For several years, K-12 has been undergoing slow-moving change driven by new tools and innovative practices — but the onset of the coronavirus pandemic fast-tracked many of these changes. Where many may have previously considered tech a classroom luxury, districts were forced to embrace large-scale digital transformation across the board to facilitate distance learning during school closures. Grading, testing and curricula overall shifted to accommodate distance and hybrid learning, while SEL and the whole-child approach took a front seat on the road to recovery from "COVID slide" learning losses.

These changes, and more, were previously only considered possibilities and are now at the forefront as priorities for districts — and many expect them to remain after the pandemic has passed. In this ongoing column, we examine emerging trends and what they mean for the K-12 landscape in the long run.