New England Profiles of Innovation | Nokomis Regional High School
This profile of Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, Maine details the school’s practices that have made it successful, how they have adapted in the fact of the pandemic, and how other school communities can begin conversations about creating flexible pathways for students to design components of their own high school experience.
Families delivered innovative solutions to pandemic-fueled education disruptions. Policymakers should support them to do so again
After an optimistic summer, Delta’s rise and an escalating public health situation has crushed many people’s hope for a quiet, even “normal” school year. Families worried about the risks presented by COVID-19 are increasingly stuck between a rock and a hard place: accept the risks that come with in-person instruction—often with inadequate mitigation measures—or face […]
From crisis response to sustainable solution: What’s next for school district- and community-driven learning pods?
Over the past school year, CRPE has tracked how pandemic learning pods evolved from emergency responses to, in some cases, small, innovative, and personalized learning communities. This summer, as COVID-19 vaccinations increased, it seemed like the major impetus for these efforts was fading from view. We turned to our existing database of 372 school district- […]
Are smaller class sizes without the pitfalls possible? Pandemic pods make the case
Pandemic pods were borne by necessity as families faced urgent needs for childcare and remote learning support. But they also offer fresh solutions to an age-old education problem: how to dramatically lower class sizes without diluting teacher quality and falling into traps that have snared traditional class size reduction efforts. By leveraging pandemic innovations in […]
Building public education back better: Could learning hubs and micro-schools be the foundation?
The consensus is becoming clear: families and district leaders want a return to in-person learning as soon as possible. But in a growing number of communities, that does not mean a return to normal. “Normal” wasn’t working for historically marginalized students who have suffered from unequal access to high-quality, rigorous instruction. It wasn’t working for […]
New England Profiles of Innovation | Common Ground High School
This profile of Common Ground High School in New Haven details the school’s practices that have made it successful, how they have adapted in the face of the pandemic, and how other school communities can begin conversations about wielding student voice and agency to innovate.
COVID-19 Revealed New Roles for Cities to Create a Continuum of Support for Youth and Families. They Shouldn’t End with the Pandemic
This brief examines the involvement of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. in creating learning pods during the pandemic.
New England Profiles of Innovation | Map Academy
This profile of Map Academy from CRPE and the Christensen Institute details the school’s practices that have proven successful, how they have adapted in the face of the pandemic, and how other school communities can begin to make their systems and structures more responsive to students’ needs and interests.
Pandemic pods show the value of designing for individual needs. Will we learn from them?
Pandemic pods were born out of necessity, as schools shuttered around the country last spring and families cast out in search of urgent solutions to childcare and remote learning support. But in a year characterized by unprecedented disruption and loss, families and educators participating in pods discovered something important: students, educators, and families benefit from […]
We must ensure communities can keep the innovations that kids need
For nearly a year, schools’ unpredictability has created stress and suffering for kids and families, especially in Black and brown communities where jobs and lives are also most at risk from the virus. We’ve seen record learning loss, disengagement, depression, and signs of great stress in families. But just as many schools struggle to serve […]
