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The Bottom Line It’s Past Time for a K-12 Redesign

Originally published at The American Spectator

[Editor’s Note: Other articles in the K-12 Redesign series include: A Financial Overhaul, School Calendar, Achievement Instead of Time, Retooling Testing, and Graduation Requirements. Future articles will explore additional components of a K-12 educational redesign.]

K-12 public education, already in crisis pre-COVID-19, is on a steep downward trajectory — with the severe lack of instruction time, staggering learning loss, alarming dropout numbers, and serious student disengagement. With half of the schools closed nationwide a full year without providing in-person instruction, and only returning with reduced instruction hours despite heaps of additional funding, it’s overdue time for a K-12 redesign.

The COVID-19 K-12 educational shake-up presents an opportunity we can’t afford to miss.

Keri D. Ingraham

Before considering what a redesign might look like, we should first recognize that implementing the needed changes will require skilled and courageous leadership. It demands that leaders ask what needs to be done for students and then develop associated action plans. It requires responsibility for decisions and communication. It warrants working together with a “we” versus an “I” mindset. And, most importantly, it necessitates a focus on opportunities rather than problems.

Emphasizing problems can quickly become discouraging, overwhelming, and result in blame casting. Instead, we need to devote intense thought and energy to identifying and leveraging present opportunities that can open the door to a future, more successful K-12 education.

Pre-pandemic, a K-12 redesign was in order, as the existing system was outdated — the educational approaches were not producing robust student learning for the majority of students. Seventy percent of students did not receive the education required for success in the 21st Century.

Continue Reading at The American Spectator

Keri D. Ingraham

Senior Fellow and Director, American Center for Transforming Education
Dr. Keri D. Ingraham is a Senior Fellow of Discovery Institute and Director of the Institute’s American Center for Transforming Education. She is also a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum. Dr. Ingraham has been a guest on Fox News multiple times. Her articles have been published by The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Federalist, Real Clear Education, The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, Washington Examiner, The Epoch Times, The Seattle Times, Puget Sound Business Journal, The Daily Signal, and a host of other media outlets. Fox News has featured her work. Prior to joining Discovery Institute, she spent nearly two decades leading within the field of education as a national consultant, requested conference speaker, head of school, virtual and hybrid academy director, administrator, classroom teacher, and athletic coach. She authored multiple chapters for the book, Sketching a New Conservative Education Agenda, published in 2022. In 2019, she was invited as a contributing author for the book, MindShift: Catalyzing Change in Christian Education and co-authored “From Gutenberg to 5G.” Dr. Ingraham was awarded the George W. Selig Doctoral Fellowship in 2013. The following year she received the “World Changer in the Field of Education” award from Regent University.
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