it, and leaders have the opportunity to accelerate the adoption of new ideas.

Education is filled with passionate doers and bright idealogues who can drive innovations that improve the way students learn, teachers engage and schools operate. When leaders and policymakers learn to encourage, celebrate and support experimentation in ways that accept the risk of failure, they鈥檒l empower educators to do just that and create a brighter future for everyone in K-12 education.

This year鈥檚 list, publishing amid new calls for mask mandates and yet another spike in hospitalizations, powerfully frames our surreal new normal: mounting concerns about historic test score declines; intensifying political divides that would challenge school systems even if there weren鈥檛 simultaneous health, staffing and learning crises to manage; broader economic stresses that are making it harder to manage school systems; and a sustained push by many educators and families to embrace innovations and out-of-the-box thinking to help kids accelerate their learning by any means necessary.

Now, 2陆 years into one of the most turbulent periods in the history of American education, these were our 22 most discussed articles of 2022: 

The COVID School Years: 700 Days Since Lockdown 

Learning Loss: 700 days. As we reported Feb. 14, that鈥檚 how long it had been since more than half the nation鈥檚 schools crossed into the pandemic era. On March 16, 2020, districts in 27 states, encompassing almost 80,000 schools, closed their doors for the first long educational lockdown. Since then, schools have reopened, closed and reopened again. The effects have been immediate 鈥� students lost parents, teachers mourned fallen colleagues 鈥� and hopelessly abstract as educators weighed 鈥減andemic learning loss,鈥� the sometimes crude measure of COVID鈥檚 impact on students鈥� academic performance. 

With spring approaching, there were reasons to be hopeful. More children had been vaccinated. Mask mandates were ending. But even if the pandemic recedes and a 鈥渘ew normal鈥� emerges, there are clear signs that the issues surfaced during this period will linger. COVID heightened inequities that have long been baked into the American educational system. The social contract between parents and schools has frayed. And teachers are burning out. To mark a third spring of educational disruption, Linda Jacobson interviewed educators, parents, students and researchers who spoke movingly, often unsparingly, about what Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab, called 鈥渁 seismic interruption to education unlike anything we鈥檝e ever seen.鈥� Read her full report. 

Related:

• A 700-Day Parental Awakening: Marguerite Roza, of Georgetown’s Edunomics Lab, reflects on the past years
  
• 700 Days of Missed Opportunities 鈥� and Lingering Inequities: Robin Lake, of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, looks back (and forwards)
  
• 700 Days of Balancing Student Safety Against Keeping Classrooms Open: Superintendent Pedro Martinez reflects
  
• 700 Days in Pictures: 24 months inside one resilient school district
  
• The COVID School Years: See our special report, looking back on 700 days of the pandemic

Threatened & Trolled, School Board Members Quit in Record Numbers

School Leadership: By the time we published this report in May, the chaos and violence at big city school board meetings had dominated headlines for months, as protesters, spurred by ideological interest groups and social media campaigns, railed about race, gender and a host of other hot-button issues. But what does it look like when the boardroom is located in a small community, where the elected officials under fire often have lifelong ties to the people doing the shouting? Over the last 18 months, Minnesota K-12 districts have seen a record number of board members resign before the end of their term. As one said in a tearful explanation to her constituents, 鈥淭he hate is just too much.鈥� Beth Hawkins takes a look at the possible ramifications.  

Related:

• Million-Dollar Records Request: From COVID and critical race theory to teachers鈥� names & schools, districts flooded with freedom of information document demands

Nation鈥檚 Report Card Shows Largest Drops Ever Recorded in 4th and 8th Grade Math

Student Achievement: In a moment the education world had anxiously awaited, the latest round of scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress were released in October 鈥� and the news was harsh. Math scores saw the largest drops in the history of the exam, while reading performance also fell in a majority of states. National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner Peggy Carr said the 鈥渄ecline that we’re seeing in the math data is stark. It is troubling. It is significant.鈥� Even as some state-level data has shown evidence of a rebound this year, federal officials warned COVID-19鈥檚 lost learning won鈥檛 be easily restored. 社区黑料鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken breaks down the results.

Related:

• Lost Decades: 鈥楴ation鈥檚 Report Card鈥� shows 20 years of growth wiped out by two years of pandemic
  
• Economic Toll: Damage from NAEP math losses could total nearly $1 trillion
  
• COVID Recovery: Can districts rise to the challenge of new NAEP results? Outlook鈥檚 not so good 

Virtual Nightmare: One Student鈥檚 Journey Through the Pandemic

Mental Health: As the debate over the lingering effects of school closures continues, the term 鈥減andemic recovery鈥� can often lose its meaning. For Jason Finuliar, a California teen whose Bay Area school district was among those shuttered the longest, the journey has been painful and slow. Once a happy, high-achieving student, he descended into academic failure and a depression so severe that he spent 10 days in a residential mental health facility. 鈥淚 felt so worthless,鈥� he said. It鈥檚 taking compassionate counselors, professional help and parents determined to save their son for Jason to regain hope for the future. Linda Jacobson reports. 

16 Under 16: Meet 社区黑料鈥檚 2022 Class of STEM Achievers

This spring, we asked for the country鈥檚 help identifying some of the most impressive students, age 16 or younger, who have shown extraordinary achievement in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. After an extensive and comprehensive selection process, we鈥檙e thrilled to introduce this year鈥檚 class of 16 Under 16 in STEM. The honorees range in age from 12 to 16, specialize in fields from medicine to agriculture to invention and represent the country from coast to coast. We hope these incredible youngsters can inspire others 鈥� and offer reassurance that our future can be in pretty good hands. Emmeline Zhao offers a closeup of the 2022 class of 16 Under 16 in STEM 鈥� click here to read and watch more about them.

A 鈥楴ational Teacher Shortage鈥�? New Research Reveals Vastly Different Realities Between States & Regions

School Staffing: Adding to efforts to understand America鈥檚 teacher shortages, a new report and website maps the K-12 teaching vacancy data. Nationally, an estimated 36,504 full-time teacher positions are unfilled, with shortages currently localized in nine states. 鈥淭here are substantial vacant teacher positions in the United States. And for some states, this is much higher than for other states. 鈥� It’s just a question of how severe it is,鈥� said author Tuan Nguyen. Marianna McMurdock reports on America鈥檚 uneven crisis. 

Meet the Gatekeepers of Students鈥� Private Lives

School Surveillance: Megan Waskiewicz used to sit at the top of the bleachers and hide her face behind the glow of a laptop monitor. While watching one of her five children play basketball on the court below, the Pittsburgh mother didn’t want other parents in the crowd to know she was also looking at child porn. Waskiewicz worked on contract as a content moderator for Gaggle, a surveillance company that monitors the online behaviors of some 5 million students across the U.S. on their school-issued Google and Microsoft accounts in an effort to prevent youth violence and self-harm. As a result, kids鈥� deepest secrets 鈥� like nude selfies and suicide notes 鈥� regularly flashed onto Waskiewicz鈥檚 screen. Waskiewicz and other former moderators at Gaggle believe the company helped protect kids, but they also surfaced significant questions about its efficacy, employment practices and effect on students鈥� civil rights. Eight former moderators shared their experiences at Gaggle with 社区黑料, describing insufficient safeguards to protect students鈥� sensitive data, a work culture that prioritized speed over quality, scheduling issues that sent them scrambling to get hours and frequent exposure to explicit content that left some traumatized. Read the latest investigation by 社区黑料鈥檚 Mark Keierleber. 

Students Continue to Flee Urban Districts as Boom Towns, Virtual Schools Thrive

Exclusive Data: A year after the nation鈥檚 schools experienced a historic decline in enrollment, data shows many urban districts are still losing students, and those that rebounded this year typically haven鈥檛 returned to pre-pandemic levels. Of 40 states and the District of Columbia, few have seen more than a 1% increase compared with 2020-21, when some states experienced declines as high as 5%, according to data from Burbio, a company that tracks COVID-related education trends. Flat enrollment this year 鈥渕eans those kids did not come back,鈥� said Thomas Dee, an education professor at Stanford University. While many urban districts were already losing students before the pandemic, COVID 鈥渁ccelerated鈥� movement into outlying areas and to states with stronger job markets. Experts say that means many districts will have to make some tough decisions in the coming years. Linda Jacobson reports. 

鈥楬ybrid鈥� Homeschooling Making Inroads as Families Seek New Models

School Choice: As public school enrollments dip to historic lows, researchers are beginning to track families to hybrid homeschooling arrangements that meet in person a few days per week and send students home for the rest of the time. More formal than learning pods or microschools, many still rely on parents for varying levels of instruction and grading. About 60% to 70% are private, according to a new research center on hybrid schools based at Kennesaw State University, northwest of Atlanta. Greg Toppo reports.

Student Safety: Thousands of times every year, New York City school staff report what they fear may be child abuse or neglect to a state hotline. But the vast majority of the resulting investigations yield no evidence of maltreatment while plunging the families, most of them Black, Hispanic and low income, into fear and lasting trauma. Teachers are at the heart of the problem: From August 2019 to January 2022, two-thirds of their allegations were false alarms, data obtained by 社区黑料 show. 鈥淭eachers, out of fear that they’re going to get in trouble, will report even if they’re just like, 鈥榃ell, it could be abuse.鈥� 鈥� It also could be 10 million other things,鈥� one Bronx teacher said. . 

The Contagion Effect: From Buffalo to Uvalde, 16 Mass Shootings in Just 10 Days

Gun Violence: May鈥檚 mass school shooting in Texas 鈥� the deadliest campus attack in about a decade 鈥� has refocused attention on the frequency of such devastating carnage on American victims. The tragedy unfolded just 10 days after a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. It could be more than a coincidence: A growing body of research suggests these assaults have a tendency to spread like a viral disease. In fact, The U.S. has experienced 16 mass shootings with at least four victims in just 10 days. Read Mark Keierleber鈥檚 report. 

Teachers Leaving Jobs During Pandemic Find 鈥楩ertile鈥� Ground in New School Models

Microschools: Feeling that she could no longer effectively meet children鈥檚 needs in a traditional school, former counselor Heather Long is among those who left district jobs this year to teach in an alternative model 鈥� a microschool based in her New Hampshire home. 鈥淔or the first time in their lives, they have options,鈥� Jennifer Carolan of Reach Capital, an investment firm supporting online programs and ed tech ventures, told reporter Linda Jacobson. Some experts wonder if microschools are sustainable, but others say the ground is 鈥渇ertile.鈥� Read our full report. 

Facing Pandemic Learning Crisis, Districts Spend Relief Funds at a Snail鈥檚 Pace

School Funding: Schools that were closed the longest due to COVID have spent just a fraction of the billions in federal relief funds targeted to students who suffered the most academically, according to an analysis by 社区黑料. The delay is significant, experts say, because research points to a direct correlation between the closures and lost learning. Of the 25 largest districts, the 12 that were in remote learning for at least half the 2020-21 school year have spent on average roughly 15% of their American Rescue Plan funds 鈥� and districts are increasing pressure on the Education Department for more time. Linda Jacobson reports.

Slave Money Paved the Streets. Now, This Posh Rhode Island City Strives to Teach Its Past 

Teaching History: Every year, millions of tourists marvel at Newport, Rhode Island鈥檚 colonial architecture, savor lobster rolls on the wharf and gaze at waters that 鈥� many don鈥檛 realize 鈥� launched more slave trading voyages than anywhere else in North America. But after years of invisibility, that obscured chapter is becoming better known, partly because the Ocean State passed a law in 2021 requiring schools to teach Rhode Island鈥檚 鈥淎frican Heritage History.鈥� Amid recent headlines that the state鈥檚 capital city is now moving forward with a $10 million reparations program, read Asher Lehrer-Small鈥檚 examination of how Newport is looking to empower schools to confront the city鈥檚 difficult past. 

Harvard Economist Thomas Kane on Learning Loss, and Why Many Schools Aren鈥檛 Prepared to Combat It 

74 Interview: This spring, Harvard economist Thomas Kane co-authored one of the biggest 鈥� and most pessimistic 鈥� studies yet of COVID learning loss, revealing that school closures massively set back achievement for low-income students. The effects appear so large that, by his estimates, many schools will need to spend 100% of their COVID relief to counteract them. Perversely, though, many in the education world don鈥檛 realize that yet. 鈥淥nce that sinks in,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 think people will realize that more aggressive action is necessary.鈥� Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 full interview. 

In White, Wealthy Douglas County, Colorado, a Conservative School Board Majority Fires the Superintendent, and Fierce Backlash Ensues

Politics: The 2021 election of four conservative members to Colorado’s Douglas County school board led to the firing in February of schools Superintendent Corey Wise, who had served the district in various capacities for 26 years. The decision, which came at a meeting where public comment was barred, swiftly mobilized teachers, students and community members in opposition. Wise鈥檚 ouster came one day after a 1,500-employee sickout forced the shutdown of the state鈥檚 third-largest school district . A few days later, students walked out of school en masse, followed by litigation and talk of a school board recall effort. The battle mirrors those being fought in numerous districts throughout the country, with conservative parents, newly organized during the pandemic, championing one agenda and more moderate and liberal parent groups beginning to rise up to counter those views. Jo Napolitano reports.

Weaving Stronger School Communities: Nebraska鈥檚 Teacher of the Year Challenges Her Rural Community to Wrestle With the World 

Inspiring: Residents of tiny Taylor, Nebraska, call Megan Helberg a 鈥渞eturner鈥� 鈥� one of the few kids to grow up in the town of 190 residents, leave to attend college in the big city and then return as an adult to rejoin this rural community in the Sandhills. Honored as the state鈥檚 2020 Teacher of the Year, Helberg says she sees her role as going well beyond classroom lessons and academics. She teaches her students to value their deep roots in this close-knit circle. She advocates on behalf of her school 鈥� the same school she attended as a child 鈥� which is always threatened with closure due to small class sizes. She has also launched travel clubs through her schools, which Helberg says has strengthened her community by breaking students, parents and other community members out of their comfort zone and helping them gain a better view of the world outside Nebraska while also seeing their friends and neighbors in a whole new light. This past winter, as part of a broader two-month series on educators weaving community, a team from 社区黑料 made multiple visits to Taylor to meet Helberg and see her in action with her students. Watch the full documentary by Jim Fields, and read our full story about Helberg鈥檚 background and inspiration by Laura Fay. 

Other profiles from this year鈥檚 Weaver series: 

• Texas鈥檚 Alejandro Salazar: The band teacher who kept his school community connected through COVID鈥檚 chaos
  
• Hawaii鈥檚 Heidi Maxie: How an island teacher builds community bridges through her Hawaii school
  
• Georgia鈥檚 Allie Reeser: Living and learning among refugees in the 鈥楨llis Island of the South鈥�
  
• : Meet 12 educators strengthening school communities amid the pandemic

Research: Babies Born During COVID Talk Less with Caregivers, Slower to Develop Critical Language Skills

Big Picture: Independent studies by Brown University and a national nonprofit focused on early language development found infants born during the pandemic produced significantly fewer vocalizations and had less verbal back-and-forth with their caretakers compared with those born before COVID. Both used the nonprofit LENA鈥檚 鈥渢alk pedometer鈥� technology, which delivers detailed information on what children hear throughout the day, including the number of words spoken near the child and the child鈥檚 own language-related vocalizations. It also counts child-adult interactions, called 鈥渃onversational turns,鈥� which are critical to language acquisition. The joint finding is the latest troubling evidence of developmental delays discovered when comparing babies born before and after COVID. 鈥淚鈥檓 worried about how we set things up going forward such that our early childhood teachers and early childhood interventionalists are prepared for what is potentially a set of children who maybe aren鈥檛 performing as we expect them to,鈥� Brown鈥檚 Sean Deoni tells 社区黑料鈥檚 Jo Napolitano. Read our full report. 

Minneapolis Teacher Strike Lasted 3 Weeks. The Fallout Will Be Felt for Years

Two days after Minneapolis teachers ended their first strike in 50 years this past May, Superintendent Ed Graff walked out of a school board meeting, ostensibly because a student protester had used profanity. The next morning, he resigned. The swearing might have been the last straw, but the kit-bag of problems left unresolved by the district鈥檚 agreement with the striking unions is backbreaking indeed. Four-fifths of the district鈥檚 federal pandemic aid is now committed to staving off layoffs and giving classroom assistants and teachers bonuses and raises, leaving little for academic recovery at a moment when the percentage of disadvantaged students performing at grade level has dipped into the single digits. From potential school closures and misinformation about how much money the district actually has to layoffs of Black teachers, a lack of diversity in the workforce and how to make up for lost instructional time, Beth Hawkins reports on the aftermath. 

After Steering Mississippi鈥檚 Unlikely Learning Miracle, Carey Wright Steps Down

Profile: Mississippi, one of America鈥檚 poorest and least educated states, emerged in 2019 as a fast-rising exemplar in math and reading growth. The transformation of the state鈥檚 long-derided school system came about through intense work 鈥� in the classroom and the statehouse 鈥� to raise learning standards, overhaul reading instruction and reinvent professional development. And with longtime State Superintendent Carey Wright retiring at the end of June, 社区黑料鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken looked at what comes next.

As Schools Push for More Tutoring, New Research Points to Its Effectiveness 鈥� and the Challenge of Scaling it to Combat Learning Loss

Learning Acceleration: In the two years that COVID-19 has upended schooling for millions of families, experts and education leaders have increasingly touted one tool as a means for coping with learning loss: personalized tutors. In February, just days after the secretary of education declared that every struggling student should receive 90 minutes of tutoring each week, a newly released study offers more evidence of the strategy’s potential 鈥� and perhaps its limitations. An online tutoring pilot launched last spring did yield modest, if positive, learning benefits for the hundreds of middle schoolers who participated. But those gains were considerably smaller than the impressive results from some previous studies, perhaps because of the project’s design: It relied on lightly trained volunteers, rather than professional educators, and held its sessions online instead of in person. 鈥淭here is a tradeoff in navigating the current climate where what is possible might not be scalable,” the study’s co-author, Matthew Kraft, told 社区黑料’s Kevin Mahnken. “So instead of just saying, ‘Come hell or high water, I’m going to build a huge tutoring program,鈥� we might be better off starting off with a small program and building it over time.” Read our full report. 

STEM: Robert Sansone was born to invent. His STEM creations range from springy leg extensions for sprinting to a go-kart that can reach speeds of 70 mph. But his latest project aims to solve a global problem: the unsustainability of electric car motors that use rare earth materials that are nonrenewable, expensive and pollute the environment during the mining and refining process. In Video Director James Field鈥檚 video profile, the Florida high schooler talks about his creation, inspiration and what he plans to do with his $75,000 prize from the 2022 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. , and watch our full portrait below: 

Indianapolis Public School officials think so 鈥� and are investigating ways to offer teachers a three-hour or even a full-day block of flex time that can be used to plan lessons, meet with colleagues or study student data. 

The move is part of the district鈥檚 plan to 鈥渕ake teaching a more attractive profession long term,鈥� said Alex Moseman, Indianapolis鈥� former director of talent acquisition, who initiated the effort. 鈥淭he labor market is shifting, and we have an opportunity to create a more sustainable work-life balance for teachers.鈥�

There is little doubt teachers feel stressed and dissatisfied. A recent showed stress was the top reason public school teachers left the profession, even before COVID-19. In a , job satisfaction sank to an all-time low this year, with only 12% of 1,300 educators polled saying they were 鈥渧ery satisfied鈥� with their jobs. That鈥檚 down from 62% about 15 years earlier. A from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology shows the same trend 鈥� more than three-quarters of teachers feel negatively about their profession. 

鈥淏eing in a classroom is stressful and difficult,鈥� said Melissa Kay Diliberti, an assistant policy researcher at Rand who has studied how both current and former teachers feel about their work. Teachers who say they are considering quitting, even if they don鈥檛 follow through, are indicating job dissatisfaction, she added. 鈥淭hat says something about morale.鈥� 

In Indianapolis, the idea of flex time for teachers came after educators proved over the last 2陆 years that they could transition from remote instruction to socially distanced classes to fully in-person learning, Moseman said. District officials thought now was a perfect time to investigate making big changes. The district is working with the national nonprofit to create some plans that can be tested this year. 

Three ideas seem to be early leaders. One would designate a master teacher who would offer 鈥渉igh-quality remote learning鈥� to multiple classes online while the other teachers on the team have flex time. Moseman emphasized that any virtual component would take up only a small portion of a student鈥檚 week, as opposed to the all-day, every day remote learning the district used during the early days of the pandemic. 

The second idea would be a day or block of time when students would work online completing teacher assignments on their own. The third concept would change the entire school calendar: Instead of taking classes from August to May, students would attend school for five consecutive weeks and then have one week off. Two-week breaks would occur in the summer and around the winter holidays.

The district expects to test two or more options by January, Moseman said. Several classrooms would pilot each program; the goal is to have an entire school use the new model by the 2023-24 academic year.

Indianapolis already has lots of school choice, including traditional public schools, charters and magnet schools. Any flex time program would have to work in all types of schools, Moseman said. And while the district has some funds to spend creating a plan, ultimately, the flex time arrangement can鈥檛 add staff or expenses to the budget, he added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a tight needle to thread.鈥�

Moseman said the plan is part of a broader effort to make teaching more attractive, as Indianapolis competes for staff not only with neighboring districts, but with private-sector companies seeking talent for white-collar jobs.

The district is vetting its plans with a 10-member advisory group, which includes principals, a teacher and district officials. While Moseman said teacher approval would be vital, the district hasn鈥檛 run any of its ideas past the Indianapolis Education Association yet. Union officials did not respond to several inquiries for comment.

The one educator on the advisory panel, Rosiland Jackson, is a second/third grade teacher at the K-8 William Penn School 49. She said she likes the idea of gaining a substantial chunk of flex time but isn鈥檛 sure it would bolster recruitment or retention. 

Right now, Jackson said, teachers typically have a 35-minute free period during the school day that can be swallowed up quickly by calls with parents, meetings with students or discussions with other teachers. 

She opposes changing the school calendar, saying she thinks the week off would 鈥渘ot be productive to the classroom鈥� because students need time to re-acclimate after a break. Plus, the change would disrupt family schedules and teachers鈥� summer vacations. 

She also questioned the idea of using a master teacher in a grade level or subject, saying, 鈥淭eachers are very territorial about classes and students.鈥� Having students learn online part of the time might work if it isn’t too much like the remote learning in 2020, which neither parents nor teachers felt worked for students, she added.

Susan Moore Johnson, a Harvard University professor of education, was skeptical that Indianapolis鈥檚 plans would improve teacher retention: 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 heard anyone say flex time would change their career.鈥� And she rejected the notion of remote learning, saying, 鈥淪ubbing virtual teaching for in-person teaching is a bad idea.鈥� 

Creating more time for teachers to work together sounds more like good scheduling than the overhauls being discussed, she added. 

While Jackson said she liked the idea of flex time, she believes it wouldn鈥檛 make a huge difference in attracting or retaining teachers. 鈥淲ould it help? Some, but not a lot. Teachers have been bashed for so long about what a horrible job we鈥檙e doing. 鈥� The narrative has to be changed in this country鈥� to make the profession more appealing.