Recommendations to the Biden-Harris Administration: Hooray for Monday

January 25, 2021
By Aleta Margolis, Founder and President, Center for Inspired Teaching

Hooray for Monday is a weekly blog filled with questions, ideas, reflections, and actions we can all take to remodel the school experience for students.

We want our students to feel excited about going to school on Mondays and every day, not only because we love our young people, though that alone is reason enough, but also because when students are excited to be in school, they are motivated and eager, and they learn more. And we want our teachers to wake up on Monday mornings, just as excited as their students to go to school.

On this first Monday of our country’s new administration, we at Inspired Teaching are submitting our recommendations to our leaders, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Biden’s Education Secretary Nominee Miguel Cardona. You can read the document in full here, but these are the 7 key recommendations in brief:

1. Champion Intellect, Inquiry, Imagination, and Integrity.
In an era where virtually any information can be gleaned from the internet or smart speakers, a well-informed and strong-minded citizenry requires schooling in much more than facts and figures.

2. Adopt an Anti-Racist Approach to Teaching All Subjects and All Students.
It’s time for schools to rethink and redesign their practices and procedures in order to root out racial bias.

3. Prioritize the Teaching of Social Studies.
By challenging young people to connect past and present, and delve deeply into the difficult issues that affect their lives, schools can equip them with the tools to face these issues head-on and lead us wisely into a better future.

4. Bolster Science Instruction.
This past year our country has been ravaged by Covid. Yet the debate about whether or not masks are needed and whether or not to listen to scientists rages on. Many of us have even felt the need to post yard signs proclaiming “Science is Real!” This state of affairs is powerful evidence of the need to rethink the teaching of science in our schools.

5. Increase Mental Health Supports for Students and Teachers.
The stress and isolation brought on by Covid and online learning have increased the already serious mental health problems experienced by young people and adults across our country. We won’t know until school resumes in-person how serious and far-reaching these issues are, but we do know that schools and teachers will need significantly increased support in dealing with them.

6. Focus on Universal Teaching Excellence.
A true democracy requires a high-quality education for every child regardless of where they are born. Every school should be excellent. Every teacher should be excellent. And this is possible if we focus on the root cause of the problem.

7. Collect better data.
We need an effective way of assessing whether all schools are providing all students with a high-quality education. We’ve relied on standardized tests for decades, but time and research have revealed the tremendous flaws of that approach. The current halt in the use of these assessments due to Covid should not be a pause before a return to what didn’t work. Rather, it must be an opportunity to rethink how we evaluate the efficacy of our schools.

Read our full recommendations here.

We have reason to be optimistic that this administration will make education a priority. In one of his first acts as President, Biden has proposed hundreds of billions of dollars for K-12 education in an effort to address the impact Covid-19 has wrought on our schools. The day after the inauguration First Lady Dr. Jill Biden met with the leaders of Teachers’ Unions. We know that most changes in education must happen at the local level, but it has been a long time since we’ve seen the work we do as educators championed and recognized at the federal level. May the weeks and months ahead continue to shine a light on your vital work.

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.