Avoiding Long-Term Harm from “Do No Harm” Grading Policies
Seattle Public Schools made local headlines for its decision to award only As or incompletes as part of its revised grading policy during COVID-19 closures. Seattle district leaders say their policy “intentionally minimizes harm for students furthest away from educational justice” during the current crisis, but it may overlook harm caused over the longer term […]
During COVID-19, Underperforming School Districts Have No Excuse for Standstill on Student Learning
During the COVID-19 pandemic, only 44% of school districts are both providing instruction online and monitoring students’ attendance and progress. Kids in these districts have a good chance of staying on grade-level during the coronavirus shutdown. Kids in the majority of districts, which are either providing no instruction or offering instruction but not tracking progress, […]
Prepared remarks delivered to the House Education and Labor Committee
The following remarks were delivered to members of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee during a May 7 briefing on the impact of COVID-19. Chairman Scott, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to talk about the nationwide shutdown of public schools in response to the pandemic, and the move to distance […]
Federal Special Education Guidance is Clear; Now States Must Step Up
States are the first line of support to help schools translate federal special education guidance into practice. But our first-of-its-kind analysis shows the amount of help they provide varies widely in different parts of the country. We’ve analyzed special education guidance provided by all 50 states and Washington, D.C., complementing our colleagues’ analysis of district […]
At Summit, Families Create Personalized Pathways to Finish Out the School Year
For my family, the first week of remote learning was a complete disaster, full of tears and frustration. I was trying to work from home, but instead spent the days keeping our kids focused and organized. At my 7th-grade son’s private school, teachers tried to provide meaningful activities, but we only received emailed assignments without […]
Schools Must Figure Out How to Support Parents as Co-Educators
Social distancing has forced parents into roles as co-educators. This is not entirely new—parents have always helped with take-home lessons for kids at home due to illness. But the expectation that parents will engage daily for a long time is new. Parents have good reasons to be unhappy. Distance learning for K–12 kids assumes that […]
Teacher Contracts Shouldn’t Be a Barrier to Continuing Student Learning
With school buildings across the country shut down for an unknown period of time, educating students necessarily means massive changes in how educators deliver instruction and how school and system leaders support these efforts. It won’t be “business as usual” when schools finally reopen. Could teacher labor agreements create barriers to necessary changes, such as blended […]
Remote Classes Are in Session for More School Districts, But Attendance Plans Are Still Absent
Six weeks into COVID-19 school closures, and at roughly the midpoint of the final academic quarter of this school year, we are stepping back to assess what schools and districts have accomplished—and the gaps in learning opportunities that remain—as students, teachers, and families prepare to close out 2019-20. Districts have come a long way in this […]
The Power of “How Are You?”: Teacher Check-ins in Remote Learning
Last week, Fairfax County in Virginia delayed the launch of remote learning due to technical challenges. Earlier in the month, Los Angeles Unified School District reported that about one third of their over 600,000 students were not logging into their online learning platforms regularly, and that about 15,000 had been completely absent since online learning […]
Lessons from Florida’s Fast Action on Remote Learning
On March 13, Florida schools announced an extended spring break, which would be followed by a statewide shutdown extending into April—and now, through the end of the school year. The initial closure order came on a Friday. The following Monday, the state’s largest school district, and the fifth largest in the nation, went live with […]
