As we shift from pandemic response to recovery, education leaders face a time of great opportunity and great risk. With millions of dollars in new funding on the table and 18 months of new teaching and learning experiences, school and district leaders have the opportunity to reshape how teaching and learning happen in their communities to better meet the needs of students who have been underserved in our schools for too long. At the same time, the needs of students, families, and educators are at all-time highs, as are their stress levels. This means that education leaders will need to set a limited number of priorities and institute careful spending plans to drive real, tangible change.

To maximize the likelihood of success, these plans must start with authentic, meaningful stakeholder engagement, as well as a deep look at other school and district data.

Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement

Too often, decisions about improvement strategies and resource allocations are made behind closed doors, without any input from the people most affected by them: students and their families, and sometimes even teachers and school administrators. Families of historically underserved students are especially likely to be left out of the decision-making process. Upending these patterns has never been more imperative than it is today, following 18 months of education disruptions that have blurred the lines between school and home more than ever before.

District and school leaders should seize this opportunity to engage in meaningful collaboration and communication with families, educators and community partners and take the following steps:

• Target outreach to historically underserved families and communities. District leaders should partner with community-based organizations that work with historically underserved students and their families to facilitate focus groups, forums, site councils, and working groups. Because these organizations have already established a level of trust with their constituents, they may be better positioned to gather community input.
• Conduct focus groups with teachers and other educators, such as guidance counselors and school social workers. Buy-in from teachers and other education professionals will be key to successful implementation of any initiative. District and school leaders should consult directly with educators to understand tradeoffs involved in implementing new programs or practices, and the support staff will need to implement any changes successfully.
• Remove as many barriers to participation as possible. District leaders should hold meetings both virtually and in person, scheduling them at a variety of times, including outside traditional work hours; providing food and child care services; offering stipends and transportation reimbursement; and making sure all materials are translated into the most common languages spoken in the district and that qualified interpreters are available.
• Engage early and often. District leaders should engage with stakeholders at least twice: in the beginning of the planning process, to hear and understand their concerns; and toward the end, when the plan is close to final. District leaders should regularly update stakeholders on plan implementation, provide data on student progress and/or use of funds, and seek feedback on potential modifications.
• Provide families and community stakeholders with the information they need to provide input on key district decisions. This should include key data on student outcomes and access to learning opportunities in each school and across the district, as well as the key considerations that went into a particular decision – e.g., the advantages and disadvantages of using a certain curriculum, or the pros and cons of various supports for students who are struggling academically

Starting with Data

Starting the planning process with a deep look at school and district data will help education leaders identify key priorities for the coming months. In examining data, education leaders should ensure that all student-level data is disaggregated by student group, including by student race and ethnicity, income status, English learner status, disability status, and living situation (e.g., whether students are in foster care or experiencing homelessness).

At a minimum, district and school leaders should consider the following:

Schools and districts might also consider using needs assessment templates and tools designed for this moment in time, such as the School Re-Centering Readiness Assessment or the Tennessee Department of Education’s ESSER Needs Assessment.