Coronavirus

Education news, analysis, and opinion about COVID-19 and its impact on schools and communities
Woman applying "Welcome Back" sign to the school entrance
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Student Well-Being CDC Recommends Shorter Isolation Period for COVID-19
Under the new guidance, students won't need to stay home from school for 5 days.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 1, 2024
3 min read
Illustration of school text books and wrecking ball.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
Teaching Profession Opinion Why Is the Nation Invested in Tearing Down Public Education?
Education professor Deborah Loewenberg Ball argues that panic over test scores keeps us from building on the strengths of our children.
Deborah Loewenberg Ball, February 16, 2024
5 min read
Kindergarten teacher Karen Drolet, left, works with a student at Raices Dual Language Academy, a public school in Central Falls, R.I., on Feb. 9, 2022.
Kindergarten teacher Karen Drolet, left, works with a student at Raices Dual Language Academy, in Central Falls, R.I., on Feb. 9, 2022. Mask-wearing among educators has fallen since the pandemic's beginning, but patterns differ based on the communities they teach in.
David Goldman/AP
Teaching Profession From Our Research Center Flu and COVID-19 Are Surging. Here’s How Educators Feel About Masking Now
Respiratory illnesses are on the rise. Only 3 percent of educators say they regularly wear a mask at school.
Madeline Will, January 8, 2024
4 min read
COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York on April 5, 2023.
COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York on April 5, 2023.
Patrick Sison/AP
Student Well-Being All Public Schools Can Now Get Free COVID-19 Tests. Here's How
The Education Department is encouraging schools to share the COVID-19 tests with staff, families, and the broader community.
Arianna Prothero, November 30, 2023
2 min read
African American elementary teacher blowing nose of young culturally diverse elementary school boy during a class in the classroom.
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Student Well-Being A New School Year, a New COVID-19 Variant. What Are Schools to Do?
School is starting, a new COVID-19 variant is circulating, and cases are rising. Here's advice for schools.
Arianna Prothero, August 18, 2023
4 min read
Long COVID Hourglass Illness Time
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Teaching Profession The Pandemic Has Faded From View. But Many Educators Still Have Long COVID
One in 20 K-12 educators believe they suffer from long COVID, new survey results show, affecting their ability to do their jobs.
Mark Lieberman, June 29, 2023
3 min read
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is sworn in to testify during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 school closures, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is sworn in to testify during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 school closures, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Mariam Zuhaib/AP
Federal AFT Head Weingarten Says Her Union Didn’t Conspire With CDC on School Reopening Guidance
Some Republicans allege the union exercised its influence to keep schools closed longer than necessary.
Caitlynn Peetz, April 26, 2023
7 min read
A hand wearing a blue latex glove lifts a syringe out of a small metal bin labeled "Moderna" that rests on a table next to bins that say "Pfizer" and "flu."
A worker prepares syringes at a free COVID-19 and flu vaccination event in Lynwood, Calif., last month. States are not adding COVID-19 to the list of required immunizations children must receive to attend public school.
Mark J. Terrill/AP
States Plans to Require Student COVID-19 Vaccinations Flopped. Here's Why
Policies mandating COVID-19 vaccines for school attendance have largely failed to materialize three years into the pandemic.
Evie Blad, February 13, 2023
5 min read
Students wearing masks leave the New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math (NEST+m) school in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan.
Students wearing masks left the New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math (NEST+m) school in Manhattan, New York in December 2021. Some districts have temporarily brought back precautions like masking and testing following the winter break.
Brittainy Newman/AP
Student Well-Being With a New COVID Variant Rising, Some Schools Revert to Former Safety Measures
COVID-19 precautions like testing and masking are back on the table for districts trying to head off a surge in absences.
Evie Blad, January 10, 2023
4 min read
Image of a student holding a mask and a backpack near the entrance of a classroom.
E+
Student Well-Being What's In, What's Out for Student and Educator Wellness
What 2023 will have in store when it comes to taking care of the physical and social and emotional needs of students and educators.
Alyson Klein & Arianna Prothero, January 4, 2023
1 min read
Lonely woman seated an hugging her knees while dominated by a very large coronavirus pathogen, looming over her head.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Teaching Profession How to Help Educators With Long COVID: Do's and Don'ts
A substantial number of educators have COVID symptoms that won't go away. Here's what their peers can do to take care of them.
Mark Lieberman, December 22, 2022
3 min read
Photo of child holding mask.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
School & District Management As Illnesses Increase, Some Districts Turn Back to Masking
It’s a proactive move intended to keep kids healthy and in school, leaders say. But it's also likely to be controversial.
Caitlynn Peetz, December 19, 2022
3 min read
educators lost bw 800
Education Week
Teaching Profession Over 1,000 Educators Died From COVID. Here's the Story of One
Over two and a half years, we documented more than 1,300 deaths of educators who died from COVID.
Lesli A. Maxwell, December 19, 2022
3 min read
Small person being tied to and trapped as they haul an oversized, larger than life pathogen of the COVID-19 virus.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Teaching Profession Educators With Long COVID: Signs of Healing, But a Long Way to Go
We checked back on long-COVID sufferers we met earlier this year. They expressed frustration and some optimism.
Mark Lieberman, December 13, 2022
8 min read