April 29, 2020
Education Week, Vol. 39, Issue 30
School Climate & Safety
Letter to the Editor
We Needed Better Contingency Plans
To the Editor:
After reading the article “Teachers in Limbo as Districts Rush to Boot Up Online Learning” (April 1, 2020), I could not help thinking that our lack of preparedness as educators could have been avoided. In February, the novel coronavirus was looming. We saw how the virus was ravaging through China, Italy, Spain, and elsewhere. Based on expert doctors’ predictions, politicians across America had ample time to strategize.
After reading the article “Teachers in Limbo as Districts Rush to Boot Up Online Learning” (April 1, 2020), I could not help thinking that our lack of preparedness as educators could have been avoided. In February, the novel coronavirus was looming. We saw how the virus was ravaging through China, Italy, Spain, and elsewhere. Based on expert doctors’ predictions, politicians across America had ample time to strategize.
Families & the Community
Letter to the Editor
Learning Is Still Happening at Home
To the Editor:
I was a little disappointed to see the recent subheadline, “Not every parent can keep the learning going” (“Will the Learning Gap Widen as Schools Stay Closed?”, April 1, 2020).
I was a little disappointed to see the recent subheadline, “Not every parent can keep the learning going” (“Will the Learning Gap Widen as Schools Stay Closed?”, April 1, 2020).
School Choice & Charters
Letter to the Editor
Dispelling Charter Schools Myths
To the Editor:
In response to the recent opinion piece by Diane Ravitch, “The Coronavirus Just Might End School Privatization Nonsense,” (April 10, 2020) I feel compelled to correct several misstatements and inaccuracies that decry the critical role charter schools play in serving America’s public school students. While these typical union tropes are not original, they are particularly distasteful in this moment. We should be elevating everyone who is helping to take care of students.
In response to the recent opinion piece by Diane Ravitch, “The Coronavirus Just Might End School Privatization Nonsense,” (April 10, 2020) I feel compelled to correct several misstatements and inaccuracies that decry the critical role charter schools play in serving America’s public school students. While these typical union tropes are not original, they are particularly distasteful in this moment. We should be elevating everyone who is helping to take care of students.
Assessment
Briefly Stated
Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed
A collection of stories you may have missed.
Federal
Pandemic a High-Stakes Test for Betsy DeVos' Leadership
The coronavirus-driven disruption of the nation’s schools demands both practical and symbolic responses from an education secretary who has endured intense scrutiny and controversy from her first days in office.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Stumped by How to Best Serve Students With At-Home Learning? Follow the Evidence
Schools need to foster learning at home right now, but parents can't always help. Economist Philip Oreopoulos explains what works best.
Federal
Opinion
Schools Are Staring Down a Fiscal Tsunami. Here's What States Need to Do Now
The $13.5 billion in federal K-12 funding can’t just go toward stabilizing schools. It needs to go toward mobilizing them, writes Harvard researcher Thomas J. Kane.
Teaching Profession
Exhausted and Grieving: Teaching During the Coronavirus Crisis
Teachers are trying to cope with an armful of new stressors as they struggle to make the shift to remote learning for the rest of the year.
Student Well-Being
As Demand for Food Grows Under Coronavirus, Schools Step Up
Districts are reconfiguring services, offering hazard pay, and partnering with food banks to keep up with a growing, unprecedented demand for food services during the school shutdown.
Student Well-Being
Opinion
Why the Coronavirus Crisis Hits Teenagers Particularly Hard
Social distancing can interfere with the basic developmental needs of teenagers, write Leah Lessard and Hannah Schacter.
School & District Management
The Inspiring Legacy of Flint's First Black Superintendent, Dead From Coronavirus
Nathel Burtley, 79, was a lifelong educator who led the Flint, Mich., school system, paving the way for other African-American educators to become the heads of districts. He died earlier this month from the coronavirus.
Classroom Technology
From Our Research Center
The Disparities in Remote Learning Under Coronavirus (in Charts)
As it's done with the country's health-care system, economy, and social safety net, the pandemic is exposing and exacerbating the deep inequities that have long shaped American public education.
Student Well-Being
Where Are They? Students Go Missing in Shift to Remote Classes
As school shutdowns extend nationwide, educators are finding that efforts to reach their families are coming up short.
Assessment
Grading Students During the Coronavirus Crisis: What's the Right Call?
Schools are wrestling with how to handle grading in a remote learning environment when not all students have reliable access to resources.