During the current COVID-19 global health crisis and shift to distance learning, students are being asked to do more independent work—reading, writing, and problem solving—outside of their time in class. School and district leaders in the West have expressed a need for teachers to have access to user-friendly, research-based guidance Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the education field in multiple ways. Policymakers, superintendents, school leaders, and teachers have had to adopt new models, processes, policies, protocols, and strategies in order to conduct the business of teaching and learning over the last year. As the nation (eventually) emerges from this pandemic, Read more
For many state education leaders looking to recoup learning losses caused by interruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, a competency-based approach is attractive. It provides the flexibility and autonomy for students to earn credits and satisfy diploma requirements by demonstrating mastery of competencies, rather than fulfilling seat time requirements. However, a Read more
Below are three proposals for scaling tutoring nationwide to combat the learning loss experience during COVID-19: 1. A new EdWorking Paper by Matthew Kraft and Grace Falken, “A Blueprint for Scaling Tutoring Across Public Schools” explores how tutoring could be scaled nationally to address COVID-19 learning loss and become a Read more
School districts in the United States have approached reopening public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic in notably different ways. The authors of a new report, titled “Remote Learning Is Here to Stay: Results from the First American School District Panel Survey” by RAND developed a national picture of school districts’ Read more
McREL researchers Samantha Holquist and Marisa Crowder collaborated with members of student voice organizations in Oregon and Kentucky to provide us with a deeper level of understanding about what may be shaping students’ engagement in the school community. Their research report is comprehensive, offering many insights from the students’ perspective Read more
Edutopia reviewed hundreds of educational studies in 2020 and has highlighted 10 that they believe are the most significant—covering topics from virtual learning to the reading wars and the decline of standardized tests. Selected studies include the following: To teach vocabulary, let kids be thespians. Neuroscientists defend the value of Read more
Attendance looks dramatically different in the COVID-19 era of remote and online learning, and states are grappling with setting policies that account for what attendance should mean and what it should look like. The Aurora Institute has responded to multiple requests for technical assistance on this subject with a new Read more
Chelsea Waite, writing for the Christensen Institute, recently explored reasons why 2020 may — or may not — result in lasting change in the education sector. Excerpts from the piece appear below: In moments that require radical adaptation, it’s tempting to see crisis as an inevitable harbinger of change. So Read more
Writing for Brookings, Rebecca Winthrop explores the power of parent engagement in the transformation of schools. Excerpts from the piece appear below: School closures and remote learning have propelled children’s ability to learn independently to the forefront of every busy and stressed out parent’s wish list. This ability, often described Read more
During the coronavirus pandemic, NCEE has been exploring how high-performing education systems have adapted to distance learning and how they are thinking long-term about future education redesign. As part of that effort, NCEE’s President and CEO Anthony Mackay recently moderated the 2020 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP). Convened Read more
As the pandemic continues, the task of supporting students becomes ever more difficult. Education leaders face an unprecedented challenge as students attend school in various forms this fall. Based on a developing list of questions from policymakers and practitioners, the EdResearch for Recovery Project taps top researchers from across the Read more
The Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed), in conjunction with the Future Ready Schools® (FRS) advisory team of nationally recognized school- and district-level practitioners, has developed Planning for High-Quality Remote Learning, a new resource to share ideas, best practices, and practical considerations for addressing the unique challenges of virtual learning. This Read more
Writing for the Center on Reinventing Public Education, Bree Dusseault, Georgia Heyward, and Travis Pillow provide an analysis of the professional learning opportunities that districts can utilize to support remote learning. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Districts have an urgent need to find new ways to help teachers learn Read more
The idea of student-centered learning is not new; teachers have long sought to design personalized, competency-based environments that are tailored to individuals and that empower students to drive their own learning. What is new is the emergence of an online learning ecosystem and, with it, the technical possibility of equipping Read more
What may be possible for education on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic? It is hard to imagine there will be another moment in history when the central role of education in the economic, social, and political prosperity and stability of nations is so obvious and well understood by Read more