One could argue this shift is a bad thing—“If we can’t see what students are doing, how do we know they’re learning?” Maybe this moment offers an opportunity to rethink accountability and measurement as it relates to student learning. One well-cited study showed that students take in knowledge best when they’re intrinsically motivated to learn something.

Because of COVID, demand has increased for programs like Outschool, where students opt in to an online teaching class with a teacher in small class settings. This surge is of course due in large part to the stay-at-home order and the need for remote learning, but Outschool has two critical components: The teachers must want to teach the content and the students must opt-in to the program. In other words, there’s more intrinsic motivation on both sides for these classes, which leads to better results.

In the COVID era, many teachers I know have gained more latitude in how they teach. “During this time, teachers have the opportunity to explore online teaching platforms, rethink the purpose of learning, and design activities that engage students in a whole new way,” said Katie Barr, the principal of Maria Carillo High School, a comprehensive 2,000-student high school in Santa Rosa. Barr, for one, is giving her teachers freer rein during this time.

Barr has long been an advocate for making our high schools more innovative, but it can often be challenging to make change amid normal political circumstances. Another high school principal I know says running a high school is like captaining an aircraft carrier: slow without a lot of agility.