The future As OKCPS has returned to the classroom this spring on an A/B schedule, Herron and her team will focus on mental health. Herron hopes they can provide therapy scholarships for families on an application basis. “COVID-19 dismantled the structure of so many homes in so many ways,” said Herron. “We need to provide access to therapy in our communities, not just student counseling because that doesn’t solve the problem if the root of the issue is not within the child but within the structure of the home.” Reducing stigma around the need for mental health services is important to OSDE as well. Whittle says under Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister’s leadership, SEL and mental health support have been prioritized like never before, with newly created offices such as school-based mental health integration and school climate transformation. In fact, OSDE is developing competencies for the state of Oklahoma in SEL. Information will be provided to teachers on how to seamlessly integrate the SEL competencies into lessons they are already teaching. The
competencies are expected to be in place by June 2021 “SEL is not just the counselor’s role but a systemic school climate and culture initiative,” said Whittle, who adds that implementing SEL practices, language and conflict resolution is just as important at home. In that vein, OSDE is developing a complementary app that will be available to every teacher, student and parent in the state to help reinforce SEL concepts in the classroom and at home. The app is slated to be complete in 2022. While SEL has gotten a boost, there’s been an underlying refrain that students are “behind” in academia, a narrative many teachers and OSDE staff declare vehemently is false. “‘Our kids are behind’ is a standard created by society — it’s not real,” said Kirk. “Before COVID, if you were to walk in to any classroom, you have a wide variety of levels and student learning styles. That’s what teachers are highly trained and ready to handle; we meet kids where they are and can
make up for anything they lack, academic or social emotional.” The challenge, though, is that even before COVID, teacher turnover in Oklahoma was what Kirk calls “atrocious,” with 20 percent of teachers leaving. “Not so long ago we were out of school because of the teacher walkout because teachers are overworked and underpaid,” said Kirk. “We have to continue to put resources into our education system so when we come out of the COVID crisis teachers are prepared to handle student needs.” When the pandemic does end and students and teachers transition back to a typical classroom experience, Kirk hopes lessons learned over the past year will create a new normal. “I hope we don’t go back to normal because ‘normal’ in education was very large equity gaps, large systemic racism and overworked and underpaid teachers,” said Kirk. “I hope this reset allows us to bring back what was working and leave behind many systems that weren’t.”
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