Bolder leadership needed to keep students safe and learning next year
Schools owe students a chance to gain back the learning opportunities they were denied last year. They cannot afford to squander another year because of tepid leadership and political squabbling.
How 18 top charter school networks are refining remote learning for the fall
18 leading charter school organizations are strengthening curriculum offerings and modifying schedules — although their plans are less detailed than districts’ on remote learning improvements or lessons learned from the spring.
Addressing learning loss for students with disabilities: Could Universal Design for Learning be one answer?
This is the third blog post in our Notes from the Field: Special Education blog series. Data on students’ academic progress during the pandemic is scarce, but early signs show that many students with disabilities struggled to stay on track. Our year-long study of special education in a sample of 15 schools revealed that most already-weary teachers and […]
In thousands of districts, 4-day school weeks are robbing students of learning time for what amounts to hygiene theater
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made clear(link is external) that good ventilation and consistent mask wearing are far more effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19 than disinfecting surfaces. This clarification was long overdue. Scientists have long suspected that the virus is mainly airborne. They recognized that measures like deep cleaning and […]
School Districts Across the Nation Plan for An Uncertain Year Ahead
This brief gives a snapshot of how school districts across the country are currently planning for fall 2020, how they are planning for contingencies of COVID-19 spread, and how this varies based on district characteristics.
It helps to start small: Lessons on launching schools of choice in a pandemic
“How are we going to [recruit students and families to] this school, because we can’t do anything in person?” This question, which we heard expressed by one founder of a new-school-to-be in Washington State, is being asked by thousands of schools of choice across the country, ever since most of them closed their campuses last […]
A national corps of mentors: Lessons from the pandemic on elevating teachers’ craft, at scale
As the new school year approaches, big-city superintendents everywhere confront the chasm between their students’ needs and their districts’ capacity to meet them. Many children will return to school a year or more behind. Speaking in confidence, superintendents will tell you that the capacity of their teaching force to meet the moment is a grave […]
A national corps of mentors: Lessons from the pandemic on elevating teachers’ craft, at scale
As the new school year approaches, big-city superintendents everywhere confront the chasm between their students’ needs and their districts’ capacity to meet them. Many children will return to school a year or more behind. Speaking in confidence, superintendents will tell you that the capacity of their teaching force to meet the moment is a grave […]
The Tradeoff Between Teacher Wages and Layoffs to Meet Budget Cuts
This analysis shows that school districts faced with large budget gaps could avoid some or all teacher layoffs by rolling back salaries.
First look at ESSER priorities: Districts are placing their bets on what they know
A $189 billion infusion of federal COVID relief funding gives America’s school districts an unprecedented opportunity to invest in lasting improvements in public education and make their students whole after a year and a half of disruptions.