Education-focused non-profit news organization The 74 highlighted Birmingham City Schools for the district’s recovery of learning loss due to the pandemic.
The story notes that Birmingham City Schools has “outpaced the state in math recovery after the pandemic,” citing a 2024 case study by Curriculum Associates as well as a study by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University, the latter of which initially garnered national media attention for the district.
BCS Superintendent Dr. Mark Sullivan credits intersessions, optional instructional weeks scheduled after each grading period, as a crucial strategy for making up for lost learning.
“I told the teachers, ‘You [will] have to teach like you’ve never taught before,’ meaning that we had to make up multiple grades within a year because of unfinished learning,” he told reporter Linda Jacobson of The 74.
In addition, Ashley Gaynor, a first grade teacher at Oliver Elementary School, appeared in the cover photo for the story. In the picture, she is teaching a class during intersession.
Read the full story at The 74 website.