-
MEET YOUR NEW JERSEY TEAM
Lindsay Foglio
Lindsay.Foglio@edmentum.comSheila Miller
Sheila.Miller@edmentum.comKathleen Mazzola
Kathleen.Mazzola@edmentu.com
Tom Patterson
Tom.Patterson@edmentum.comJohn Davis
John.Davis@edmentum.comOn the Road to a New Normal
First and foremost, we want to applaud your efforts, hard work, and dedication to your staff, students, and communities throughout this unprecedent time. Teaching and learning during a pandemic would not be possible without the passion that YOU and many others have put into this year.
As the saying goes…”it takes a village…”, and we believe that forging partnerships is paramount to embracing the road forward. This historical event has shown us our strengths as educators yet has also opened the door to endless possibilities in providing support and education to our students. Now more than ever we are seeing our communities, staff, and students deal with equity concerns, anxiety, and mental health issues, while potentially developing learning gaps.
The coast is not clear, however, the light at the end of the tunnel motivates us to weather the storm and create a new normal. As districts across the state make plans for students returning to their schools with a variety of proposed instructional schedules, one may ask, what is the next step beyond simply the students returning to their classrooms? McKinsey & Company conducted a study which concluded that students could lose an average of five to nine months of learning by the end of this school year.[i] Further, the study highlights that students of color could be six to twelve months behind in learning compared to their white peers, who may demonstrate four to eight months of learning loss. With this painstakingly possible reality in our near future, educators will encompass even more stress and pressure than ever seen before. With this uncertainty, how do we continue our work of social justice, equity, and addressing the whole learner through a social emotional lens?
The New Jersey Department of Education has begun assisting schools by receiving approval from the U.S. Department of Education to be allowed to use alternative assessment data to meet the federal accountability requirements. This waiver approval is a huge step towards the road to recovery for our schools across New Jersey. Transitioning from the remote/hybrid models to districts fully returned, it will be critical for districts to identify where ALL students stand in relation to grade level expectations. There must be a sense of urgency to address the whole learner by focusing on rebuilding face-to-face relationships, mental and social emotional wellness, and learning loss. It is evident that educator’s plates were full pre-pandemic and could overflow as we continue to move forward.
Edmentum, a partner of NJASA, takes pride in being a strategic and collaborative partner with school districts across the state. As we celebrate 60 years of service to our educational partners and communities, we continue to strive for student success by ensuring that the solution is the core to the learning day and supports the learning experience. We are proud to partner with over 8,000 districts across the nation to successfully mitigate learning loss, fill gaps, and provide continuous blended instruction with:
- Engaging digital curriculum for first-time credit and credit recovery.
- Individualized learning paths to remediate key skill gaps and promote academic growth.
- Standards-aligned grade-level practice and formative assessment to boost standards proficiency.
- Full accredited virtual courses taught by state-certified teachers.
Specific to New Jersey, we have worked closely with districts such as Union City, Edison, Millville, and Pleasantville to help ALL students succeed. It is our mission to forge the way of teaching and learning that encompasses the whole learner by focusing on equity issues related to social emotional and student success. We are committed to diversity in our products and organization. Through a diverse workforce that mirrors the educator and student populations that we serve, we can better understand our partners and their unique needs. We believe these reflections should be inclusive of all identities and that students are best served when their identity is affirmed. Our practices celebrate differences and foster belonging. Our content has been updated throughout the last year to be a representative of a wide range of cultures including, Black/African Americans, LatinX, Asian Americans, Native Americans, as well as other racial/ethnic groups.
We would love to form a partnership with you as you begin to examine your equity concerns by finding solutions that become part of your core learning day. Learn more about how our solutions can help meet the needs of every learner by putting Educators First so that they have the data and tools necessary to be successful.
[i] Mind the gap: COVID-19 is widening racial disparities in learning, so students need help and a chance to catch up | McKinsey
