Combining remote and in-person learning led to chaos, study finds

Writing for the Hechinger Report, Jill Barshay reviews new research that finds what teachers were saying throughout the pandemic – it is madness to teach students in the classroom and those joining by computer simultaneously. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Although educators are trying to keep schools open during the pandemic, they still have Read more about Combining remote and in-person learning led to chaos, study finds[…]

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How Districts With Different Poverty Levels Are Spending COVID Relief Funds

Recently in The 74, Phyllis Jordan and Bella Dimarco reviewed a new FutureEd analysis of plans for spending ESSER III emergency relief funds, including more than 2,600 school districts serving 53 percent of the nation’s public school students. The analysis suggests that the higher the poverty rate in a district’s student population, the more likely Read more about How Districts With Different Poverty Levels Are Spending COVID Relief Funds[…]

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Collaborating to transform and improve education systems: A playbook for family-school engagement

Writing for Brookings, Rebecca Winthrop, Adam Barton, Mahsa Ershadi, and Lauren Ziegler introduce a new playbook on family-school collaboration that makes the case for why family engagement is essential for education systems transformation and why families and schools must have a shared understanding of what a good quality education looks like. Excerpts of the piece Read more about Collaborating to transform and improve education systems: A playbook for family-school engagement[…]

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Fourth American School District Panel Survey Reveals Concerns about Mental Health, Political Polarization

Policymakers had hoped that the 2021–2022 school year would be a chance to recover from COVID-19 pandemic–related disruptions to schooling. Instead, media reports of staff shortages, heated or even violent school board meetings, increased student misbehavior, low student and teacher attendance, and enrollment declines suggest increased — rather than decreased — problems during this third Read more about Fourth American School District Panel Survey Reveals Concerns about Mental Health, Political Polarization[…]

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“Creativity Requires Freedom”: What Will It Take to Create Space Within Our Education System to Think and Design Creatively?

The Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), in partnership with the Reinvention Lab powered by Teach For America, gathered a “change-maker” group of students, educators, and education leaders. It was an intimate gathering of people committed to a learner-centered, radically different future of education. The question posed to the group was: How do we help Read more about “Creativity Requires Freedom”: What Will It Take to Create Space Within Our Education System to Think and Design Creatively?[…]

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Top Education Studies of 2021

Recently, Amber Northern reviewed the top six education studies of 2021 from the Education Gadfly Show. Excerpts of three of the studies appear below: The Evolution of Gender Gaps in Numeracy and Literacy between Childhood and Young Adulthood, by Francesca Borgonovi, Alvaro Choi, and Marco Paccagnella. Research indicates that gaps in numeracy and literacy skew Read more about Top Education Studies of 2021[…]

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Widescale Study Finds More Students Started the School Year Behind

Fewer elementary and middle school students started the 2021 school year on grade level for reading and mathematics, according to a new report released by Curriculum Associates. The report, Understanding Student Learning: Insights from Fall 2021, analyzes data gathered from the edtech company’s i-Ready Assessment tool on reading and mathematics learning from three million Grades Read more about Widescale Study Finds More Students Started the School Year Behind[…]

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COVID–19 Showed Us How Important It Is to Focus on Adolescent Well-Being: Here Is What School Systems Should Do

In partnership with the Barr Foundation, the Center on Reinventing Public Education conducted longitudinal interviews with ten teachers and seven parents across four school systems in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts between January and June of 2021. The interviews expose how ill-equipped New England schools were to address adolescent well-being during the pandemic. Specifically, Read more about COVID–19 Showed Us How Important It Is to Focus on Adolescent Well-Being: Here Is What School Systems Should Do[…]

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3 Lessons from Schools Where COVID Innovations Offer New Solutions

Recently in The 74, representatives from three philanthropic organizations supporting public education shared their perspective on COVID innovations worth supporting. Excerpts from their piece appear below: The Canopy Project tracked how hundreds of schools across the country adapted and innovated last year in student-centered ways. The following adaptations these schools developed hold enormous potential to Read more about 3 Lessons from Schools Where COVID Innovations Offer New Solutions[…]

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What Science Says about Helping Students Catch Up after COVID Closures

Writing for The 74, Jill Barshay recently reviewed the evidence behind COVID-19 recovery efforts in schools. Excerpts of the piece highlighting the most promising interventions appear below: Tutoring Research points to intensive daily tutoring as one of the most effective ways to help academically struggling children catch up. A seminal 2016 study sorted through almost Read more about What Science Says about Helping Students Catch Up after COVID Closures[…]

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Innovation Zones: Policy Flexibility to Reimagine and Modernize K-12 Education Post-COVID-19

Innovation zones represent an important policy lever states can use as K-12 reimagines its future post-COVID. Innovation zones are created through state legislation to give schools and districts freedom from burdensome administrative regulations. This flexibility gives schools and districts a chance to modernize teaching and learning. An updated policy brief from the Aurora Institute examines Read more about Innovation Zones: Policy Flexibility to Reimagine and Modernize K-12 Education Post-COVID-19[…]

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Using Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds to Support Student Transitions from High School to Higher Education

A new policy guide, created in partnership with the College in High School Alliance, Everyone Graduates Center, Linked Learning Alliance, and National College Attainment Network, encourages state and district leaders to use federal coronavirus relief funds to improve college access and success, especially for students who are historically underserved and under-represented in higher education. During Read more about Using Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds to Support Student Transitions from High School to Higher Education[…]

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Embracing Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Instructional Materials

Choosing instructional materials wisely is one of the most important jobs education leaders and teachers have, perhaps now more than ever. Unfinished academic instruction resulting from the COVID-19 crisis demands better ways to reignite student engagement and accelerate learning. At the same time, the disparate impact of the pandemic on students of color and growing Read more about Embracing Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Instructional Materials[…]

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Education in a Pandemic: The Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on America’s Students

The federal Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Education has released a report outlining the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on America’s students. Major observations include the following: OBSERVATION 1 (K-12): Emerging evidence shows that the pandemic has negatively affected academic growth, widening pre-existing disparities. In core subjects like math and reading, there are Read more about Education in a Pandemic: The Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on America’s Students[…]

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ED Releases “Strategies for Using ARP Funding to Address the Impact of Lost Instructional Time”

Students across the country continue to return to in-person learning after more than a year of varied access to the educational opportunities they need to succeed. For example, some estimates show that 3 million students have either been consistently absent from or have not been actively participating in remote learning since the beginning of the Read more about ED Releases “Strategies for Using ARP Funding to Address the Impact of Lost Instructional Time”[…]

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The Overlooked

Over the past 18 months, the parents of an estimated 10.8 million students, or nearly one in five of the nation’s schoolchildren, did not get what they wanted from their child’s school, reports Bellwether Education Partners in a new report, “The Overlooked.” These families are not a monolith — they represent a diverse range of Read more about The Overlooked[…]

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