Blueprint to Help Urban School Districts Effectively Spend New Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds

Posted on July 22, 2021July 18, 2021 by coreeducation

The Council of the Great City Schools has released a blueprint to help urban school districts spend new Covid-19 federal dollars strategically and effectively. It sets out overarching goals for the use of funds; articulates broad investment strategies; defines principles for the effective use of funds; articulates things that school districts should avoid doing as Read more about Blueprint to Help Urban School Districts Effectively Spend New Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds[…]

Addressing students’ mental health needs coming out of the pandemic

Posted on June 17, 2021June 14, 2021 by coreeducation

Over the past year, extended school closures caused by Covid-19 have wreaked havoc on our nation’s students. Thousands have lost parents, grandparents, and family friends to the virus. Children and teenagers have suffered from a lack of routines and extracurricular activities and the inability to see their friends and classmates. Their moms and dads have Read more about Addressing students’ mental health needs coming out of the pandemic[…]

Present Danger: Solving the Deepening Student Absenteeism Crisis

Posted on June 15, 2021June 14, 2021 by coreeducation

With coronavirus vaccinations rising, Covid cases falling, and schools reopening, education leaders are turning their attention to expanding learning opportunities post-pandemic. But strikingly high rates of student absenteeism threaten that work. A new FutureEd report on attendance trends in five school districts serving nearly 450,000 students suggests that student absenteeism has been far greater during Read more about Present Danger: Solving the Deepening Student Absenteeism Crisis[…]

Accelerate, Don’t Remediate: New Evidence from Elementary Math Classrooms

Posted on June 10, 2021June 9, 2021 by coreeducation

Research suggests students have experienced more unfinished learning over the last year than ever before. With the COVID-19 pandemic waning, school systems are facing a critical choice about how to respond. Should they use the traditional approach of reviewing all the content students missed, known as remediation? Or should they start with the current grade’s Read more about Accelerate, Don’t Remediate: New Evidence from Elementary Math Classrooms[…]

Navigating Policy for Personalized, Competency-Based Education

Posted on June 8, 2021June 7, 2021 by coreeducation

Covid-19 exacerbated and brought attention to inequities long present in public education. Facing inconsistent access to learning across distances, students will leave this period with months of what’s been called “lost learning.” Short of repeating a full year, addressing these gaps presents a grave challenge for traditionally structured schools. Competency-based education (CBE)—an approach where learning Read more about Navigating Policy for Personalized, Competency-Based Education[…]

We must ensure communities can keep the innovations that kids need

Posted on May 27, 2021May 25, 2021 by coreeducation

Writing for the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), Steven Hodas and Travis Pillow recently highlighted community-based learning innovations that have emerged during the pandemic and urged readers to work to preserve the best of these innovations. Excerpts of their article appear below: Policymakers are understandably eager to return to normal as soon as possible. Read more about We must ensure communities can keep the innovations that kids need[…]

Digital Learning Playbook

Posted on May 13, 2021May 9, 2021 by coreeducation

Digital learning leverages digital tools and resources to establish powerful, flexible learning environments. Digital learning means each student has access to a device and reliable internet access, both at school and at home. While digital learning is critical during emergency situations when remote teaching is necessary (e.g., e-learning days due to weather cancellations, hybrid learning, Read more about Digital Learning Playbook[…]

Emergency Broadband Benefit Program

Posted on May 4, 2021May 3, 2021 by coreeducation

The Emergency Broadband Benefit is an FCC program to help households struggling to pay for internet service during the pandemic. This new benefit will connect eligible households to jobs, critical healthcare services, and virtual classrooms. The program is expected to begin in May. The Emergency Broadband Benefit will provide a discount of up to $50 Read more about Emergency Broadband Benefit Program[…]

Moneyball for Education Policy

Posted on April 29, 2021April 25, 2021 by coreeducation

Given the urgent need to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, increase economic mobility, and ensure racial justice, it is more important than ever for education leaders at all levels of the PK-12 education system to embrace evidence and data to inform their day-to-day decision-making. Results for America’s new report — Moneyball for Education Policy Recommendations Read more about Moneyball for Education Policy[…]

I-Flex: A New Teaching Modality for Post-Pandemic Recovery

Posted on April 27, 2021April 25, 2021 by coreeducation

If there is one thing the pandemic has taught us, it is that in-person learning is not the only way to “do” school. During the past year, most districts have experimented with fully Virtual Learning modalities, as well as Hybrid Learning, and some college campuses have also perfected the Hyflex model. Moving into post-COVID recovery, Read more about I-Flex: A New Teaching Modality for Post-Pandemic Recovery[…]

Sources of Evidence for Educational Programs

Posted on April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 by coreeducation

State Departments of Education are receiving their third round of funding from the federal government, also known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds. This infusion of funding is the federal government’s largest ever single investment in our schools. When the money arrives at the state level, 90% of it will have to Read more about Sources of Evidence for Educational Programs[…]

The Acceleration Imperative

Posted on April 13, 2021April 11, 2021 by coreeducation

A new resource from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, The Acceleration Imperative: A Plan to Address Elementary Students’ Unfinished Learning in the Wake of COVID-19, aims to give the nation’s chief academic officers and other educators a head start on planning for that recovery, with a particular focus on high-poverty elementary schools. It has four Read more about The Acceleration Imperative[…]

Overcoming Challenges of Concurrent Learning

Posted on April 8, 2021April 2, 2021 by coreeducation

Many schools are using a simultaneous learning approach, where teachers work with all students, both in person and online, at the same time. However, writes The 74 contributor Beth Rabbitt, despite hard work and good intentions, full-time, simultaneous learning is not a best practice. Online models are least effective when teachers try to engage learners Read more about Overcoming Challenges of Concurrent Learning[…]

Mere Engagement: Reflections about the Connections Between Online Learning, Student Agency, and Student Engagement

Posted on April 6, 2021April 2, 2021 by coreeducation

School leaders mustn’t lose sight of the need for student agency and student engagement as they contend with the myriad challenges posed by COVID-19. In fact, they must reimagine what agency and engagement can look like in cases when students are learning virtually and also when they are unable to connect. Mere Engagement: Reflections about Read more about Mere Engagement: Reflections about the Connections Between Online Learning, Student Agency, and Student Engagement[…]

Staffing Innovations from the Pandemic

Posted on April 1, 2021March 29, 2021 by coreeducation

Recently in The Hill, Thomas Toch and Lynn Olson, both of FutureEd, reflected on staffing innovations that are emerging as promising practices amid the pandemic. Excerpts from the piece appear below: One reason distance learning has been such a harrowing experience during the pandemic is that most schools merely shifted the traditional teaching model to Read more about Staffing Innovations from the Pandemic[…]

A Teacher’s View: Remote Teaching Doesn’t Feel Like Teaching. Six Steps Toward Putting the Nuance Back Into Classroom Interactions

Posted on March 31, 2021March 29, 2021 by coreeducation

Recently in The 74, Nat Damon, a 25-year educator and author of Time to Teach: Time to Reach reflected on how to put the nuance into virtual teaching. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Remote teaching does not feel like teaching. This is not the same as saying remote teaching is not teaching. It absolutely Read more about A Teacher’s View: Remote Teaching Doesn’t Feel Like Teaching. Six Steps Toward Putting the Nuance Back Into Classroom Interactions[…]