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1. We are not allowing remote students this next year, but had  quite the large group of students first semester working remotely. Most came back to school the spring semester but most are way behind. We will have to figure out a way for those students to catch up somehow.
2. Students and teachers will be using our "normal" schedule again and it is a very fast eight period day with homeroom meeting before and after. It will take about two weeks for everyone to acclimate back to the old schedule, I'm hoping. Some teachers and the administration wanted to keep the four block periods we had last year because of the pandemic, however, our administration let us vote.
3. Previous to last year, we had a very light top-down leadership team, but this last year it's flipped. We have more of an authoritarian leadership and it's already squashing creativity and motivation. Teachers are the best recruitment tools we have and with our 59% teacher retention rate, something needs to change. I have learned that if you treat your teachers respectfully and professionally, they will likely bend over backwards to take care of our students. Loyalty matters and over the summer even, I have seen an even larger decline in moral.

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1. CBE: My district is implementing Competency-Based Education with it's second-round of pilot teachers. The first round began in 2018-2019 and the second round began in 2019-2020 but was interrupted due to the pandemic. The district has developed competencies for Math and ELA and is beginning to write the competencies for other classes. CBE pilot teachers range from Kindergarten to Elementary to Foreign Language teachers at the high school. It will be interesting to see how the implementation pans out with the intent being for district-wide implementation in the future.
2. Social Emotional Curriculum - Teachers, educational support staff, and administrators recently underwent a "Core 2" training in our district's SEL curriculum "Leader in Me." This curriculum is intended to be implemented district-wide to be used both for staff and students. The goal of this is to have students take more ownership of their education and hone their ability to lead as "every child can be a leader."
3. Teacher Shortage - It is no secret that there is a statewide teacher shortage. In my district alone, there are currently 9 open positions listed on our applitrack and school begins in less than 3 weeks. It is a high topic of conversation in my district as well because this year will be a negotiation year for our contract.

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1. Professional Development- After a recent survey of current teachers, it was clear that one thing that EIASE teachers need is training on a wide variety of topics. Because EIASE employs staff without proper licesure due to teacher shortage and lack of interest, there are many people in teaching positions who have never written a lesson plan, seen a curriculum map, or know any IEP terms. EIASE would like to take that feedback and implement as many PD opportunities as possible to help teachers feel supported and better equipped.

2. Trauma Informed Implementation- Trauma informed has been a big talk around EIASE for the last several years, but there are high expectations for true implementation during the 2021-2022 school year. Some teachers are excited about the new expectations while others feel slightly overwhelmed.

3. New program building- Fresh Start TLC has moved to a new school building over the Summer and it has opened up a few opportunities. Many students feel like an outcast when they are placed at a TLC and walking into a small, outdated building does not help. EIASE has spent a lot of time and money updating the new building to make it feel safe, welcoming, and exciting for students this year. This move presented us with the opportunity to outfit classrooms in a nontraditional way. This means students will have the option to sit at a desk with a chair, but will also have plenty of flex seating options, floor options, lighting options, and different sensory options.

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1. CBE: My district has adopted Competency Based Education recently and are beginning to change the curricula to match these practices. While there are some teachers that were piloting this program, it is the expectation that at the beginning of this school year all teachers in the building begin including these practices into their classrooms. Materials have been purchased and given to teachers to assist with data tracking and organization.
2. Foreign Language Program- The district is struggling to find a teacher with the appropriate qualifications to teacher MLL students and/or foreign language in the district. This coming school year the district has chosen to adopt the Rosetta Stone program for grades K-12. There has not been a whole lot of guidance given to teachers. but since the students have their own devices, it will be an expectation that they complete the program at some point during class time.
3. Bridging the gap- Just like every school in America, we are trying to help our students that did not make the progress that they should have last year. Families were given the option to be remote all year long and, while many sent their students back, there was a significant amount of students still fully remote by May. Those students will be at a deficit when the school year begins in August, and they have made significantly less progress than their peers. While CBE is in place to help accommodate students, significant grade level benchmarks are not being met.

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1.   Remote Learning - I spoke with the two administrators in my building, and they stated that something they are worried about this year is remote learning.  In my building, there are grades 6-8 and some students are still not vaccinated because of age and some are not vaccinated because of choice.  They are worried that with the new Delta variant students will have to be quarantined and we will still have a number of students in remote learning.  Because we are returning to a full day schedule, teachers are not expected to produce the same high level of remote work, but the students still need to work.  They are not sure how they are going to handle the balance.

2.  Teacher shortage - It was a struggle for us to replace and hire a special education teacher and a school psychologist this year, and we have a STEM teacher getting ready to turn in her retirement letter at the end of this school year.  Administrators are starting to get worried that we will not be able to replace this teacher and will struggle to continue having an advanced STEM program for students.

3.  Gaps in Education/Incorrect placements - We had quite a few students last year who were remote all year long. Some of these students received perfect scores on almost all of their homework assignments and on their quizzes and test. This led to teachers thinking that the students needed no assistance and were truly succeeding. We are worried that some of these students had their parents completing the work for them or providing so much assistance that the student will struggle when they come back to school. Another concern is that some students who struggled last year will continue to struggle because they are behind due to remote learning.

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1. The district's re-opening plan has been a huge source of conflict in our district. Nothing has even been finalized yet and we have community members protesting what MIGHT be in the plan. The group of parents that have been vocal, do not want any restrictions or precautions imposed on their children. Although they feel as though everyone should have the right to choose to wear masks, practice social distancing, etc., they do not feel as though it should be a requirement for anyone. They have even gone as far as to say that the school district should ignore state mandates.
2.We have had some major restructuring taking place within our special education department. The school social worker has taken on the added responsibility of being the special  education coordinator, the former behavioral specialist has taken a different position within the district, and one of the grade school classroom teachers has taken the job of behavioral specialist.
3. The administration has been trying to figure out the most efficient way to maximize our time and resources in an attempt to start making up for all of the skill gaps that were created as a result of Covid. While the administrators know that the problem cannot be fixed over night, they are stressing the importance of addressing the problem early.

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1. New Administration: In the last school year, our previous assistant principal became the principal, along with a new outside hire becoming the assistant principal. Some teachers and other staff members have found it hard to build a relationship with the administration due to previous relationships. The change has been hard to adjust to for the long-time teachers who were used to the school being run a different way.
2. The issue in students behavior is a concern for some of the teachers. Some students have been at home a lot during the last year and a half and some without any discipline. We are fearful of what could become of this when they are brought into an environment that requires for moderate to strict discipline and rules.
3. Closing the gap with students who were coming from Jr. High during CoVid to the High School. The lack of education during the pandemic is a major concern to the high school teachers as they are becoming fearful of how far behind the students will be.

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1. Teacher Shortage- each year our district struggles to fill the vacancies in our four schools. It seems that no matter the position, there are just a handful of applicants for the jobs. This also applies to paraprofessionals. With this comes increased competition, so the teacher shortage also effects our retention.
2. Social Emotional Learning- Last year, we had a record number of students hospitalized for mental health concerns. The effects of the pandemic can be seen in all ages of students and is having a negative impact on students' academic success.
3. College & Career Readiness Indicators- It seems like each year the state creates some new benchmark that they want to measure schools with. This new progr

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In my district back home, I was able to reach out to teachers and administrators and ask what areas were lacking.
1. Female PE teachers/Health teachers in general
The district is finding it very difficult to find females to teach PE/Health in the district. A lot of the females that were preciously teaching there are all starting to retire and they are finding it very difficult to fill those roles. At one point there was one health teacher for a school for 1500+ kids simply because they couldn't find anyone else to teach it.
2. Teacher retention is a common issue in the district I grew up in simply because it is not an easy place to work. Teachers have to deal with more than they probably imagined. Being surrounded by violence and a low-income community takes a special person to be able to work in that environment as it can affect teachers mentally as well. It also may not be where teachers envision raising their family if they are young.
3. Mental health - This is a huge one, especially with COVID-19. A lot of students are starting to figure out who they truly are in high school/middle school and they might be battling mentally. When students had to be quarantined due to covid, everyone in the country struggled because no one wants to be isolated. Especially in a low-income community, school is a lot of those kids’ outlet. That is how they get fed, that is how they get away from any abusive behavior at home, etc.

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1. CBE. My district was in the process of some major curricular changes while shifting to Competency Based Education when COVID hit. Last year those plans were put on hold. We are now picking up steam in those changes again. These changes are only on the periphery of my position, so I am a little fuzzy on what the timeline for this looks like. I know districtwide we had 27 teachers piloting CBE last year, which was a hold from the year before. We will be increasing that number this year and the following year.
2. Career and Technical Education.
Regionally, CTE has been receiving a push. The first newsworthy event in the realm was Mattoon CUSD#2's purchase of the old Consolidated building to be their new LIFT center for CTE. We at Charleston hired five teachers for the upcoming school year to revamp and revitalize our CTE programs. We had one Ag teacher and a special education teacher who taught two periods of drafting last year. Now both will be full time in the CTE department, and we hired two new business teachers to replace the two we had last year. One retire and the other became our CTE specialist. Her position will include overseeing internships and student-work programs, as well as building relationships with the community to help students find work in what they are wanting to do after high school if they are not college bound. While it does not fall under the CTE program, we are also reopening a preschool center for community children ran by our students who are interested in education.
3. Remote Learning. Remote learning became a mandatory option during COVID, but seems to be here to stay. I am not sure if schools will be required to offer a remote learning option this year as a COVID mitigation, but I keep seeing commercials on TV for the K-12 online school. I'm sure it has an actual name. The commercial talks about one million students being enrolled. From a teaching standpoint it is surprising, because I think we all found that it did not work as well for most students. From an administrative standpoint, I wonder what sort of toll that enrollment will take on school district funding as less students are now enrolled in the district.

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1. Bridging the gap. Each year this is a  topic of conversation. The jump from 2nd to 3rd grade is very big. Some say that 2nd grade expectations are not high enough where others say 3rd grade teachers have expectations that are too high. With COVID thrown in, the gap has only increased. Third grade teachers have started a voluntary summer camp to get students ready to begin the school year and also offer weekly after-school math clubs.
2. Teacher/staff shortages. Not only are we lacking certified teachers for positions, we are also in need of bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and aides.
3. Technology- We are continuing to try to find a happy medium when it comes to technology. Some teachers use it full time and students never use paper and pencil, while others barely utilize the devices provided. It appears some have moved solely to technology in place of quality teaching, while others could use the technology to enhance what they are doing in the classroom.

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1. Teacher Shortage - this issue seems to be gaining attention, especially as the new school year approaches. Thankfully our school is fully staffed but as more and more are set to retire in the coming years, it is a worry to think of how those positions will be filled. Will we get quality candidates or people who are just filling positions? Frequent and quality professional development will need to be a key to training staff.
2. Concerns about how to educate and close the gap that was created by covid and the 20-21 school year. More specifically, those children who were 'remote' but didn't turn in work or put forth any effort. There is a child on my caseload that will be going to 1st grade who has Childhood Apraxia of Speech. She needed intense 1:1 speech therapy and didn't get it, but not from lack of trying. The truancy officer was involved but the court system wasn't taking action because of covid implications. I'm sure you all have a student who comes to mind...
3. School and SPE Law. Things are continuously changing but the last year has been a flurry of new SPE procedues (which means paperwork!). It's a lot to keep straight and organized. It is a fluid process but how many more changes will we see in the coming year? I'm interested in checking out the Brandon Wright seminar on Aug.2. Thanks for sending the link, Dr. Jones!

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Trends and issues at my school- Kim Christensen

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Trends and issues at my school- Kim Christensen

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1. What will this school year look like? Our teachers are waiting for our school board to release the re-opening plan while trying to plan for the year. We have 3 new teachers on our team and we have also changed the schedule around so that Math and ELA are the same length of time. ELA is losing 20 minutes and Math is gaining 20 to create the balance so both departments have to figure out how to use our class time to the full potential.
2. How can we better implement the Leader in Me framework? This year, we have a leadership committee that is going to split up to focus on subcategories of the 7 Habits and lead students to be leaders in our school. Letting go of some of the control and giving it to our students so that they can hold leadership positions is a hot topic because it's hard to do!
3. The transition to Competency Based Education is another hot topic. Again, teachers have to let go of some control and act as more of a facilitator, but it's hard when our students aren't always motivated to complete the work when someone isn't leading them through it.

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Trends and Issues happening at my school. - Jessie Engledow

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Trends and Issues happening at my school. - Jessie Engledow

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1. Shortage of special education teachers.  We have two retired special education teachers covering our Instructional room in order to have a teacher.  While they are excellent teachers it would be good to have a full time teacher in that classroom
2.  The amount of paperwork that is required for special education teachers to complete and the time to complete it.  Some of our special education teachers have very limited plan time.
3. Mental Health of students - even though we are a prek-2nd grade building we have several students that have experienced trauma or are struggling with mental health issues.