Opinion
School & District Management Opinion

Schools Faced a Massive Systems Failure During the Pandemic. How Do We Fix It?

Education leaders can (and must) find common purpose
By Laura Kagy — August 03, 2021 2 min read
Hands hold up gears together.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

School routines and the instructional practices of educating students have historically been slow to change. The rapid disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic changed all that.

When faced with the pandemic-related school closures and the abrupt transition to at-home learning, schools turned on a dime. Changes that normally would have taken years were implemented in a matter of days or weeks.

Although we are all hopeful that the experiences of this past year are an anomaly, that may not be the case, especially as COVID-19 cases once again rise with the spread of the Delta variant. If there is a lesson to be learned from history, it is that it repeats itself. We need to learn today’s lessons so that we can benefit from them in the future.

About This Series

Over the past few weeks, we have been rolling out 17 lessons from experienced district leaders who spent the last year leading through the pandemic. Learn more and see the full collection of lessons.

When I reflect on the past year, I see countless parallels to the Apollo 13 lunar mission. In 1970, the spacecraft encountered a serious mechanical issue that threatened the mission and the life of the crew. It required an immediate shift in mission goals. The focus of the crew and ground support shifted from landing on the Moon to returning to Earth alive.

To do this, the astronauts had to collaborate with ground support over remote channels and use the limited supplies at their disposal to refashion critical components of the spacecraft’s carbon dioxide scrubbing system. All involved with the rescue engaged in inquiry-based brainstorming to reenvision their mission. The Apollo crew was forced to take risks they would have otherwise avoided.

Similarly, school leaders and teachers encountered a massive system failure during the pandemic, forcing a shift in goals. Instead of normal everyday face-to-face learning, we had to connect remotely with students to facilitate learning. This common goal united us, forcing teachers and school leaders to collaborate in search of solutions.

So, we reached out and found education professionals from around the country that were interested in collaborating. We joined remote Zoom meetings and other platforms to ask questions, to strategize, and to share experiences. These collaborative efforts created a shared purpose. We saw the urgent need to rethink how we delivered instruction. And we developed a keener understanding of the out-of-school challenges many students face.

Another parallel to Apollo 13 was the sense of urgency that surrounded the need to make change and connect with students. Many schools across the country offered meals to support families within the first few days of the school closure. This would have seemed like an impossible task pre-COVID-19. But we made it happen within a few days. Likewise, teachers who had limited technology skills were using remote learning to conduct classes. This transition would also have been labeled impossible prior to the pandemic.

All this was possible because teachers and school leaders collaborated and shared ideas like never before. It was an environment where we could take risks because every day was a new experience. We made a total commitment to our work.

The secret recipe for change is highly engaged collaboration driven by a common goal.

But can this be replicated in the eventuality of another crisis? There is no way to know if climate change, artificial intelligence, financial collapse, the threat of war, or some other yet-to-be-imagined emergency will again force schools and society to reinvent themselves. But if that happens, we will know how to pull ourselves through.

Complete Collection

Superintendents discuss ideas at a roundtable.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and Getty Images

Related Tags:

Coverage of leadership, summer learning, social and emotional learning, arts learning, and afterschool is supported in part by a grant from The Wallace Foundation, at www.wallacefoundation.org. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Q&A When This Principal Talks About Mental Health, People Listen. Here's Why
The NASSP Advocacy Champion of the year said he used stories from his school and community to speak with his state’s legislators.
6 min read
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, poses for a photo in front of a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, stands in front of a Senate office building in Washington on March 13, 2024. Young was among the secondary principals to meet with legislators urging them to keep federal funding for schools stable.
Olina Banerji/Education Week
School & District Management Teacher Layoffs Are Mounting. How Districts Can Soften the Blow
Layoffs are coming in districts large and small. Here's how district leaders can handle them.
8 min read
Pencil Eraser Erasing Drawn Figure
AndreyPopov/iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion 5 Strategies to Combat Student Disengagement
When principals get serious about building a more inclusive school community, it doesn’t just benefit students, but teachers as well.
Michelle Singh
5 min read
Illustration of a bright vibrant school where students feel welcomed. In the background the sky is filled with enthusiastic raised hands.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Advocacy or Electioneering? Education Leaders Walk Fine Line in School Voucher Debate
Texas is cracking down on district leaders' allegedly political speech—in what others see as a pretext for quashing anti-voucher sentiment.
5 min read
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks away after announcing Texas' lawsuit to challenge President Obama's transgender bathroom order during a news conference in Austin, Texas, on May 25, 2016.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks away following a news conference in Austin, Texas, on May 25, 2016. Paxton recently sued several Texas school districts for allegedly engaging in electioneering before the March 5 primaries.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP