EdCircuit Staff 
Table of Contents
What can we do mid-year that will create new keys to academic excellence?
Bring your mind back to the start of the 2022-2023 school year. The goals set in professional development sessions or company brainstorms are now halfway through. Have you met the milestones you set? What goals have you accomplished, and what do you still need to work on? With the new year comes resolutions and goals, and no matter where you are in your goals for the 2022-2023 school year, it is a perfect time to assess your goals and recognize areas of future improvement. To begin 2023, the edCircuit team wants to share a few keys to academic success for students, teachers, administrators, and the EdTech community.
Academic Excellence Key #1: Building Off 2022
At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, teachers, tutors, and administrators laid the groundwork to tackle some major issues facing their students. The work educators made to combat unfinished learning, implement effective technology, and engage students toward accelerated learning was fundamental to future academic success. In 2023, educators need to continue this work and find new and innovative strategies to build on their success.
Academic Excellence Key #2: Recognizing The Role of the Modern School
Education is shaped by the world students enter after they leave school. Many educators and parents had recognized that school is not the same as it was when they were students. The change the world is seeing in the classroom has been pushed further by the pandemic, but COVID-19 is not the only reason that education has changed.
As global trends change and factors like the job market and necessary skills are constantly innovating, many people have realized that the role of the modern school is different than previous generations. As we enter 2023, it is the perfect time to assess whether your school and the education it provides meet your student’s needs.
What programs could you implement to best prepare students for the future, and how effective will they be? Many educators began this conversation in the 2021-2022 school year, implementing Social Emotional Learning or Career Technical programs, but it is essential to innovate and develop these programs for the changing world outside of the classroom.
Academic Excellence Key #3: Innovating The Hybrid Model of Learning
Over the past two years, the education industry has seen significant investment in hybrid learning, particularly through the implementation of strategies such as Zoom interfacing and self-directed online curriculum.
There are some concerns that in the mad dash to hybrid and remote learning during the pandemic, many factors of the traditional classroom, like human interaction, socialization, and academic accountability, were lost. Many educators made huge strides in tackling things like student connection and cheating. However, there is still much work to be done to bring the same results of in-person classroom learning to students who require hybrid or remote learning.
Academic Excellence Key #4: Staying Connected With The Classroom
Not only do educators need to be on top of the ever-changing landscape of new and developing tools, but the EdTech community has to be attuned to the needs of educators and students.
In-person, hybrid, and remote models of learning are not the same as they were at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, and if EdTech developers are not connected with how educators are changing their hybrid and remote models, we will see a lag in the effectivity of EdTech tools in classrooms.
Academic Excellence Key #5: Fostering Staffing Initiatives
As soon-to-be graduates write their resumes and schools assess their staffing needs, the teacher shortage and continued teacher burnout must be addressed through comprehensive staffing initiatives. The staffing shortage is apparent on every teacher community page and admin-focused blog. If administrators truly want to face this issue and eliminate the negative effects on their districts, creating a strategy as early as possible is necessary for the health and success of classrooms, schools, and districts across the country.
Moving The Conversation Forward
There is no doubt that 2023, like 2022, will be an unprecedented year of educational growth and change. As we look forward to the new year and set goals for our classrooms, boardrooms, and kitchen tables, it is important to keep up to date with the ever-changing tides of education.
To keep you informed on best practices and new frameworks for growth, edCircuit contributors will discuss various keys to academic excellence in 2023 throughout January. Make sure to stay connected and join the conversation surrounding trends in the EdTech industry by subscribing to edCircuit. If you have thoughts on the shifting trends in EdTech, apply to become an edCircuit contributor to share your voice with our community.
