The Conversation – Elizabeth Englander
“With the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic getting worse in most of the country, a growing number of school districts from San Francisco to Atlanta have determined that a return to daily in-person instruction isn’t yet safe or viable. They aim to to stick with remote learning as the school year gets underway.” (more)
The Guardian – Ailen Arreaza, Bethany Robertson and Justin Ruben
“It’s hard to overstate the scope of the crisis, or, more accurately, crises, facing Jayla and all the other kids living through Covid-19 – let’s call them Generation C. For millions of members of Gen C – especially children in low-income families, kids with learning challenges, and Black and brown children hampered by systematic oppression – the pandemic has meant a food security crisis, piled on top of an educational equity crisis, piled on top of a school funding crisis, piled on top of a mental health crisis. Unless Congress acts quickly to rescue Gen C, a generation of kids and, with them, our nation’s future, could be lost.” (more)
The 74 Million – Duncan Young and Linda Rosenberg
“Districts across the country are wrestling with fundamental questions about what schooling will look like this fall. Just as important as the logistics for safely educating our kids after a return to school is the state of their mental well-being. Effective schooling is possible only if districts anticipate the mental health challenges many of their students will undoubtedly face. As superintendents and school boards determine their plan for the coming year, it’s imperative that they ask a fundamental question: Do we have a flexible, powerful mental health safety net in place? If the answer is no, now is the time to act.” (more)
Ed Tech Magazine – Adam Stone
“As the nation has barreled through the summer of COVID-19, education has taken center stage. Amid continuing health and safety concerns, school leaders and educators are grappling with the decision of whether to return to school or continue remote learning this coming school year. Across the U.S., districts big and small — from Los Angeles and San Diego to Indiana’s Metropolitan School District of Washington Township — have already opted out of a fall reopening. Others continue to weigh the pros and cons.” (more)
Medical X-Press – Staff Writer
“”No matter what education model is chosen—in-person, distance learning or a hybrid of the two, we want to provide guidance to parents, children, teachers and staff on how to stay as safe and healthy as possible this school year,” says Nipunie Rajapakse, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Mayo Clinic. “These tips will be familiar, and they continue to be the most effective ways we have to minimize the risk of COVID-19 exposure and spread. Certain strategies may be more effective for certain age groups of children. A combination of strategies is important because no single measure provides 100% protection from exposure,” says Dr. Rajapakse.” (more)
Education Dive – Roger Riddell, Naaz Modan, Linda Jacobson
“The nation’s public school districts faced unprecedented disruption to the school year as the novel coronavirus pandemic shut down buildings and forced learning online, to the extent educators were able to do so. Shutdowns forced districts and policymakers alike to make strides in addressing the “homework gap” resulting from a lack of home internet and device access that already adversely affected many students prior to shutdowns.” (more)
The Miami Herald – Caitlin Granfield
“Since mid-March, when most schools around the U.S. closed due to COVID-19 precautions, kids and teens have had to quickly adapt to learning virtually — which means more sitting and more screen time. Hanging out with friends after class or on weekends became a thing of the past as health officials called for social distancing measures.” (more)
The New York Times – Dana Goldstein
” A typical American school day requires proximity: High school lab partners leaning over a vial. Kindergarten students sharing finger paints. Middle schoolers passing snacks around a cafeteria table. This year, nothing about school will be typical. Many of the nation’s largest districts plan to start the academic year online, and it is unclear when students and teachers will be back in classrooms. Others plan hybrid models, while some are determined to go five days a week.” (more)
Education Next – Frederick Hess
“Justice Sandra Day O’Connor founded the organization in 2009 with the goal of transforming civic education and making it accessible to every student in America. We do this by creating educational video games and digital lessons that teach the fundamentals of how American democracy and its institutions work. Over the past decade, we’ve developed 16 interactive games that simulate everything from how to run for president to how to run a local county government to how to accurately understand today’s complicated media—as well as hundreds of digital lesson plans for teachers. All of this is free to use and completely nonpartisan. iCivics is currently used by more than 120,000 educators and 7.5 million students each year. Recently, due to Covid-19, our new registrations are up 120 percent.” (more)
Ed Surge – Wade Tyler Millward
“Erin Simon had big goals for this school year. The director of student support services for Long Beach Unified School District wanted to reduce the number of local students who were chronically absent, a term that refers to those who miss 15 or more school days of the academic year. This has been a goal of Simon’s since she joined Long Beach Unified in fall 2013. But it has proven elusive. Her district’s chronic absenteeism rates have actually increased, from 13.3 percent (about 10,000 students) in the 2017-2018 school year, to 15.1 percent (about 11,000 students) in 2018-2019.” (more)
