This year鈥檚 list, publishing amid new calls for mask mandates and yet another spike in hospitalizations, powerfully frames our surreal new normal: mounting concerns about historic test score declines; intensifying political divides that would challenge school systems even if there weren鈥檛 simultaneous health, staffing and learning crises to manage; broader economic stresses that are making it harder to manage school systems; and a sustained push by many educators and families to embrace innovations and out-of-the-box thinking to help kids accelerate their learning by any means necessary.

Now, 2陆 years into one of the most turbulent periods in the history of American education, these were our 22 most discussed articles of 2022: 

The COVID School Years: 700 Days Since Lockdown 

Learning Loss: 700 days. As we reported Feb. 14, that鈥檚 how long it had been since more than half the nation鈥檚 schools crossed into the pandemic era. On March 16, 2020, districts in 27 states, encompassing almost 80,000 schools, closed their doors for the first long educational lockdown. Since then, schools have reopened, closed and reopened again. The effects have been immediate 鈥� students lost parents, teachers mourned fallen colleagues 鈥� and hopelessly abstract as educators weighed 鈥減andemic learning loss,鈥� the sometimes crude measure of COVID鈥檚 impact on students鈥� academic performance. 

With spring approaching, there were reasons to be hopeful. More children had been vaccinated. Mask mandates were ending. But even if the pandemic recedes and a 鈥渘ew normal鈥� emerges, there are clear signs that the issues surfaced during this period will linger. COVID heightened inequities that have long been baked into the American educational system. The social contract between parents and schools has frayed. And teachers are burning out. To mark a third spring of educational disruption, Linda Jacobson interviewed educators, parents, students and researchers who spoke movingly, often unsparingly, about what Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab, called 鈥渁 seismic interruption to education unlike anything we鈥檝e ever seen.鈥� Read her full report. 

Related:

• A 700-Day Parental Awakening: Marguerite Roza, of Georgetown’s Edunomics Lab, reflects on the past years
  
• 700 Days of Missed Opportunities 鈥� and Lingering Inequities: Robin Lake, of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, looks back (and forwards)
  
• 700 Days of Balancing Student Safety Against Keeping Classrooms Open: Superintendent Pedro Martinez reflects
  
• 700 Days in Pictures: 24 months inside one resilient school district
  
• The COVID School Years: See our special report, looking back on 700 days of the pandemic

Threatened & Trolled, School Board Members Quit in Record Numbers

School Leadership: By the time we published this report in May, the chaos and violence at big city school board meetings had dominated headlines for months, as protesters, spurred by ideological interest groups and social media campaigns, railed about race, gender and a host of other hot-button issues. But what does it look like when the boardroom is located in a small community, where the elected officials under fire often have lifelong ties to the people doing the shouting? Over the last 18 months, Minnesota K-12 districts have seen a record number of board members resign before the end of their term. As one said in a tearful explanation to her constituents, 鈥淭he hate is just too much.鈥� Beth Hawkins takes a look at the possible ramifications.  

Related:

• Million-Dollar Records Request: From COVID and critical race theory to teachers鈥� names & schools, districts flooded with freedom of information document demands

Nation鈥檚 Report Card Shows Largest Drops Ever Recorded in 4th and 8th Grade Math

Student Achievement: In a moment the education world had anxiously awaited, the latest round of scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress were released in October 鈥� and the news was harsh. Math scores saw the largest drops in the history of the exam, while reading performance also fell in a majority of states. National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner Peggy Carr said the 鈥渄ecline that we’re seeing in the math data is stark. It is troubling. It is significant.鈥� Even as some state-level data has shown evidence of a rebound this year, federal officials warned COVID-19鈥檚 lost learning won鈥檛 be easily restored. 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken breaks down the results.

Related:

• Lost Decades: 鈥楴ation鈥檚 Report Card鈥� shows 20 years of growth wiped out by two years of pandemic
  
• Economic Toll: Damage from NAEP math losses could total nearly $1 trillion
  
• COVID Recovery: Can districts rise to the challenge of new NAEP results? Outlook鈥檚 not so good 

Virtual Nightmare: One Student鈥檚 Journey Through the Pandemic

Mental Health: As the debate over the lingering effects of school closures continues, the term 鈥減andemic recovery鈥� can often lose its meaning. For Jason Finuliar, a California teen whose Bay Area school district was among those shuttered the longest, the journey has been painful and slow. Once a happy, high-achieving student, he descended into academic failure and a depression so severe that he spent 10 days in a residential mental health facility. 鈥淚 felt so worthless,鈥� he said. It鈥檚 taking compassionate counselors, professional help and parents determined to save their son for Jason to regain hope for the future. Linda Jacobson reports. 

16 Under 16: Meet 蜜桃影视鈥檚 2022 Class of STEM Achievers

This spring, we asked for the country鈥檚 help identifying some of the most impressive students, age 16 or younger, who have shown extraordinary achievement in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. After an extensive and comprehensive selection process, we鈥檙e thrilled to introduce this year鈥檚 class of 16 Under 16 in STEM. The honorees range in age from 12 to 16, specialize in fields from medicine to agriculture to invention and represent the country from coast to coast. We hope these incredible youngsters can inspire others 鈥� and offer reassurance that our future can be in pretty good hands. Emmeline Zhao offers a closeup of the 2022 class of 16 Under 16 in STEM 鈥� click here to read and watch more about them.

A 鈥楴ational Teacher Shortage鈥�? New Research Reveals Vastly Different Realities Between States & Regions

School Staffing: Adding to efforts to understand America鈥檚 teacher shortages, a new report and website maps the K-12 teaching vacancy data. Nationally, an estimated 36,504 full-time teacher positions are unfilled, with shortages currently localized in nine states. 鈥淭here are substantial vacant teacher positions in the United States. And for some states, this is much higher than for other states. 鈥� It’s just a question of how severe it is,鈥� said author Tuan Nguyen. Marianna McMurdock reports on America鈥檚 uneven crisis. 

Meet the Gatekeepers of Students鈥� Private Lives

School Surveillance: Megan Waskiewicz used to sit at the top of the bleachers and hide her face behind the glow of a laptop monitor. While watching one of her five children play basketball on the court below, the Pittsburgh mother didn’t want other parents in the crowd to know she was also looking at child porn. Waskiewicz worked on contract as a content moderator for Gaggle, a surveillance company that monitors the online behaviors of some 5 million students across the U.S. on their school-issued Google and Microsoft accounts in an effort to prevent youth violence and self-harm. As a result, kids鈥� deepest secrets 鈥� like nude selfies and suicide notes 鈥� regularly flashed onto Waskiewicz鈥檚 screen. Waskiewicz and other former moderators at Gaggle believe the company helped protect kids, but they also surfaced significant questions about its efficacy, employment practices and effect on students鈥� civil rights. Eight former moderators shared their experiences at Gaggle with 蜜桃影视, describing insufficient safeguards to protect students鈥� sensitive data, a work culture that prioritized speed over quality, scheduling issues that sent them scrambling to get hours and frequent exposure to explicit content that left some traumatized. Read the latest investigation by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber. 

Students Continue to Flee Urban Districts as Boom Towns, Virtual Schools Thrive

Exclusive Data: A year after the nation鈥檚 schools experienced a historic decline in enrollment, data shows many urban districts are still losing students, and those that rebounded this year typically haven鈥檛 returned to pre-pandemic levels. Of 40 states and the District of Columbia, few have seen more than a 1% increase compared with 2020-21, when some states experienced declines as high as 5%, according to data from Burbio, a company that tracks COVID-related education trends. Flat enrollment this year 鈥渕eans those kids did not come back,鈥� said Thomas Dee, an education professor at Stanford University. While many urban districts were already losing students before the pandemic, COVID 鈥渁ccelerated鈥� movement into outlying areas and to states with stronger job markets. Experts say that means many districts will have to make some tough decisions in the coming years. Linda Jacobson reports. 

鈥楬ybrid鈥� Homeschooling Making Inroads as Families Seek New Models

School Choice: As public school enrollments dip to historic lows, researchers are beginning to track families to hybrid homeschooling arrangements that meet in person a few days per week and send students home for the rest of the time. More formal than learning pods or microschools, many still rely on parents for varying levels of instruction and grading. About 60% to 70% are private, according to a new research center on hybrid schools based at Kennesaw State University, northwest of Atlanta. Greg Toppo reports.

Student Safety: Thousands of times every year, New York City school staff report what they fear may be child abuse or neglect to a state hotline. But the vast majority of the resulting investigations yield no evidence of maltreatment while plunging the families, most of them Black, Hispanic and low income, into fear and lasting trauma. Teachers are at the heart of the problem: From August 2019 to January 2022, two-thirds of their allegations were false alarms, data obtained by 蜜桃影视 show. 鈥淭eachers, out of fear that they’re going to get in trouble, will report even if they’re just like, 鈥榃ell, it could be abuse.鈥� 鈥� It also could be 10 million other things,鈥� one Bronx teacher said. . 

The Contagion Effect: From Buffalo to Uvalde, 16 Mass Shootings in Just 10 Days

Gun Violence: May鈥檚 mass school shooting in Texas 鈥� the deadliest campus attack in about a decade 鈥� has refocused attention on the frequency of such devastating carnage on American victims. The tragedy unfolded just 10 days after a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. It could be more than a coincidence: A growing body of research suggests these assaults have a tendency to spread like a viral disease. In fact, The U.S. has experienced 16 mass shootings with at least four victims in just 10 days. Read Mark Keierleber鈥檚 report. 

Teachers Leaving Jobs During Pandemic Find 鈥楩ertile鈥� Ground in New School Models

Microschools: Feeling that she could no longer effectively meet children鈥檚 needs in a traditional school, former counselor Heather Long is among those who left district jobs this year to teach in an alternative model 鈥� a microschool based in her New Hampshire home. 鈥淔or the first time in their lives, they have options,鈥� Jennifer Carolan of Reach Capital, an investment firm supporting online programs and ed tech ventures, told reporter Linda Jacobson. Some experts wonder if microschools are sustainable, but others say the ground is 鈥渇ertile.鈥� Read our full report. 

Facing Pandemic Learning Crisis, Districts Spend Relief Funds at a Snail鈥檚 Pace

School Funding: Schools that were closed the longest due to COVID have spent just a fraction of the billions in federal relief funds targeted to students who suffered the most academically, according to an analysis by 蜜桃影视. The delay is significant, experts say, because research points to a direct correlation between the closures and lost learning. Of the 25 largest districts, the 12 that were in remote learning for at least half the 2020-21 school year have spent on average roughly 15% of their American Rescue Plan funds 鈥� and districts are increasing pressure on the Education Department for more time. Linda Jacobson reports.

Slave Money Paved the Streets. Now, This Posh Rhode Island City Strives to Teach Its Past 

Teaching History: Every year, millions of tourists marvel at Newport, Rhode Island鈥檚 colonial architecture, savor lobster rolls on the wharf and gaze at waters that 鈥� many don鈥檛 realize 鈥� launched more slave trading voyages than anywhere else in North America. But after years of invisibility, that obscured chapter is becoming better known, partly because the Ocean State passed a law in 2021 requiring schools to teach Rhode Island鈥檚 鈥淎frican Heritage History.鈥� Amid recent headlines that the state鈥檚 capital city is now moving forward with a $10 million reparations program, read Asher Lehrer-Small鈥檚 examination of how Newport is looking to empower schools to confront the city鈥檚 difficult past. 

Harvard Economist Thomas Kane on Learning Loss, and Why Many Schools Aren鈥檛 Prepared to Combat It 

74 Interview: This spring, Harvard economist Thomas Kane co-authored one of the biggest 鈥� and most pessimistic 鈥� studies yet of COVID learning loss, revealing that school closures massively set back achievement for low-income students. The effects appear so large that, by his estimates, many schools will need to spend 100% of their COVID relief to counteract them. Perversely, though, many in the education world don鈥檛 realize that yet. 鈥淥nce that sinks in,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 think people will realize that more aggressive action is necessary.鈥� Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 full interview. 

In White, Wealthy Douglas County, Colorado, a Conservative School Board Majority Fires the Superintendent, and Fierce Backlash Ensues

Politics: The 2021 election of four conservative members to Colorado’s Douglas County school board led to the firing in February of schools Superintendent Corey Wise, who had served the district in various capacities for 26 years. The decision, which came at a meeting where public comment was barred, swiftly mobilized teachers, students and community members in opposition. Wise鈥檚 ouster came one day after a 1,500-employee sickout forced the shutdown of the state鈥檚 third-largest school district . A few days later, students walked out of school en masse, followed by litigation and talk of a school board recall effort. The battle mirrors those being fought in numerous districts throughout the country, with conservative parents, newly organized during the pandemic, championing one agenda and more moderate and liberal parent groups beginning to rise up to counter those views. Jo Napolitano reports.

Weaving Stronger School Communities: Nebraska鈥檚 Teacher of the Year Challenges Her Rural Community to Wrestle With the World 

Inspiring: Residents of tiny Taylor, Nebraska, call Megan Helberg a 鈥渞eturner鈥� 鈥� one of the few kids to grow up in the town of 190 residents, leave to attend college in the big city and then return as an adult to rejoin this rural community in the Sandhills. Honored as the state鈥檚 2020 Teacher of the Year, Helberg says she sees her role as going well beyond classroom lessons and academics. She teaches her students to value their deep roots in this close-knit circle. She advocates on behalf of her school 鈥� the same school she attended as a child 鈥� which is always threatened with closure due to small class sizes. She has also launched travel clubs through her schools, which Helberg says has strengthened her community by breaking students, parents and other community members out of their comfort zone and helping them gain a better view of the world outside Nebraska while also seeing their friends and neighbors in a whole new light. This past winter, as part of a broader two-month series on educators weaving community, a team from 蜜桃影视 made multiple visits to Taylor to meet Helberg and see her in action with her students. Watch the full documentary by Jim Fields, and read our full story about Helberg鈥檚 background and inspiration by Laura Fay. 

Other profiles from this year鈥檚 Weaver series: 

• Texas鈥檚 Alejandro Salazar: The band teacher who kept his school community connected through COVID鈥檚 chaos
  
• Hawaii鈥檚 Heidi Maxie: How an island teacher builds community bridges through her Hawaii school
  
• Georgia鈥檚 Allie Reeser: Living and learning among refugees in the 鈥楨llis Island of the South鈥�
  
• : Meet 12 educators strengthening school communities amid the pandemic

Research: Babies Born During COVID Talk Less with Caregivers, Slower to Develop Critical Language Skills

Big Picture: Independent studies by Brown University and a national nonprofit focused on early language development found infants born during the pandemic produced significantly fewer vocalizations and had less verbal back-and-forth with their caretakers compared with those born before COVID. Both used the nonprofit LENA鈥檚 鈥渢alk pedometer鈥� technology, which delivers detailed information on what children hear throughout the day, including the number of words spoken near the child and the child鈥檚 own language-related vocalizations. It also counts child-adult interactions, called 鈥渃onversational turns,鈥� which are critical to language acquisition. The joint finding is the latest troubling evidence of developmental delays discovered when comparing babies born before and after COVID. 鈥淚鈥檓 worried about how we set things up going forward such that our early childhood teachers and early childhood interventionalists are prepared for what is potentially a set of children who maybe aren鈥檛 performing as we expect them to,鈥� Brown鈥檚 Sean Deoni tells 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Jo Napolitano. Read our full report. 

Minneapolis Teacher Strike Lasted 3 Weeks. The Fallout Will Be Felt for Years

Two days after Minneapolis teachers ended their first strike in 50 years this past May, Superintendent Ed Graff walked out of a school board meeting, ostensibly because a student protester had used profanity. The next morning, he resigned. The swearing might have been the last straw, but the kit-bag of problems left unresolved by the district鈥檚 agreement with the striking unions is backbreaking indeed. Four-fifths of the district鈥檚 federal pandemic aid is now committed to staving off layoffs and giving classroom assistants and teachers bonuses and raises, leaving little for academic recovery at a moment when the percentage of disadvantaged students performing at grade level has dipped into the single digits. From potential school closures and misinformation about how much money the district actually has to layoffs of Black teachers, a lack of diversity in the workforce and how to make up for lost instructional time, Beth Hawkins reports on the aftermath. 

After Steering Mississippi鈥檚 Unlikely Learning Miracle, Carey Wright Steps Down

Profile: Mississippi, one of America鈥檚 poorest and least educated states, emerged in 2019 as a fast-rising exemplar in math and reading growth. The transformation of the state鈥檚 long-derided school system came about through intense work 鈥� in the classroom and the statehouse 鈥� to raise learning standards, overhaul reading instruction and reinvent professional development. And with longtime State Superintendent Carey Wright retiring at the end of June, 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken looked at what comes next.

As Schools Push for More Tutoring, New Research Points to Its Effectiveness 鈥� and the Challenge of Scaling it to Combat Learning Loss

Learning Acceleration: In the two years that COVID-19 has upended schooling for millions of families, experts and education leaders have increasingly touted one tool as a means for coping with learning loss: personalized tutors. In February, just days after the secretary of education declared that every struggling student should receive 90 minutes of tutoring each week, a newly released study offers more evidence of the strategy’s potential 鈥� and perhaps its limitations. An online tutoring pilot launched last spring did yield modest, if positive, learning benefits for the hundreds of middle schoolers who participated. But those gains were considerably smaller than the impressive results from some previous studies, perhaps because of the project’s design: It relied on lightly trained volunteers, rather than professional educators, and held its sessions online instead of in person. 鈥淭here is a tradeoff in navigating the current climate where what is possible might not be scalable,” the study’s co-author, Matthew Kraft, told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken. “So instead of just saying, ‘Come hell or high water, I’m going to build a huge tutoring program,鈥� we might be better off starting off with a small program and building it over time.” Read our full report. 

STEM: Robert Sansone was born to invent. His STEM creations range from springy leg extensions for sprinting to a go-kart that can reach speeds of 70 mph. But his latest project aims to solve a global problem: the unsustainability of electric car motors that use rare earth materials that are nonrenewable, expensive and pollute the environment during the mining and refining process. In Video Director James Field鈥檚 video profile, the Florida high schooler talks about his creation, inspiration and what he plans to do with his $75,000 prize from the 2022 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. , and watch our full portrait below: 

From educators鈥� reflections on two tumultuous years to escalating school board fights over curriculum and transparency and new data surrounding both student reading scores and the benefits of tutoring, here were our most shared articles from February: 

700 Days Since Lockdown: Educators, Students, Parents and Researchers Reflect on Pandemic鈥檚 鈥楽eismic Interruption to Education鈥�

Reflections: 700 days. That鈥檚 how long it鈥檚 been since more than half the nation鈥檚 schools crossed into the pandemic era. On March 16, 2020, districts in 27 states, encompassing almost 80,000 schools, closed their doors for the first long educational lockdown. Since then, schools have reopened, closed and reopened again. The effects have been immediate 鈥� students lost parents; teachers mourned fallen colleagues 鈥� and hopelessly abstract as educators weighed 鈥減andemic learning loss,鈥� the sometimes crude measure of COVID鈥檚 impact on students鈥� academic performance. As spring approaches, there are some reasons to be hopeful. More children are being vaccinated. Mask mandates are ending. But even if the pandemic recedes and a 鈥渘ew normal鈥� emerges, there are clear signs that the issues surfaced during this period will linger. COVID heightened inequities that have long been baked into the American educational system. The social contract between parents and schools has frayed. And teachers are burning out. To mark what will soon stretch into a third spring of educational disruption, Linda Jacobson interviewed educators, parents, students and researchers who spoke movingly, often unsparingly, about what Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab, called 鈥渁 seismic interruption to education unlike anything we鈥檝e ever seen.鈥�

鈥擯hoto History: 鈥嬧�婼cenes from 24 months of lockdown and perseverance (See here)

鈥擲tudent Relationships: Teens share their tales of romance & friendship 700 days into COVID (Read here)

鈥�74 Interview: Ed finance guru Marguerite Roza on funding, parental 鈥榓wakening鈥� and being a data person in a time of public health panic (Read more)

鈥擲pecial Series: See our full coverage 鈥� Reflecting on the COVID school years 

Million-Dollar Records Request: From COVID and Critical Race Theory to Teachers鈥� Names & Schools, Minnesota Districts Flooded With Freedom of Information Document Demands

School District Chaos: In bucolic Owatonna, Minnesota, the head of the school system鈥檚 HR department has been working since August to fulfill a request for records anonymous activists believe might reveal the presence of critical race theory in local classrooms. Down the road in Rochester, district officials told another group it would cost more than $900,000 to conduct its document search, which asks for curriculum covering history, social studies, geography, English, English literature, U.S. history and world history, and 鈥渁ny courses with a sociological or cultural theme [and] any courses with a curriculum that includes a discussion of current events.鈥� In tiny Lewiston-Altura Public Schools, some of the activists lodging the requests have protested board meetings. The public has an absolute right to know what鈥檚 being taught in schools, freedom of information advocates tell Beth Hawkins, and Minnesota鈥檚 鈥渟unshine laws鈥� make asking for records as inexpensive as possible to ensure public access. Still, as one small-town newspaper groused, it鈥檚 hard not to see 鈥減olitically motivated, overreaching demands designed to bury districts.鈥�

鈥榃e Have First-Graders Who Can鈥檛 Sing the Alphabet Song鈥�: Pandemic Continues to Push Young Readers Off Track, New Data Shows

Learning Loss: Young children learning to read 鈥� especially Black and Hispanic students 鈥� are in need of significant support nearly two years after the pandemic disrupted their transition into school, according to new assessment results. Mid-year data from Amplify, a curriculum provider, shows that while the so-called 鈥淐OVID cohort鈥� of students in kindergarten, first and second grade are making progress, they haven鈥檛 caught up to where students in those grade levels were performing before schools shut down in March 2020. This year鈥檚 quarantines and short-term closures likely contributed to the slow progress, 鈥淔or the youngest learners to go to school for two or three days and then be out for 10 鈥� it鈥檚 not just picking up where you left off; it鈥檚 actually starting all over again,鈥� said Susan Lambert, chief academic officer of elementary humanities at Amplify. Results from fourth- and fifth-graders, however, show greater recovery, with the rates of students meeting benchmarks nearly back to the same level they were in the winter of the 2019-20 school year. Tutoring providers are seeing the impact of remote learning up close. 鈥�We have first-graders who can’t sing the alphabet song,鈥� Kate Bauer-Jones told reporter Linda Jacobson.

As Schools Push for More Tutoring, New Research Points to Its Effectiveness 鈥� and the Challenge of Scaling it To Combat Learning Loss

Research: In the two years that COVID-19 has upended schooling for millions of families, experts and education leaders have increasingly touted one tool as a means for coping with learning loss: personalized tutors. Now, days after the U.S. secretary of education declared that every struggling student should receive 90 minutes of tutoring each week, a new study offers more evidence of the strategy’s potential 鈥� and perhaps its limitations. An online tutoring pilot launched last spring yielded modest, if positive, learning benefits for hundreds of middle schoolers. But those gains were considerably smaller than the results from some previous studies, perhaps because of the project’s design: It relied on lightly trained volunteers, rather than professional educators, and held its sessions online instead of in person. 鈥淭here is a tradeoff in navigating the current climate where what is possible might not be scalable,” study co-author Matthew Kraft told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken. “So instead of just saying, ‘Come hell or high water, I’m going to build a huge tutoring program,鈥� we might be better off starting off with a small program and building it over time.”

NYC Schools Reported Over 9,600 Students to Child Protective Services Since Aug. 2020. Is It the 鈥榃rong Tool鈥� for Families Traumatized by COVID?

Absenteeism: Paullette Healy鈥檚 younger child had nightmares after the knock at the door of their Brooklyn apartment. Standing outside was a caseworker, explaining that the family was being investigated for educational neglect for not sending their children to school amid COVID fears 鈥� even though the kids had kept up with their work remotely. The report was one of 9,674 made by NYC school staff for suspected abuse and neglect to the state child abuse hotline from August 2020 to November 2021, according to public records obtained by 蜜桃影视. In the first three months of the 2021-22 school year, there were about 45 percent more reports than during the same time span the year before, when most of the city鈥檚 nearly 1 million students were learning virtually. Now, after NYC student attendance rates plunged in early January amid the Omicron surge, and with ongoing debate over a remote learning option, there are fears even more families may get entangled in the child welfare web. 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Asher Lehrer-Small reports.

School Choice Backers See Opening in COVID Chaos, Even as Culture War Issues Threaten to Fracture Coalition

Education Reform: School choice has always relied on a fragile left-right coalition, mostly between Black and Latino activists and centrist-to-conservative legislators pushing to rebalance the public school power structure. The coalition had weakened over the past few years. But COVID-19 is changing that. Fueled by parental impatience with lockdowns, quarantines, and mask and vaccine mandates 鈥� as well as curricula that some view as politically charged 鈥� there has been a flurry of legislative choice efforts in Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia and West Virginia. 鈥淭he legislatures are on fire right now for these kinds of things,鈥� said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who chairs the nonprofit reform group ExcelinEd. 鈥淎nd I don’t see it going away.鈥� But as 74 contributor Greg Toppo reports, even as choice backers see fresh opportunity in pandemic chaos, there are early warning signs that the coalition could fracture again. Greg Richmond, a longtime school choice advocate who now leads the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools, said concerns over so-called critical race theory could be 鈥渢he Achilles heel鈥� of the current choice renaissance. The new rhetoric, he said, is 鈥渘ot in pursuit of higher graduation rates and test scores,鈥� but 鈥渨inning the culture war.鈥�

Vax Up, Masks Down: Maryland, Massachusetts Lead Effort to 鈥極ff-Ramp鈥� Face Coverings in School

School Safety: As Omicron cases recede in most of the country and K-12 debate turns to whether students should still have to wear masks, two Democratic states have charted a middle path that offers highly immunized districts the option. If more than 80 percent of students and staff are fully vaccinated, Massachusetts and Maryland let districts do away with mask requirements. Maryland also allows an end to masking when case rates remain low. Meanwhile, governors in New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware all announced this month their school mask mandates will be sunsetting, as soon as Feb. 28 in Connecticut鈥檚 case. Their actions follow a growing chorus of experts nationwide calling for mask-optional classrooms. 鈥淵ou cannot mask in perpetuity,鈥� Maryland State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Asher Lehrer-Small. 鈥�You have to be able to have a responsible off-ramp.鈥�

Report: With Omicron, Math App Zearn Reveals a Troubling New Gap in Student Engagement 鈥� Even Where Schools Are Open

Missing Students: When the latest variant emerged, the data scientists at Zearn saw the same socioeconomic disparities in student use of their math app as they did in the first days of the pandemic. Or so they thought. Just as in March 2020, the number of affluent students using the popular math program remained relatively stable as December鈥檚 COVID-19 disruptions plunged schools into chaos, while the number of low-income kids plummeted. But this time, the Zearn team could find no correlation between the dip in student math participation and pandemic-related school closures. Instead, the drop seems to be tied to case counts 鈥� the gaps appear to be biggest where COVID-19 infection rates are highest. And kids in the low-income communities are hit hardest. Beth Hawkins has the story.

New National Poll: Americans Split on Whether Schools Should Teach Current-Day Racism

Curriculum: As battles erupt around the country over how the subject of race should be treated in the classroom, a new survey finds Americans are split over whether schools should teach children about current-day racism. It found that 49 percent of 1,200 respondents from around the U.S. believe schools have a responsibility to ensure students learn about the ongoing effects of slavery and racism in America. Meanwhile, 41 percent believe schools should teach students about the history of slavery and racism 鈥� but not about race relations today. A full 10 percent said schools do not have any responsibility to teach about slavery or racism in the U.S., according to the latest Mood of the Nation Poll conducted by The McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. The poll, released today, also addresses the degree to which people believe parents should influence their child鈥檚 education 鈥� another current flashpoint 鈥� the teaching of evolution and sex education, and COVID safety. Across the board, respondents said parents should have the most sway, followed by teachers. Jo Napolitano breaks down the results.

Increasing Segregation of Latino Students Hinders Academic Performance and Could Amplify COVID Learning Loss, Study Finds

School Segregation: Elementary students from low-income families are less likely than they were two decades ago to attend school with middle-class peers 鈥� a trend tied to the growth of the Latino population and continuing white flight from many school districts, according to a new study. In an analysis of over 14,000 districts nationwide, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Maryland showed that in 2000, the average child from a poor family went to an elementary school where almost half the students were middle-class. By 2015, that figure had fallen to 36 percent. The increasing segregation, the authors said, has implications for districts鈥� efforts to address learning loss related to the pandemic because Latino families were among those hardest hit. Linda Jacobson has the story.

Teen-y Tiny Pandemic Love Stories: Students Share Their Tales of Romance & Friendship Two Years Into COVID

Student Relationships: Online games. Dating apps. Penpals from across the globe. Amid nearly two years of the pandemic, young people at every turn have found creative ways to connect with their friends and potential love interests. Despite what at many times has been a largely virtual world, teens often came out on the other side of lockdown with relationships that were stronger for the experience. Or as one New York City high schooler put it: 鈥淚f you鈥檝e been through a pandemic with someone, I feel like we鈥檙e bonded for life.鈥� From long-harbored crushes to new friends over Zoom, breakups to hookups, and Bumble DMs to online multiplayer games, young people share their experiences of pandemic friendship and romance, brought to you in the form of seven mini-love stories. Asher Lehrer-Small has our Valentine鈥檚 Day special.

America鈥檚 School Boards Are in Crisis. Here Are 9 Ways to Fix That 鈥� and Keep the Focus on Educating Children

Commentary: The governing of public schools in many communities is nearing total collapse. From coast to coast, fights over book bans, curricula, bathrooms, racial issues, masks, vaccinations and police on campus have torn communities apart and led to angry confrontations, violence and destruction of property. People have resigned from school boards or declared they will not run for office due to the intensity of these conflicts. Meanwhile, problems such as student performance, teacher pay and working conditions, and learning loss during the pandemic remain on the sidelines. To help save one of the oldest forms of governance in this country 鈥� predating the American Revolution 鈥� contributor Christopher T. Cross suggests a number of actions that every state, every school board, can take to improve the governance of our public schools.

鈥�74 Opinion: See all our latest op-eds and commentary

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Here were our most widely shared articles to kick off 2022:

Why Learning Loss Is Prompting Educators to Rethink the Traditional School Calendar: Start Earlier, End Later, Extend Breaks for Remediation

Learning Recovery: Pandemic-related school closures, which caused alarming learning losses among the country鈥檚 most vulnerable students, have prompted some administrators to reconsider their academic calendars. Though the school year wouldn’t get any longer, an earlier start date, a later end date and numerous, elongated breaks could allow more timely remediation for children in need 鈥� and enrichment for those who are not. The suggestion comes as the fast-spreading Omicron variant is making it difficult for schools to remain open. But districts had already begun scaling back 鈥� moving to four days of instruction per week and adding days off to their calendars 鈥� in an effort to curb teacher burnout. Jo Napolitano takes the national pulse of year-round schooling, including in Washington state, where 22 districts are exploring ways to rearrange their 180-day calendars.

New Research: Students in Majority-Black Schools Had Been 9 Months Behind Their White Peers. Now, the Gap Is a Full 12 Months

Achievement Gaps: While students overall are starting to make up unfinished learning, what’s been described as the pandemic’s 鈥淜-shaped鈥� recovery 鈥� and the resources directed to it 鈥� remain deeply inequitable, according to a new report by researchers at McKinsey & Co. Pre-pandemic, pupils in majority-Black schools were, on average, nine months behind children in white schools. Now, that gap has widened to 12 months. At the same time, the services and in-person instruction that could begin to bridge the gap are imperiled. Student absenteeism is up sharply from last year, and the number of children in individual classrooms who are several years behind is up 9 percent, creating daunting challenges for teachers in terms of tailoring instruction. Beth Hawkins has a quick rundown of the numbers. 

Teacher Trauma: New Orleans Researchers Find Educator Mental Health Closely Tied to Pandemic Classroom Effectiveness

Mental Health: A new report finds challenges associated with student learning loss top the list of pandemic-era stressors experienced by teachers in New Orleans, whose levels of depression, anxiety and PTSD rival or exceed those of health care workers. According to a survey administered by the Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative, a feeling of being ineffective with students 鈥� reported by white teachers more often than their Black colleagues 鈥� was the top stressor, followed closely by challenges related to hybrid and remote instruction. A joint endeavor of Tulane University, NOLA Public Schools, the New Orleans Health Department and a number of social service agencies, the coalition conducted the survey in June 2021, before first the Delta variant and now Omicron dashed hopes that schools might return to 鈥渘ormal鈥� this year. Beth Hawkins has five top takeaways from the research.

Exclusive: Pittsburgh Schools Reported Zero Student Arrests While Court Records Show It鈥檚 a Discipline 鈥楬ot Spot鈥�

School Discipline: Federal data show that no Pittsburgh students were arrested during the 2017-18 school year 鈥� certainly something worthy of celebration, if only it were true. Instead, a report released this month by the ACLU of Pennsylvania found that Allegheny County 鈥� and Pittsburgh in particular 鈥� is a student discipline 鈥渉ot spot.鈥� While the district said its underreporting was done in error, an analysis of county juvenile court data show that police carried out nearly 500 school-based arrests in Pittsburgh Public Schools that year. Those arrests disproportionately targeted Black students and children with disabilities, often for minor offenses. During the 2018-19 school year in Allegheny County, Black students were arrested nearly nine times more often than their white classmates, according to juvenile court records. That year, 1 in 51 Black boys and 1 in 69 Black girls were arrested at school, compared with 1 in 316 white boys and 1 in 894 white girls. Outside southwest Pennsylvania, federal education data suggest the issue of underreporting student arrests is also widespread. More than 60 percent of large school districts nationwide reported zero school-related arrests during the 2015-16 year, according to a 2020 report by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. 鈥淭he harms of having police in schools are much more widespread than districts report,鈥� the ACLU鈥檚 Harold Jordan said. Read more by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber.

Supreme Court: Maine allows private religious schools to participate in its tuition benefit program for families that don鈥檛 have a public high school in their community 鈥� except for schools that seek to instill religious beliefs in their students. That caveat is at the heart of Carson v. Makin, . Plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Bindas, with the libertarian Institute for Justice, argued that the state is discriminating against religion. He is representing two families that were told they could not receive a tuition benefit because they wanted their children to attend religious schools. Based on the justices鈥� questioning, experts said, states would likely no longer be able to defend such rules after the court rules next year. 鈥淰ery few of the justices paid any attention to the longstanding principle at the heart of American constitutional tradition 鈥� that taxpayers should not be forced to fund religious education,鈥� said Alex Luchenitser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. .

Aldeman: There Is No 鈥楤ig Quit鈥� in K-12 Education. But Schools Have Specific Labor Challenges That Need Targeted Solutions

School Staffing: The full numbers aren鈥檛 in yet, but 2021 will likely set a modern record for the number of Americans who quit their jobs. Economists have dubbed it the Great Resignation, as millions of employees search for higher pay and better working conditions. Is this Big Quit happening in education? Says contributor Chad Aldeman, the data suggest the answer is no. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while turnover rates are setting new highs in the private sector, they look pretty normal in public education. That doesn鈥檛 mean there are no labor challenges in K-12. It鈥檚 just that those issues are smaller in magnitude than what the private sector faces, and they are much more about specific schools and particular roles within schools. Districts, Aldeman writes, should respond accordingly with solutions 鈥� including those involving targeted pay hikes 鈥� tailored to the actual challenges schools face. Read the full analysis. 

In Push to Renew School Accountability, Feds Urge States to Keep Eye on Pandemic鈥檚 Effects

Accountability: Following a two-year pause, states must resume pinpointing their lowest-performing schools and those with persistent achievement gaps, according to a recent draft of guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. But bowing to uncertainty sparked by the pandemic, officials will allow one-year changes to the criteria states use to identify those schools. That means report cards states use to communicate student performance to the public could look quite different. 鈥淭his gives a clear signal to the field and to the states that we are restarting accountability,鈥� said Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger, president and CEO of the Data Quality Campaign, one of the organizations that said more statewide data is necessary to fully understand the impact of the pandemic on students. The guidance also invites states to propose long-term changes that account for other areas of student success, such as college and career data. But others argue allowing states to make changes to how they rate schools could leave parents confused. Linda Jacobson reports.

鈥榃e Don鈥檛 Have Any Talented Students鈥�: Confronting English Language Learners鈥� Drastic Under-Representation in Elementary Gifted & Talented

Equity: English learners are drastically underrepresented in elementary school gifted and talented programs, and the one tool advocates hoped would better identify them 鈥� non-verbal assessments 鈥� doesn鈥檛 work, critics say. In Florida鈥檚 Brevard County Public Schools, for example, only five of the 1,927 English learners in grades K-6 are among the 1,836 students enrolled in the district’s G&T program. Experts say teachers are not adequately trained to spot giftedness in these students and often falsely assume their language difficulties mean they are deficient or need remediation. Meanwhile, a national expert told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Jo Napolitano, many districts are abandoning costly non-verbal gifted assessments because they yield the same results as traditional verbal tests. A new exam that uses animation could help, and many G&T educators strive to identify giftedness in ways that transcend language. Still, it remains an enormous challenge. 鈥淲e have all of this talent just sitting there,鈥� said Jonathan Plucker, president of the National Association for Gifted Children. 鈥淎nd the child isn鈥檛 benefiting from their own skills. That is a massive societal failure. We simply have to do better.鈥�

Rotherham: Bloomberg鈥檚 $750M Grant Is the Jolt the Charter Sector Needs 鈥� and a Litmus Test for White Democrats Who Claim to Back School Choice

Commentary: Bloomberg Philanthropies’s $750 million effort to create more high-quality charter school seats around the country is an exciting jolt to a sector that needs it, says contributor Andrew Rotherham. Which is why the lack of enthusiasm from the education reform and charter school world over the Bloomberg announcement was as noteworthy as the commitment itself. While charters are not a panacea or silver bullet, they get results. On average, urban charters outperform other public schools in their communities 鈥� often substantially. Support for charter schools is above 70 percent among Black Americans, who, along with Hispanic Americans, disproportionately support expanding school choice. You know who disproportionately doesn鈥檛 vigorously support more school choice? White Democrats. It鈥檚 noteworthy just how much opposition to greater educational choice comes from white progressives who are, on average, to the left politically of Black and Hispanic Americans on pretty much every issue except educational empowerment. Charters are an equity solution in public education because they give low-income parents power and choice and help create good schools in communities too often denied them. The next time someone tells you with great solemnity about how they 鈥渃enter鈥� parents and just humbly follow the evidence on school choice, ask how excited they must be about a $750 million commitment to try to do that. Read the full essay.

Analysis: Pandemic Learning Loss Could Cost U.S. Students $2 Trillion in Lifetime Earnings. What States & Schools Can Do to Avert This Crisis

College & Career: In newly released data, the nonprofit testing company NWEA reports that the median student in grades 3 to 8 returned to school this fall 9 to 11 percentile points behind in math and 3 to 7 percentile points behind in reading. But it鈥檚 difficult to convey the magnitude of that learning loss. To make it more tangible, contributors Dan Goldhaber, Thomas J. Kane and Andrew McEachin propose restating the loss in terms of students鈥� future earnings 鈥� which they calculate could total $43,800 per child, or more than $2 trillion spread across the 50 million public school students currently enrolled in grades K to 12. Schools could compensate for those deficits with tutors, extra periods of instruction in math and reading, Saturday academies and afterschool programs. But no one should expect to produce the equivalent of the necessary eight to 19 extra instructional weeks just by asking teachers to run a few review sessions and to generally pick up the pace. Read the authors’ suggestions for what states and schools can do now to avert this looming crisis.

Curriculum Case Study: We鈥檝e Been Teaching Reading Wrong for Decades. How a Massachusetts School鈥檚 Switch to Evidence-Based Instruction Changed Everything

Curriculum: The second in our recent series of essays about the Knowledge Matters Campaign’s tour of Massachusetts schools spotlights UP Academy Holland and the efforts of educators Victoria Thompson, Elizabeth Wolfson and Mandy Hollister in leading an instructional shift away from balanced literacy. In its place, the trio helped implement a new high-quality, knowledge-building English language arts curriculum specifically designed to support the science of reading 鈥� a curriculum they say changed everything for their students. 鈥淔or us,鈥� they write, 鈥渢his journey and shift has been personal 鈥� personal for ourselves as educators to do right by our students, personal in that we had been taught a way of teaching that was wrong and yet believed it for so many years, and personal for the students who we saw struggle every single day with the way things were taught.鈥� Read more about their students鈥� dramatic improvements 鈥� and how the school’s story ties into a national trend of educators embracing a new vision of teaching and learning through the implementation of high-quality instructional materials. (Also be sure to check out our complete curriculum series right here)听

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Our most widely circulated education coverage this year focused largely on how school is still looking a whole lot different today than it did two years ago, how educators and policymakers are both recognizing the need for urgent learning recovery efforts, and how emerging political fights over schools and curriculum are straining an already stretched system.

These were our 21 most shared and debated articles of 2021:

Investigation: When the pandemic forced Minneapolis students into remote learning, district officials partnered with Gaggle, a digital surveillance company that uses artificial intelligence and a team of content moderators to track the online behaviors of millions of kids across the U.S. every day. Now, at how the Minneapolis school district deployed a controversial security tool that saw rapid national growth during the pandemic but carries significant civil rights and privacy concerns. The data highlight how Gaggle puts children under relentless digital surveillance long after classes end for the day. In Minneapolis, officials say the tool helps identify youth at risk of suicide. But some worry that rummaging through students’ personal files and conversations on their school-issued Google and Microsoft accounts could backfire. . 

鈥� Read Our Previous Coverage: 鈥楧on鈥檛 get Gaggled鈥� 鈥� Minneapolis school district spends big on student surveillance tool, raising ire after terminating its police contract (Read more) 

With Up to 9 Grade Levels Per Class, Can Schools Handle the Fallout From COVID鈥檚 K-Shaped Recession?

Learning Loss: Wealthy newcomers from expensive cities like New York and San Francisco propelled housing prices in Austin, Texas, into the stratosphere in 2020, pushing out families of modest means and sending demographic shockwaves through the area鈥檚 schools. It鈥檚 just one manifestation of the pandemic鈥檚 K-shaped recession, a downturn barely felt by the affluent people at the top of the K but devastating to the people at the bottom. As schools prepared to reopen this past fall, research was showing that COVID had put the most disadvantaged students even further behind while propelling privileged children ahead and hollowing out the middle. Meaning the span of academic mastery in individual classrooms 鈥� seven grade levels in 鈥渘ormal鈥� times 鈥� had widened even further, to as many as nine grade levels. In this chapter of 蜜桃影视鈥檚 series examining the link between the pandemic鈥檚 economic turmoil and challenges in classrooms, Beth Hawkins takes you inside an Austin school that鈥檚 poised to meet the needs of its 鈥渂ookend students鈥� 鈥� the kids furthest ahead and behind 鈥� and may be a model for addressing the COVID classroom crisis. Read our full dispatch from Texas 鈥� and see other chapters from our K-shaped report: 

鈥� Early Education: D.C.鈥檚 missing students and the rush to avert a COVID classroom crisis (Read more)

鈥� School Funding: Will fallout from COVID鈥檚 K-shaped recession finally fix Delaware鈥檚 Jim Crow-era school funding rules? (Read more)

鈥� Prepared For the Crisis: Recession, recovery & robotics 鈥� Can CTE and Reno鈥檚 reinvented schools avert the COVID classroom crisis? (Read more)

鈥� Rebuilding Towards Equity: Trailblazing leader was hired to fix Colorado Springs schools. Will doubling down on his reforms avert crisis? (Read more)

鈥� 74 Explains: WATCH 鈥� How COVID鈥檚 K-shaped recession could widen achievement gaps: 

鈥� Inside Our Special Report: The fallout from the pandemic鈥檚 K-Shaped recession may be felt by students for years (See our full series)

Chaos Theory: Amid Pandemic Recovery Efforts, School Leaders Fear Critical Race Furor Will 鈥楶aralyze鈥� Teachers

Critical Race Theory: Calls for teachers to wear body cameras, mountains of records requests and threats against school administrators are among the flashpoints in an emerging new front in the nation’s culture wars, as parents and other opponents of critical race theory push back against its perceived influence in the classroom. As of June, when this feature was originally published, nine states had banned implementation of the once-obscure theory, which in the minds of many encompasses a host of racial and equity-related initiatives, from culturally responsive teaching to social-emotional learning. For many teachers, the backlash felt like a new kind of McCarthyism, where they fear being harassed, fined or fired for a wide array of classroom activities associated with the examination of structural racism in America. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge distraction at a time when we can鈥檛 afford a distraction,鈥� Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, told reporter Linda Jacobson ahead of the start of the 2021 school year. 鈥淭his has been a year the majority of students were not exposed to the kind of learning they should have been exposed to. Now you鈥檙e going to paralyze teachers because they are afraid to teach.鈥� Read our special report. 

鈥� From July: On the Front Lines 鈥� From security guards to twitter breaks, how school leaders are responding to an unsettling season of public outrage ()

How White Extremists Teach Kids to Hate

School Safety: Five days after extremists used the fringe video gaming platform Dlive to livestream a mob attack on the U.S. Capitol in January, a youthful white nationalist logged on to the site and offered his take about the future of a movement he helped create 鈥� a radical agenda, experts warn, that鈥檚 targeted at teens. As the Capitol riot reawakens many Americans to the persistent reality of white supremacists among us, experts on extremism are sounding the alarm about the ways alt-right groups weaponize video games and streaming platforms to recruit and radicalize impressionable young minds. For teenagers whose isolation has been heightened by the pandemic, the desire for connection makes them particularly vulnerable, particularly in the current political climate. But experts say parents and educators can intervene before it鈥檚 too late. Read more Mark Keierleber鈥檚 report. 

Fearing a 鈥楽econd Pandemic鈥� of Student Trauma, School Leaders Are Doubling Down on Mental Health First Aid Training

Mental Health: Between April and October of 2020, emergency room visits rose 24 percent for kids ages 5 to 11 and 31 percent for ages 12 to 17 over the year before, a trend experts attribute to pandemic stressors adding to the already mounting crisis of anxiety-related disorders in young people. As students then returned to in-person learning last winter, these symptoms began showing up in classrooms 鈥� and teachers became the first line of defense. Fearing what this might mean for the start of the 2021 school year, educators began signing up for Mental Health First Aid certification over the summer. The course, administered by nonprofits including Communities in Schools, reminds adults nationwide that they aren鈥檛 鈥渟uperheroes鈥� 鈥� but they can guide young people toward getting help with a mental health challenge while decreasing the stigma and judgment around the struggles many are facing in the pandemic’s wake. In the first installment of a special three-part series produced in partnership with Texas Tribune, Bekah McNeel looked at how this training helped educators at one Texas school 鈥� as well as other teachers around the country 鈥� deal with their students’ often hidden mental health issues. Read our special report.

鈥� Also in This Series: How a mental health 鈥榙esert鈥� in Texas became a beacon of counseling services for thousands of children and families (Read more) 

鈥� Through Students鈥� Eyes: Second graders 鈥榮how鈥� their pandemic challenges through art 鈥� and 鈥榯ell鈥� how their teacher helped them stay strong (Read more) 

Social-Emotional Learning or 鈥榃hite Supremacy with a Hug鈥�? Yale Official鈥檚 Departure Sparks a Racial Reckoning

SEL: For seven years, Dena Simmons drove efforts to make the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence鈥檚 popular social-emotional learning program, RULER, more culturally relevant for students with life experiences like hers 鈥� a Black girl from the Bronx. Her message resonated with educators across the country in districts struggling with the racial mismatch between teachers and students. 鈥淒ena鈥檚 star was certainly on the rise 鈥� because she brought a perspective in content that was transformational,鈥� Andre Perry of the Brookings Institution told reporter Linda Jacobson. But Marc Brackett, the Yale center鈥檚 director and a well-known guru on the role of emotions in learning, saw things differently. Emails shared with 蜜桃影视 and interviews with Simmons and other former staff members at the center show Brackett balked at efforts to include political figures, such as former President Barack Obama, and current texts, such as a book about a transgender boy, into RULER鈥檚 lessons. Such approaches, Brackett warned, could get the program 鈥渂anned.鈥� Simmons鈥檚 frustrations peaked in 2020, when she became the target of racial slurs during an online event meant to foster racial healing, and she resigned in January. The clash at the Yale center 鈥� and the response to her departure 鈥� tell a larger story about what some see as a pressing need to address historical discrimination and others criticize as efforts to politicize the SEL curriculum. As one leader in the world of social-emotional learning said, 鈥淭here is a measure of urgency that was not present two years ago.鈥� Read our full investigation.

Texas Teachers Go Door to Door as Kids Disappear From Remote Classes

Remote Learning: Middle school teacher Brandee Brandt pounded on the door of a San Antonio apartment for the third time. 鈥淚t鈥檚 Ms. Brandt! Davey, are you there?鈥� she called. Finally, Davey鈥檚 older brother cracked open the door. 鈥淵ou really aren鈥檛 going away are you?鈥� he said, trying to sound annoyed as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 鈥淵ou know we鈥檙e not giving up!鈥� Brandt replied. During the first half of the 2020-21 school year, teachers from Rawlinson Middle School visited around 100 homes, seeking out kids in urgent need of support and engagement. With half the school鈥檚 1,350 students learning remotely during that timeframe, and thus at a higher risk of chronic absence, the teachers come knocking at the first sign of trouble. 鈥淚 felt a sense of urgency,鈥� Principal Sherry Mireles said, 鈥淚f they鈥檙e not getting their schooling, it’s our responsibility. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to allow a 12-, 13-, 14-year-old to drop out. Not on my watch.鈥� Bekah McNeel rode along this spring and has the story.

鈥� The COVID Warriors: See our special series on the educators going above and beyond to save the pandemic generation at The74Million.org/COVIDWarriors. 

How Are States Spending Their COVID Education Relief Funds?

School Funding: Asked by the U.S. Education Department to identify the top issues facing students and schools in the wake of the pandemic, state education officials are remarkably consistent: Their plans for spending their share of federal COVID relief aid for education demonstrate a strong need to expand learning opportunities and address students鈥� social and emotional needs. But an analysis by FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University鈥檚 McCourt School of Public Policy, finds that states that have submitted to the department are pursuing those goals in a variety of ways. Contributors Brooke LePage and Phyllis W. Jordan of FutureEd break down how, from tutoring and mental health supports to universal pre-K, museum trips 鈥� even a student film festival 鈥� states are looking to spend their COVID ed relief funds. Read the essay, and click through our interactive maps.

A Better Equation: New Pandemic Data Supports Acceleration Rather than Remediation to Make Up for COVID Learning Loss

Learning Acceleration: In a report released last May, researchers offered some advice for education leaders. As they decide how to spend their federal stimulus dollars and address learning losses in the school year to come, they should consider the lackluster impact of remediation 鈥� the typical gap-closing practice of making up missed material before moving on 鈥� and new evidence suggesting there鈥檚 a better way. TNTP and Zearn analyzed the experiences of 2 million students during the current academic year and found that, on Zearn鈥檚 math app, classrooms featuring acceleration 鈥� a strategy in which students are challenged by grade-level lessons and instructed in specific missing skills as needed 鈥� saw dramatic growth. Students receiving this kind of support completed over 25 percent more grade-level work than they would have using remediation. By contrast, students in remediation continued to struggle. Beth Hawkins talks to the team about their findings.

Long-Term NAEP Scores for 13-Year-Olds Drop for First Time Since Testing Began in 1970s 鈥� 鈥楢 Matter for National Concern,鈥� Experts Say

Student Achievement: Over the past few years, education observers have grown accustomed to downbeat news from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, with multiple rounds of the test pointing to largely stagnant scores across various subjects. The release this year of results from NAEP’s 2020 long-term trends assessment offers revelations that are startling as well as discouraging: For the first time in the half-century history of that test, reading and math scores for 13-year-olds significantly declined. Black and Hispanic students in that age group both lost ground in math since the test was last given, in 2012, and the lower performance of 9-year-old girls opened up a gender gap with boys that did not exist nine years ago. Worst of all were the plunging scores of low-performing students 鈥� especially those scoring at the 10th percentile, who declined an astonishing 12 points in eighth-grade math. “It’s really a matter for national concern, this high percentage of students who are not reaching even what I think we’d consider the lowest levels of proficiency,” said George Bohrnstedt, a senior vice president at the American Institutes for Research. Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 full report.

From Tragedy to Triumph to Failure: How 9/11 Helped Pass No Child Left Behind 鈥� And Fueled its Eventual Demise

History: Two decades have passed since the morning that changed America forever 鈥� a morning that found President George W. Bush in a Florida elementary school, reading with students and attempting to jump-start the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. Within months of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a collective sense of grief and purpose led the federal government to declare war on terrorism, even as it pledged to provide an excellent education for every child. But while it is generally acknowledged that Congress passed the landmark legislation partially as a demonstration of national unity, some believe the Bush administration鈥檚 emphasis on the global war on terror set back the mission of education reform, as attention waned and bipartisanship dissolved. 鈥淭hat whole sweet thing that was put together in the ’80s and came together in various states and then saw this incredible peak in Washington in 2001 鈥� all of that largely fell apart because of 9/11, and the failure of everyone on all sides to hold it together in the wake of 9/11,” former Bush adviser Sandy Kress told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken. Read our full feature. 

Can Right Answers Be Wrong? Latest Clash Over 鈥榃hite Supremacy Culture鈥� Unfolds in Unlikely Arena: Math Class

Math Skills: A document outlining how to be an 鈥渁ntiracist math educator鈥� has sparked criticism for promoting the idea that focusing on getting students to produce the right answer is one way that 鈥渨hite supremacy culture鈥� shows up in math class. Educators drawing inspiration from the document, part of a larger math equity project at The Education Trust-West 鈥� funded with $1 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 鈥� say the emphasis on accurate calculations shuts down students鈥� thinking process and turns math into a competition. They say the middle grades especially are a period when many Black and Hispanic students turn off math, resulting in persistent racial disparities in advanced high school classes. Making math more culturally relevant by linking concepts to socioeconomic issues, they say, can help students see the reasons for math in their lives. But some Black scholars think the document only reinforces teachers鈥� bias against students of color. 鈥淭he workbook’s ultimate message is clear: Black kids are bad at math, so why don’t we just excuse them from really learning it,鈥� Erec Smith of York College of Pennsylvania told reporter Linda Jacobson. And even math educators devoted to increasing equity said the document can widen divides at a time of political polarization. Read our full report.

One Fate, Two Fates. Red States, Blue States: New Data Reveal a 432-Hour In-Person Learning Gap Produced by the Politics of Pandemic Schooling

School Closures: Through the pandemic, schools in Republican states offered in-person learning at nearly twice the rate of those in Democratic states, according to new data, amounting to an estimated 66 additional days of face-to-face instruction for those students. The numbers, provided to 蜜桃影视 by the school calendar tracking website Burbio, deliver a cumulative view of schooling decisions throughout COVID-19 and reinforce evidence of a partisan divide long highlighted by researchers. Averaged from September through May, states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election gave students the chance to learn in the classroom 74.5 percent of the time, compared to 37.6 percent of the time in states that voted for Joe Biden. The full impact of that disparity remains largely unmeasured, says Chad Aldeman, policy director at Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab. But he suspects the effects on students could be vast. 鈥淭ime is a rough proxy for learning,鈥� he told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Asher Lehrer-Small. 鈥淪o lost instructional time is likely to lead to lost learning.鈥� Read our full report. 

鈥楨qual Treatment, not Special Treatment鈥�: Conservative Supreme Court Justices Appear Ready to Strike Down Religious Barriers to Public School Choice Funding

SCOTUS: Maine allows private religious schools to participate in its tuition benefit program for families that don鈥檛 have a public high school in their community 鈥� except for schools that seek to instill religious beliefs in their students. That caveat is at the heart of Carson v. Makin, a school choice case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in December. Plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Bindas, with the libertarian Institute for Justice, argued that the state is discriminating against religion. He is representing two families that were told they could not receive a tuition benefit because they wanted their children to attend religious schools. Based on the justices鈥� questioning, experts said, states would likely no longer be able to defend such rules after the court rules next year. 鈥淰ery few of the justices paid any attention to the longstanding principle at the heart of American constitutional tradition 鈥� that taxpayers should not be forced to fund religious education,鈥� said Alex Luchenitser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Read Linda Jacobson鈥檚 full report on the arguments.

Districts Are Receiving Billions for Academic Recovery, But Some Parents Struggle to Find Tutoring for Their Children

Personalized Learning: Research showing that so-called high-dosage tutoring could give struggling students the academic boost they need to recover from the pandemic created a buzz earlier this year. Parent advocacy groups and policymakers expected to see districts use relief funds on such programs. But nearly halfway through the school year, some districts aren鈥檛 using their American Rescue Plan aid to offer tutoring, according to reviews from Burbio and the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Others limit services to specific students or have struggled to find enough tutors. That leaves parents such as Aida Mieja of Los Angeles to pick up extra shifts cleaning offices in order to pay $470 for a private tutor for her ninth grade daughter. In districts such as Nashville, leaders signed up about half the number of tutors they had hoped to recruit this fall. 鈥淚t鈥檚 this giant puzzle,鈥� Keri Randolph, the district鈥檚 chief strategy officer, told reporter Linda Jacobson. Tutoring, she said, is 鈥渉ot and sexy right now, but people have no idea how hard it is.鈥�

鈥� Research: Study shows Chicago tutoring program delivered huge math gains 鈥� and personalization may be the key (Read more)

Genocide 鈥業n My Own Backyard鈥�: North Carolina Educators Ignored State鈥檚 Eugenics History Long Before Critical Race Theory Pushback

Curriculum: Even as a young girl, the shadow of a dark history hung over Orlice Hodges. At 7 years old, her grandmother offered an explanation 鈥� chilling, in retrospect 鈥� of what happened to young women taken away by social workers: They went to Black Mountain to get 鈥渇ixed.鈥� As she got older, the North Carolina woman would learn the awful meaning. 鈥�’Fixed’ meant sterilization,鈥� said Hodges, who was told by family members that her own aunt had been a victim. From 1929 to 1974, North Carolina鈥檚 eugenics program sterilized over 7,600 people 鈥� in its latter years, disproportionately targeting Black women. To this day, reports Asher Lehrer-Small, none of the state鈥檚 10 largest school districts include the episode in social studies curricula, despite a two-decades-old recommendation from a governor-appointed committee calling on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to do just that. An exhibit that included first-person accounts and victims鈥� medical records commissioned 鈥渢o ensure that no one will forget what the State of North Carolina once perpetrated upon its own citizens鈥� toured colleges and universities for a few years in the early 2000s before being packed away in a state office basement. That North Carolina鈥檚 K-12 schools have almost without exception ignored this tragic history offers a compelling example of how knowledge of racially motivated, government-inflicted harm was suppressed long before the recent debate over critical race theory. Read the full report. 

Shipwreck Camp Delivers A Treasure Trove of Science With the Search for Sunken Boats in Lake Erie

STEM: About 6,000 ships have sunk in the Great Lakes in the last 150 years, costing thousands of lives and leaving cargo under water. Those wrecks are now providing a big hook for a summer camp to teach science to teenagers drawn in by the chance of seeing one up close. Case Western Reserve University鈥檚 Shipwreck Camp taught students about waves, the lakes, shipping history and how to search for artifacts this summer before taking students to the lake to search for the Adventure and W.R. Hanna, two ships that sank just offshore around 1900. 鈥淪hipwreck camp is a thinly veiled exposure to Great Lakes science and technology,鈥� says James Bader, head of the center that runs the camp. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 hide it very well.鈥� Patrick O’Donnell visits the camp 鈥� and brought back these photos and videos from the middle of Lake Erie.

鈥� Summer STEM: Saturday science lessons in the park, as Cleveland school district sneaks learning into hands-on experiments at festival (Read more) 

Will the Tea Party of 2022 Emerge from the Debate over Schools? Virginia Election Offers GOP Template for Midterms

EDlection: It took weeks for number-crunchers in both parties to pull apart meaningful conclusions from November鈥檚 gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey. But the races 鈥� especially in Virginia, where a well-liked Democrat was denied a second term in a state that Joe Biden won by 10 points last year 鈥� have made a few things clear. One is that education, an issue that voters have overwhelmingly trusted Democrats to manage in years past, could be a major vulnerability for the party as the 2022 midterms approach. The other is that, with the midterms now less than a year away, both parties have significant incentives to seize the initiative on K-12 schools. The GOP, which appears to have harnessed public outrage over COVID-related closures and school equity initiatives, has already announced plans to make a national education pitch with a proposed 鈥減arents鈥� bill of rights,鈥� and polling indicates that their base hasn鈥檛 been this animated about the state of schools in recent memory. 鈥淚n many ways, the critical race theory debate of 2021 is just the latest version of the death panel conversation from Obamacare, or the Willie Horton story of 1988,鈥� political scientist Stephen Farnsworth told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken. 鈥淭he question is whether this can be weaponized to benefit Republicans.鈥� Read our full report.

With Nearly Half of Parents Expected to Forgo Child COVID Shots, Schools Brace for New Wave of Vaccine Hesitancy

Vaccines: Now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has green-lit a COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, schools are bracing for a new source of tension: In poll after poll, nearly half of parents say they do not want their kids to get it. As 74 contributor Greg Toppo writes, that could mean new skirmishes in schools already divided over social distancing and mask wearing. Even requiring the vaccine might not settle the dispute: An October poll found that 46 percent of parents simply wouldn鈥檛 send their child to school if COVID shots were required. The sources of vaccine hesitancy range from risk assessment 鈥� many parents aren鈥檛 especially worried their children will get seriously sick from coronavirus 鈥� to fears of some Black parents based on the nation鈥檚 history of mistreating research subjects in their communities. But many education experts say that without vaccination, children are likely to spend more time in quarantine, which could exacerbate learning loss. Read the full story. 

New Federal Data Confirms Pandemic鈥檚 Blow to K-12 Enrollment, With Drop of 1.5 Million Students; Pre-K Experiences 22 Percent Decline

Disenrollment: Preliminary data released in June by the National Center for Education Statistics show that public school enrollment dropped 3 percent in 2020-21 from the year before. The sizable decline 鈥� about 1.5 million students, compared with 2019-20’s total population of 51.1 million 鈥� was felt across the country, with the biggest decreases in Puerto Rico (minus 5.51 percent), Mississippi and Vermont (tied with minus 5.02 percent). The drop was concentrated heavily among the youngest children: Kindergarten enrollment fell by 9 percent, pre-K by an astonishing 22 percent, even as the high school ranks thinned by just .4 percent. Most of those young learners are expected to return to in-person classrooms, but Robin Lake, head of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, said schools and districts need to prepare now to meet academic and social-emotional needs that had been deferred in the interim. 鈥淭hese kids are owed a lot in terms of the time they’ve missed learning things, playing with other kids, all of that stuff,” she told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken. “So we’re encouraging school districts to put those kinds of supports in place this summer and try to reach as many kids as possible to address some of those foundational skills.鈥� Read the full report. 

鈥極regon Trail鈥� at 50: How Three Teachers Created the Computer Game That Inspired 鈥� and Diverted 鈥� Generations of Student

Games: If you鈥檙e of a certain age, chances are you encountered the computer game The Oregon Trail sometime during your school years 鈥� you know, the one where you light out in a covered wagon for Oregon鈥檚 Willamette Valley, beset by bandits, bad weather and, of course, dysentery. The game now exists in 14 languages and so revolutionized computer gaming that it earned a place in the World Video Game Hall of Fame. It鈥檚 a highly improbable trajectory for a game launched in 1971 鈥� 50 years ago today 鈥� five years before the first personal computers even came on the market. The Oregon Trail was the brainchild of three Minneapolis student teachers, who brought history to life by placing players in the shoes of settlers facing life-or-death decisions 鈥� via a hulking teletype machine connected to a mainframe miles away. Despite sales that would ultimately exceed 65 million copies, however, the trio never saw a dime for their efforts. But they tell 74 contributor Greg Toppo they are not bitter. One said he is still stopped by autograph seekers, who tell him, 鈥�’You really saved my life in middle school because of this program.’ It’s just incredible how many people we touched.鈥� Read the full feature. 

…And a quick postscript for the time capsule: 

Photo History: Back in early March we realized it had been precisely a year 鈥� 52 weeks since the pandemic first swept through the nation, going on to close school after school like a relentless set of dominoes Over the course of a month, 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Meghan Gallagher researched and assembled a photo history of that first pandemic year at schools, amassing 52 photos that captured just how much had changed in educators鈥� and students鈥� lives. They are now a haunting time capsule revisiting solemn scenes and sadness across the education landscape 鈥� masked students, sports without spectators, dining rooms turned into classrooms and socially distanced lunch periods. But these pictures also show students, their families and educators in moments of resilience and inspiration, reflecting how Americans found new ways to celebrate such milestones as graduations. The images are a reminder that it has been a school year like no other, one we won鈥檛 soon forget. See the full photo gallery. 

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Here were our ten most read and shared articles this month on the nation鈥檚 students and schools:

Skyrocketing School Board Recalls Offer Window into Year of Bitter Education Politics

EDlection: Public dissatisfaction with school boards has been building throughout 2021 as American politics careens from one K-12 controversy to the next: the pace of reopening schools, proposals to bar trans athletes from youth sports, 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� and mask mandates. Throughout, Americans have become increasingly willing to resort to the seldom-used practice of recalling school board members as a way of forcing change. According to the nonpartisan elections site Ballotpedia, 84 recall attempts targeting over 200 board members have been initiated so far in 2021, a huge upsurge over the typical year. And while the efforts have typically fallen short, they gained momentum in two large and nationally prominent districts. One is Loudoun County, Virginia, where parents began to revolt last year against COVID mitigation measures and perceived excesses in the school board鈥檚 equity initiatives. The other is San Francisco, where anger grew as pandemic-related school closures dominated national headlines. 鈥淭he school board is maybe the most obvious candidate for a recall in this situation because their impact is very clear: The schools are shut down, or there are masking requirements, so the [effect] is right there,鈥� said political analyst Joshua Spivak. Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 full report. 

鈥擭ovember Recalls: The two latest school board recall efforts fell short on Election Night (Read more)

Lone Star Parent Power: How One of the Nation鈥檚 Toughest Anti-Critical Race Theory Laws Emboldened Angry Texas Parents Demanding Book Banning, Educator Firings

Parent Activism: Laws forbidding the teaching of critical race theory in Texas have emboldened parents like Mary Lowe and members of her local Fort Worth chapter of Moms for Liberty, a right-leaning national organization. The pandemic gave Lowe and her members a window into what their kids were learning about racism and sexuality 鈥� and they didn’t like it. 鈥淗onestly, it鈥檚 disgusting,鈥� said Lowe, whose members show up at school board meetings to make their concerns heard. The new laws have gotten parents attention and results 鈥� sometimes through intimidation and threats. A few quick examples: A suburban Dallas principal accused of promoting critical race theory was put on leave with an eye toward not bringing him back. At least one North Austin teacher packed away her classroom library to avoid controversy. For school board members, the meetings have become 鈥渢errifying,鈥� said Leander school board member Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia. 鈥淭here are people there with utility knives on their belts, they鈥檒l shout at me, scream at me that I鈥檓 a racist. They鈥檒l call me a communist, I鈥檓 a 鈥楳arxist,鈥� I鈥檓 a 鈥榯raitor to the country,鈥� I鈥檓 an 鈥榚nemy of the state.鈥�” Andrea Zelinski has the story.

Fueled by Grants, States Bet Innovative Career Training Programs Will Lure Disengaged Youth Back to School After COVID 鈥� Starting in Middle School

Career Readiness: Even as it threw the economy into shambles, costing millions of mostly low-skilled, low-wage workers their jobs, the pandemic also rendered high school an abstraction to countless teens who, faced with unprecedented stresses, disappeared from classes. As vaccines arrived and schools and workplaces are reopening for in-person activity, civic and educational leaders are left with twin conundra: How to re-engage displaced workers and students at a moment when both groups are more disaffected than ever? A group of philanthropic leaders, state and school system officials and workforce policy gurus believe they have at least a partial answer: Bet big on the expansion of the most promising career technical education programs in communities that were poised, pre-COVID, to try new ways of using cutting-edge job-based learning to make the rest of school more relevant and, by extension, students more likely to buckle down. Beth Hawkins talked to backers to find out why this might be job-based learning鈥檚 golden moment. Read our full report.

Exclusive: As Minneapolis Weighs Police Dept鈥檚 Fate, Records Show School Cops Had Lengthy History of Discipline, Civil Rights Complaints

Investigation: After a 2007 shooting outside a Minneapolis high school, a police officer with a national reputation pressured prosecutors to go easy on a school security guard who drove off with the guns and was arrested at a nearby gas station. Another was accused of pounding in a man鈥檚 face for littering. Records suggest a third officer had a tendency to respond violently when under stress. He was assigned as a school resource officer a year after a superior officer warned investigators he could 鈥渃ompletely lose control of everything and harm himself, other officers or the public.鈥� The incidents are among dozens of allegations and disciplinary findings 鈥� including police brutality, racial discrimination and domestic violence 鈥� against cops recently stationed inside Minneapolis public schools. After George Floyd was murdered in 2020, the Minneapolis school board ended its ties with the police department. Misconduct records and court files obtained by 蜜桃影视 reveal a lengthy list of allegations and disciplinary findings against officers previously stationed in district schools 鈥� many alleging violence on the part of police. The records raise new questions about how the officers, half of whom remain on the force,  wound up in schools in the first place. Minneapolis voters will decide Nov. 2 on a ballot measure that would eliminate a police department that鈥檚 long been accused of sweeping officer misconduct under the rug and replace it with a public safety division focused on a 鈥渃omprehensive public health approach.鈥� Read Mark Keierleber鈥檚 latest investigation here.

Will the Tea Party of 2022 Emerge from the Debate over Schools? Virginia Election Offers GOP Template for Midterms

Analysis: It will take weeks for number-crunchers in both parties to pull apart meaningful conclusions from this month鈥檚 gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey. But the races 鈥� especially in Virginia, where a well-liked Democrat was denied a second term in a state that Joe Biden won by 10 points last year 鈥� have made a few things clear. One is that education, an issue that voters have overwhelmingly trusted Democrats to manage in years past, could be a major vulnerability for the party as the 2022 midterms approach. The other is that, with the midterms now less than a year away, both parties have significant incentives to seize the initiative on K-12 schools. The GOP, which appears to have harnessed public outrage over COVID-related closures and school equity initiatives, has already announced plans to make a national education pitch with a proposed 鈥減arents鈥� bill of rights,鈥� and polling indicates that their base hasn鈥檛 been this animated about the state of schools in recent memory. 鈥淚n many ways, the critical race theory debate of 2021 is just the latest version of the death panel conversation from Obamacare, or the Willie Horton story of 1988,鈥� political scientist Stephen Farnsworth told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken. 鈥淭he question is whether this can be weaponized to benefit Republicans.鈥� Read our full analysis.

The COVID Crisis Cracked Our Education System. A New Reform Coalition Must Come Together to Fix It in the Interest of Children

Commentary: Anyone who cares about kids must rejoice over their being back in school with their peers. But, writes contributor Robin Lake, that should not blind us to the harsh truths we have learned about American public education. A rigid system designed for sameness cracked under the pressure of a crisis. People were rightly outraged that some students did not have access to Wi-Fi and portable devices. But where was the outrage over unequal access to technology before the pandemic struck? Why were people not furious over the decades of research that shows historically marginalized students are taught by less effective teachers? Or the large and persistent gaps in academic outcomes by race and income? It is time for a new, broader reform coalition made up of all those who saw things in the American education system during the pandemic that they cannot unsee. Education supporters from all corners must come together to align, strategize and win legislative battles in the interest of children. Time is wasting for this generation of students, and history will repeat itself for the next generation if we do not act.

鈥楴o Signs of Recovery鈥�: 5 Alarming New Undergraduate Enrollment Numbers

Higher Education: Early fall undergraduate enrollment data suggest 鈥渘o signs of recovery鈥� after the worst declines in a decade, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center 鈥� and public universities historically serving low-income students of color are hit hardest. Numbers continue to decline nationwide, now 6.5 percent below 2019 levels. First-year classes at community colleges are over 20 percent smaller than before the pandemic, while only elite, selective institutions are rebounding. Twenty-two percent fewer Black first-year undergraduates are enrolled this year, the biggest decline of any ethnic/racial group since the pandemic began. Some 8.4 million students and about half of higher education institutions are reflected in the National Student Clearinghouse鈥檚 report, which includes data through Sept. 23. Read Marianna McMurdock鈥檚 full report.

California Aims to Come From Behind in Making Sure Children Learn to Read, But Some See New Push as Political

Early Literacy: A state task force focused on getting all California third-graders to read by 2026 and new legislation aimed at strengthening teaching candidates鈥� skills in early literacy are among the myriad initiatives currently aimed at reducing racial achievement gaps in reading. Advocates say it鈥檚 about time, with 37 percent of the state鈥檚 fourth-graders below the basic level on federal reading tests and districts struggling to teach disadvantaged Latino students 鈥� a large segment of the state鈥檚 K-12 population 鈥� to read. Some, though, say the approach is too scattered in a state the size of California. 鈥淲here鈥檚 the coherence and the coordination of those efforts?鈥� asked Stephanie Gregson, a former state official who now works with the nonprofit California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. And others see the emphasis on reading as a political strategy for Superintendent Tony Thurmond, who faces re-election next year. But district leaders say the data is enough of an impetus to take action. 鈥淲e aren’t chasing a statement from Secretary Thurmond,鈥� Palo Alto schools Superintendent Don Austin told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Linda Jacobson. 鈥淲e identified the issue, put action steps in place, and plan to see what happens if a district can attack an issue with laser focus.鈥� Read our full report.

Indianapolis鈥� Innovation Network Schools See 42 Percent Jump in Enrollment During Pandemic

Enrollment: As school systems around the country confront a second consecutive year of unprecedented student enrollment losses, leaders of Indianapolis Public Schools鈥� Innovation Network might be forgiven for taking a victory lap. Enrollment in the district鈥檚 autonomous schools is up nearly 42 percent since the start of the pandemic, reaching its highest level in a decade. Backers of the innovation experiment, which enables the traditional district to keep a number of charter school families for purposes of funding and state accountability, note that the new schools鈥� growth is larger than the drop in the number of students attending traditional, district-run schools. Beth Hawkins has a quick look at the numbers. 

New Study Shows Reading Remediation in Middle School Led More Students to Attend College and Earn Degrees

Learning Recovery: Postsecondary remediation has gotten a bad name, and for good reason. Students who begin college in catch-up classes pay billions of dollars each year to learn content they should have mastered in high school, and a huge number drop out due to their stalled progress. But new research indicates that remediation may have its place earlier in students鈥� academic careers. According to the study, struggling middle schoolers in Florida who were assigned to a double courseload in English 鈥� a remedial class and a concurrent, grade-level class 鈥� saw significant benefits on their state test scores. Those faded over time, but the same students were later more likely to enroll in college, persist past their first year and eventually earn a two- or four-year degree. Kevin Mahnken reports.

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It was a busy month here at 蜜桃影视, covering schools and students amid the crisis. Here were our 11 most shared and circulated reports: 

Kids Left Schools Last Year Because of the Switch to Remote Classes; Early Numbers Suggest They May Not Be Coming Back Soon

Enrollment: With the release of new data in recent months, a much clearer picture is emerging of how K-12 enrollment responded to the pandemic. First, a working paper released in August drew a direct line between the reopening choices districts made at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year and families’ education decisions, showing that hundreds of thousands of students left schools that offered remote-only instruction. The findings echo those of other publications, which have pointed to huge enrollment drops from traditional public schools 鈥� heavily concentrated in kindergarten and the earliest grades 鈥� alongside surges in homeschooling, private schooling and charters. What鈥檚 more, the early indicators from several districts suggest that enrollment isn鈥檛 bouncing back to the pre-pandemic status quo. Read Kevin Mahnken’s new report.

Gaggle Surveils Millions of Kids in the Name of Safety. Targeted Families Argue it鈥檚 鈥楴ot That Smart鈥�

School Safety: After a bout of depression and a suicide attempt, Minneapolis student Teeth Logsdon-Wallace shared intimate details about his mental health in a class assignment last month. It was one of thousands of Minneapolis student communications that got flagged by Gaggle, a digital surveillance company hired by the district. The company contacted school officials even though Logsdon-Wallace was making the point that his mental health had improved 鈥� a detail seemingly lost in the transaction between Gaggle and the district. An earlier investigation by 蜜桃影视 exposed how Gaggle, which saw rapid growth after the pandemic forced schools into remote learning, subjects students to relentless surveillance and raises significant privacy concerns. But technology experts and families with first-hand experience with Gaggle鈥檚 surveillance dragnet have raised a separate issue: The service is not only invasive, it may also be ineffective. 鈥淚f it works, it could be extremely beneficial. But if it鈥檚 random, it鈥檚 completely useless,鈥� said a 16-year-old Connecticut student mistakenly flagged for her work as a school literary journal editor. 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber digs in. 

A New Kind of Curriculum Night: Armed With Protest Signs and Data, Diverse Group of Minneapolis Parents Demands Better Reading Instruction for Their Kids

Curriculum: Frustrated by years of rock-bottom literacy rates, an unlikely coalition of families has begun staging protests at Minneapolis Public Schools headquarters, hoping to push district leaders to acknowledge that the way the city’s schools teach reading runs counter to what science shows about how children learn. While there鈥檚 nothing new about angry parents raising their voices at school board meetings, what鈥檚 different about the situation in Minneapolis is that the protesters are armed with a trove of research, the district鈥檚 own data and an understanding of strategies that have made children proficient readers in other places. In this story, Beth Hawkins describes how families of color, National Parents Union organizers and affluent parents of struggling readers have joined forces to demand change. Read the full feature. 

Exclusive Data: Absenteeism Surged Among English Learners During Pandemic

Chronic Absenteeism: Before COVID-19, Mia Miron almost never missed class. Her parents, who had immigrated from Mexico, instilled in her a belief in the value of education as the path to a better life. But when the pandemic hit, her absences began to pile up 鈥� sometimes because of a faulty laptop charger and sometimes because she was marked absent even when she had logged in. Her grades fell from B’s and C’s to D’s and F’s. 鈥淸School] was no longer our primary concern. We had to do anything to survive 鈥� to pay bills, rent, everything, before anything else,鈥� Miron鈥檚 mother told 蜜桃影视 through a translator. Across the country, the obstacles posed by remote learning appear to have triggered a disproportionate jump in absenteeism among English learners like Miron, new data indicate. The numbers, delivered to 蜜桃影视 through public record requests, offer further insight into the devastating effects of the pandemic on the education of America鈥檚 5 million English learners. Asher Lehrer-Small brings you the exclusive report.

Long-Term NAEP Scores for 13-Year-Olds Drop for First Time Since Testing Began in 1970s 鈥� 鈥楢 Matter for National Concern,鈥� Experts Say

Student Learning: Over the past few years, education observers have grown accustomed to downbeat news from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, with multiple rounds of the test pointing to largely stagnant scores across various subjects. The release this month of results from NAEP’s 2020 long-term trends assessment offers revelations that are startling as well as discouraging: For the first time in the half-century history of that test, reading and math scores for 13-year-olds significantly declined. Black and Hispanic students in that age group both lost ground in math since the test was last given, in 2012, and the lower performance of 9-year-old girls opened up a gender gap with boys that did not exist nine years ago. Worst of all were the plunging scores of low-performing students 鈥� especially those scoring at the 10th percentile, who declined an astonishing 12 points in eighth-grade math. “It’s really a matter for national concern, this high percentage of students who are not reaching even what I think we’d consider the lowest levels of proficiency,” said George Bohrnstedt, a senior vice president at the American Institutes for Research. Kevin Mahnken reports.

鈥榃e Are Going to Hold You Accountable鈥�: Just 1 in 5 Families Was Asked for Input into School Stimulus Fund Spending, New Poll Finds

School Funding: Despite a congressional mandate to draw on parents, students and a broad range of community and advocacy organizations as they draft plans for spending $122 billion in stimulus funds, states and school systems have failed to ask the vast majority of families what their priorities are, according to a new poll. Just 1 in 5 parents queried in a new National Parents Union survey said they were asked for their input by their schools as leaders make plans for spending an unprecedented infusion of recovery funds. Affluent households were more likely to report being consulted than low-income families, while half had heard little or nothing about the money. 鈥淏lack and brown families throughout the pandemic have been more engaged than ever,鈥� parents union President Keri Rodrigues tells Beth Hawkins. 鈥淭o now turn your back on them and say, 鈥榃e鈥檝e got it from here鈥� really underestimates these families.鈥�

How Many Kids Are Attending NYC Schools? As America鈥檚 Top District Refuses to Disclose Numbers, Growing Concerns About a Mass Exodus

New York City: More than a month into the academic year, it鈥檚 still not clear how many students are attending school in the nation鈥檚 largest district. The New York City Department of Education has not yet released data on the number of young people enrolled in its roughly 1,600 schools, nor has it confirmed exactly how many show up each day. Officials say the DOE has the data on hand but is keeping the numbers under wraps amid fears that as many as 150,000 students have not yet set foot in a classroom this year. School officials say they will release the figures after the Oct. 31 deadline for reporting to the state. The nation’s second- and third-largest districts, Los Angeles and Chicago, have already reported drops of over 27,000 and 10,000 students, respectively, compared to last year. Asher Lehrer-Small has the story.

An Experiment at the Crossroads: In Year Two, Pandemic Pods 鈥楩ind Their Legs鈥� 鈥� and Face Their Limitations. Will They Endure Beyond COVID-19?

Learning Pods: Wichita Public Schools lost roughly 2,400 students last year, including Megan Monsour鈥檚 two boys. They joined a nature-focused microschool, where they get one-on-one reading help and have no plans to return to the district. They are among 1.5 million students expected to be participating in pods this fall 鈥� a movement that started in response to school closures but has now expanded to accommodate families’ desires for culturally relevant education and frustration with their children’s public schools. One parent said she鈥檚 gone from 鈥渁 place of extreme anxiety鈥� over her decision to join a microschool 鈥渢o a total place of liberation.鈥� But as pods enter their second year, some organizers are recognizing their limitations and have started linking up with larger, established networks of homeschoolers for support. 鈥淣ow that they have a year under their belt, they are starting to find their legs,鈥� Kija Gray, a coach who advises mostly Black families in Detroit, told reporter Linda Jacobson. But some remain skeptical about pods’ staying power: 鈥淭hey’re not likely to scale substantially post-pandemic,鈥� said FutureEd鈥檚 Thomas Toch. “Free public schools, we learned 鈥� play a central role in most families’ lives.鈥� Read our full report. 

蜜桃影视 Interview: Colorado Springs Superintendent Michael Thomas on Being a Black Leader Working to Change a White System

Equity: When Colorado Springs School District 11 appointed Michael Thomas as its new superintendent, school board members gave him two big tasks. He needed to make the district 鈥� the increasingly diverse center of an affluent city 鈥� more culturally affirming for families. And he had to stop a decade-plus exodus of 700 to 1,000 students a year. A Black man who came up in predominantly white schools and then went on to work in them, Thomas firmly believes that if you take care of the first task and make schools welcoming and relevant, families will stay. As tall an order as that is, the first thing Thomas had to do was to convince the adults in the system that there was a problem. In an interview for 蜜桃影视鈥檚 recent series on the ways in which COVID鈥檚 inequities are showing up in schools, Thomas talked to Beth Hawkins about continuing to push hard changes even in a pandemic, recalling his own George Floyd moment and persisting as a Black leader without 鈥渃ommitting cultural sacrifice.”

鈥擲pecial Report: After a K-shaped recession, a classroom crisis?

When Graduating Isn鈥檛 Enough: New KIPP Scholarship Will Help First-Gen College Grads At Risk of Being 鈥楿nderemployed鈥�

Social Capital: Closing the opportunity gap for low-income, first-generation college students is a moving target. Author and 74 contributor Richard Whitmire has been writing about the evolution for years 鈥� from the initial push to get these students into college, which morphed into getting them through college and is now focused on securing appropriate post-college career paths. To that end, the KIPP charter school network announced the Ruth and Norman Rales Scholars Program, which will provide four years of mentoring, summer internship assistance, financial literacy training, networking advice and funding to defray college costs. The supports are valued at $60,000 per student, and the grant covers 50 students a year, up to 250 students over five years. Whitmire rounds up what some of the nation鈥檚 other big charter networks are doing to help launch alumni careers. Read the full report. 

The Great Shortage: Explore How Districts in All 50 States Are Grappling With Missing Teachers, Nurses, Cooks, Bus Drivers & Other Essential Workers

Interactive Map: A month into the academic year, schools in all 50 states are experiencing staff shortages, 蜜桃影视 has found. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show there were 460,000 state and local education job openings in July, and schools report that they need more cafeteria and afterschool workers, school safety agents, custodians and nurses. Across the country, schools have asked parents to provide transportation to school for their children and ordered in pizzas when there were no cafeteria workers to make lunch. A bus driver shortage described as 鈥渟evere鈥� pushed one Minnesota superintendent to get her bus driver鈥檚 license, while a Nebraska district canceled class for a 鈥渞est and reset鈥� day due to shortages, burnout and illness. 鈥淚 fear the worst is yet to come,鈥� said Superintendent Susan Enfield of the Highline Public Schools, outside Seattle, where central office staff are filling teaching positions. Scan through a sampling of the staffing shortages districts are currently experiencing nationwide in a new interactive map, compiled by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Meghan Gallagher.

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Here were our most popular and important articles of the month:

Student Safety: When the pandemic forced Minneapolis students into remote learning, district officials partnered with Gaggle, a digital surveillance company that uses artificial intelligence and a team of content moderators to track the online behaviors of millions of kids across the U.S. every day. Now, public records obtained by 蜜桃影视 that saw rapid national growth during the pandemic but carries significant civil rights and privacy concerns. The data highlight how Gaggle puts children under relentless digital surveillance long after classes end for the day. In Minneapolis, officials say the tool helps identify youth at risk of suicide. But some worry that rummaging through students’ personal files and conversations on their school-issued Google and Microsoft accounts could backfire. .

鈥擝补肠办蝉迟辞谤测: How the Minneapolis School District is spending big on new student surveillance technology, raising ire after terminating police contract (Read more)

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鈥楨veryone Had Their Heads in the Sand鈥�: Push To Reopen Schools Leaves Many Quarantined Students Without Remote Learning Options

Learning Loss: The Delta variant is spoiling leaders鈥� best-laid plans for a full return to school, with some now shifting back to remote learning and others leaving families hanging over how their children will stay on track. Facing pressure from parents and the Biden administration to get students back in classrooms, state and district leaders, some argue, have now 鈥渙vercorrected,鈥� making it harder to give students in quarantine real-time access to instruction. States, such as Ohio and North Carolina are now considering policies that would bring back remote options, and some districts are tapping federal relief funds for online tutoring programs. But others, such as Texas lawmakers, want to limit virtual options only to higher-achieving students. It鈥檚 a reversal in some ways from where schools were a few months ago, fully intending to leave remote instruction behind. 鈥淚 really can’t believe our schools are as unprepared for remote learning as they seem to be,鈥� Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education told reporter Linda Jacobson. 鈥淓veryone had their heads in the sand, and kids will pay the price.鈥� Read the full article.

Four-Day Work Weeks, Big Signing Bonuses and Paid Moving Expenses: See How Districts Across the U.S. Are Luring Subs, Special Ed Teachers

Interactive 鈥� School Staffing: Districts nationwide are experiencing a shortage of special education and substitute teachers, exacerbated by the pandemic and rolling quarantines. So how are they addressing these challenges? From $15,000 bonuses in Detroit for special education teachers to four-day work weeks in a small Colorado district to extra pay on Mondays and Fridays for subs in Las Cruces, Texas, administrators and state governments are innovating to fill gaps and bring eligible educators into the classroom. Retirees are returning to work in Nevada and California, parents are being recruited for full-time positions in Georgia and college graduates in all fields are in high demand to support students returning to class and prevent school closures. Marianna McMurdock and Meghan Gallagher created interactive maps to show which recruitment and retention solutions are popping up nationally. See our full report.

From Tragedy to Triumph to Failure: How 9/11 Helped Pass No Child Left Behind 鈥� And Fueled its Eventual Demise

20th Anniversary: Two decades have passed since the morning that changed America forever 鈥� a morning that found President George W. Bush in a Florida elementary school, reading with students and attempting to jump-start the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. Within months of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a collective sense of grief and purpose led the federal government to declare war on terrorism, even as it pledged to provide an excellent education for every child. But while it is generally acknowledged that Congress passed the landmark legislation partially as a demonstration of national unity, some believe the Bush administration鈥檚 emphasis on the global war on terror set back the mission of education reform, as attention waned and bipartisanship dissolved. 鈥淭hat whole sweet thing that was put together in the ’80s and came together in various states and then saw this incredible peak in Washington in 2001 鈥� all of that largely fell apart because of 9/11, and the failure of everyone on all sides to hold it together in the wake of 9/11,” former Bush adviser Sandy Kress told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken. Read our full report.

Schools Didn鈥檛 Plan for Online Classes This Year. Then Delta Struck, Demand Is Surging & Districts Are Scrambling for Virtual Options. Will They Be Good Enough?

Student Quarantines: As COVID-19 threatens a return to 鈥渘ormal鈥� for a third academic year, the number of quality online schools is growing 鈥� but not as fast as the number of districts and charter school networks inking contracts with education technology companies to provide services ranging from digital curriculum to 鈥渢urnkey online school systems.鈥� Yes, mask and vaccine mandates and families鈥� reactions to the Delta variant鈥檚 surge are moving targets, say researchers, but unless education leaders make the quality of online instruction a priority, last year鈥檚 lackluster experience with remote learning is likely to repeat itself. Beth Hawkins has some background on why districts are again scrambling to provide online learning alternatives and what the new academic year might look like in places where school leaders started thinking about quality early on. Read our full report.

Curriculum: Arnold Ambers was still a teenager himself when he woke up early each morning and drove a school bus that took local children to a nearby segregated elementary school. Then, he arrived late to his own segregated high school classroom despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found such isolation unconstitutional years earlier. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Ambers experienced first hand how many white Americans fought tooth and nail to stop integration, a movement that became known as 鈥渕assive resistance.鈥� These days he鈥檚 on edge as racial strife engulfs the country and the community of his childhood 鈥� Loudoun County, Virginia 鈥� , opposition to the catch-all and now-ubiquitous phrase critical race theory. 鈥淚t鈥檚 painful to realize that we鈥檝e come a long way, but in the last five years we鈥檝e really gone backwards quite a bit,鈥� Ambers said. 鈥淎nd I guess the painful reality is that racism has always been there.鈥� 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber explores the historical connections between education in America post-Brown v. Board and the current controversy, a showdown one Loudoun County official called 鈥渢he massive resistance of our generation.鈥� .

鈥楽taggering鈥�: New Research Shows that Child Obesity Has Soared During Pandemic

Student Health: Since COVID-19 first shuttered schools last spring, K-12 students have been subjected to a kind of natural experiment in inactivity, with exercise and time spent outdoors declining as screen use has skyrocketed. Now, the physical effects are becoming clear: According to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children鈥檚 body mass index (a common measure of weight relative to height) increased twice as fast during the early months of the pandemic as it had previously. The findings match the results of several existing studies, all of which have found that kids are increasingly overweight or obese as they’ve been largely confined to home. Dietitian Michelle Demeule-Hayes, the director of a clinical weight-loss program at Baltimore鈥檚 Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, called the trends 鈥渟taggering鈥�: 鈥淚t鈥檚 never been this bad,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken. 鈥淪o the research is definitely accurate.鈥� Read our full report.

As the Pandemic Set In, Charter Schools Saw Their Highest Enrollment Growth Since 2015, 42-State Analysis Shows

Enrollment: Charter schools experienced more growth in 2020-21 鈥� the first full year of the pandemic鈥� than they鈥檝e seen in the past six years, according to preliminary data released today from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. While traditional public schools saw sharp declines in enrollment during the tumultuous year, charters in 39 states saw an influx of 240,000 new students 鈥� a 7 percent increase over last year. 鈥淔amilies are sending a clear message. They want more public school options,鈥� Nina Rees, president and CEO of the alliance, told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Linda Jacobson. Those options include virtual schools, which in Oklahoma accounted for much of the state鈥檚 nearly 78 percent growth in charter enrollment. While it鈥檚 too soon to tell whether the enrollment shifts will last, the Fordham Institute鈥檚 Michael Petrilli suspects many of the families who opted for virtual charters will find their way back to district schools 鈥� 鈥渙nce things return to 鈥榥ormal,鈥� whatever the heck that is.鈥� Read the full story.

鈥楽omething Was Missing鈥�: 97% of North Carolina Survey Respondents Never Taught About State鈥檚 Grim Eugenics History

History: Down the road from Joseph Palko鈥檚 North Carolina high school stood a spooky, deserted old campus. Classmates would sneak onto the grounds and scare each other with ghost stories about the run-down buildings. His curiosity piqued, Palko turned to the internet for answers and quickly learned that six teenage boys at the reform school 鈥� some as young as 14 鈥� had been ordered to undergo vasectomies by the state’s eugenics board in 1948. 鈥淭hat was really shocking,鈥� Palko told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淚t鈥檚 scarier than anything anyone said was going on.鈥� On further investigation, he found that from 1929 to 1974, the state sterilized over 7,600 people in an effort to weed out so-called 鈥渇eeblemindedness.鈥� But Palko, like the vast majority of North Carolinians, was never taught about the state鈥檚 eugenics past 鈥� and its later, overt targeting of poor, Black women. Previous reporting from 蜜桃影视 uncovered that, despite a 2003 state-level directive that eugenics history be included in North Carolina鈥檚 K-12 curricula, none of the state鈥檚 10 largest districts require that students learn about the tragic episode. Now, responses from 175 individuals to a reader survey by 蜜桃影视 help quantify the impact of those untaught lessons. Read what we found.

鈥擥enocide 鈥業n My Own Backyard鈥�: North Carolina educators ignored state鈥檚 eugenics history long before critical race theory pushback (Read more)

With Up to 9 Grade Levels Per Class, Can Schools Handle the Fallout From COVID鈥檚 K-Shaped Recession?

Achievement Gaps: Wealthy newcomers from expensive cities like New York and San Francisco propelled housing prices in Austin, Texas, into the stratosphere in 2020, pushing out families of modest means and sending demographic shockwaves through the area鈥檚 schools. It鈥檚 just one manifestation of the pandemic鈥檚 K-shaped recession, a downturn barely felt by the affluent people at the top of the K but devastating to the people at the bottom. As schools prepared to reopen in August, research showed COVID has put the most disadvantaged students even further behind while propelling privileged children ahead and hollowing out the middle. Meaning the span of academic mastery in individual classrooms 鈥� seven grade levels in 鈥渘ormal鈥� times 鈥� is likely to widen even further, to as many as nine grade levels. In this installment of 蜜桃影视鈥檚 series examining the link between the pandemic鈥檚 economic turmoil and challenges in classrooms, Beth Hawkins takes you inside an Austin school that鈥檚 poised to meet the needs of its 鈥渂ookend students鈥� 鈥� the kids furthest ahead and behind 鈥� and may be a model for addressing the COVID classroom crisis. Read the full feature.

鈥擡xplore Our Special Report: After a K-shaped recession, how will America鈥檚 schools avert a COVID classroom crisis? (Read more)

Homeschooling Is on the Rise. What Should That Teach Education Leaders About Families鈥� Preferences?

Analysis: With school closures, student quarantines and tensions over mask requirements, vaccine mandates and culture war issues, families’ lives have been upended in ways few could have imagined 18 months ago. That schools have struggled to adapt is understandable, writes contributor Alex Spurrier. But for millions of families, their willingness to tolerate institutional sclerosis in their children’s education is wearing thin. Over the past 18 months, the rate of families moving their children to a new school increased by about 50 percent, and some 1.2 million switched to homeschooling last academic year. Instead of working to get schools back to a pre-pandemic normal, Spurrier says, education leaders should look at addressing the needs of underserved kids and families 鈥� and the best way to understand where schools are falling short is to look at how families are voting with their feet. If options like homeschooling, pods and microschools retain some of their pandemic enrollment gains, it could have ripple effects on funding that resonate throughout the K-12 landscape. Read our full report.

When Climate Change Forces Schools to Close: Fires, Storms and Heatwaves Have Already Kept 1 Million Students Out of Classrooms This Semester

Photo Essay: An elementary school burned to the ground as wildfires scorched Northern California. In New Jersey, a tornado destroyed a high school鈥檚 stadium. Floods from multiple hurricanes and historic storm systems damaged or destroyed school buildings, paralyzed campuses and, in Louisiana, have forced 45,000 students out of classrooms until October. Twenty schools in Columbus, Ohio, had to start remotely because of excessive heat. And just this month, as Hurricane Nicholas shuttered schools in Texas, a mid-September heat wave forced Baltimore to shorten school days for lack of air conditioners. In a third school year already complicated by COVID, as in-person learning resumes, in fits and starts, for the first time in 18 months, extreme weather exacerbated by climate change has led to closures affecting more than 1 million students across the country. 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Meghan Gallagher looks back at the disruptions from the first month of the school year and offers a snapshot of the chaos and obstacles that one California superintendent dubbed the new normal. See our full gallery.

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Here were our most popular and important articles of the month:

D.C.鈥檚 Missing Students and the Rush to Avert a K-Shaped COVID Classroom Crisis

Achievement Gaps: To judge from the dry run that was kindergarten orientation, 4-year-old Mustafa Fletcher will be wearing crisp chinos, a tidy polo shirt and an irresistible smile when he starts school a few days from now. But after a year isolated at home, logging onto different remote preschools a few minutes at a time, how ready is he really? Last year, some 2,000 D.C. kindergartners and preschoolers didn鈥檛 show up at the start of the school year. Those children come from communities with some of the highest poverty rates in the country; in the public housing complex where Mustafa lives, across the Anacostia River from wealthy Capitol Hill, median family income is less than $20,000 a year. The deficits in academic and social-emotional development such children normally face have been multiplied many times over by the isolation, financial instability, illness and fear inflicted by the pandemic.

This story, about the unprecedented demands the coming year鈥檚 supersized kindergarten classes will place on D.C. schools, is the first in a series of deep dives by 蜜桃影视 examining the impact on America’s classrooms of COVID-19’s K-shaped recession. Before the pandemic, Beth Hawkins reports, Mustafa鈥檚 mother cleaned houses in affluent neighborhoods. But when wealthy Washingtonians, who barely noticed the economic downturn, stopped spending on services like hers, the ripples reached the city鈥檚 littlest learners.

See other parts in Beth鈥檚 series:

鈥� School Funding: Will the financial fallout from the pandemic finally fix Jim Crow-era school funding rules? (Read more)

鈥� Learning Gaps: Now facing up to 9 grade levels per class, can schools endure the turbulence of COVID鈥檚 K-shaped recession? (Read more)

鈥� Career and Technical Education: Recession, recovery & robotics 鈥� Can CTE and Reno鈥檚 reinvented schools avert a post-COVID classroom crisis? (Read more)

鈥� 74 Explains: WATCH 鈥� Why the fallout from the pandemic鈥檚 K-shaped recession may be felt by students for years. (Read more)

鈥� Expert Q&A: Professor John Friedman explains how an economic tracker discovered the K-shaped recession 鈥� and what it means for schools (Watch the full conversation)

鈥� Go Deeper: See the full series 鈥� COVID鈥檚 Classroom Crisis.

Genocide 鈥業n My Own Backyard鈥�: North Carolina Educators Ignored State鈥檚 Eugenics History Long Before Critical Race Theory Pushback

Teaching History: Even as a young girl, the shadow of a dark history hung over Orlice Hodges. At 7 years old, her grandmother offered an explanation 鈥� chilling, in retrospect 鈥� of what happened to young women taken away by social workers: They went to Black Mountain to get 鈥渇ixed.鈥� As she got older, the North Carolina woman would learn the awful meaning. 鈥�’Fixed’ meant sterilization,鈥� said Hodges, who was told by family members that her own aunt had been a victim. From 1929 to 1974, North Carolina鈥檚 eugenics program sterilized over 7,600 people 鈥� in its latter years, disproportionately targeting Black women. To this day, reports Asher Lehrer-Small, none of the state鈥檚 10 largest school districts include the episode in social studies curricula, despite a two-decades-old recommendation from a governor-appointed committee calling on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to do just that. An exhibit that included first-person accounts and victims鈥� medical records commissioned 鈥渢o ensure that no one will forget what the State of North Carolina once perpetrated upon its own citizens鈥� toured colleges and universities for a few years in the early 2000s before being packed away in a state office basement. That North Carolina鈥檚 K-12 schools have almost without exception ignored this tragic history offers a compelling example of how knowledge of racially motivated, government-inflicted harm was suppressed long before the recent debate over critical race theory. Read the full article.

鈥� Related: Critical race theory and the new 鈥楳assive Resistance鈥� (Read more)

鈥� Chaos Theory: Amid pandemic recovery efforts, school leaders fear critical race furor will 鈥榩aralyze鈥� teachers (Read more)

Twitter Breaks, Meditative Walks, Security Guards: How School Leaders are Responding to an Unsettling Season of Public Outrage

School Leadership: During a pandemic recovery task force meeting earlier this year, Virginia Beach schools Superintendent Aaron Spence interrupted the conversation with a personal request. 鈥淲hen are we going to talk about us?鈥� he asked the group. Spence, like superintendents nationwide, had been taking so much heat on social media over district reopening plans that he finally left Twitter for a year. With the added turbulence related to critical race theory, threatening tweets, emails and phone calls not only rattle district leaders, but are contributing to increased security at school board meetings. 鈥淧eople are just so angry right now,鈥� Susan Enfield, superintendent of Washington’s Highline Public Schools, told reporter Linda Jacobson. District leaders aren鈥檛 the only ones under attack. Some of the hateful words are directed at parents who are speaking out against what they view as indoctrination. 鈥淭he temperature and rhetoric is too hot on all sides,鈥� said Erica Sanzi of the nonprofit Parents Defending Education. Experts see the virtual attacks on superintendents as part of a larger trend of threats against public officials. According to Tufts University sociologist Sarah Sobieraj, 鈥淭hings that used to seem like regular good jobs that had a public face now seem like dangerous, high-risk activities.鈥� Read our full report.

Ask the Doctor: With Delta Variant Rampant, How Can Parents Protect Young Kids from COVID this Summer and Fall?

Student Safety: If you鈥檙e the parent of a child under 12, you may feel like you鈥檙e in a tricky spot right now. Spread of the highly infectious Delta variant has driven COVID-19 cases up more than 200 percent in the past month nationwide, with especially rapid transmission in undervaccinated areas. But the most recent vaccination timelines say your child won鈥檛 be eligible for coronavirus shots until midwinter. 鈥�The Delta variant resets the COVID clock back to March 2020 for people who are not yet vaccinated, including children,鈥� Rebecca Wurtz, professor of health policy at the University of Minnesota, told 蜜桃影视. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed course on masking recommendations in schools, now urging students and adults in K-12 settings to cover up. In this quickly changing landscape, and as the back-to-school season approaches, 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Asher Lehrer-Small asked health experts how parents of children under 12 can best navigate the months ahead.

鈥� Quarantine Rules: 鈥楤uried鈥� CDC guidance emphasizes universal masking, says properly protected 鈥榗lose contacts鈥� need not quarantine (Read more)

Trailblazing Leader Was Hired to Fix Colorado Springs Schools. Will Doubling Down on His Reforms Avert COVID Classroom Crisis?

Equity: In conservative Colorado Springs, a Black superintendent watched as the pandemic took a disproportionate toll on the low-income students his schools served. Overall, the city is wealthy, but the poverty rate in District 11 schools has risen over the last decade as enrollment has fallen and academic achievement plunged 鈥� trends made worse by the pandemic’s K-shaped recession. So while many school system leaders were scrambling to develop policies about masks and personal protective equipment, Michael Thomas fixed his sights on a much longer horizon and doubled down on a pre-COVID plan to put equity at the center of every decision. Thomas grew up in Minnesota’s Twin Cities and was a frequent target of racial animus, from the teacher who hurled an epithet at him when he was in sixth grade to the cops who pulled him over and chased him out of an all-white suburb when he was a teenager. After George Floyd was killed by a police officer 鈥� on a Minneapolis streetcorner Thomas recognized 鈥� he wrote an open letter to his Colorado Springs community describing his run-in with the cops and explaining its significance to the work he was leading in the school system. The pandemic, he tells Beth Hawkins, did not create the inequities that make it hard for his most underresourced students to flourish. But with COVID-19 throwing the disparities into stark relief, it鈥檚 time to make systemic changes 鈥� and he hopes the community, which has supported him so far, will go along. Read our full profile.

Saturday Science Lessons in the Park: Cleveland School District Sneaks Science Learning into Eye-Catching, Hands-On Experiments at Festival

Summer Science: If you thought science lessons were just for indoor classrooms, take a look at what the Cleveland school district has done this summer. In a city where kids regularly score near the bottom on state science tests, the district conducted eye-catching, hands-on experiments 鈥� including vinegar and baking soda volcanoes; huge, light-refracting soap bubbles; and paper airplanes 鈥� at a weekly summer festival. Students and parents also got take-home kits to do more experiments together. It was a way to spark interest in science, particularly after COVID-19 closed classrooms for more than a year. 鈥淭his is an opportunity to extend learning beyond the traditional means,鈥� said Victoria Weisberg, a preschool teacher in the district who organized the activities, all funded with federal COVID recovery dollars. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to create curiosity about science and engineering and further enhance family bonding.鈥� Read the full story.

鈥擲hipwreck Camp: How a creative Ohio camp is delivering a treasure trove of science with the search for sunken boats in Lake Erie (Read more)

Peering 30 Years into the Future, Economists See Lost Earnings for the Pandemic Generation of Students 鈥� But Summer School Might Help

Future of Work: The year 2050 may seem a long way off, but in 29 years our current crop of K-12 students will be well into their careers. Recent findings from the University of Pennsylvania warn that over the next three decades, our recent COVID-related U.S. school closures, as well as the shift to virtual schooling, could massively impact our national gross domestic product, putting a huge dent in future workers鈥� earning potential. But, as 74 contributor Greg Toppo reports, researchers suggest an expensive remedy: extending the school year. Adding just one month of summer school won鈥檛 be cheap 鈥� about $75 billion 鈥� but the study finds it could help shrink GDP loss about half a percentage point, from 3.6 to 3.1 percent, producing gains of $1.2 trillion over the next three decades. Read our full report.

State of Play: What Researchers Know 鈥� and Don鈥檛 鈥� about Enrollment Declines and Learning Loss as School Year Gets Underway

Learning Loss: With the new school year getting underway, data from spring 2021 should lend urgency to calls to find missing students and assess learning losses, researchers say. The number of third-graders in high-poverty schools at grade level on a nationwide exam fell 17 points, from 39 percent in 2019 to 22 percent last year 鈥� and in Newark, for example, math proficiency was just 9 percent in grades 2 to 8. In Indiana, fewer than one-third of students passed both the state math and reading tests. Overall enrollment was down 3 percent nationwide, and 13 percent of preschool and kindergarten students never showed up. Meanwhile, the number of families homeschooling their kids has mushroomed, fueling historic increases among Black households. Beth Hawkins has some key takeaways.

Amid Historic Federal Windfall, School Leaders Find that Soaring Inflation is Curbing Their Ability to Purchase, Hire and Build

School Finances: School districts have more federal money than they鈥檝e ever had. But with inflation at a 13-year high, educators are slowly awakening to the reality that those funds might not go as far as expected. Delays of supplies and equipment for construction projects and labor shortages are driving up the cost of just about everything schools need to operate. Wages are also climbing, because districts can鈥檛 find enough employees to drive buses or give students additional academic support, and finance directors are wondering whether ongoing revenues will keep pace with expenses. 鈥淪chool districts are like little cities,鈥� Charles Carpenter of the Denver Public Schools told reporter Linda Jacobson. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got food service. You鈥檝e got transportation. You鈥檝e got maintenance. Inflation across the sectors will impact all those areas.鈥� Read the full report.

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Here were our most popular articles of the month:

Chaos Theory: Amid Pandemic Recovery Efforts, School Leaders Fear Critical Race Furor Will 鈥楶aralyze鈥� Teachers

Politics of Curriculum: Calls for teachers to wear body cameras, mountains of records requests and threats against school administrators are among the flashpoints in an emerging new front in the nation’s culture wars, as parents and other opponents of critical race theory push back against its perceived influence in the classroom. Nine states have banned implementation of the once-obscure theory, which in the minds of many encompasses a host of racial and equity-related initiatives, from culturally responsive teaching to social-emotional learning. For many teachers, the backlash feels like a new kind of McCarthyism, where they fear being harassed, fined or fired for a wide array of classroom activities associated with the examination of structural racism in America. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge distraction at a time when we can鈥檛 afford a distraction,鈥� Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, told reporter Linda Jacobson. 鈥淭his has been a year the majority of students were not exposed to the kind of learning they should have been exposed to. Now you鈥檙e going to paralyze teachers because they are afraid to teach.鈥� Read our full report.

鈥� Liability: Teachers unions promise money and support to members teaching 鈥渉onest history鈥� (Read more)

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Disenrollment: Preliminary data released by the National Center for Education Statistics yesterday show that public school enrollment dropped 3 percent in 2020-21 from the year before. The sizable decline 鈥� about 1.5 million students, compared with 2019-20’s total population of 51.1 million 鈥� was felt across the country, with the biggest decreases in Puerto Rico (minus 5.51 percent), Mississippi and Vermont (tied with minus 5.02 percent). The drop was concentrated heavily among the youngest children: , even as the high school ranks thinned by just .4 percent. Most of those young learners are expected to return to in-person classrooms, but Robin Lake, head of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, said schools and districts need to prepare now to meet academic and social-emotional needs that had been deferred in the interim. 鈥淭hese kids are owed a lot in terms of the time they’ve missed learning things, playing with other kids, all of that stuff,” she told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken. “So we’re encouraging school districts to put those kinds of supports in place this summer and try to reach as many kids as possible to address some of those foundational skills.鈥� .

Fearing a 鈥楽econd Pandemic鈥� of Student Trauma, School Leaders Are Doubling Down on Mental Health First Aid Training

Special Report: Between April and October, emergency room visits rose 24 percent for kids ages 5 to 11 and 31 percent for ages 12 to 17 over the year before, a trend experts attribute to pandemic stressors adding to the already mounting crisis of anxiety-related disorders in young people. As students return to in-person classes, these symptoms are showing up in classrooms 鈥� and teachers are the first line of defense. Fearing what this means for the coming school year, educators are signing up for Mental Health First Aid certification. The course, administered by nonprofits including Communities in Schools, reminds adults nationwide that they aren鈥檛 鈥渟uperheroes鈥� 鈥� but they can guide young people toward getting help with a mental health challenge while decreasing the stigma and judgment around the struggles many are facing in the pandemic’s wake. In this first installment of a three-part series, presented in partnership with Texas Tribune, Bekah McNeel looks at how this training is helping educators at one Texas school 鈥� and teachers around the country 鈥� deal with their students’ often hidden mental health issues. Read the opening feature.

鈥� Pandemic Counseling: A San Antonio mental health desert became a beacon of counseling services for thousands of children and families (Read more)

鈥� Students鈥� View: Second graders 鈥渟how鈥� their pandemic challenges through art and 鈥渢ell鈥� how their teacher helped them stay strong (Read more)

How Are States Spending Their COVID Education Relief Funds?

Federal Relief: Asked by the U.S. Education Department to identify the top issues facing students and schools in the wake of the pandemic, state education officials are remarkably consistent: Their plans for spending their share of federal COVID relief aid for education demonstrate a strong need to expand learning opportunities and address students鈥� social and emotional needs. But an analysis by FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University鈥檚 McCourt School of Public Policy, finds that in the 39 states that have submitted to the department to date, education leaders are pursuing those goals in a variety of ways. Contributors Brooke LePage and Phyllis W. Jordan of FutureEd break down how, from tutoring and mental health supports to universal pre-K, museum trips 鈥� even a student film festival 鈥� states are looking to spend their COVID ed relief funds. Read the essay, and click through our interactive maps. Read our full analysis.

School Safety: If you鈥檝e gotten both of your coronavirus shots, the worst of the pandemic is probably behind you. But for kids under 12 still awaiting vaccine eligibility, spread of the highly contagious Delta COVID variant poses a potent threat 鈥� . It鈥檚 鈥渙ne of the most dangerous time periods [in the pandemic] for people who aren鈥檛 vaccinated,鈥� said Taylor Nelson, a University of Missouri doctor specializing in infectious disease. 鈥淜ids are probably the group now that are most susceptible to infection,鈥� said University of Michigan epidemiologist Joshua Petrie. As youth infections surge in Israel and the United Kingdom and the new variant spreads 鈥渓ike wildfire鈥� in undervaccinated pockets of the U.S., the stakes have been raised on the campaign to immunize adolescents 鈥� and may spell the return of measures like masking and ventilation next school year. This is already happening in Los Angeles County, which this week reimposed mask mandates indoors regardless of vaccination status. .

Can Right Answers Be Wrong? Latest Clash Over 鈥榃hite Supremacy Culture鈥� Unfolds in Unlikely Arena: Math Class

Math Skills: A document outlining how to be an 鈥渁ntiracist math educator鈥� has sparked criticism for promoting the idea that focusing on getting students to produce the right answer is one way that 鈥渨hite supremacy culture鈥� shows up in math class. Educators drawing inspiration from the document, part of a larger math equity project at The Education Trust-West 鈥� funded with $1 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 鈥� say the emphasis on accurate calculations shuts down students鈥� thinking process and turns math into a competition. They say the middle grades especially are a period when many Black and Hispanic students turn off math, resulting in persistent racial disparities in advanced high school classes. Making math more culturally relevant by linking concepts to socioeconomic issues, they say, can help students see the reasons for math in their lives. But some Black scholars think the document only reinforces teachers鈥� bias against students of color. 鈥淭he workbook’s ultimate message is clear: Black kids are bad at math, so why don’t we just excuse them from really learning it,鈥� Erec Smith of York College of Pennsylvania told reporter Linda Jacobson. And even math educators devoted to increasing equity said the document can widen divides at a time of political polarization. Read our full report.

High Schoolers Who Took Remote Classes During Pandemic Experienced a 鈥淭hriving Gap,鈥� According to Duckworth-Led Study

Achievement Gaps: Research from the past year, including a wave of worrying standardized test results, has highlighted the academic consequences of months of remote schooling necessitated by COVID-19. But while math and reading scores are disappointing in their own right, most educators and parents are equally anxious about how the pandemic is changing students’ inner lives. In a study published today by the American Education Research Association, a team of researchers including psychologist Angela Duckworth found that thousands of high schoolers attending virtual classes at the height of the pandemic reported that they were worse off socially, emotionally and academically than their peers in physical classrooms. The study points to what the authors call a “thriving gap,” particularly among kids in later grades. Read our full report.

鈥榃e are Becoming Grayer鈥�: New Hampshire鈥檚 Shrinking Birth Rates and Shuttered Schools Offer Preview for the Nation

School Funding: According to federal data released in May, U.S. fertility rates hit another record low in 2020, with the fewest babies born in 40 years. Though COVID-19 has dissuaded many women from starting or expanding their families, the origins of the national baby bust stretch back well over a decade. The demographic slowdown is particularly severe in New Hampshire, where deaths have outpaced births for four years and the diminishing pool of children is starting to be felt in schools: In Manchester, a former industrial powerhouse and the state鈥檚 largest district, the student population has shrunk by over one-fifth in the last decade, and many schools are well below capacity. In response, local leaders approved the closure of a beloved 130-year-old elementary school and are considering consolidating three high schools that are collectively underenrolled by 1,500 students. While northern New England is the country’s slowest-growing region, the tough choices it鈥檚 facing could soon be coming to a school near you. 鈥淚t’s a very different dynamic than what it used to be when my dad went to elementary school, where the classes were bigger and there were more kids in general,鈥� one parent told reporter Kevin Mahnken. 鈥淚t’s not like that now.” Read our special report.

鈥� Related: Falling birth rates spur clash over race and school choice in Michigan (Read more)

In Pursuit of a Better Democracy or Something Else: Oklahoma Latest State to Require High Schoolers to Pass Citizenship Test

Civics Ed: Oklahoma House Speaker Pro Tempore Terry O鈥橠onnell believes that making high school students pass a citizenship test to graduate will cut down on 鈥渁 proliferation of mobs鈥� in America. 鈥淭he beauty of our democracy is that there is a way to address all grievances,鈥� O鈥橠onnell said. 鈥淢ob violence or mob activity 鈥� is not part of the solution. It just adds to the problem.鈥� Other states that administer the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services test to high schoolers include Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky and Tennessee, while New Hampshire has its own version and Florida just passed a law that would make state college and university students subject to a civics assessment. Opponents in Oklahoma say the requirement is an unfunded mandate amounting to little more than rote memorization; that its real purpose is to target undocumented students while winning conservative political points; and that it will reduce graduation rates. Read our full report.

Parents Want Better School Ventilation This Fall. But the Devil is in the Details 鈥� and the Expense

Infrastructure: When RAND Inc. researchers last spring made a list of 13 items that would make parents feel safe about in-person schooling this fall, the No. 1 priority wasn鈥檛 teacher or student vaccines, social distancing or regular COVID testing. It was ventilation. Perhaps that鈥檚 because COVID-19 has made our most basic act 鈥� breathing 鈥� newsworthy. But that鈥檚 one wish that isn鈥檛 likely to be granted anytime soon 鈥� and the reasons go beyond Washington politics or the fine print in recent federal relief bills. The biggest problem, according to the latest reporting from 74 contributor Greg Toppo, is the price tag. A 2020 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 41 percent of districts needed to update or replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in at least half their schools 鈥� about 36,000 nationwide 鈥� and the cost of upgrades is about $1 million per building. If half of the 36,000 buildings get upgrades and the rest get entirely new HVAC systems, it could cost schools about $72 billion, the GAO estimated. Read our full analysis.

Steiner & Wilson: Case Study 鈥� Some Tough Questions, and Some Answers, About Fighting COVID Slide While Accelerating Student Learning

Literacy: How prepared are district leaders, principals and teachers as they work to increase learning readiness for on-grade work this fall? That’s the question posed by contributors David Steiner and Barbara Wilson in a case study examining how a large urban district sought to adapt materials it was already using to implement an acceleration strategy for early elementary foundational skills in reading. Among the insights to be drawn: First, planning is critical. Leaders need to set out precisely how many minutes of instruction will be provided, the exact learning goals and the specific materials; identify all those involved (tutors, specialists, and teachers); and give them access to the shared professional development on the chosen acceleration strategies. Second, this requires a sea change from business as usual, where teachers attempt to impart skill-based standards using an eclectic rather than a coherent curriculum. It is not possible to accelerate children with fragmented content. All efforts to prepare students for grade-level instruction must rest on fierce agreement about the shared curriculum to be taught in classrooms. What we teach is the anchor that holds everything else in place. Read our full case study.

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If the 2019 school year ended in a surge of shutdowns and socially-distanced chaos, the 2020 school year commenced with an unprecedented mix of innovation, improvisation and isolation, as districts rushed to rethink everything from school safety to remote instruction, student nutrition, social-emotional supports and beyond. From fall to spring 鈥� through all the spikes in COVID cases, the rolling campus closures, the approval of vaccines for adolescents and the evolving CDC guidance surrounding the spread and mitigation of the disease 鈥� school communities did their best to pivot and adapt to the twists and turns that made the past nine months an academic year unlike any other.

Now with nearly every elected official and education leader calling for a full restoration of in-person learning for the 2021 school year, there鈥檚 a feeling today, in July of 2021 as we enter the holiday weekend, that we鈥檙e taking collective stock of the fallout from the COVID school year 鈥� and laying the groundwork for the engagement and interventions that will be required to help all kids make up for lost time.

If the 2019 school year was when things derailed, and 2020 was the year we did the best we could in an impossible situation, 2021 is poised to be the moment the nation turns the page and doubles down on education as a post-COVID priority.

Here at 蜜桃影视, we鈥檝e been monitoring and covering each new chapter in the pandemic. And as a second school year draws to a close, we wanted to take a quick snapshot of this moment in time: What are our top concerns about students after 15 months of disruption? What are the top issues that need to be addressed through summer school or first thing in the fall? As we look to catch kids up, where do we start 鈥� and what solutions have the most promise?

Looking back over the past nine months, at what reporting generated the most interest and sparked the greatest impact, here are 12 important stories about the challenges currently facing students and teachers that could well define the next school year:

Remedial Education? Not So Fast: Education researchers had some advice to offer school leaders in a report that was released in May: As educators decide how to spend federal stimulus dollars and address learning losses in the school year to come, they should consider the lackluster impact of remediation 鈥� the typical gap-closing practice of making up missed material before moving on 鈥� . TNTP and Zearn analyzed the experiences of 2 million students during the current academic year and found that, on Zearn鈥檚 math app, classrooms featuring acceleration 鈥� a strategy in which students are challenged by grade-level lessons and instructed in specific missing skills as needed 鈥� saw dramatic growth. Students receiving this kind of support completed over 25 percent more grade-level work than they would have using remediation. By contrast, students in remediation continued to struggle. .

鈥搁别濒补迟别诲: Miami data could offer dire warning of 鈥榰nfinished learning鈥� nationwide, with 54% of district students testing below grade level in math (Read the full report)

Achievement Gaps Have Grown Wider: The pandemic may have exacerbated achievement gaps not only by leaving some students behind, but by propelling more privileged children even further ahead academically. At least . The numbers, collected and crunched by economists at Harvard University鈥檚 Opportunity Insights research group, are from Zearn Math, a free online program for kindergarten through fifth-grade students. But they were the best early measure researchers had for overall engagement with online learning. The program was being used by more than 2.5 million students in more than half the country鈥檚 school districts before the COVID-19 shutdown. Researchers used a representative national sample of about 800,000 students from district public, charter and parochial schools to track what happened after that. .

The Promising Power of Tutoring: An abundance of research has demonstrated the power of tutoring in boosting students’ academic performance. Now, as families and governments seek the best ways to reverse COVID-related learning loss, a working paper released in March 鈥� and offers a theory about how they were achieved. In two experimental trials in Chicago, the authors find that ninth- and 10th-graders saw huge improvements both in their math test scores and their grade-point averages, with course failures reduced by as much as 49 percent. Particularly impressive, according to co-author Monica Bhatt, is that the effects were generated by a program serving older students, who often see weaker results from education interventions. “I really do think we have to stop asking ourselves, ‘Well, what really works?’ because we have more indications of what works,” Bhatt told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken. “Now we have to figure out how to actually do it in the context of U.S. public schooling.” .

College Enrollment Continues to Plunge, Marking the Worst Single-Year Decline Since 2011

Community Colleges Are In Trouble: Hopes that college enrollment would begin to indicate some signs of resilience in the face of a waning pandemic were dashed again when the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released more detailed numbers last month. The fuller data set for spring 2021 shows that overall college enrollment fell by 603,000 students, from 17.5 million to 16.9 million 鈥� a drop that is seven times worse than the year before, when the pandemic first hit, and marks the steepest year-over-year decline since 2011, the first year the center began keeping track. Community colleges, which enroll the greatest percentages of low-income students and students of color, were hit hardest, declining 9.5 percent, or 476,000 fewer students. More than 65 percent of all undergraduate enrollment losses this spring occurred among community colleges. Author and 74 contributor Richard Whitmire reports on the persistently bad news, wondering, 鈥渨ill enrollments ever recover?鈥�

How Do We Confront the Failing Grades From the Pandemic?: As we reported in February, the number of failing grades were on the rise across the country 鈥� especially for students learning online 鈥� and the trend threatens to exacerbate existing educational inequities. The rise in failing grades appeared to be most pronounced among students from low-income households, multilingual students and students learning virtually. This could have lasting consequences: Students with failing grades tend to have less access to advanced courses in high school, . Addressing the problem, though, won’t be easy. In many school systems, the rash of failed courses could overwhelm traditional approaches to helping students make up coursework they may have missed. In a fresh analysis, Betheny Gross, associate director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, implores school and district leaders to be especially wary of one long-established but questionable practice: credit recovery. Read more about her warning 鈥� .

School Safety 鈥� Science v. Politics: As we reported in October, the 2020 school year quickly exposed a national divide in America’s coronavirus response: Even as some districts were quick to welcome students back to physical classrooms, millions of their classmates were still receiving their education through a screen months later. Now, a growing number of academic and independent researchers . Across several analyses, experts found little or no correlation between the severity of COVID-19 spread and districts’ plans for reopening; in contrast, reopening decisions are shown to be strongly associated with partisan considerations, including the strength of local teachers unions and support for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. According to Jon Valant, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center on Education Policy, while the question hasn’t been settled, the influx of new evidence is “strongly suggestive” that political calculations are weighing heavily on the minds of school authorities: “There’s a long list of issues associated with COVID that should not be politicized, but have been politicized, and it feels as though school reopenings are on that list.” .

When Education and the Economy Collide: As we reported in January, listening to Zoom classes while blending smoothies and cramming homework into breaks between customers were among the ways teens . 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just to pay their cell phone bill. For some of them, it鈥檚 like, 鈥業 need to help my family pay the rent,鈥欌�� a college and career counselor told reporter Linda Jacobson. One Los Angeles student became the primary earner in her family when both parents contracted COVID-19 and had to quarantine. While some teens are determined to manage their added responsibilities without falling behind, others say they鈥檙e less motivated to keep up with remote classes. And counselors said they walk a fine line between being firm and showing empathy for students whose families are struggling. As one said: 鈥淚 respect the hustle.鈥� .

Is Remote Learning Here to Stay?: Parents 鈥� and especially Black and Latino ones 鈥� are not as eager to send their children back to in-person classes as they are to have access to better, more innovative distance learning, according to a poll conducted last fall on behalf of the National Parents Union. Two-thirds, the survey found, want schools to focus on new ways of teaching as a result of COVID, and . While respondents were overwhelmingly positive about their schools鈥� efforts to meet the moment, more than a third saying their children are learning less 鈥� a number that jumps among low-income parents and families of students with disabilities. Fifty-nine percent want less reliance on police in schools, with 75 percent of Black parents saying they favor replacing them with psychologists, counselors and social workers. .

鈥搁别濒补迟别诲: Returning this fall, by popular demand 鈥� Virtual school. For communities of color, it鈥檚 largely a matter of trust (Read the full report)

Bucking the Trend: How 2 D.C. Principals Restored Black Parents鈥� Trust in Returning Kids to the Classroom

Restoring Trust With Families: At Garfield Prep Academy in Washington, D.C.’s majority Black Ward 8, Principal Kennard Branch was pulling out all the stops last February to make worried parents more confident about sending their children back to school: He鈥檚 posted self-produced video tours of the building online, secured plastic shields for every desk and is sending kids home with bagged dinners. Principal Katreena Shelby at nearby Kramer Middle School was providing parents with one-on-one building walkthroughs upon request and answering their questions through text messages and calls on her personal cell phone. At both schools, more students had returned for in-person learning 鈥� and the principals believe these efforts at family outreach were the reason why. “It has been a struggle districtwide to really get parents interested in sending their students back,” Shelby told 蜜桃影视’s Taylor Swaak. “Our school culture plays a large role in [our momentum]. … Relationships and rapport have helped us.” Read our full report.

Ensuring Students Receive 鈥楥ompensatory Services鈥�: Even in normal times, families of children with disabilities must often fight to get the special education services they are entitled to. During distance learning, those services disappeared at many schools, . But a number of New Orleans schools offered a hopeful model last school year. Prodded by Louisiana education officials not to wait to begin making up for missed therapies and interventions special education students depend on, many began providing what special educators call compensatory services during the summer of 2020. Advocates credited the state鈥檚 push for helping teachers and principals take stock of what has and hasn鈥檛 worked for children with disabilities, both in brick-and-mortar schools and in remote learning. 鈥淚t made schools really think through their re-entry,鈥� a community leader who reviewed schools鈥� reopening special education plans tells Beth Hawkins. 鈥�.鈥�

District-Union Collaboration: As the Los Angeles Unified School District prepared to reopen elementary schools this past spring, recently released court documents provided a rare glimpse into negotiations between the district and United Teachers Los Angeles in the summer of 2020. The district鈥檚 labor chief pushed to improve on the four-hour schedule for teachers that was the norm in spring of 2020, telling the union鈥檚 team he wanted 鈥渢o see the workday mirror or parallel a regular workday,鈥� which had been eight hours pre-COVID, and that the district 鈥渃an鈥檛 shortchange the students.鈥� But between mid-July and December of last year, . The district鈥檚 relatively weak position in Los Angeles is a contrast to Chicago and New York, where mayors control the schools, the University of Nevada Las Vegas鈥檚 Bradley Marianno told reporter Linda Jacobson. Parents largely supported Los Angeles teachers two years ago when they went on strike, but 鈥渘ow we鈥檙e talking about actual disruption to school for a long period of time,鈥� he said. 鈥淧arents have an ability to separate their beliefs about teachers from their beliefs about teachers unions.鈥� .

A New Normal For America鈥檚 Schools?: A Nation at Risk, President Ronald Reagan鈥檚 1983 blue-ribbon panel鈥檚 review of American public education, is frequently referenced as the benchmark and starting flag of the reform movement. But in a new essay published last fall, contributor John M. McLaughlin argues that its 37-year reign as the reference point for educational progress is over. : 鈥淚t will be the new reference point for the evolution of public schooling, and changes as a result of COVID-19 will be more rapid and far-reaching than any measures of the past 37 years.鈥� From fiscal restructuring to reconfigured school days, millions of new homeschoolers and a renewed push for both individualized instruction and parental choice, McLaughlin says there is no going back to a pre-COVID world for public education 鈥� and that while the coming evolution will be messy and varied, the results will be a wider array of options for families and education structures that better reflect the society they serve.

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After a school year unlike any other, we鈥檝e begun a summer sprint unlike anything we鈥檝e seen 鈥� to reconnect with students, to rebuild trust with families and to reboot efforts to repair the learning losses from the darkest days of the pandemic. Our most widely shared article in June touched on this very issue of learning recovery, and whether it鈥檚 better to focus on remedial education or accelerating learning. Other standouts this month: An analysis of where schools were (and weren鈥檛) closed for in-person learning last academic year, how COVID led some teachers to change the way they were teaching reading, and profiles of educators in Tulsa who insist they鈥檙e committed to teaching 鈥渉ard鈥� history even as state lawmakers push legislation restricting anti-racist instruction amid the anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Here were our most popular articles of the month:

A Better Equation: New Pandemic Data Supports Acceleration Rather than Remediation to Make Up for COVID Learning Loss

Learning Recovery: In a new report, researchers have some advice for education leaders. As they decide how to spend their federal stimulus dollars and address learning losses in the school year to come, they should consider the lackluster impact of remediation 鈥� the typical gap-closing practice of making up missed material before moving on 鈥� and emerging evidence suggesting there鈥檚 a better way. TNTP and Zearn analyzed the experiences of 2 million students during the current academic year and found that, on Zearn鈥檚 math app, classrooms featuring acceleration 鈥� a strategy in which students are challenged by grade-level lessons and instructed in specific missing skills as needed 鈥� saw dramatic growth. Students receiving this kind of support completed over 25 percent more grade-level work than they would have using remediation. By contrast, students in remediation continued to struggle. Beth Hawkins talks to the team behind the report about their findings.

School Closures: Through the pandemic, schools in Republican states offered in-person learning at nearly twice the rate of those in Democratic states, according to new data, for those students. The numbers, provided to 蜜桃影视 by the school calendar tracking website Burbio, deliver a cumulative view of schooling decisions throughout COVID-19 and reinforce evidence of a partisan divide long highlighted by researchers. Averaged from September through May, states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election gave students the chance to learn in the classroom 74.5 percent of the time, compared to 37.6 percent of the time in states that voted for Joe Biden. The full impact of that disparity remains largely unmeasured, says Chad Aldeman, policy director at Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab. But he suspects the effects on students could be vast. 鈥淭ime is a rough proxy for learning,鈥� he told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Asher Lehrer-Small. 鈥淪o lost instructional time is likely to lead to lost learning.鈥� .

Falling Birth Rates Spur Clash over Race and School Choice in Michigan

Enrollment: America鈥檚 birth rates have trended downward since the onset of the Great Recession, and the crashing fertility is increasingly forcing school districts to adjust to lower student enrollment. The problem is reaching a head in Michigan, where hundreds of communities are now home to fewer children than they were a decade ago. But the state鈥檚 unique policy environment 鈥� in which families have an abundance of school choice, and money follows students wherever they go 鈥� makes things even more complicated. The example of Grosse Pointe, one of the most highly regarded school systems in Michigan, is instructive: Local leaders had already seen a years-long enrollment decline in 2019, when they opted to close two elementary schools. But some wonder why the district wouldn鈥檛 simply open its under-capacity schools to children from nearby Detroit 鈥� the overwhelming majority of whom are nonwhite and from low-income families. One parent told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Kevin Mahnken that she doubted the community would ever allow it: 鈥淲e’re bordered on one side by Detroit, and the other side is the lake; people would rather welcome the fish.鈥� Read our full report.

鈥斺�榃e are becoming grayer鈥�: Shrinking birth rates and shuttered schools in New Hampshire offer preview for the nation

Remote Learning: 鈥淭igers, today we鈥檙e going to keep unpacking the alphabetic code,鈥� first-grade teacher Victor De La Cerda told a lively group of 6-year-olds 鈥� some in person, others on Zoom. 鈥淲atch my mouth,鈥� he said, making a long 鈥渦鈥� sound. The idea was to focus on the spelling 鈥渦_e,鈥� as in 鈥渃ute鈥� 鈥� one of the four ways the sound can be rendered. If the children didn’t get it, no problem 鈥� the class would revisit the skill soon, in a future lesson, following a structured approach that which he learned in graduate school. But as a teacher in Texas, he鈥檚 smack dab in the middle of what some have called the latest chapter in the reading wars, the multi-decade battle 鈥� freshly complicated by the pandemic 鈥� over whether structure or curiosity best teaches kids to read. .

The Truth is Out There. But With New UFO Report Expected to Land Soon, Talk of Alien Life is Also Becoming More Common in the Nation鈥檚 Science Classrooms

Student Engagement: Few topics stimulate debate among Alec Johnson鈥檚 students like the possibility of interplanetary visitors observing us from above. 鈥淭he kids get into it, especially if you don鈥檛 take a side,鈥� says Johnson, a Georgia astronomy teacher and one of many science educators who finds that asking 鈥淎re we alone?鈥� is a great way to engage students. The government鈥檚 upcoming release of an intelligence report on 鈥渦nidentified aerial phenomena鈥� will give teachers like Johnson new material for discussions about UFOs and the math and science principles involved in traveling to Earth from another galaxy. Teachers introduce students to the solar system in elementary school and go into greater depth in middle school. But in high school, full astronomy courses aren鈥檛 common, and science teachers who build lessons on the subject often have a personal interest. Johnson enhances his classroom experience with 鈥淭he X-Files鈥� theme music and told reporter Linda Jacobson, 鈥淎ny self-respecting astronomy teacher has to have a Fox Mulder poster on the wall.鈥� Read the full report.

College Enrollment Continues to Plunge, Marking the Worst Single-Year Decline Since 2011

Higher Education: Hopes that college enrollment would begin to indicate some signs of resilience in the face of a waning pandemic were dashed again when the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released more detailed numbers this month The fuller data set for spring 2021 shows that overall college enrollment fell by 603,000 students, from 17.5 million to 16.9 million 鈥� a drop that is seven times worse than the year before, when the pandemic first hit, and marks the steepest year-over-year decline since 2011, the first year the center began keeping track. Community colleges, which enroll the greatest percentages of low-income students and students of color, were hit hardest, declining 9.5 percent, or 476,000 fewer students. More than 65 percent of all undergraduate enrollment losses this spring occurred among community colleges. Author and 74 contributor Richard Whitmire reports on the persistently bad news, wondering, 鈥渨ill enrollments ever recover?鈥� Read the full report.

Analysis: Tutoring, Summer School, Pods 鈥� Survey Finds Parents Aren鈥檛 So Thrilled About Most K-12 COVID Recovery Solutions on the Table

Innovation: One lesson from the ongoing crisis of school hesitancy is just how influential parents are in determining their children鈥檚 educational pathways. Education leaders must factor in parents鈥� perspectives, or reopening can be a flop 鈥� students won鈥檛 show up. So contributors Anna Rosefsky Saavedra and Morgan Polikoff asked the Understanding America Study’s nationally representative sample of some 1,500 K-12 parents how they feel about a range of practices. Many of the results are surprising: Parents are not very enthusiastic about in-person summer school, tutoring or pods, and they’re not thrilled about added instructional time or most other policies under consideration, either. But remote tutoring scored high in the survey, and parents want to use technology for teacher conferences; storage, organization and distribution of class materials; and as an alternate means for keeping school open when the weather is bad. Half of parents support allowing students to work on their own time, without a teacher physically present. What these results make clear is that education leaders need to talk to parents to figure out what programs and policies they would support before creating COVID-19-relief programs. Otherwise, participation may be far too weak to really move the needle on students鈥� academic and social/emotional needs. Read the full analysis.

History: When Tulsa, Oklahoma fifth-grade teacher Akela Leach began her lesson this month on the race massacre that wiped out the city鈥檚 Greenwood District 100 years ago, . The state had recently passed a controversial bill that observers described as an 鈥渁ntiracism teaching ban,鈥� part of a wave of legislation from Republican lawmakers across the country intended to limit classroom discussion of systemic racism. When Leach explained that the law would not prevent the class from learning about the 1921 Race Massacre, she was met with cheers from students. Leach said her fifth-graders thought: 鈥淚’m learning something that someone doesn’t want me to learn, so this must be really, really important.鈥� 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Asher Lehrer-Small reports on how Leach and others in Tulsa .

Math Proficiency: Christopher Ochoa of McAllen, Texas, has loved mathematics since he was a child, his interest fueled by summer math camps and trips to Space Center Houston. . “When you鈥檙e in the classroom, you can ask a question, go to the whiteboard with your teacher and he鈥檒l work through it with you,鈥� he told 74 contributor Jo Napolitano. 鈥淣ow, when you ask a question, you have to unmute your mic and you can鈥檛 see the teacher face to face or make eye contact.鈥� Teachers say pandemic-related setbacks in math will linger well into the coming school year, especially for students who suffered the most during shutdowns. Unable to peer over their students鈥� shoulders and correct their work, math teachers lost the ability to offer on-the-spot tutorials. The results showed: A November NWEA study of fall 2020 test scores for nearly 4.4 million children in grades 3 through 8 found they lagged 5 to 10 points in math compared with students in the prior year. .

Miami Data Could Offer Dire Warning of 鈥楿nfinished Learning鈥� Nationwide, With 54% of District Students Testing Below Grade Level in Math

Learning Loss: Florida鈥檚 Miami-Dade County Public Schools reported earlier this month that 43 percent of students in pre-K to 3 who took reading tests in January scored below grade level in reading, and 54 percent were below grade level in math. As 74 contributor Greg Toppo reports, the data from the nation鈥檚 fourth-largest district could be a bellwether for schools across the U.S. 鈥淭he national trends are pointing in a direction at least as severe as what’s happening in Miami-Dade, and likely more severe,鈥� said Kristen Huff, vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, a Massachusetts-based firm whose tests are used in schools in the district and elsewhere nationwide. Read the full report.

Cicadas During COVID 鈥� A 鈥楪olden Moment鈥� For Classroom Engagement At the End of an Isolating School Year

Science: For teachers in places where the Brood X periodical cicadas emerged this spring, the timing has been perfect: After a long year of virtual lessons, flagging student engagement and ongoing stress, a real-life science lesson has crawled out of the ground 鈥� and started singing. Teachers around the eastern United States have found lessons about the bugs, which students can see, hear and touch in the schoolyard, are a boon for student engagement. Even kids watching their teachers interact with cicadas through Zoom 鈥渃ome alive鈥� at the sight of the insects, one teacher said. 鈥淚t just turns into a real magical experience鈥� when kids can encounter nature without fear, another said. Read Laura Fay鈥檚 full report.

Go Deeper: Every month, we round up our most popular and shared articles from the past four weeks. See our top highlights from March, April, and May right here. 

Looming decisions over how schools should prioritize federal relief funds, emerging plans for how to catch kids up this summer and a new supreme court case surrounding students鈥� free speech rights 鈥� these were just a few of the biggest storylines we covered in May. And our most popular item this month: An emotional tribute from families about the educators who helped them get through the darkest days of the pandemic.

From new research surrounding the downside of four-day school weeks to multiple stories about student discipline 鈥� and school discipline reform 鈥� here were our most popular articles of the month:

鈥楽he Made Me Feel Like I Wasn鈥檛 Entirely Alone鈥�: 10 Students and Families Pay Tribute to the Teachers Who Helped Them Endure the Pandemic

Teacher Appreciation: As the mother of a teen with Down syndrome, Krystal Gurganus has seen her son Landon face his share of challenges. So it came as a shock when special education teacher Hannah Land taught Landon to read this year, via Zoom. 鈥淚’ve never heard my child read before. And he’s 14 years old,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o this was in that moment when I was sitting beside him on a computer, and I hear him read an actual story for the very first time 鈥� it was mind-blowing that this teacher was able to engage my child through a screen.鈥� Every year, teachers like Land touch countless students鈥� lives with inspiring lessons, heartfelt advice and ice cream parties 鈥� but amid COVID-19, those gestures took on new meaning. From an art teacher who helped a student come to terms with her father鈥檚 death to an educator who moved out of her home so she could educate kids in person and another who bought tablets for her student鈥檚 siblings, parents and students from around the country shared stories about the educators who helped them get through the pandemic school year. Laura Fay introduces these 10 amazing teachers.

Early Look at District Plans to Spend Billions in Federal Relief Funds Shows Lack of Focus on Learning Recovery

School Funding: States have until Monday to distribute $81 billion in federal relief funds to districts 鈥� two-thirds of the total for K-12 schools in the American Rescue Plan. And while the law requires districts to allocate 20 percent of their funding on learning loss, the Georgetown Edunomics Lab鈥檚 early review of spending plans shows they鈥檙e not prioritizing efforts to help students catch up, such as tutoring and extending the school year. Rather, they are using the money to fill budget gaps, hire staff and issue 鈥渢hank you鈥� bonuses to teachers. The relief bill, passed in March, represents the largest-ever, one-time influx of federal funds for K-12, setting up a 鈥渇ast and furious鈥� planning process for districts over the next few months, said Edunomics Lab Director Marguerite Roza. Meanwhile, leaders are facing heightened scrutiny from parents and advocacy groups looking to hold leaders accountable for the funds, and districts are expected to make extensive efforts to get input from parents, educators and students, Roza said. 鈥淭hat means districts can鈥檛 go into a dark, smoke-filled room and make a plan.鈥� Read Linda Jacobson鈥檚 full report.

Kids Keep Getting Hit at School, Even Where Corporal Punishment is Banned

Student Safety: Video of a Florida elementary school principal spanking a 6-year-old with a wooden paddle last month sparked national outrage and calls for her arrest. Though the district where the paddling took place prohibits corporal punishment, the state does not, and the principal was not criminally charged. The incident highlights a troubling reality across the country: Even in states and districts where corporal punishment is banned, kids are still getting hit in school. About a dozen districts in states where the practice is outlawed reported using it on students more than 300 times during the 2017-18 school year, according to a 74 analysis of the most recent civil rights data from the U.S. Department of Education. Of those, Chicago Public Schools accounted for the lion鈥檚 share, with children in the nation鈥檚 third-largest district struck 226 times in school that year. In Louisiana, where paddling is permitted except on students with disabilities, data show that special education students were hit nearly 100 times in 2017-18. While the practice has its proponents among some educators and those who cite parental rights, considerable research shows its harmful effect on children 鈥� and students of color and those with disabilities are disproportionately subjected to it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 barbaric, and it opens the door to abuse,鈥� the Florida lawyer representing the mother of the girl who was paddled told Mark Keierleber. Read our full report.

Cleveland鈥檚 Kinder, Gentler Summer School: District Mixes Pure Academics With Enrichment Activities to Entice Kids Back to Class after COVID Struggles

Accelerating Learning: Summer schools face a huge challenge in overcoming academic shortfalls after a school year disrupted by the pandemic. But in Cleveland, and some other districts around the country, summer classes are being combined with fun projects and activities like sports, arts and neighborhood-improvement efforts that expand learning beyond just math and English lessons. Cleveland district officials say their program, featured last night on “NBC Nightly News,” focuses on making students feel welcome at school. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really thinking about how the recovery looks in the next one to three years, and not the notion that somehow, in one summer, we鈥檙e going to recover everything from the pandemic,鈥� said district CEO Eric Gordon. Read Patrick O’Donnell鈥檚 full report.

A Big Raise For Texas Teachers: New Plan Will Give Top Educators $100,000 to Fight COVID Learning Loss at State鈥檚 Poorest Schools

Teacher Quality: When Texas created its Teacher Incentive Allotment as part of a historic 2019 school funding bill, it came with a compromise: Conservatives could have incentive pay 鈥� tying compensation to performance 鈥� but the largest stipends would go to teachers in the state鈥檚 poorest schools. 鈥淭he Teacher Incentive Allotment is not a grant. It is a commitment to shift the culture of your district,鈥� said Mohammed Choudhury, San Antonio ISD associate superintendent of strategy, talent and innovation. To get the money, districts must create a teacher evaluation system based on classroom observation and students鈥� academic growth, instead of single-year test scores that say more about neighborhood income than teacher quality. Two years later, 82 school districts and charter schools have been approved to receive funds from the allotment, and dozens of teachers will make over $100,000 this year working to combat COVID learning loss among some of the state’s most disadvantaged students. What鈥檚 best, said Longview ISD Chief Human Resources Officer John York, is that the most skilled teachers are staying in high-need schools. 鈥淭he kids are the winners.鈥� Read Bekah McNeel鈥檚 full report.

Supreme Court: Students鈥� First Amendment rights are on the line after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case about a profane Snapchat post that could define schools鈥� authority to regulate off-campus speech 鈥� an issue that鈥檚 particularly relevant in the social media era. The justices, and the court’s 6-to-3 conservative majority, . At issue is a Pennsylvania high schooler鈥檚 2017 Snapchat post venting frustration because she didn鈥檛 make the varsity cheerleading squad, and whether her off-campus rant violated a Vietnam War-era Supreme Court precedent that lets educators punish student speech that causes a 鈥渟ubstantial disruption.鈥� Leading education groups and the Biden administration argued that schools must be able to hold students accountable for off-campus speech that is harassing or threatens violence. But justices were skeptical that the post was anything more than an expression of frustration laced with F-bombs. If schools could discipline kids for off-campus cursing, then 鈥渆very school in the country would be doing nothing but punishing,鈥� Justice Stephen Breyer said. .

Reinventing School Discipline in Texas: After Years of Unequal Punishment for Black Students, Dallas ISD Moves Toward Historic End to Most Suspensions

School Discipline: Texas鈥檚 second-largest school district is using tools it honed during the pandemic to end suspensions for low-level offenses. By giving students access to teletherapy and remote learning opportunities in what it calls reset centers, administrators plan to address the root causes of behavior issues without interrupting learning. 鈥淪uspension was never the right structure, but it is certainly not the right structure coming out of a global pandemic,鈥� former Dallas school board trustee Miguel Solis told reporter Bekah McNeel. In addition to additional staff and technology, Solis said, teacher training will be key to making the new policy a success. 鈥淭he teacher student dynamic is going to be radically different,鈥� Solis said. Read our full report.

Schools that Switched to a Four-Day Week Saw Learning Reductions. What Does that Mean for the Pandemic鈥檚 Lost Instructional Time?

Learning Loss: Even before COVID-19, a fast-growing segment of American schools ran on a four-day week. The trend is partly a concession to scheduling challenges and lengthy commutes in many rural areas, but also a reflection of cost-cutting measures even years after the Great Recession. According to one analysis, over 20 percent of school districts in five Western states now operate four days per week 鈥� and according to a recently published study of one of those states, Oregon, the academic results can be dangerous. The research, featured in the journal Education Next, found that when schools shifted from a five- to a four-day schedule, students lost between three and four hours of instructional time each week and test scores dropped in both math and reading. Even worse, the longer schools stuck with the new schedule, the sharper the decline became. The findings are particularly striking in light of learning losses inflicted by school closures during the pandemic, which at least partially result from lack of time in classrooms. 鈥淗opefully, some of these knowledge losses can be caught up,鈥� study author and Oregon State University economist Paul Thompson told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken. 鈥淏ut there are questions about some of the long-run ramifications on outcomes besides achievement.鈥� Read our full report.

Researchers Combed Through Over 1,600 Teachers of the Year Since 1988. Here鈥檚 What They Learned about the Winners

Big Picture: The Teacher of the Year award is the most prominent national program for recognizing and promoting excellence in K-12 instruction 鈥� and one of the oldest, dating to 1952. Each year, a winner is chosen from every state and territory, and the national awardee gets a celebration at the White House and a year to advocate for the profession. But what kinds of schools do these exemplars come from? Researchers decided to find out, studying state- and national-level teachers of the year going back to 1988. Their findings: Winners are disproportionately likely to work in high schools (and large schools more generally); they tend to teach English or social studies rather than health, foreign languages or special education; and, perhaps most strikingly, they鈥檙e employed at schools with lower than average numbers of low-income students. Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 full report.

鈥� 2021 Teacher of the Year: Immigrant, bilingual special educator named National Teacher of Year (Read more)

Every month, we round up our most popular and shared articles from the past four weeks. (Go deeper: See our top highlights from April, March and February right here)

Showdowns over reopening schools, racial reckonings playing out in Minnesota and Connecticut, ambitious state proposals to reverse COVID learning loss 鈥� these were just a few of the exclusives and storylines that resonated most passionately with our readers in April. And as the national media was focused on the trial of Derek Chauvin, convicted of murdering George Floyd, we also surfaced disturbing statistics from nearby schools that showed the widespread use of restraint on school campuses, disproportionately against Black students.

From school discipline to accelerating learning to strategies for both educators and families in bridging the home-classroom gap in a time of remote instruction, the month saw a wide mix of news, analysis and investigations at 蜜桃影视. Below are our most popular articles of the month. (Reminder: You can also get alerts about our latest news coverage, essays and exclusives by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

SEL: For seven years, Dena Simmons drove efforts to make the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence鈥檚 popular social-emotional learning program, RULER, more culturally relevant for students with life experiences like hers 鈥� a Black girl from the Bronx. Her message resonated with educators across the country in districts struggling with the racial mismatch between teachers and students. 鈥淒ena鈥檚 star was certainly on the rise 鈥� because she brought a perspective in content that was transformational,鈥� Andre Perry of the Brookings Institution told reporter Linda Jacobson. But Marc Brackett, the Yale center鈥檚 director and a well-known guru on the role of emotions in learning, saw things differently. Emails shared with 蜜桃影视 and interviews with Simmons and other former staff members at the center show Brackett balked at efforts to include political figures, such as former President Barack Obama, and current texts, such as a book about a transgender boy, into RULER鈥檚 lessons. Simmons鈥檚 frustrations peaked last summer, when she became the target of racial slurs during an online event meant to foster racial healing, and she resigned in January. The clash at the Yale center 鈥� and the response to her departure 鈥� tell a larger story about what some see as a pressing need to address historical discrimination and others criticize as efforts to politicize the SEL curriculum. As one leader in the world of social-emotional learning said, 鈥淭here is a measure of urgency that was not present two years ago.鈥� .

States Target Learning Loss with Summer School and Extended Days, but Some Parents Want Option to Hold Kids Back

Accelerating Learning: Whether they鈥檙e using state funds or waiting on their portion of the latest federal relief bill, state lawmakers have made learning recovery for students a high priority in this year鈥檚 legislative sessions. While many plan to take advantage of the summer to address learning loss for students most affected by school closures, some proposals allow for additional hours to the school day 鈥� which could be easier for teachers to support after a tough year of remote and hybrid learning. 鈥淢any teachers have been working harder than ever this year and will need the summer to recharge,鈥� Michelle Cunningham, executive director of the Connecticut After School Network, told reporter Linda Jacobson. One question is whether large numbers of students will need to repeat a grade, even if they receive additional academic support. A few state bills would ensure parents have the option of asking that their children be retained, and Tennessee has already passed a third-grade retention law. But Gini Pupo-Walker of Education Trust-Tennessee said, 鈥淚s it too heavy of a hammer? The first cohort we would potentially retain would have spent first grade and part of kindergarten in a pandemic.鈥� Read the full story.

Court Documents Reveal How L.A. Teachers Union Gained Upper Hand in Pandemic Negotiations, Limiting Instruction Time

School Reopening: As the Los Angeles Unified School District prepares to reopen elementary schools for the first time in 13 months, recently released court documents provide a rare glimpse into negotiations last summer between the district and United Teachers Los Angeles. The district鈥檚 labor chief pushed to improve on last spring鈥檚 four-hour schedule for teachers, telling the union鈥檚 team he wanted 鈥渢o see the workday mirror or parallel a regular workday,鈥� which had been eight hours pre-COVID, and that the district 鈥渃an鈥檛 shortchange the students.鈥� But between mid-July and December, the union won on that and several more points, ultimately securing, on average, a six-hour day. The district鈥檚 relatively weak position in Los Angeles is a contrast to Chicago and New York, where mayors control the schools, the University of Nevada Las Vegas鈥檚 Bradley Marianno told reporter Linda Jacobson. Parents largely supported Los Angeles teachers two years ago when they went on strike, but 鈥渘ow we鈥檙e talking about actual disruption to school for a long period of time,鈥� he said. 鈥淧arents have an ability to separate their beliefs about teachers from their beliefs about teachers unions.鈥� Read the full story.

Student Discipline: In the closely watched murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer鈥檚 use of physical restraint has been the subject of disturbing testimony and dispute among medical experts. Now, the brutal manner of George Floyd鈥檚 death . Though state policymakers have worked for years to reduce the prevalence of 鈥減hysical holds鈥� in Minnesota schools 鈥� including a 2015 ban on the face-to-the-ground 鈥減rone restraint鈥� used against Floyd 鈥� educators employ the tactic thousands of times each year to subdue students, state and federal data show. Such restraints often come with devastating consequences for children, including injury and, in rare cases, death. Pending state and federal legislation would place new restrictions on student restraints, including a Minnesota provision that would explicitly prohibit school-based police from placing children in a prone restraint, a change officials said was a direct response to Floyd鈥檚 death. But the laws would be effective only if educators followed them, Lauren Morando Rhim, co-founder and executive director of The Center for Learner Equity, told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber. 鈥淭here have to be consequences [for those who don鈥檛]. We cannot have systems that keep reinforcing that it is OK to kill Black people.鈥� .

One Texas Town, Two School Districts, Clashing Mask Policies: How Science and Politics Collided in New Braunfels鈥� Classrooms

School Safety: In what quickly became a conversation about science, personal liberty, and the role of government, New Braunfels鈥� two school boards, New Braunfels ISD and Comal ISD, landed on opposite sides of the face-covering debate last month after Gov. Greg Abbott announced the statewide mask mandate would end March 10. While New Braunfels ISD surveyed parents and teachers, ultimately keeping the mandate, Comal鈥檚 board voted to give parents and staff the choice. Comal trustees used political ideology, not science, to guide their decision, parents say, putting schools in an impossible position. 鈥淵ou feel as a teacher you can鈥檛 do what you need to do to protect the kids,鈥� said Kate Fraser, a Comal ISD parent and teacher. Bekah McNeel has the story of how a town best known for spring-fed rivers and dance halls, became embroiled in the national debate over mask wearing and the safety of children and teachers. Read the full story.

Rabbitt: Teaching Students in Person and Online at the Same Time Is a Huge Challenge. 4 Ways to Bridge the Home-Classroom Gap

Blended Learning: Many schools are using a simultaneous learning approach, where teachers work with all students, both in person and online, at the same time. However, writes contributor Beth Rabbitt, despite hard work and good intentions, full-time, simultaneous learning is not a best practice. Online models are least effective when teachers try to engage learners from a distance while managing an in-person classroom, and they pose a challenge of epic proportions for educators. There are ways of managing hybrid schooling so that rarely will two cohorts working across contexts (distance and non) engage for an entire day 鈥� or even an entire lesson 鈥� at the same time. Yet, right now, that’s the model many schools employ, and having at least some learners participate remotely in a concurrent manner, online and in-person, will likely be part of the solution for the near future for a few important reasons. So how can we make simultaneous learning work better for more teachers and students? Here are four big takeaways for thinking about how to better bridge the home-classroom engagement gap. Read the full analysis.

Report: Learning Loss Data Shows 40,000 Los Angeles High School Students Off Track to Graduate

Learning Loss: As the Los Angeles Unified School District was preparing to reopen schools, a new analysis of district data revealed 40,000 high school students were at risk of not graduating 鈥� including 6,000 this year. In middle school, about a third of students in the district are currently on grade level in reading and math. Some of the worst learning loss was found in the early grades, where reading skills declined the most in kindergarten and first grade compared with the 2019-20 school year. 鈥淚 am hopeful about the reopening of Los Angeles schools, but we cannot simply pick up where we left off. Reopening alone does not address the recovery needed,鈥� Ana Ponce of advocacy group Great Public Schools Now, which published the report, wrote in the introduction. The authors recommend the district expand community partnerships, especially to get more students connected to the internet. The school board has made connectivity a priority as well, directing Superintendent Austin Beutner to spend $5 million to address remaining obstacles. Read Linda Jacobson鈥檚 full report.

Commentary: A recent Brookings Institution report analyzed more than 400,000 messages on a popular, upscale discussion forum called 鈥淒C Urban Moms and Dads.鈥� It confirmed what 74 contributor Conor Williams, himself a D.C. dad, suspected: Affluent white parents in this progressive city where Black Lives Matter signs are 鈥渘early as common as street signs鈥� . Such maneuvering seems so expected, Williams said, that most white parents wouldn鈥檛 consider their actions as perpetuating the same race-driven policies that created intergenerational wealth gaps and segregated wide swaths of society. It鈥檚 much easier to decry police brutality caught on video than to reckon with systemic racism closer to home. 鈥淎nd thus, white supremacy will persist and continue threatening Black lives until white Americans actually turn and confront the perniciously hidden systems that keep us from including Black Americans in our daily lives.鈥� .

鈥楧oomed鈥� By 8th Grade: Underserved Students Thrive In College, But Disparities In Access Start Early & Persist Insidiously, New Report Reveals

Higher Education: Data have shown that stark racial and socioeconomic gaps characterize which students tend to make it not just to, but through, college. However, a new report on five New England school districts provides an alternate narrative: Underserved students thrive in four-year colleges at rates similar to their white peers, but wide disparities in enrollment persist. 鈥淭he real gap is in who gets to go to those schools, not in whether they can succeed once they get there,鈥� Elina Alayeva, a co-author of the study, told 蜜桃影视’s Asher Lehrer-Small. The report reveals that as early as eighth grade, key red flags predict which students are on a pathway toward college success, but that few schools effectively track those measures or intervene. Hartford, Connecticut, however, is bucking the trend. A participating district in the study, the school system is revamping its high school experience to emphasize student-staff relationships so students have built-in support if they begin to slip. 鈥淚t just takes a shift in adult mindsets,鈥� said Alayeva. Read the full story.

Teacher Diversity: Rhode Island, like much of the nation, faces a problem: Its teaching workforce does not represent its students. Statewide, 89 percent of educators are white while over 4 in 10 students are kids of color, a figure that jumps above 9 in 10 for some districts. The Providence-based Equity Institute, however, has delivered an answer, long hiding in plain sight: teaching assistants. High shares of paraprofessionals in the state are people of color, many of whom speak Spanish and have deep classroom experience. Last year, . 鈥淭hey鈥檙e incredible educators,鈥� said Christine Alves, a professor for the cohort. 鈥淏ut they don鈥檛 see a clear pathway to become a teacher.鈥� Now, nearly a full school year into the program, with rave reviews from the inaugural class, all of whom are on a path toward graduation, and with over 60 applications already for next year, early signs show their effort is working. .

How a Snapchat Post Laden with F-Bombs and Teen Angst Could Give Schools Broad Power Over Students鈥� Off-Campus Speech 鈥� And Why Young Leaders Are Fighting Back

Supreme Court: In a major case that could grant educators the power to regulate student speech far beyond the schoolhouse gate, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments centered on a high school cheerleader鈥檚 profanity-laden social media post. The Snapchat post, filled with F-bombs and teen angst, could carry far-reaching implications: Education groups and the Biden administration have urged the justices to cement educators鈥� authority to regulate students鈥� off-campus speech in the name of safety, but a coalition of student activists 鈥� including a group born out of the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida 鈥� are fighting back. Nearly 200 current and former student school board members from 28 states and territories filed an amicus brief defending the cheerleader and urging the justices to protect young people鈥檚 free-speech rights. 鈥淚鈥檇 consider it the student voice case of the century because it determines if students can speak our minds off campus and if our First Amendment right is protected,鈥� said Athena Haq, a 15-year-old sophomore from Houston. Read more by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber.

Analysis: Because only scores of 3 or higher out of 5 on Advanced Placement exams can translate into college credit, schools often worry that without lectures and textbooks, teachers won鈥檛 be able to cover the breadth of the curriculum and students won鈥檛 be prepared for the high-stakes tests. This approach to instruction is a missed opportunity, write contributors Anna Rosefsky Saavedra and Amie Rapaport. They recently conducted the first-ever randomized controlled trial evaluation of project-based learning in an AP setting, compared to business-as-usual lectures, in five of the nation’s largest, predominantly urban school districts, four of which have a majority of Black and Hispanic students and three of which serve a majority of students from low-income households. The result: . Students and teachers liked the change, and based on the researchers’ results, the College Board will offer a virtual PBL professional learning program for teachers starting this summer. “With support for improving upon inequitable educational practices a top priority nationwide, PBL might be a key strategy post-pandemic, particularly for those students who have overcome the most.” .

Nearly Half of American Parents Rethinking Value of Four-Year College; Want Additional Alternatives for Children

Poll: A new national survey reveals that nearly half of American parents are questioning the value of four years of college, preferring alternatives such as enrolling in vocational education, joining the military or starting a business. Gallup and Carnegie Corporation of New York partnered to ask 3,000 parents what they see as an ideal pathway for their children, hoping 鈥減olicymakers and education leaders use its findings to build a cradle-to-career education system that prepares all our nation鈥檚 young people for the bright futures they deserve.鈥� 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Meghan Gallagher breaks down the report鈥檚 striking trends and why parents are reaching for skills-training programs for their children. Read the full story.

The Education Writers Association on Tuesday. From student journalists to national beat reporters, 17 winners were announced across numerous categories, and for publications of varying newsroom size. Another 34 journalistic projects were named finalists for the top prizes.

Four different projects that published at 蜜桃影视 in 2020 were among the honorees:

An Education System, Divided: How Internet Inequity Persisted Through 4 Presidents and Left Schools Unprepared for the Pandemic

2020 Finalist for Best Feature Article: When the COVID-19 pandemic spread into American communities in spring of 2020, schools adapted by switching to online classes. But millions of families with no or limited home internet couldn鈥檛 manage that transition, drastically diminishing educational opportunities for the students who need them most. Local leaders have embraced creative solutions, loaning out thousands of devices and dispatching Wi-Fi-equipped school buses into low-connectivity neighborhoods. But the question remains: Three decades after the internet’s emergence as a boundary-breaking technology, how are vast swaths of the United States still walled off from the social, economic and educational blessings that the internet provides? The answer, told to 蜜桃影视 by experts and policymakers who have worked around communications access since the birth of the internet, implicate both the public and private sectors in a prolonged failure to extend the benefits of modern technology to countless Americans. “I think the large-scale tolerance for inequity in this country gave rise to an inequitable telecommunications system,” said one. Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 cover story.

鈥搁别濒补迟别诲: 12 months after pandemic closed schools, 12 million students still lack reliable internet (Read the full story)

DeVos on the Docket: With 455 Lawsuits Against Her Department and Counting, Education Secretary is Left to Defend Much of Her Agenda in Court

2020 Finalist for Investigative Reporting: No education secretary has ever been sued as much as Betsy DeVos. In four years, over 455 lawsuits have been filed against either DeVos or the U.S. Department of Education, according to 蜜桃影视鈥檚 analysis of court filings and opinions. That鈥檚 the equivalent of being sued once every three days. Many of the cases, involving multiple states and advocacy organizations, were filed in response to Trump administration moves to reverse Obama-era rules in the areas of civil rights and protections for student loan borrowers. DeVos has always been outspoken about lightening Washington鈥檚 footprint in education. But in her department鈥檚 effort to grab what one education attorney called 鈥渜uick political wins,鈥� judges 鈥� even Trump appointees 鈥� are finding flaws in its approach. One exception might be the revised Title IX policy, which has already sparked four lawsuits, but might be hard for a future administration to tear down. Read Linda Jacobson鈥檚 investigation.

鈥搁别濒补迟别诲: With DeVos out, movement for private school choice shifts to state legislatures (Read the full story)

A Border School for Asylum Seekers Goes Virtual

2020 Finalist for Best Feature Article: For some 2,500 asylum seekers in the tent city in Matamoros, Mexico in June of 2020, life had gone from hardship to hardship. They had escaped gangs and oppressive regimes only to face the regular threat of floods, kidnapping and a strict 鈥渞emain in Mexico鈥� policy set by the Trump administration. Until 2019, the camp鈥檚 children had few options but to pass their days near the foot of the Gateway International Bridge, playing with rocks and dirt or sitting idly through what should have been a day inside a classroom. That changed when two American volunteers opened The Sidewalk School, just 3 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. By last summer, the school had grown to a staff of 11 teachers, with 235 students ranging in age from 1 to 16. Now it was facing a new challenge: educating during a pandemic. With $20,000 in its coffers, the school bought tablets and decided to go virtual. But it also maintained a presence inside the camp, implementing health and safety guidelines that schools around the world were only just developing. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think people understand what an encampment is, how small it is, how people live in the woods, one on top of the other,鈥� said school co-founder Felicia Rangel-Samponaro. 鈥淪ocial distancing cannot happen.鈥� Contributor Jo Napolitano has the story.

鈥搁别濒补迟别诲: Influx of unaccompanied minors along southern border could pose test for schools (Read the full story)

Making It Work: A Day in the Life of Families Living Through a Summer Like No Other

2020 Finalist For Visual Storytelling: For parents, summer vacation is both a curse and a blessing. The pressure of remote lessons is now mostly gone, replaced with the challenge of finding enough activities to keep their children busy and active. The days and weeks are filled with monotony and uncertainty, punctuated by attempts to create fun, lightness, a sense of routine and to simply pass the time. In the early days of 2020鈥檚 summer season, 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Taylor Swaak, Bekah McNeel and Patrick O鈥橠onnell each spent a day with families in Washington, D.C., Cleveland and San Antonio, and witnessed their struggles to get by. But they also observed that within the monotony is something vital: a strong core of care for one another that ties the days 鈥� somehow both endless and too short 鈥� together. Because of COVID-19, schools, jobs and most activities are not as reliable as they once were, leaving families to lean heavily on each other for a daily itinerary. See our profiles of each family, as well as our special interactive timeline of a day in the life of these families fighting to persevere.

Has it really been a year?

It was back on March 15, 2020 when Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that America鈥檚 largest school district would shut down amid the spiraling coronavirus crisis, a definitive turning point in what would quickly become an unprecedented year of chaos for students and educators. Across several weeks this month, we reflected on the many unique storylines that emerged from the first year of the pandemic 鈥� and also looked forward at the looming fight to get our classrooms reopened and our students caught up.

Our top stories in March included a trio of anniversary features , scrutinizing the country鈥檚 persistent digital divide even during a time of remote learning, examining pandemic-era school discipline policies and spotlighting the students who have had to help their families through economic hardship even as they鈥檝e attempted to keep their education on track via virtual classes. Readers also responded passionately to our new coverage of tutoring research that could have major implications for reversing 鈥楥OVID Slide,鈥� of the deployment of vaccines and what potential herd immunity does (and doesn鈥檛) mean for schools, and a memorable profile of one Ohio school that gave students an ultimatum: Be more activa via remote learning, or return to the classroom.

Below are our most popular articles of the month. (Reminder: You can also get alerts about our latest news coverage, essays and exclusives by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

Texas Teachers Go Door to Door as Kids Disappear From Remote Classes

Chronic Absenteeism: Middle school teacher Brandee Brandt pounded on the door of a San Antonio apartment for the third time. 鈥淚t鈥檚 Ms. Brandt! Davey, are you there?鈥� she called. Finally, Davey鈥檚 older brother cracked open the door. 鈥淵ou really aren鈥檛 going away are you?鈥� he said, trying to sound annoyed as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 鈥淵ou know we鈥檙e not giving up!鈥� Brandt replied. Since the beginning of the school year, teachers from Rawlinson Middle School have visited around 100 homes, seeking out kids in urgent need of support and engagement. With half the school鈥檚 1,350 students learning remotely this school year, and thus at a higher risk of chronic absence, the teachers come knocking at the first sign of trouble. 鈥淚 felt a sense of urgency,鈥� Principal Sherry Mireles said, 鈥淚f they鈥檙e not getting their schooling, it’s our responsibility. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to allow a 12-, 13-, 14-year-old to drop out. Not on my watch.鈥� Bekah McNeel rode along and has the story. (Read the full article)

12 Months After Pandemic Closed Schools, 12 Million Students Still Lack Reliable Internet

Digital Divide: A year after the coronavirus shut down the nation鈥檚 schools, Eva Garcia鈥檚 children are among the 12 million students who either have no Wi-Fi or make do with short-term fixes to participate in remote learning. Her daughter became so stressed from getting knocked out of Zoom classes that her hair began to fall out. In the first of a three-part series produced with The Guardian to mark the first anniversary of COVID-19 school closures, 蜜桃影视 examines persistent barriers to closing the digital divide: lack of broadband in rural regions, inoperable devices and families without stable housing. There is growing political pressure to solve the problem, but still so far to go. 鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating watching the state and federal government work so slowly,鈥� Devon Conley, school board president in California’s Mountain View Whisman School District, told reporter Linda Jacobson. 鈥淚n the grand scheme of things, internet access shouldn鈥檛 be just for students. I think it鈥檚 a human right.鈥� (Read the full article)

Study: Chicago Tutoring Program Delivered Huge Math Gains; Personalization May Be the Key

Accelerating Learning: An abundance of research has demonstrated the power of tutoring in boosting students’ academic performance. Now, as families and governments seek the best ways to reverse COVID-related learning loss, a new working paper points to some of the most impressive tutoring results yet recorded 鈥� and offers a theory about how they were achieved. In two experimental trials in Chicago, the authors find that ninth- and 10th-graders saw huge improvements both in their math test scores and their grade-point averages, with course failures reduced by as much as 49 percent. Particularly impressive, according to co-author Monica Bhatt, is that the effects were generated by a program serving older students, who often see weaker results from education interventions. “I really do think we have to stop asking ourselves, ‘Well, what really works?’ because we have more indications of what works,” Bhatt told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken. “Now we have to figure out how to actually do it in the context of U.S. public schooling.” (Read the full article)

鈥楢 Lot of Them Choose Work鈥�: As Teens Pile on Jobs to Help Their Families, Schools Strive to Keep Tabs on Students They Haven鈥檛 Seen in a Year

Remote Learning: For many teens, the past year has been about much more than keeping up with school. Managing cleaning jobs, launching a bakery business and learning how to coach baseball are among the adult roles that students have taken on to help out their families during the pandemic. But the pressure can be too much. 鈥淚 get stressed and I know my mom can see it 鈥� because she sometimes tells me to leave my job to focus on school,鈥� Oakland, California, senior Yasmine Esquivel said. As kids adapt, many of their teachers and schools are improvising as well, from extending deadlines to creating entirely new programs to stay in touch. Many students face a tough choice. 鈥淒o I want to 鈥� survive school or survive life?鈥� said Jay Novelo, who works at Tyee High School near Seattle and checks in weekly with 14 students. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 blame the students 鈥� a lot of them choose work.鈥� (Read the full article)

Bucking the Trend: How 2 D.C. Principals Restored Black Parents鈥� Trust in Returning Kids to the Classroom

Parent Engagement: At Garfield Prep Academy in Washington, D.C.’s majority Black Ward 8, Principal Kennard Branch has been pulling out all the stops to make worried parents more confident about sending their children back to school: He鈥檚 posted self-produced video tours of the building online, secured plastic shields for every desk and is sending kids home with bagged dinners. Principal Katreena Shelby at nearby Kramer Middle School provides parents with one-on-one building walkthroughs upon request and answers their questions through text messages and calls on her personal cell phone. At both schools, more students have returned for in-person learning 鈥� and the principals believe these efforts at family outreach are the reason why. “It has been a struggle districtwide to really get parents interested in sending their students back,” Shelby told 蜜桃影视. “Our school culture plays a large role in [our momentum]. … Relationships and rapport have helped us.” (Read the full article)

As Adults Move Toward Herd Immunity, Could an Unexpected COVID Side Effect Be Kids Unable to Fight Off Germs Long-Term?

School Safety: After nearly a year of disastrous COVID-19 news, it emerged in mid-February like a light at the end of the tunnel: Infections began falling and herd immunity, some experts said, could spell the end of the pandemic in the not-so-distant future. At the same time, virologists were beginning to conclude that complete eradication of COVID appears unlikely, and that the virus could circulate in pockets of the globe for years to come. Health experts say a return to pre-pandemic normal may not be possible for schools in 2021-22, so they will likely need to remain vigilant into the fall, Asher Lehrer-Small reports. 鈥淲e can’t just assume that come Sept. 1, we’re going to walk back in [to school] masks off and everything’s going to be like it was in 2019,鈥� said Boston University associate professor of epidemiology Benjamin Linas. 鈥淔or the fall, we should expect to be 100 percent in-person learning in our buildings still wearing masks.鈥� (Read the full article)

Families Face Steep Truancy Fines, Contentious Court Battles As Pandemic Creates School Attendance Barriers

Student Discipline: On the Monday before Thanksgiving, a police officer showed up on Tracie Higgins鈥檚 doorstep in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and handed her teenage son a $439 fine for missing too many days of remote school. The repeated absences, she protested, were the result of faulty school technology, including a Chromebook that wouldn鈥檛 charge. Parent Debra Pratt had a similar experience: Her son was fined for racking up 28 absences that the school district had marked as unexcused 鈥� including on the day he tested positive for COVID-19. Similar feuds between frustrated parents and overwhelmed school administrators are playing out across the country as the pandemic鈥檚 academic disruptions reach the one-year mark. But punitive approaches to addressing 鈥渢ruancy,鈥� experts say, exacerbate the pandemic-induced challenges confronting many households, from economic instability to mental health crises. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, especially during a pandemic, when there鈥檚 just too many other factors that are playing into this,鈥� Pratt said. And experts don鈥檛 expect student disengagement to subside when the virus does. Read more from 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber.

Photo History: Fifty-two weeks ago, the pandemic swept through the nation, closing schools one after the next like a relentless set of dominoes. These 52 photos, compiled by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Meghan Gallagher, . They are a haunting time capsule revisiting solemn scenes and sadness across the education landscape 鈥� masked students, sports without spectators, dining rooms turned into classrooms and socially distanced lunch periods. But these pictures also show students, their families and educators in moments of resilience and inspiration, reflecting how Americans found new ways to celebrate such milestones as graduations. The images are a reminder that it has been a school year like no other, one we won鈥檛 soon forget. ()

鈥楾eacher Cams鈥� Could Revolutionize Education After the Pandemic Ends, But Some Critics See a Massive Student Privacy Risk

Student Privacy: On any given day, most students in Houston high school teacher Trevor Toteve鈥檚 class appear as static, black boxes. As they tune in remotely, he doesn鈥檛 require them to use their webcams due in part to student privacy concerns. Many students, he found, lack a quiet space at home to participate in school or are homeless. Yet teachers across the U.S. don鈥檛 allow that flexibility, relying on school policies that require students to use webcams for remote learning during the pandemic. The practice, some argue, has created a sense of cohesion at a time of widespread isolation and allows teachers to ensure students are paying attention. In fact, some say, webcams should play a major role in the post-pandemic education landscape. Yet where some see innovation that鈥檚 long overdue, others see a student privacy nightmare. In some cases, advocates argue, school webcam mandates could violate the Constitution. (Read the full article)

Two Steps Forward, One Back: Teacher Diversity Bill May Push Hundreds of Minnesota Educators of Color from Classrooms

Teacher Diversity: Originally dubbed the Increase Teachers of Color Act, a bill making its way through the Minnesota House of Representatives contains a smorgasbord of measures aimed at diversifying its 95 percent-white teacher corps. But it also would eliminate a credentialing system that has enabled hundreds of teachers of color and Native American educators to enter the profession. Many are on the verge of earning permanent licenses, but they could be forced out altogether instead, Beth Hawkins reports. 鈥淚t鈥檚 ironic,鈥� says high school teacher N鈥橨ai-An Patters, whose Ph.D. won鈥檛 save her job if the change takes place. 鈥淥n the one hand, here are all these things we are going to do to increase teacher diversity. But at the same time, we are not going to do these things that are working toward diversifying.鈥� (Read the full article)

Vaccines, CDC guidance for safe classrooms and a growing consensus that districts will need additional federal funds to facilitate reopening 鈥� the conversation surrounding the nation鈥檚 schools turned towards the future this month, and President Biden鈥檚 commitment to get many reopened within his first 100 days. At 蜜桃影视, our February coverage focused extensively on the learning losses associated with school closures and new strategies to accelerate learning, as well as new research on such issues as teacher quality, socioeconomic segregation and evolving attitudes on the value of virtual learning even after the pandemic is over. Below are our most popular articles of the month. (Reminder: You can also get alerts about our latest news coverage, essays and exclusives by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

How White Extremists Teach Kids to Hate: Alt-Right Groups Use Online Gaming Communities Popular Among Teens to Recruit Culture Warriors

Student Safety: Five days after extremists used the fringe video gaming platform Dlive to livestream a mob attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, a youthful white nationalist logged on to the site and offered his take about the future of a movement he helped create 鈥� a radical agenda, experts warn, that鈥檚 targeted at teens. As the Capitol riot reawakens many Americans to the persistent reality of white supremacists among us, experts on extremism are sounding the alarm about the ways alt-right groups weaponize video games and streaming platforms to recruit and radicalize impressionable young minds. For teenagers whose isolation has been heightened by the pandemic, the desire for connection makes them particularly vulnerable, particularly in the current political climate. But experts say parents and educators can intervene before it鈥檚 too late. Read more by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber.

Now Recruiting: Online Army of Volunteer Tutors To Fight 鈥楥OVID Slide鈥�

Accelerating Learning: The news about pandemic-related learning loss keeps getting worse. A recent McKinsey & Co. study predicted that cumulative loss due to COVID-19 could be 鈥渟ubstantial, especially in mathematics,鈥� with students likely to lose five to nine months of learning by the end of this school year. Key educators are advocating an unusual remedy: a national, online volunteer tutoring force. 74 contributor Greg Toppo describes it as 鈥渁 sort of digital Peace Corps meets Homework Helpers.鈥� The idea has been endorsed by three former U.S. education secretaries. But as Congress and the Biden administration work out their early priorities, the nonprofit sector has begun to step in. Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, has created what he and others think is a scalable blueprint for a national tutoring effort, one that could match knowledgeable adult volunteers 鈥� as well as millions of young people who have mastered key concepts 鈥� with students in need. Already, two states 鈥� Rhode Island and New Hampshire 鈥� have signed on to Schoolhouse.World, with more expected soon. 鈥淭his is like a lifeline,鈥� said Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green.

With Former Top-Ranking Education Staff as Key Biden Advisers, Will White House and Ed Department Be on the 鈥楽ame Page?鈥�

Education Department: President Joe Biden has assembled a domestic policy team that includes officials who held high-level positions at the Department of Education during the Obama years. Education secretary nominee Miguel Cardona would bring the voice of classroom experience to the department. With so many urgent demands on the administration related to reopening schools, some wonder whether the White House and department officials will send a unified message to schools and families about getting students back in classrooms, or whether tensions will arise. There鈥檚 a precedent for the White House taking the lead on ed policy, and former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings suggests that for now, 鈥渢he power center will be the White House.鈥� Speaking on the radio last week, Cardona said it will be important 鈥渢o make sure there is consistency in messaging, to make sure there is one message, one plan.鈥� At least one expert is calling for a blue-ribbon commission on the federal government鈥檚 role in reopening 鈥� a monumental task 鈥渆ven if everyone is on the same page.鈥� Linda Jacobson reports.

鈥楽imply Unacceptable鈥�: Ohio Gov. DeWine Threatens to Withhold Early Vaccines From School Staffers if Cleveland Schools Fail to Reopen Classrooms By March 1

Reopening: Calling plans by the Cleveland school district to ignore its commitment to reopen schools by March 1 鈥渟imply unacceptable,鈥� Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine threatened to pull early vaccines from school staff. District CEO Eric Gordon, who had moved back the reopening target to April 6, changed course in a phone call with DeWine, the governor said at a Feb. 12 press conference. 鈥淵our commitment is not just to me,鈥� DeWine said. 鈥淵our commitment is to the children in your district and your commitment is to your parents, your parents who said, 鈥榊es, I want my child back.鈥欌�� A press release from the district did not commit to reopening by March 1 but said Gordon will announce plans Feb. 19, as scheduled. Reopening delays by the Akron school district and one high school in Cincinnati also drew DeWine鈥檚 attention. Patrick O’Donnell reports.

Federal Probes into Lack of School Services for Special Needs Students Reflect Nearly a Year of Parental Anguish, Advocates Say

Special Education: In the waning days of the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 civil rights office launched four investigations into whether schools failed to serve students with disabilities during the pandemic. As 74 contributor Jo Napolitano reports, the inquiries came as no surprise to many parents who have watched their children lose skills it took them years to build. The probes 鈥� covering the state school system in Indiana, as well as districts in Los Angeles, Seattle and Fairfax, Virginia 鈥� reflect 鈥渟imilar complaints from all across the country,鈥� said Denise Stile Marshall, head of The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a group that works on behalf of children with disabilities. 鈥�Many parents are desperate and at their wits鈥� end.鈥�

Report: New Summer Learning Initiative, Launched Last Year as a 5-Week Pilot for Nearly 12,000 Students, Shows Promise For Improving Online Instruction

Summer School: America鈥檚 rapid transition to virtual learning left huge numbers of teachers discouraged and parents worried about disastrous academic setbacks for their children. Some policymakers have wondered whether schools should stay open this summer to make up for lost time, including President Joe Biden, who suggested as much earlier this week. Now, a study finds that a summer program providing remote instruction in the midst of the pandemic has earned high marks from participants. The National Summer School Initiative, established last spring by a coalition of education reformers, offered five weeks of virtual math, literacy and enrichment classes to nearly 12,000 students. Some 500 educators were paired with 15 mentors who sent videos of their own teaching, advised on methods and debriefed after classes. And according to surveys and interviews, most participants were satisfied with the results: By the final week of the program, 65 percent of students said they were happy to be participating in summer school, and 86 percent of teachers said it improved their perception of online instruction. 鈥淲hat we’re finding here is that the folks who participated felt like this was a really engaging and positive kind of virtual experience,鈥� study co-author Beth Schueler told Kevin Mahnken.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Endorsed Conspiracy Theories About the Parkland Shooting. A Civics Teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Turned It Into a Lesson

Civics Education: As newly elected GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene鈥檚 embrace of conspiracy theories about the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, generated national headlines and calls for her expulsion from Congress, a teacher who lived through the violence did what he does best: turn the moment into a learning opportunity. Jeff Foster, who teaches Advanced Placement Government at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people died in the 2018 shooting, frequently uses current events as lessons about the importance of civic participation. Even the Jan. 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol sparked lively debate among his politically engaged students. But this conversation was different: Everybody in the class agreed that the comments from Greene, a freshman congresswoman from Georgia, were reprehensible. But even more shocking, Foster and other Parkland survivors said, was the failure of Republican leadership to respond with swift action. Read more by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber.

Force of Habit: New Study Finds that Routines Could Be Blocking Teacher Improvement

Teacher Quality: For teachers, the development of habits is a necessary concession to the unpredictable nature of their job. Morning assignments, class transitions, even behavior management need to be governed by routines that are as predictable for kids as they are effective for adults. But according to new research, these habits may be responsible for the slowing rate of improvement after teachers’ first few years on the job. As classroom practices become more automatic, they are also harder to change when they stop achieving their desired results. The profession is consistently subject to so many ambitious reforms 鈥� from the Common Core to the science of reading to implicit bias training 鈥� that practitioners need to be open to new methods, the authors argue. Kevin Mahnken explains.

Aldeman: Lessons from Spanish Flu 鈥� Babies Born in 1919 Had Worse Educational, Life Outcomes Than Those Born Just Before or After. Could That Happen With COVID-19?

History: Contributor Chad Aldeman has some bad news: The effects of COVID-19 are likely to linger for decades. And if the Spanish Flu is any indication, babies born during the pandemic may suffer some devastating consequences. Compared with children born just before or after, babies born during the flu pandemic in 1919 were less likely to finish high school, earned less money and were more likely to depend on welfare assistance and serve time in jail. The harmful effects were twice as large for nonwhite children. It may take a few years to see whether similar educational and economic effects from COVID-19 start to materialize, but these are ominous findings suggesting that hidden economic factors may influence a child鈥檚 life in ways that aren鈥檛 obvious in the moment. Hopefully, they will give policymakers more reasons to speed economic recovery efforts and make sure they deliver benefits to families and children who are going to need them the most.

Arnett: Will Shift to Online Classes Speed Progress Toward Student-Centered Learning? Survey Hints at Some Ways Forward

Future of Education: Will the forced adoption of online learning accelerate innovation in K-12 education and its transformation toward more student-centered learning? Results from a nationally representative survey research project co-led by contributor Thomas Arnett offer some answers. The survey of 596 U.S. K-12 teachers and 694 school and district administrators found many teaching remotely or in a hybrid arrangement 鈥� and issues with both synchronous (live class meetings over video calls) and asynchronous (via independent study materials and delayed communication such as email) approaches. One solution: A mix of asynchronous and synchronous online learning, when executed effectively, can have important benefits for students. Teachers鈥� adoption of online learning resources does not guarantee that online instruction becomes student-centered. Nonetheless, their growing familiarity with these resources makes the shift to student-centered practices much easier. When schools can go back to normal, many families and educators may be eager to say good riddance to online learning. But it’s encouraging to see educators discovering ways to use it to make their instruction more student-centered.

Segregation by Income Increasing in Classrooms, New Study Finds, May Reflect Influence of Wealthy Parents

Socioeconomic Segregation: It鈥檚 a foundational premise of the American dream that through hard work and diligent study, young people can use education to access opportunities denied to their parents. However, mounting evidence suggests that segregation 鈥� not just by race, but also by income 鈥� within school systems may stymie those meritocratic aspirations. Previous research has documented the steady uptick in wealth gaps between schools, but a new working paper published by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University finds that income segregation within schools, from classroom to classroom, is also on the rise. However, it鈥檚 not all bad news. The researchers also show that in North Carolina, districts with more economically integrated schools also tended to have schools with more economically integrated classrooms. 鈥淚t’s not inevitable that when we take affirmative measures to integrate by income, that schools will invariably resegregate at the classroom level,鈥� said Richard Kahlenberg of The Century Foundation. Asher Lehrer-Small has the story.

Analysis: Survey of District Leaders Shows Online Learning Is Here to Stay. Some Ways of Making It Work for Students Beyond the Pandemic

Remote Learning: A new, nationally representative survey of district leaders shows that remote coursework is here to stay 鈥� and school systems will have to apply the lessons from their forced experiments with virtual learning during the pandemic to better adapt. The first survey conducted through the new American School District Panel shows 1 in 5 districts are considering, planning to adopt or have already adopted a fully online school in future years, and 1 in 10 has adopted blended or hybrid instruction, or plans to. Of all the pandemic-driven changes in public education, the creation of virtual schools was the one that the greatest number of district leaders anticipated would continue into the future. Remote instruction is a fundamentally different task than what school districts are designed for, as school systems nationwide learned when they were forced to suddenly close last spring. But, write contributors Heather Schwartz and Paul Hill, lessons from six case studies demonstrate how districts can use their pandemic-related momentum to make online learning a common staple of public schooling.

New York鈥檚 Times Square was all but deserted when the ball dropped on 2021, as America entered a new year 鈥� and a new presidential administration 鈥� still battling a pandemic that had shuttered the majority of America鈥檚 classrooms. At 蜜桃影视, our January coverage focused heavily on the early moves being made by the Biden administration to make good on a promise to reopen school campuses within 100 days, on the challenges being faced by many students in assisting parents through today鈥檚 economic hardships while also trying to maintain remote learning, and on the fallout from the violent Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol. From civics education to COVID learning loss, here were the most popular articles we published in January. (Reminder: You can also get alerts about our latest news coverage, exclusives and analysis by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

On His First Day in White House, Biden Dissolves Trump鈥檚 1776 Commission on U.S. History

Curriculum: In one of his first actions as president, Joe Biden signed an executive order rescinding the 1776 Commission, empaneled last year by then-President Donald Trump to promote patriotic education. The group, whose roster was announced only a month ago, included no experts in American history or K-12 education. Despite its brief lifespan, the commission released a report on Martin Luther King Day that attracted widespread scorn from the academic community for its attacks on identity politics and progressive reform movements. Significant portions of the text were also confirmed to have been lifted from previous works by panel members. In an email to 蜜桃影视, Stanford University professor Sam Wineburg told reporter Kevin Mahnken that the commission’s work is divisive: “It chooses one side in a historical debate and demonizes the other. The document discloses much more about sloganeering than serious historical study.鈥� (Read the full article)

鈥搁别濒补迟别诲: Analysis 鈥� The 1776 Report Is a Political Document, Not a Curriculum. But It Has Something to Teach Us

鈥業 Had No Other Option.鈥� Teens Balance Zoom Classes and Fast-Food Jobs 鈥� Sometimes at the Same Time 鈥� to Support Struggling Families

Remote Learning: Listening to Zoom classes while blending smoothies and cramming homework into breaks between customers are among the ways teens are bending the rules of distance learning to help their families survive. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just to pay their cell phone bill. For some of them, it鈥檚 like, 鈥業 need to help my family pay the rent,鈥欌�� a college and career counselor told reporter Linda Jacobson. One Los Angeles student became the primary earner in her family when both parents contracted COVID-19 and had to quarantine. While some teens are determined to manage their added responsibilities without falling behind, others say they鈥檙e less motivated to keep up with remote classes. And counselors walk a fine line between being firm and showing empathy for students whose families are struggling. As one said: 鈥淚 respect the hustle.鈥� (Read the full article)

Lessons from an Insurrection: A Day After D.C. Rampage, How 15 Educators From Across U.S. Helped Students Make Sense of the Chaos

Politics: Teachers across the country faced their students last week with a gut-wrenching task: Talking to them about the violent insurrection that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol this month. One educator in D.C. drew historical parallels between the attack right in the students’ backyard and white aggression at Woolworth鈥檚 lunch counters in the 1950s and ’60s. A Minnesota teacher discussed the limitations of the First Amendment. Students in Colorado and New York City compared Wednesday鈥檚 police reactions to those of law enforcement during Black Lives Matter protests last summer. “There needs to be lessons, [class] discussions about what is happening right now,鈥� Washington Teachers Union President Liz Davis said. 鈥淚t didn’t happen in isolation.鈥� 蜜桃影视 asked 15 educators how they were helping students make sense of the chaos; here鈥檚 what they had to say.

Charter School Advocates, San Diego NAACP Raise Objections to Biden鈥檚 Pick for Number Two Spot at Education Department

Education Department: President Joe Biden scored points among most advocacy organizations with his choice of Miguel Cardona for education secretary. But some don鈥檛 feel as positive about Cindy Marten, the San Diego Unified superintendent tapped for the deputy education secretary post. They point to her views on charter schools, which line up with those of the teachers unions. And the local NAACP chapter thinks Marten hasn鈥檛 done enough to reduce racial disparities in school discipline. Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said, “Cindy Marten is a curious pick for a deputy secretary of education nominee, given the Biden administration鈥檚 call for unity, racial equity and support for working families.鈥� Read Linda Jacobson鈥檚 report.

What Does 鈥楢ttendance鈥� Mean for Remote Learners in a Pandemic? How 106 Districts Are Dealing With Absenteeism, Student Engagement & Grades

Analysis: As districts closed out their first academic quarter, educators reported increased absenteeism rates for both remote (double the rates they saw before the pandemic) and in-person learners. About a third of educators said unexcused absences would impact student grades and, potentially, prevent some kids from passing to the next grade level. Contributors Bree Dusseault and Alvin Makori of the Center on Reinventing Public Education report on their analysis of reopening plans in 106 large, high-profile districts, which finds that they have taken student engagement and attendance far more seriously in the fall than they did after schools first closed last spring. But many school systems have struggled to create consistent rules, especially for remote learners. What 鈥渁ttendance鈥� means, especially for remote learners, is not so clear. The districts they鈥檙e tracking show that much can be done to improve how attendance is recorded and what actions can be taken to maintain high expectations without penalizing students for challenging circumstances. (Read the full article)

Caught in a Financial 鈥楾riple Squeeze,鈥� Districts Could See Annual Costs of $2,500 Per Student to Address Pandemic-Related Learning Loss

Big Picture: Getting students back where to they would have been academically if the pandemic hadn鈥檛 occurred could cost schools an average of $12,000 to $13,500 per student over the next five years, according to a new report from Education Resource Strategies. The paper, focusing on large, urban and countywide districts, sees a 鈥渢riple squeeze鈥� of rising costs, flat or declining revenues and increased student needs, and assumes all students require additional learning time and could benefit from increased social-emotional support. Some would also need 鈥渉igh-dosage鈥� tutoring, Linda Jacobson reports. The most recent federal relief bill 鈥� which amounts to roughly $1,000 extra per student 鈥� could cover some of those costs, but Georgetown University鈥檚 Marguerite Roza warns, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a windfall for sure.鈥� Even though President-elect Joe Biden is promising another large funding package, Roza said districts will need to pace themselves to avoid falling off a 鈥渇unding cliff.鈥� (Read the full article)

Phantom Students, Very Real Red Ink: Why Efforts to Keep Student Disenrollment from Busting School Budgets Can Backfire

School Funding: Millions of American students are missing from schools this year, and the officials tasked with balancing district budgets in the pandemic are under pressure to continue to keep their state tuition dollars flowing. Schools, the reasoning goes, can鈥檛 take such huge financial hits at once, and it poses major problems if large numbers of school staffers are fired and all those kids then come back. Still, so-called hold-harmless efforts to keep student disenrollment from busting school budgets can backfire. Beth Hawkins talks with experts about what happens when the process of parceling out fiscal pain gets political, layoffs loom, classrooms become overcrowded and budgets end up getting balanced on the backs of the poorest children. We walk you through case studies of four states where well-intended efforts have had terrible consequences. (Read the full article)

鈥擲pecial Report: Where Are The Kids? 鈥� The costs & consequences of COVID鈥檚 missing students

Every State & District Needs to Create a Learning Recovery Task Force 鈥� Now. Here Are Some Reasons Why

Learning Loss: School districts are like aircraft carriers: They turn slowly. Even a relatively simple change for helping students recover lost learning, extending the school year from 180 to 200 days, can be a massive undertaking. Teacher contracts must be renegotiated, facility leases dealt with, insurance policies updated. The degree of difficulty is even higher because districts are going to already be occupied reckoning with potential budget cuts, teacher retirements and other operational challenges. That’s why, write contributors Elliot Haspel and Margaret Thornton, every state and district needs to create a learning recovery task force 鈥� now. From dealing with busted school budgets, teacher retirements and gaping learning gaps to potentially extending the school year and adding grade levels, they offer some suggestions for implementing all-hands-on-deck engagement to start undoing the damage wrought by COVID-19, and some recommendations for the incoming Biden administration. (Read the full essay)

While Awaiting a Vaccine and Debating Reopening, District Responses to Medical Accommodations for At-Risk Teachers Vary Wildly Across the Country

School Safety: School clerk Deanna Myron hadn’t planned on marking her 21st work anniversary on a Zoom call with fellow Chicago Teachers Union members, talking about medical accommodations. But her fiance has liver cancer, and her request to work full time from home had been denied; after refusing to report to school in person, she is working remotely five days a week for three-day-a-week pay. While the fear of COVID-19 is consistent across the country, districts’ responses to teachers鈥� requests for medical accommodations vary wildly. In New York City, the nation’s largest district, over 34,000 of 38,000 requests from school staffers have been granted; in Houston, the seventh-largest, officials have granted almost none. Zo毛 Kirsch speaks to educators and experts about where the conflict over medical risk is headed, and looks at new school-by-school data from NYC鈥檚 Department of Education on where staffers who receive accommodations work. (Read the full article)

A Student鈥檚 View: From One of New York City鈥檚 Top High Schools to Homeschooling, in a Single Marking Period

First Person: Very often, it is parental dissatisfaction with the quality of education that leads a family to pull a child out of traditional classes and homeschool instead. But what happens when the catalyst is the student? At the end of October, contributor Gregory Wickham began to homeschool himself in lieu of completing his education as a student at New York City鈥檚 Stuyvesant High School. There are many reasons he did this, he says, including greater educational and temporal freedom. Here, he describes his rationale 鈥� and the systemic advantages that allowed him to succeed 鈥� and explains not only why, but also how he homeschools, so others might find it easier should they wish to do the same. (Read the full essay)

A Glimmer of Hope in Pandemic for Nation鈥檚 Ailing Catholic Schools, But Long-Term Worries Persist

School Choice: Last spring, after her 6-year-old son鈥檚 New York City charter school closed its doors in response to the pandemic, Sashaly Gomez would sit with the kindergartner through each school day to keep him on task. But when her employer reopened, Gomez knew Landon鈥檚 learning arrangement would have to shift. 鈥淓ither I would have to cut back from work or we would have to find a different alternative. We couldn鈥檛 do remote,鈥� said Gomez. They eventually found Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary school in Manhattan, where Landon, now a first-grader, has thrived. Many families have made similar moves, reviving Catholic schools that for decades have been bleeding students. But with church revenues down and many families in financial distress, experts say the long-term picture for parochial schools may not be so hopeful 鈥� and that the worst may be yet to come. Asher Lehrer-Small has the story. (Read the full article)

Every month at 蜜桃影视, we showcase a number of new 鈥�74 Interviews鈥� 鈥� deep and insightful conversations with teachers, families, experts and policymakers that aim to broaden our understanding of the challenges and innovations shaping school districts across the country. (You can bookmark our full archive here and sign up to receive new interviews straight to your inbox via 蜜桃影视 Newsletter) The pandemic has made these interviews about the crisis, its implications and educators鈥� evolving practices even more urgent and revealing. Throughout 2020, both before and during the pandemic, we published dozens of such eye-opening conversations; below are 14 of the most memorable exchanges.

Coronavirus: Arne Duncan is experiencing the novel coronavirus like the rest of us: worried about his family, his community and our country as a whole. But he’s also experiencing it as a leader in working to reduce gang violence in Chicago, as a managing director at Emerson Collective 鈥� one of America’s leading philanthropic organizations 鈥� and, of course, as a former urban school leader and U.S. secretary of education. That’s why Andy Rotherham and Emmeline Zhao as schools and the country scramble to react to the COVID-19 pandemic. They sat down with him via video conference to talk about all that, as well as his assessment of the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis and his vision going forward. 鈥淢y goal here is not just to return to normal,鈥� Duncan said. 鈥淣ormal didn鈥檛 serve millions of kids before this crisis hit. We have to have the courage to envision a new normal where we fundamentally address huge inequities.鈥� .

Exit Interview: When John White announced he would leave his post as Louisiana state superintendent of education earlier this year, the news was received with the kind of fanfare typically reserved for name-brand politicians. The architect of numerous policies that have driven rapid improvement in schools, . His departure 鈥� he鈥檚 a new father and the co-founder of an innovative career-readiness program 鈥� has the education advocacy grapevine humming: What will White do next, and can the state鈥檚 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, now in the unenviable position of seeking a replacement, be persuaded to stay the course? .

Reopening Schools: D.C. Public Schools鈥� 2019-20 academic year ended May 29 as social unrest and a continuing global pandemic gripped the capital and country. So Chancellor Lewis Ferebee is determined that come fall, . 鈥淥ur presence, purpose and commitment鈥� are a constant, he said in June, as he expressed early hopes of geting students back to full in-person instruction for the 2020-21 school year 鈥� though he acknowledged the decision hinged on parent feedback and health officials鈥� guidance. The district faced other hurdles, too: how to 鈥渃reatively鈥� test for learning loss, how to ensure internet access for all students and how to meet the ballooning mental health needs of educators and students. But Ferebee said a rare increase in per-pupil funding, a 鈥渟ummer bridge鈥� program and mentoring for graduating high schoolers, should help. .

School Funding: When Rebecca Sibilia founded the nonprofit EdBuild with the goal of making America鈥檚 education funding system more equitable and efficient, she had no clue that a pandemic would throw the education community into a 鈥渢sunami like they鈥檝e never seen before.鈥� In an exclusive exit interview with 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber, as she departs the organization she founded five years ago. Looking back on her tenure, Sibilia said her organization had been 鈥渧ery effective鈥� in raising awareness around inequity, but wishes it had been able to go further. 鈥淚n some ways, EdBuild is a story of failure,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he way we were trying to fix school funding at the local level was not the way that it works.鈥� But she isn鈥檛 stepping away from efforts to reform how American taxpayers pay for public schools. As the education community braces for steep budget cuts due to the pandemic, equitable school funding models are more important than ever, she said. She has a plan to help states find the right path. .

Heath Brown: The Political Scientist Talks COVID-19 and the Politics of Homeschooling

Remote Learning: The number of homeschooled American children has doubled over the last few decades, reaching 1.7 million in 2016. The growth of the movement has been rapid and virtually unchecked since its emergence in the 1970s 鈥� but no one was prepared for the advent of the coronavirus, which effectively foisted a version of homeschooling onto every family in the country. So what lessons can millions of parents take from committed homeschoolers, many of whom have spent years curating curricula and perfecting field trips? Not much, according to political scientist Heath Brown. A professor at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Brown will soon release a book studying the politics and history of the homeschooling movement. The shape of that movement 鈥� multifaceted, politically engaged and vigilant against threats 鈥� is perennially misunderstood, he says. But its string of policy victories over several decades provides evidence that homeschooling isn鈥檛 going anywhere. Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 full interview.

Tim DeRoche: Education Author Spotlights the Inequity of School Attendance Zones, the Flaws of Open Enrollment and Why the Government Should Drive Down Housing Prices

Segregation: In conversation with Conor Williams, author Tim DeRoche explains that he always knew about the inequities in America鈥檚 public schools, but it wasn鈥檛 until he set out to write a book about school attendance zones that he learned how stark they are. DeRoche examines pairs of schools: one that is thriving, with high academic performance, and another, a mile away, that is struggling or outright failing. What keeps these schools apart in most American cities, he says, are attendance zones 鈥� rooted in the outright segregation that was rendered illegal by Brown v. Board of Education and often following the same shape as the 1930s redlining maps that were drawn to exclude poorer neighborhoods of color. And the decision to tie school quality to zip code 鈥� and, by extension, housing prices 鈥� makes wealth king. 鈥淲hat we’ve done is we’ve capitalized it into home prices so your access is dependent on your wealth, and wealth to an even greater degree is correlated with race in this country. It’s the absolute worst way you would want to do it.鈥� Read the full interview.

Civics: On the day gunshots rang out at Florida鈥檚 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Jeff Foster was lecturing his AP government students about the political power of special-interest groups 鈥� including the National Rifle Association. After the mass school shooting left 17 people dead, his students created their own special-interest groups to challenge the gun lobby. ; now, he hopes to empower an even younger cohort. Through his new book, For Which We Stand: How Our Government Works and Why It Matters, Foster aims to impress upon children ages 7 to 12 the power of civics, offering a roadmap for how young people can become change agents. Ahead of this year鈥檚 presidential election, Foster .

College Persistence: School districts in high-income neighborhoods assume almost all their graduates will succeed in college. But often, their alumni fall short of expectations. Districts serving students in low-income neighborhoods cite their success in enrolling more students in college. But the number who actually persist to earn degrees can be dismayingly low as well. The only way for school districts to learn about actual college graduation rates for their alumni, and take steps to boost those rates, is to gather the data. , a nonprofit located in Herndon, Virginia. In this 74 Interview, Richard Whitmire speaks with Michele Gralak, a senior business analyst for the clearinghouse who works with K-12 schools, about the data the organization collects and the various ways schools use it to help their students. .

Sarah Johnson: Teaching Lab CEO Talks the Importance of One-on-One Interactions, What Not to Ask Students on the First Day of School, and Why Less Is More With Tech

Student Relationships: Before the pandemic, the nonprofit Teaching Lab ran professional development for educators around the country, helping them to implement anti-racist curricula in historically undeserved communities and to focus on forging relationships with their students. Both are still very much needed in the current climate, and Teaching Lab intends to use a recently announced $100,000 grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to move its operation online and increase its footprint. The four-year-old organization has already reached 6,000 educators and 500,000 students, and plans to train an additional 1,000 teachers in 30 districts as the ongoing coronavirus forces most K-12 systems to begin the new school year online. 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Zo毛 Kirsch talked to CEO Sarah Johnson about building relationships with students and families that teachers have never met in person, how to make the most of hybrid learning and how administrators can support teachers. 鈥淒on’t ask teachers to do everything. They already do everything. As the teacher, you make your own copies. You’re the secretary; you’re the counselor. You’re everything.鈥� Read the full interview.

Social-Emotional Learning: Karen Niemi heads the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), which last year marked its 25th anniversary by gathering some 1,500 researchers and practitioners from around the world to share innovations and confront challenges in the SEL field. The size and scope of the first-ever 鈥淪ocial and Emotional Learning Exchange鈥� signaled . 74 contributor Bekah McNeel attended the Chicago conference in late 2019 and spoke to Niemi afterward about a range of topics, including the most pressing challenge (maintaining quality as SEL demand grows), the link between social-emotional well-being and academic performance (rigorous evaluation shows it improves grades and test scores) and what the next SEL frontier will be (the workplace). .

Family Engagement: The Every Student Succeeds Act created a subtle but important change when the new federal education law was passed a few years ago. It replaced the phrase 鈥減arent involvement鈥� with 鈥渇amily engagement.鈥� The idea behind the shift , making them true partners with schools in a student鈥檚 learning. That鈥檚 according to Karen Mapp, a senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who worked as a consultant with the U.S. Department of Education in 2013 to help rethink the place of family engagement in schools. .

Whole-Child Support: Tennessee鈥檚 deep-red politics have traditionally meant little appetite for the mix of services and social-emotional learning opportunities broadly described as whole-child supports. Yet, as Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn surveyed the landscape upon her appointment in 2019, she saw a level of unmet need that could not be denied. With an overwhelming number of profoundly isolated rural districts 鈥� with rising levels of addiction and few economic prospects 鈥� . And with a third of the state鈥檚 teachers at or past retirement age, Schwinn has to raise an army of replacements and equip them with a whole new set of skills. In this 74 Interview, Schwinn talked with Beth Hawkins about her radical plan to use schools as a focal point for bringing social services to these remote, distressed areas 鈥� and to train teachers for free. .

Margaret Spellings: The Former Secretary of Education Implores Federal Leaders to Unite 鈥� 鈥榊ou鈥檝e Got to Bring People Together Before You Can Start Solving Problems鈥�

COVID-19: Margaret Spellings has been a senior aide at the White House, a college president and secretary of education for former President George W. Bush. She’s been in the middle of crises, from 9/11 to the mass shooting at Virginia Tech and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Though not a Texan by birth, Spellings is certainly one by temperament and commitment. Now leading Texas 2036, a data-driven policy effort pegged to the state’s bicentennial, her work and life have been upended by coronavirus. Emmeline Zhao and Andy Rotherham talked with Spellings this past spring about coronavirus and best- and worst-case scenarios, what businesses should do to help schools, her advice for U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and, most importantly in the Lone Star State: Should there be plans for high school football in the fall? See the full interview.

Wisdom Amouzou: Colorado Educator Talks Co-Creating a School With His Community, Teaching Students Transformative Resistance & How Love Can Help NYC Design Better Schools

School Community: For teacher and school leader Wisdom Amouzou, education is a community endeavor. Amouzou is co-founder and executive director of Empower Community School, a charter high school that opened in Aurora, Colorado, this year. In an effort to 鈥渄emocratize鈥� the founder role, the school was designed by local parents, students and educators and emphasizes ethnic studies, project-based learning and community engagement. Amouzou recently talked to 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Laura Fay about his experiences with education in West Africa and the United States, what it was like building a school with his community and what those in New York City should be asking themselves as they embark on an ambitious school design program: 鈥溾�楧o you have a group of folks who are aligned, who love each other? And love each other enough to actually carry through the hard journey of sustainably lifting a school from the ground up, especially an innovative model.鈥� In fact, there’s nothing else, that’s my only answer to that.鈥� Read the full interview.

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Any student will forever remember 2020 as the year that the classrooms and campuses closed down. As coronavirus cases surged in the spring 鈥� and then again in the autumn 鈥� educators, families and district leaders did their best to pivot to a socially-distanced Plan B, building a new system of remote instruction overnight in hopes of maintaining learning and community.

Any education journalist will remember 2020 as the year that all the planned student profiles, school spotlights and policy investigations got thrown out the window as we scrambled to capture and process the disorienting new normal of virtual classrooms. Here at 蜜桃影视, our top stories from the past nine months were dominated by our reporting in this area, by features that framed the challenges and opportunities of distance learning, that surfaced solutions and innovations that were working for some districts, and that pointed to the bigger questions of how disrupted back-to-back school years may lead to long-term consequences for this generation of students.

As we approach the new year, we鈥檙e continuing to report on America鈥檚 evolving, patchwork education system via our coronavirus education reporting project at The74Million.org/PANDEMIC. With school campuses open in some states and not others, with some families preferring in-person classes or remote learning alternatives, and with some individual classrooms being forced to close in rolling 14-day increments with new coronavirus breakouts, it鈥檚 clear that our education system will begin 2021 in a similar state of turmoil. (Get our latest reporting on schools and the pandemic delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

But with the first vaccines being administered this month, we鈥檙e seeing our first glimpse of a light at the end of this chaotic tunnel 鈥� hope that the virus will quickly dissipate, that schools will fully reopen, and that we鈥檒l then find a way to help all of America鈥檚 74 million children catch up. Here are our 20 most read and shared articles of the year:

New Research Predicts Steep COVID Learning Losses Will Widen Already Dramatic Achievement Gaps Within Classrooms / By Beth Hawkins

Learning Loss: In the days immediately following the pandemic-related closure of schools throughout the country this past spring, researchers at the nonprofit assessment organization NWEA predicted that whatever school looks like in the fall, students will start the year with significant gaps. In June, they also began warning that the already wide array of student achievement present in individual classrooms in a normal year is likely to swell dramatically. In 2016, researchers at NWEA and four universities determined that on average, the range of academic abilities within a single classroom spans five to seven grades, with one-fourth on grade level in math and just 14 percent in reading. 鈥淎ll of this is in a typical year,鈥� one of the researchers, Texas A&M University Professor Karen Rambo-Hernandez, told Beth Hawkins. 鈥淣ext year is not going to look like a typical year.鈥� Read the full story.

The issues of 鈥楥OVID Slide鈥�, learning loss and classroom inequity appeared regularly on the site through 2020. A few other notable examples from the year:

鈥� Even Further Ahead: New data suggest pandemic may not just be leaving low-income students behind; it may be propelling wealthier ones even further ahead (Read the full story)

鈥� Teaching Time: How much learning time are students getting? In 7 of America鈥檚 largest school districts, less than normal 鈥� and in 3, they鈥檙e getting more (Read the full story)

鈥� Missing Students: Lost learning, lost students 鈥� COVID slide is not as steep as predicted, NWEA study finds, but 1 in 4 kids was missing from fall exams (Read the full story)

鈥� Learning Loss Research: Students could have lost as much as 232 days of learning in math during first four months of largely virtual schooling (Read the full story)

鈥� What History Tells Us: What lasting academic (and economic) effects could coronavirus shutdowns have on this generation of students? Some alarming data points from research on previous disasters (Read the full analysis)

Special Education: A number of special education parents said their children didn鈥檛 receive services during school closures in the spring. That鈥檚 why, as Linda Jacobson reported over the summer, organizations such as the School Superintendents Association believed lawsuits and due process complaints were on the horizon, and that鈥檚 . But experts warned 蜜桃影视 that there鈥檚 no proof districts are facing more complaints than usual and that as long as districts communicate frequently with families they鈥檙e more likely to avoid complaints 鈥� even if schools remain closed. Boston University鈥檚 Nathan Jones, an expert on special education, also stressed that going into this fall, it was important to focus on strong academic interventions to help students regain what they鈥檝e lost. .

鈥� From March: 鈥楢bsolutely, I鈥檓 worried鈥� 鈥� For children with special needs, unprecedented coronavirus school closures bring confusion, uncertainty (Read the full story)

When the Point of the Pod Is Equity: How Small Grants Are Empowering Parents of Underserved Students to Form Pandemic Microschools / By Beth Hawkins

Remote Learning: A six-child school with a focus on Black girl magic. Bilingual materials for a living-room preschool in an English-only state. Lessons rich with art and self-expression for six foster kids. A curriculum built for kids affected by incarceration. The first round of microschool grants announced by the National Parents Union are nothing like the pandemic pods described in one news story after another last summer: Wealthy parents banding together to hire a teacher or take turns overseeing distance learning. The young organization鈥檚 inaugural grants were intended to support families often failed by traditional schools, so perhaps it shouldn鈥檛 be surprising that many of the winning proposals center on celebrating underserved students鈥� heritage or meeting specific, frequently overlooked needs. Beth Hawkins talks to several grantees about their kids and their plans. Read the full story.

鈥� Case Study 鈥� Pods to Augment Remote Learning: In parks, backyards and old storefronts across Los Angeles, small groups offer children some of what they鈥檝e lost in months of online instruction (Read the full feature)

How Missing Zoom Classes Could Funnel Kids into the Juvenile Justice System 鈥� And Why Some Experts Say Now is the Time to Reform Truancy Rules / By Mark Keierleber

Discipline: In communities across the country, social workers are walking door to door in search of millions of students their schools have deemed 鈥渕issing鈥� 鈥� a stark reality as districts combat an absenteeism crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic. Despite longstanding 鈥渃ompulsory education鈥� laws that require students to attend school or face punishment 鈥� including fines and incarceration in some states 鈥� many districts have avoided pushing students into the juvenile justice system for truancy during the pandemic. But as growing evidence suggest that such an approach is counterproductive, some experts worry about what could come next. 鈥淧retty soon, I think that folks are going to start relying on the stick more than they have been,鈥� said Rey Salda帽a, CEO of the nonprofit Communities in Schools. 鈥淭hat鈥檒l be the completely wrong conversation to have because these students don鈥檛 need truancy court, they don鈥檛 need fines.鈥� Rather than being willfully defiant, truant students are often suffering from homelessness or violence, he said. 鈥淭hey need interventions, they don鈥檛 need to be seen by a judge.鈥� Read the full report. 

鈥� Related: Research shows changing schools can make or break a student, but the wave of post-COVID mobility may challenge the systems in ways we鈥檝e never seen (Read the full report) 

鈥� School Finance: Phantom students, very real red ink 鈥� Why efforts to keep student disenrollment from busting school budgets can backfire (Read the full story)

鈥� Disenrollment: As families face evictions & closed classrooms, data shows 鈥榙ramatic鈥� spike in mid-year school moves (Read the full story) 

鈥� Catholic Schools: A glimmer of hope in pandemic for nation鈥檚 ailing Catholic schools, but long-term worries persist (Read the full story)

DeVos on the Docket: With 455 Lawsuits Against Her Department and Counting, Education Secretary is Left to Defend Much of Her Agenda in Court / By Linda Jacobson

Department of Education: No education secretary has ever been sued as much as Betsy DeVos. In four years, over 455 lawsuits have been filed against either DeVos or the U.S. Department of Education, according to 蜜桃影视鈥檚 analysis of court filings and opinions. Many of the cases, involving multiple states and advocacy organizations, were filed in response to Trump administration moves to reverse Obama-era rules in the areas of civil rights and protections for student loan borrowers. DeVos has always been outspoken about lightening Washington鈥檚 footprint in education. But in her department鈥檚 effort to grab what one education attorney called 鈥渜uick political wins,鈥� judges 鈥� even Trump appointees 鈥� are finding flaws in its approach. One exception might be the revised Title IX policy, which has already sparked four lawsuits, but might be hard for a future administration to tear down. Linda Jacobson has the story.

A 2020 EDlection Cheat Sheet: Recapping the 48 Key Races, Winners and Campaign Issues That Could Reshape America鈥檚 Schools and Education Policy / By 蜜桃影视 Staff

EDlection: A first-ever ballot proposition on sex education in Washington state that critics decried as 鈥渟chool porn鈥� but voters approved. A school board election in New Orleans, in part a referendum on closing failing schools, that remained largely undecided the week after Election Day. A victory by former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, whose education background runs deep and who is one of the few Democrats to unseat a GOP incumbent for U.S. Senate. While a historic presidential race 鈥� and a test of our democracy 鈥� fixated the nation, education was on the ballot this unprecedented election cycle. Elected officials, particularly at the state level, will play a pivotal role in steering schools through the public health and economic crises of the pandemic. That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e curated 48 federal, state and local races with key implications for students, teachers and families. Here’s the full rundown of the 2020 votes that mattered most to education, plus a full archive of our Election Week livechat, which included rolling updates on candidates, votes and the national conversation. Read the full roundup.

As COVID Creeps into Schools, Surveillance Tech Follows / By Mark Keierleber

Student Privacy: When an Ohio school district saw a 鈥渟ignificant increase鈥� in COVID-19 cases among students and staff, officials made the difficult call of reverting to remote learning. But when kids return to class, they鈥檒l be wearing badges that will track their every move 鈥� part of a pilot program in contact tracing that allows the Wickliffe district to follow students for up to a month and identify who comes into contact with infected classmates. The badges and other high-tech gizmos, including UV light air purifiers and thermal-imaging cameras that purport to detect fevers, have come under fire from student privacy advocates. But company executives and school leaders made clear they鈥檙e not likely to go away anytime soon 鈥� even after the pandemic subsides. 鈥淎fter the initial pushback, people are going to adapt and deal with it,鈥� Superintendent Joseph Spiccia told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber. 鈥淪ome people would be angry, and after that anger dissipates, I think people generally will end up complying and falling in line.鈥� Read the full story.

鈥� Case Study: 鈥楧on鈥檛 get gaggled鈥� 鈥� Minneapolis school district spends big on student surveillance tool, raising ire after terminating its police contract (Read the full story)

An Education System, Divided: How Internet Inequity Persisted Through 4 Presidents and Left Schools Unprepared for the Pandemic / By Kevin Mahnken

Student Access: When the COVID-19 pandemic spread into American communities, schools adapted by switching to online classes. But millions of families with no or limited home internet can’t manage that transition, drastically diminishing educational opportunities for the students who need them most. Local leaders have embraced creative solutions, loaning out thousands of devices and dispatching Wi-Fi-equipped school buses into low-connectivity neighborhoods. But the question remains: Three decades after the internet’s emergence as a boundary-breaking technology, how are vast swaths of the United States still walled off from the social, economic and educational blessings that the internet provides? The answer, told to 蜜桃影视 by experts and policymakers who have worked around communications access since the birth of the internet, implicate both the public and private sectors in a prolonged failure to extend the benefits of modern technology to countless Americans. “I think the large-scale tolerance for inequity in this country gave rise to an inequitable telecommunications system,” said one. Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 report.

New Poll Reveals Parents Want One-on-One Distance Learning Support From Teachers 鈥� but Aren鈥檛 Getting Much of It / By Beth Hawkins

Parent Priorities: Polling data released this past May from the national nonprofit Learning Heroes found parents were engaged in their kids鈥� distance learning but wanted more contact with teachers, both for their kids and for themselves as at-home learning coaches. Nearly half of more than 3,600 parents surveyed said personal guidance would be extremely helpful, but just 15 percent have gotten it. Only 39 percent said they had a clear understanding of teachers鈥� expectations, and few were getting the texts and phone calls they said are the most effective means of communication. The poll illustrated new implications of a longstanding, fundamental lack of information, which previous Learning Heroes surveys have found feeds parents鈥� near-universal belief that their children are doing far better in school than they really are. As schools plan for eventual reopening, Learning Heroes President Bibb Hubbard told Beth Hawkins, they should carefully consider what parents say is working for them 鈥� because while families are giving schools and teachers the benefit of the doubt now, that may not last. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of grace right now,鈥� Hubbard says. 鈥淏ut I think that鈥檚 going to change next fall.鈥� Read the full report.

Displaced: The Faces of American Education in Crisis / By Laura Fay, Bekah McNeel, Patrick O鈥橠onnell & Taylor Swaak

Displaced: No two experiences of this pandemic have been the same, particularly when it comes to school communities. When we launched this project in late May, it had been several months since COVID-19 shuttered districts across the country. In what would have been the final months of the 2019-20 academic year, tens of millions of students, educators and parents saw their lives upended overnight. Still half of America鈥檚 school employees aren鈥檛 teachers. When the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States, millions of other workers integral to the American education system were similarly uprooted. As the country (and its school communities) continued to navigate its way through a disaster for which it was grossly unprepared, a team from 蜜桃影视 set out to track how life and work has changed for the diverse universe of characters who make our classrooms work. From parents to teachers, counselors and even district warehouse managers, the pandemic has been a time of unprecedented hardships and challenges. Here: Eight faces and unforgettable stories from across the country that begin to capture the real story of the pandemic鈥檚 impact on the wider community. See all eight profiles.

New Report Estimates School Closures鈥� Long-Term Impact on the U.S. Economy at More Than $14 Trillion / By Linda Jacobson

Skills Gap: A paper from economists Eric Hanushek of Stanford University and Ludger Woessmann of the University of Munich presents a sobering prediction of how school closures could impact the U.S. economy for the next 80 years. The paper estimates that the shutdowns could ultimately lead to losses ranging from $14.2 trillion for a third of the school year to almost $28 trillion for two-thirds. That鈥檚 because 鈥渓earning loss will lead to skill loss, and the skills people have relate to their productivity,鈥� writes international education expert Andreas Schleicher, of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The U.S., Schleicher said, was actually better positioned than many other nations to make the transition to remote learning. But looking ahead, he said the country could do a better job of directing education spending toward quality instruction and the students who need resources the most. Read our full report.

Exclusive: NYC Teachers Union Launches Its Own Investigation of School Building Air Quality Amid COVID Threat, UFT President Says / By Zo毛 Kirsch

School Safety: Looking to spur the New York City Department of Education to take preventative action on airborne COVID transmission in schools, the United Federation of Teachers announced this past summer that it was taking the longstanding issue of poor ventilation into its own hands. President Michael Mulgrew told 蜜桃影视’s Zo毛 Kirsch in an exclusive interview this past August that the union was sending its own health and safety workers into 30 鈥渞ed flag鈥� schools with the worst ventilation systems to do their own air quality testing. The move came as the UFT escalated its criticism of the city鈥檚 school reopening plan, saying it failed to meet student and staff safety standards on several fronts. Less than half of New York City鈥檚 roughly 1,400 school buildings are equipped with heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, which maintain indoor air quality. 鈥淥ne of the biggest risk factors is time spent in underventilated spaces indoors. You want to control the emissions and removal,鈥漵aid Joseph Allen, who runs the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health and estimates that 90 percent of U.S. schools are underventilated. A 2000 NYC report said, 鈥淭he UFT receives more complaints from its members about poor indoor air quality in schools than about any other health and safety issue.鈥� Read the full report.

Texas鈥檚 Missing Students: Weeks After Closures, Schools in San Antonio Still Couldn鈥檛 Locate Thousands of Kids. How One Band Director Finally Tracked Down His Musicians / By Bekah McNeel

Absenteeism: In its race to locate every student before school adjourned for summer, San Antonio Independent School District relied on faculty members like high school band director Alejandro Jaime Salazar to track them down. It became a daily task for Salazar, as he used every tool at his disposal and relied on relationships forged before coronavirus shut the schools. That included asking student section leaders to make contact with other kids. Once located, Salazar said, 鈥渕y main priority was to keep in contact with these kids every day.鈥� He and other educators told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Bekah McNeel that the hunt for 鈥渕issing鈥� students revealed the increasing importance of student-teacher connection, engagement and relationships. Read the full profile.

Equity: For decades, education policy has been shaped largely by an extended discussion of racial achievement gaps, and the lingua franca of that discourse is testing data. A reform coalition of educators, politicians and activists has labored to narrow the academic disparity between white students and students of color, placing the goal at the heart of media debates and state accountability plans alike. But in recent years, influential figures have begun to shift away from the achievement gap. Some say it’s more responsible to focus on resource disparities between student groups, even if standardized testing is still a necessary component in school improvement efforts; others go even further, . As reformers choose whether to preserve or abandon the idea, some in the Democratic Party 鈥� including former educator and soon-to-be-congressman Jamaal Bowman 鈥� have grown louder in their calls to abolish high-stakes testing. .

New Data: College Enrollment for Low-Income High School Grads Plunged by 29% During the Pandemic / By Richard Whitmire

Higher Education: Author and 74 contributor Richard Whitmire describes the cratering of college enrollment rates among 2020 high school graduates as a tragedy whose outline is just becoming visible. That picture grew clearer and more distressing in December with the release of new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center showing college enrollment declined for low-income students at nearly double the rate of higher-income students 鈥� 29.2 percent versus 16.9 percent. The decrease for all 2020 high school grads, measured for the first time since COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the nation鈥檚 schools, is also alarming: a nearly 22 percent drop this year versus a 2.8 percent drop for the class of 2019. The crucial difference, Whitmire writes, is that those from more affluent and middle-class backgrounds will likely make their way back to college once the pandemic subsides, while the trajectory for low-income students may have changed forever. Read the full report.

A Time of Reckoning for Race & Education in America: 5 Case Studies in How Students and School Leaders Are Pushing for Culturally Relevant Curriculum Amid the Pandemic / By Emmeline Zhao

Curriculum: The American education system was not designed to operate 鈥� much less thrive 鈥� without physical, in-person interaction. And when the novel coronavirus forced indefinite emergency school closures this spring, concern ballooned over how to educate America鈥檚 74 million school-age children from afar. That, coupled with this summer鈥檚 protests demanding social justice, led 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Pandemic Reporting Initiative to dispatch correspondents across the country to take a hard look at how existing curricula may not be conducive to closing the achievement gap, particularly from afar; how some schools are addressing these issues to adapt to changing times and challenging learning circumstances; and how educators are tackling these tough but critical issues. Read our full series that dives into curriculum in light of the pandemic and social justice movement, with reports out of New York, New Orleans, San Antonio, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. See the full series here.

Youth Suicide: The Other Public Health Crisis / By Mark Keierleber

Mental Health: Brad Hunstable believes his son died of the coronavirus 鈥� just not in the way one might expect. As COVID-19 shuttered schools nationwide and put students鈥� social lives on pause, Hayden committed suicide just days before his 13th birthday. His father blames that pandemic-induced social isolation 鈥� and a fit of rage 鈥� for his son鈥檚 death. Though the national youth suicide rate has been on the rise for years, students say the unprecedented disruption of the last few months has taken a toll on their emotional well-being. Researchers worry that a surge in depression and anxiety could drive a spike in youth suicide. Sandy Hook Promise, which runs an anonymous reporting tool, has seen a 12 percent increase in suicide-related reports since March. The issue became a political football ahead of this year鈥檚 election, with President Donald Trump and others citing rising rates of depression and suicide as reasons to relax COVID-19-related restrictions on in-person classes. Read the full report.

Using Tutors to Combat COVID Learning Loss: New Research Shows That Even Lightly Trained Volunteers Drive Academic Gains / By Kevin Mahnken

Personalized Learning: With a return to full-time, in-person schooling still weeks away in many areas, families are searching for any solution to deal with their children’s COVID-related learning losses. Now, a working paper circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that tutoring programs 鈥� whether led by certified teachers, paraprofessionals, even parents 鈥� could play a significant role in getting students back on track. It’s a strategy that has already been embraced by parents blessed with the money and bandwidth to create small-scale learning pods, but experts suggest that supplementary instruction could be scaled up dramatically through the use of lightly trained volunteers and virtual learning platforms. Still, both the cost and the organizational challenges of expanding tutoring are great. 鈥淭he logistics of setting this up on the kind of scale we need to to address the problem is more complicated than we initially realized,” said co-author Philip Oreopoulos of the University of Toronto. Read the full report.

Cleveland Schools Considering Bold Plan to Confront Coronavirus Learning Loss: A 鈥楳astery鈥� Learning Initiative That Would Scrap Grade Levels, Let Kids Learn at Own Pace / By Patrick O鈥橠onnell

Mastery Education: At the beginning of the summer, educators were grappling with the fact that when students come back to school, they will be at vastly different academic levels. So how can schools fairly decide which grade kids should be in? They can鈥檛, said Cleveland school district CEO Eric Gordon 鈥� and maybe they shouldn鈥檛 try. His draft plan for reopening the district鈥檚 schools would instead put students in multi-age 鈥済rade bands,鈥� under a mastery approach that lets them work at their own speed. Students would then have time to relearn skills they have lost and catch up without feeling like failures or being held back a grade. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got opportunities here to really test, challenge and maybe abandon some of these time-bound structures of education that have never really conformed to what we know about good child development,鈥� Gordon said. Read the full report.

When Siblings Become Teachers: It鈥檚 Not Just Parents Who Find Themselves Thrust Into the Demanding Role of At-Home Educators / By Zo毛 Kirsch

Homeschooling: When the pandemic shuttered New York City schools, 22-year-old Lillian Acosta of Queens found herself suddenly relating to the experiences of her co-workers with kids, as they talked about the challenges inherent in remote learning. Lillian isn鈥檛 a parent, but for the last few weeks, she鈥檚 been assuming the responsibilities of one, spending hours a day 鈥� and paying $90 a day to a tutor 鈥� to make sure her 14-year-old brother gets through school. She isn鈥檛 alone: In Brooklyn, 17-year-old Melisa Cabascango coaches her little brother, and in the Bronx, Sarshevack 鈥淪ar鈥� Mnahsheh sets up a makeshift classroom in his family鈥檚 apartment every morning. 鈥淚 try to wake up early enough to check up on the little things,鈥� says Sar, who works the night shift at a local grocery store. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 try to be overbearing because I鈥檓 not a parent, but I have to make sure they鈥檙e up to par on the things they鈥檙e doing.鈥� Lillian, Melisa and Sar are working overtime to fill the gap between what their siblings need and what the district is providing in this moment of crisis. They鈥檙e three of thousands of young people who are shouldering that burden in cities and towns across the country 鈥� and those in low-income communities of color are getting hit the hardest. Read the full feature.

December saw the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic crest across the country, as many schools that had worked to reopen for the new academic year were forced to shut down campuses yet again amid fresh lockdown orders. As those students teetered between remote and in-person instruction, other families and teachers facing a tenth straight month of distance learning were continuing to work to refine and bolster the experience. And as the status quo dragged on, our most popular coverage this month at 蜜桃影视 focused on better understanding the scale, challenges and consequences of this surreal new normal. From learning loss to college enrollment declines to student privacy concerns, here were the most popular articles we published in December. (You can also get alerts about our latest news coverage, exclusives and analysis by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

As COVID Creeps into Schools, Surveillance Tech Follows

Student Privacy: When an Ohio school district saw a 鈥渟ignificant increase鈥� in COVID-19 cases among students and staff, officials made the difficult call of reverting to remote learning. But when kids return to class, they鈥檒l be wearing badges that will track their every move 鈥� part of a pilot program in contact tracing that allows the Wickliffe district to follow students for up to a month and identify who comes into contact with infected classmates. The badges and other high-tech gizmos, including UV light air purifiers and thermal-imaging cameras that purport to detect fevers, have come under fire from student privacy advocates. But company executives and school leaders made clear they鈥檙e not likely to go away anytime soon 鈥� even after the pandemic subsides. 鈥淎fter the initial pushback, people are going to adapt and deal with it,鈥� Superintendent Joseph Spiccia told 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber. 鈥淪ome people would be angry, and after that anger dissipates, I think people generally will end up complying and falling in line.鈥� Read the full story.

鈥� Case Study: 鈥楧on鈥檛 get gaggled鈥� 鈥� Minneapolis school district spends big on student surveillance tool, raising ire after terminating its police contract (Read the full story)

Under Pressure: As Mayor Insists Schools Go Five Days a Week, NYC Principals Receive Notice That They Owe Money for Missing Students

School Funding: Manhattan Principal Darlene Cameron was already stressed about a sudden edict that elementary schools must offer five-day-a-week in-person instruction when she learned that her school on Manhattan鈥檚 Lower East Side owed the city Department of Education about $145,000 in per-pupil funding reimbursements. “Because of that deficit, the DOE won’t give me new money for my next budget,鈥� said Cameron, whose small school serves 280 students in grades pre-K-5. She isn’t alone. Mark Cannizzaro, president of the principals union, said 60 percent of city schools lost students this year, as attendance numbers crashed during the pandemic. 鈥淲e have a lot of schools now that have deficits that no one could have predicted, and they won’t be able to pay them back in any practical way, without severely affecting the education of their students come next September.鈥� Read Zo毛 Kirsch鈥檚 full report.

New Data: College Enrollment for Low-Income High School Grads Plunged by 29% During the Pandemic

Higher Education: Author and 74 contributor Richard Whitmire describes the cratering of college enrollment rates among 2020 high school graduates as a tragedy whose outline is just becoming visible. That picture grew clearer and more distressing in December with the release of new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center showing college enrollment declined for low-income students at nearly double the rate of higher-income students 鈥� 29.2 percent versus 16.9 percent. The decrease for all 2020 high school grads, measured for the first time since COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the nation鈥檚 schools, is also alarming: a nearly 22 percent drop this year versus a 2.8 percent drop for the class of 2019. The crucial difference, Whitmire writes, is that those from more affluent and middle-class backgrounds will likely make their way back to college once the pandemic subsides, while the trajectory for low-income students may have changed forever. Read the full report.

Lost Learning, Lost Students: COVID Slide Not as Steep as Predicted, NWEA Study Finds 鈥� But 1 in 4 Kids Was Missing from Fall Exams

Learning Loss: For months, school leaders, policymakers and equity advocates have waited to learn whether predictions that the most disadvantaged students would suffer the steepest learning losses during pandemic-related school closures would be borne out. Now, they have an answer 鈥� but the backdrop is concerning. While COVID slide wasn’t as steep as feared, nearly a fourth of students in a nationwide sample analyzed by researchers at the nonprofit assessment concern NWEA did not take the start-of-year exams. And the missing students are disproportionately low-income and students of color 鈥� those considered most at risk. With such a large number of vulnerable children absent, the research is incomplete. 鈥淎lmost one in four are not showing up, and we don鈥檛 know why,鈥� said Megan Kuhfeld, a senior research scientist with NWEA. Beth Hawkins has an overview.

L.A. Pods: In Parks, Backyards and Old Storefronts, Small Groups Offer Children Some of What They鈥檝e Lost in Months of Online Instruction

Remote Learning: With many school districts across Los Angeles and Riverside counties still closed, pods are getting many families through the weekly distance learning routine 鈥� whether that means hiring a professional educator to oversee Zoom schedules or dropping children off at a park for play and some non-screen activities. 鈥淚 thought, how am I supposed to work and educate at the same time?鈥� one single father tells reporter Linda Jacobson about the relief provided by one Los Angeles pod. Pods, however, are not only taking the burden off parents; they鈥檙e inspiring new business models among experienced educators. Lifelong friends Pam Marton and Sharon Fabian, for example, now match teachers with home-based pods. To learn more about the model, the Center on Reinventing Public Education is creating a nationwide database, and RAND Corp. researcher V. Darleen Opfer thinks pods might outlast the pandemic. 鈥淚 can imagine that if some parents feel their children learn better in a pod than they did at school,鈥� she said, 鈥渢hen they will continue them even when schools reopen fully.鈥� Read the full report.

16 Charts that Changed the Way We Thought About America鈥檚 Schools This Year

Big Picture: We鈥檒l always remember 2020 as the year that schools temporarily went dark. The impact of the COVID-19 disruption, perhaps the most significant in the history of American public education, has been measured by experts since it began, yielding insights into the pandemic鈥檚 effects that are already influencing policy decisions at the state and even national level. But the coronavirus wasn鈥檛 the only thing that researchers investigated this year. A raft of studies released in the last 12 months have enlivened debates over achievement gaps, social-emotional learning, student mental health, the effects of No Child Left Behind and much more. Together, they provide a history 鈥� in charts, graphs and the occasional table 鈥� of a year unlike any other. Read Kevin Manhken鈥檚 report on the 2020 standouts.

Rotherham: Who the Next Ed Secretary Will Be Is the Wrong Parlor Game. The Real Question 鈥� Which Party Will Get Its Act Together on Education First?

Politics: There are plenty of facts for plenty of theories about what the split verdict in last month’s election means and what a restless and divided American electorate wants. So, what now, asks contributor Andrew Rotherham, for schools? Education seems an issue that Republicans could highlight as the party redefines itself for 2024. It’s a stretch to say they’re a true working-class party, yet it’s not hard to see the glimmers of that future 鈥� and an education component to it, especially a parent choice focus. Meanwhile, Democrats mostly represent supplier interests in education (schools and universities), so there is fertile ground for the party that steps up to aggressively and consistently represent the consumers (parents and kids). But it’s an ironic political liability that, at a time when the country is discussing structural inequality and racism, ideas about giving poor parents choices or holding schools accountable for addressing racial disparities remain so controversial. Answering the question of why Democrats think schooling is the one place that giving the poor money and power is a bad idea matters a lot more, both for the party and for American families, than who the next secretary of education is. Read the full analysis.

A Test Case in Providence: Can Majority-White Teachers Unions Be Anti-Racist?

Equity: The teaching force in Providence, Rhode Island 鈥� for decades mismatched with student demographics in the district 鈥� is 79 percent white, the exact percentage as in the nation as a whole. In the wake of protests following George Floyd鈥檚 death, Providence educators formed a committee to address systemic racism in their struggling district, but have faced obstacles in how to engage families, elevate the voices of teachers of color and overcome the union鈥檚 poor reputation in the community. As the Racial Justice Committee seeks to transform the Providence Teachers Union into an engine for equity, educators in the city confront an issue shared across the country: Can teachers unions 鈥� overwhelmingly white and generally built to protect their senior members 鈥� be levers of anti-racist change? Read Asher Lehrer-Small鈥檚 full report.

How Missing Zoom Classes Could Funnel Kids into the Juvenile Justice System 鈥� And Why Some Experts Say Now is the Time to Reform Truancy Rules

Student Discipline: In communities across the country, social workers are walking door to door in search of millions of students their schools have deemed 鈥渕issing鈥� 鈥� a stark reality as districts combat an absenteeism crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic. Despite longstanding 鈥渃ompulsory education鈥� laws that require students to attend school or face punishment 鈥� including fines and incarceration in some states 鈥� many districts have avoided pushing students into the juvenile justice system for truancy during the pandemic. But as growing evidence suggest that such an approach is counterproductive, some experts worry about what could come next. 鈥淧retty soon, I think that folks are going to start relying on the stick more than they have been,鈥� said Rey Salda帽a, CEO of the nonprofit Communities in Schools. 鈥淭hat鈥檒l be the completely wrong conversation to have because these students don鈥檛 need truancy court, they don鈥檛 need fines.鈥� Rather than being willfully defiant, truant students are often suffering from homelessness or violence, he said. 鈥淭hey need interventions, they don鈥檛 need to be seen by a judge.鈥� Read the full report.

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Never before has the American education system been put under a microscope 鈥� sometimes literally 鈥� the way it was in 2020.

That’s because COVID-19 illustrated just how much about schools we take for granted. Education research examines all kinds of things that take place inside the walls of schools, from science lessons and gym classes to sick days and suspensions. But experts have never had to think about what might happen if all of it 鈥� the hugs, the free breakfasts, the standardized tests, even the buildings themselves 鈥� simply went away. This spring, that’s exactly what happened, stranding tens of millions of students in academic limbo even as this sentence was being written.

It was education’s worst year. But as the months crawled by, researchers kept collecting data and putting surveys in the field. They gave us a picture of which kids were most at risk of falling behind, how fast they might catch up with a dose of high-intensity tutoring, and why local leaders were deciding to reopen schools to in-person learning. Beyond the studies looking specifically at the effects of the pandemic, we continued to learn about the ways in which the nation’s 130,000 elementary and secondary schools make an impact on the lives of children.

What follows is an education history, in charts, of a year unlike any other.

Learning Loss: Picture Still Developing

With the prolonged absence of students from their classrooms, the key educational question triggered by the coronavirus has been just how far they would fall behind in their studies. Given the rocky transition to virtual instruction (to say nothing of the millions of families without internet access at home), many feared that months of Zoom sessions would set achievement back irreparably.

With physical schools in many areas likely to remain closed for months, much is still unclear. But early data suggest that the academic damage may not be as devastating as previously thought. Results from this fall鈥檚 MAP test, a computerized assessment devised by the education nonprofit NWEA, show that over 4 million students in grades 3-8 performed somewhat worse in math than their same-grade peers in 2019; their reading skills, however, were little changed. While still preliminary, it鈥檚 a better outcome than what the group had predicted in the spring based on research into the problem of 鈥渟ummer slide.鈥�

Still, a major caveat remains: According to NWEA, roughly one-quarter of the MAP participants from last year didn鈥檛 actually take the test this fall. And those students, disproportionately Latino and African American, are likely at the greatest risk of being left behind.

Achievement Gaps: Class Matters, in More Ways than One

In at least one analysis, some groups of students have already been shown to lag their more advantaged peers. One ongoing research study, conducted by acclaimed economist Raj Chetty and his colleagues at Harvard鈥檚 Opportunity Insights, shows that children from lower-income families experienced a precipitous drop in math achievement at the beginning of the pandemic.

The study used data from Zearn, a nonprofit curriculum developer whose online math lessons were used by nearly 1 million students this spring. While schools were able to continue assigning the lessons during the flight from school buildings, kids almost immediately began completing fewer lessons 鈥� and those in lower-earning groups fell furthest of all. While the paper focuses mostly on the deadening spell cast by the pandemic over the American economy, the Zearn findings show evidence of its potentially 鈥渓ong-lasting scarring effects,鈥� Chetty and his team wrote.

Tutoring: Can It Be Scaled?

Research on the effectiveness of tutoring has long pointed to a promising method of boosting outcomes for struggling students, but one whose efficacy would be challenging to achieve at scale. To build upon successful models of individual or small-group instruction, you need to hire (or at least train) a lot of new personnel. Whatever the logistical challenges, however, the academic setbacks inflicted by the pandemic over multiple school years have led researchers to give tutoring a closer look in 2020.

In a working paper released this summer, University of Toronto economist Philip Oreopoulos examined evidence from nearly 100 randomized controlled trials of tutoring programs, detecting strongly positive results for academic performance in multiple subjects. Even more promising, the intervention worked 鈥� with occasionally eye-popping effect sizes 鈥� in multiple formats, even when conducted by tutors who weren鈥檛 professional educators. If paraprofessionals, trained volunteers, and even family members can deliver effective one-on-one instruction, there may be potential for the nationwide use of tutors to help students make up ground lost to COVID, as Brown professor .

School Reopenings: Politics Trumps Science

The coronavirus, and the steps undertaken to curb its spread, represented a sudden and almost unforeseeable social challenge. But they also interacted with one of the most familiar forces in American life, partisan politics.

Once Democrats and Republicans began to divide over mask mandates, business restrictions, and hydroxychloroquine, it was easy to predict that school reopenings would trigger a similar reaction. And according to early analyses, that鈥檚 precisely what happened. Multiple researchers have found that the county-level development of in-person reopening plans was closely associated with President Trump鈥檚 vote share in the 2016 election, but seemingly disconnected from the prevalence of COVID in a given community. As Brookings Institution senior fellow Jon Valant told 蜜桃影视, 鈥淲hen an issue like this gets charged, it distorts the decision making in ways that are really dangerous.鈥�

School Safety: How Police See Students

Apart from the pandemic, the other major education storyline of 2020 related to racial inequality. Following the killing of George Floyd in May, districts in major cities like , , and all moved to wind down contracts with local police departments, often placed inside school buildings to ensure safety and order. Meanwhile, a qualitative study published in the journal Social Problems offered troubling evidence of how school resource officers view the kids they serve.

Relying on a sample of interviews with over 70 officers across two communities, the authors found that those stationed in racially mixed schools were more likely to view students as behavioral threats than those working in a wealthier and whiter community 鈥� even though juvenile arrest rates were broadly similar in both areas. That belief, combined with the common use of what the researchers deemed 鈥渞acialized tropes,鈥� could lend credence to the calls by activists to remove police from schools.

Racial Equity: Rubrics Could Shrink Grading Differences

Even before this year鈥檚 outcry over police brutality, education observers have long argued that structural bias built into the K-12 system contributes to racially disparate outcomes for students. The building debate has led many school districts to adopt training meant to purge prejudice from school interactions, though the evidentiary basis for its effectiveness is .

In circulated this summer, however, USC education professor David Quinn examined the effects of another approach to combating bias: standardizing the way teachers evaluate student work. In an experiment soliciting responses from over 1,500 instructors, Quinn found that participants tended to gives lower marks to a writing assignment credited to a student who was hinted to be non-white 鈥� through the use of a racially identifiable name such as 鈥淒ashawn鈥� 鈥� than to an identical assignment credited to a student named 鈥淐onnor.鈥�

But that tendency was measurably reduced when the teachers were asked to use a grading rubric with performance criteria related to specific aspects of the assignment. In fact, use of the tool shrank the racial differences almost entirely. The 鈥渢houghtful selection of evaluation measures,鈥� Quinn wrote, could be a powerful tool in the classroom.

Leadership: Black Principal Candidates At a Disadvantage

For all the talk in recent years about the importance of student-teacher racial matching 鈥� study after study points to better outcomes for non-white students, from test scores to disciplinary infractions, when they are taught by at least one teacher who looks like them 鈥� the American principal pool is comparably homogenous. One phenomenon feeds the other, as minority leaders often have greater success recruiting and retaining minority teachers.

A study published by the American Education Research Association provides a stark look at the problem. In an analysis of 4,700 assistant principals in Texas between 2001 and 2017, the authors discovered that 45 percent of white candidates were eventually promoted to the top job, while only 35 percent of African American candidates were. The disparity persisted even though candidates of both races possessed master鈥檚 degrees and state credentials that qualified them for leadership. Even more striking, the average wait time for a promotion was seven months shorter for white administrators.

Education Politics: School Boards Skew White

School board elections are almost destined to produce low engagement and even lower turnout, as obscure candidates compete for offices during off-year campaign cycles. The limpness of the democratic process likely explains why research has typically found that local board members are much more likely to be wealthy and white than the people they represent.

A from the beginning of the year put that point in even finer relief. Ohio State University professors Vladimir Kogan and Stephane Lavertu, together with Emory University professor Zachary Peskowitz, used voter turnout records from board races in California, Illinois, Ohio, and Oklahoma to show that the race of school board members is often totally unrepresentative of not just the adult electorate, but also the student population that they served. In fact, most majority-nonwhite districts elected majority white school boards.

Even worse: As the representation gap grew between the politicians and their constituents, so did the racial achievement gap in schools.

Mental Health: Anti-Bullying Laws Reduce Student Suicide

Surging reports of teen anxiety and depression have focused both educators and families on the issue of student mental health, particularly among adolescents. Underlining the trend has been a frightening increase in the teen suicide rate, often surfacing in the media through tragic accounts of kids driven to despair by bullying at school.

Partially in reaction to the frightening numbers, every state in the country has passed legislation forcing education leaders to combat abusive behavior in schools. In released in February, researchers point to signs that their efforts have already borne fruit: Among girls between the age of 14 and 18, the adoption of anti-bullying statutes is associated with a decrease in bullying, depression, and suicidal ideation. Suicides dropped by 15 percent, while LGBT girls were 18 percent less likely to plan to commit suicide.

Those results come with an asterisk, however: Boys, who are substantially more likely to commit suicide and less likely to seek emotional support when being bullied, saw no reduction in suicide rates from the laws.

Beyond Test Scores: Social-Emotional Learning in High Schools

Social-emotional learning represents perhaps the hottest field of education research heading into 2021. Beyond the traditional knowledge and skills that students need to gain from school, scholars have increasingly argued in recent years that young people must be invested with non-academic traits to succeed as adults 鈥� patience, flexibility, gratitude, and most famously, grit.

That kind of personal development has often been the focus of kindergarten and elementary schools, but indicates that it can be accomplished with meaningful results in the higher grades as well. Using data from both standardized tests and school climate surveys, a group of researchers compared the performance of students who attended public schools in Chicago. Their main finding: For a range of outcomes including absenteeism, school-based arrest, high school graduation, and college enrollment, students were actually better off attending high schools that were shown to inculcate social-emotional traits rather than those that maximized test score growth.

Even within the group of non-academic indicators, noteworthy differences surfaced. According to student survey responses, certain schools excelled particularly in building strong work habits and academic engagement, while others were better at fostering a sense of social belonging. In each case, however, the findings show that the social-emotional progress of older students makes a clear difference in how their lives unfold.

School Environment: Air Quality Makes a Difference

Environmental contaminants are a hidden danger in K-12 schools. Long before the coronavirus outbreak made parents afraid to send their kids to school, polluted drinking water and forgotten asbestos threatened to poison students in the places they should have been safest.

A raft of studies has emerged in recent years providing evidence of the damage wrought by polluted learning environments, including a January working paper documenting the aftereffects of a pervasive 2015 gas leak in Southern California. After some local schools installed commercial air filters in classrooms to deal with the problem, NYU economist Michael Gilraine found significant increases in student test scores for both math and English. The size of the effects 鈥� roughly comparable to previous gains attributed to lowering class sizes by one-third 鈥� is particularly notable given the small scope of the intervention: essentially, the purchase of a $700 filter.

Accountability: NCLB Helped Lift Graduation Rate

Perhaps the most controversial statute in the history of federal education policy, the No Child Left Behind Act was defanged five years ago after lawmakers of both parties tired of its incursions on state authority. Few mourned the law鈥檚 death at the time, but a March paper from Brookings Institution found that it likely played a part in one of the happiest K-12 developments in recent decades, America鈥檚 steadily rising high school graduation rate.

The report found that the nationwide trend toward greater high school completion was spurred to a significant extent by NCLB鈥檚 accountability mandates, which pressed states to identify schools and districts with low graduation rates and make a concerted effort to raise them. Better still, the authors argued that the progress could not be credited to what it deemed 鈥渟trategic behavior,鈥� such as sticking struggling students in ineffective credit recovery courses. 鈥淭he more we dug into it, the more it actually seemed like pretty good news,鈥� said Tulane researcher Doug Harris. 鈥淎nd I think that it鈥檚 big news.鈥�

School Workforce: Kids Need Counselors

When examining how schools impact the lives of students, researchers understandably focus on teachers. They run the classroom, devise curricula, grade homework, address misbehavior, make home visits, and perform a dozen other small pedagogical actions each day. The study of school quality is, to a great degree, a study of teacher quality.

But they鈥檙e not the only adults in the building, and this year brought clear evidence about the importance of non-teaching staff. Specifically, conducted by RAND Corporation researcher Christine Mulhern looked at 510 guidance counselors randomly assigned to high school students in Massachusetts, concluding that their effects on academic attainment were 鈥渟imilar in magnitude鈥� to those of teachers. By focusing on course scheduling, personal support, and college and career advising, Mulhern found, high-quality counselors make a significant impact on kids approaching adulthood 鈥� particularly low-income and poorly performing students who most need their help.

School Turnarounds: Worth a Second Look?

It鈥檚 tough, and possibly cost-prohibitive, to turn around schools. That鈥檚 the verdict rendered by and frustrating public policy alike, as district and state leaders have tried to improve school performance through new leadership, new teachers, and big changes to culture and academic programming. The intense shakeup for families and teachers 鈥� which typically includes large numbers of staff members losing their jobs 鈥� can effectively sabotage intended improvements.

But a September study gives reason to think that turnarounds work better than we thought. In a metaanalysis of 35 studies that looked at school turnaround efforts, University of Florida professor Christopher Redding and Kansas State University professor Tuan Nguyen found consistent and wide-ranging benefits to schools from wiping the slate clean. High school graduation rates at turnaround schools rose by nearly 10 percentage points, along with smaller gains for student attendance and test scores for both math and reading.

The authors also warn policymakers to be patient while waiting for the fruits of a highly disruptive reform; while leaders of turnaround efforts are often judged almost immediately on the effects of their new methods and personnel, meaningful academic gains sometimes don鈥檛 show themselves for several years.

Socioeconomic Stratification: Long-Term Gaps May Be Closing

Few developments have marked the last half-century of American history like the persistent growth of income and wealth inequality. Economists have offered myriad explanations for the divergence in fortunes between educated, often-white professionals and lower-earning members of the working class, and the trend has during the chaotic COVID slowdown.

Happily, however, stratifications in socioeconomic status may not be replicated in academic achievement. In one of the most unexpected social science discoveries of the year, that test score gaps associated with household income shrank over multiple rounds of the National Assessment of Educational Progress between 1990 and 2015. Differences on fourth-grade math, fourth-grade reading, and eighth-grade math all 鈥渘arrowed substantially,鈥� the authors wrote, while the eighth-grade reading gap remained unchanged.

The paper鈥檚 conclusions differ dramatically from those of Stanford academic Sean Reardon, the nation鈥檚 most influential scholar of socioeconomic achievement gaps, who suggesting the opposite. If they prove accurate, however, they could provide the best news that schools have seen in…well, about a half-century.

NAEP: More Results, More Disappointment

The National Assessment of Educational Progress has been a chronicle of gloom for well over a decade. After measuring steadily rising scores during the late 1990s and early 鈥�00s, the exam 鈥� commonly referred to as the Nation鈥檚 Report Card, but you knew that already 鈥� has largely shown stagnation for American fourth- and eighth-graders on both math and reading. Culprits for what has been dubbed the 鈥渓ost decade鈥� of educational progress are multiple and varied, but analysts have often converged on the harmful effects of the Great Recession, which dislocated millions of families and forced lawmakers to slash school budgets.

This year鈥檚 release of 2018 NAEP scores for civics, geography, and U.S. history offer no reprieve from the bad news: Eighth-graders posted lower on the seldom-tested subjects (the assessment is only given every four years, while the core test of math and reading occurs every two) than they did in 2014. A predictable wailing ensured, with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos lamenting that the middle schoolers 鈥渄on鈥檛 know what the Lincoln-Douglas debates were about, nor can they discuss the significance of the Bill of Rights, or point out basic locations on a map.鈥�

Dissenting voices 鈥� including some from historians and civics education specialists 鈥� tempered the despair by noting that the 2018 declines weren鈥檛 particularly dramatic, and that NAEP鈥檚 bar for proficiency is considerably higher than those for state exams. But the context for release made its findings even less welcome: In order to save on future assessment costs, geography isn鈥檛 scheduled to be tested again until 2029.

Go Deeper: Find our latest coverage of education research and data in our ‘Big Picture’ archive (Get our newest updates delivered straight to your inbox 鈥� sign up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

Student Voice: Two Weeks, Five Siblings and One Working Laptop. How I Navigated the Nation鈥檚 Largest School System in Search of an iPad 鈥� and What It Taught Me About America鈥檚 Digital Divide

Pandemic Notebook: Back in March, Brandon Yam woke up and dialed the tech department of the nation鈥檚 largest school system in New York City. For two weeks, he writes in this addition to the 鈥淧andemic Notebook鈥� series, Yam fruitlessly pursued the district to learn the status of his application for one of 300,000 devices available for students who lack them. Yam is a junior at highly selective Francis Lewis High School. But he also comes from a poor immigrant family in the city鈥檚 Flushing neighborhood, where his parents, a chef and a postal employee, are essential workers and he shares the family鈥檚 10-year-old laptop with five siblings. He writes: 鈥淢y siblings and I butted heads to get to the router at the center of our living room for a bar of internet connection. 鈥� I often pinched the corners of my iPhone 6 screen wide, squinting to see my trigonometry and physics teachers doing practice problems on paper.鈥� Along the way, he learned some sobering lessons about privilege and navigating the digital divide. Now, he writes, 鈥淚 sit here wondering how many other children have had to act on their own with parents at work 鈥� playing the roles of traffic cop, translator and support system.鈥� Read Yam鈥檚 full reflection here.

鈥淧andemic Notebook鈥� registered as 蜜桃影视鈥檚 most read and shared essay series of the year 鈥� and we now plan on extending the effort into 2021 as the classroom disruptions caused by coronavirus continue through a second school year. A few other memorable entries from 2020:

• Student Safety: 鈥楢 bird trapped in a golden cage鈥� 鈥� Amid the pandemic, one student鈥檚 story of abuse during quarantine (Read the full essay)
• Remote Learning: Part staycation, part home detention, my life during pandemic is a study in contrasts (Read the full essay)
• Family Stress: My mom Is 55, Black, and just returned to work in a doctor鈥檚 office in New York City. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 scared (Read the full essay)
• Go Deeper: See our full 鈥淧andemic Notebook鈥� archive

Resilience: 鈥淒ear Parents/Guardians, I know that, amid all the uncertainty and fear right now, it鈥檚 overwhelming to suddenly take over as your children鈥檚 teacher. Don鈥檛 worry 鈥� they鈥檙e going to learn just fine with you in charge.鈥� , 2019 National Teacher of the Year and a 20-year veteran educator. 鈥淏ut we could all use a little extra help at the moment, so here are some tips to help you get through the next few months while the education system adjusts.鈥� From self-care for parents and patience in making decisions to academic and social-emotional support, he writes, 鈥淩emind yourself that although we are experiencing perhaps the greatest challenge since World War II, everything is going to work out. Love, empathy and compassion will get us through this pandemic鈥� We can’t wait to see you when school opens.鈥� .

Politics: This past spring, the Democrats formed six so-called Unity Task Forces intended to give hope and unification to the party. They may do so for some forces within the party, writes contributor Howard Fuller, but to Black and brown families who have chosen public charter schools to ensure their children get the best education possible, . 鈥淲hat is grossly obvious when looking at the list of advisers creating educational policy for the Democratic Party platform is that the 3.3 million students and over 219,000 teachers attending and working in public charter schools have not been considered at all. 鈥� Joe Biden, you and your Democratic Party are sending a message to the families of public charter schools that we don鈥檛 matter because our educational choices go against the status quo 鈥� you are sending the message that you do not support the right of Latino and Black parents to make these critically important, and potentially lifesaving, choices for their children. We demand to be seen, valued and heard. We want to be more than photo ops to be used in your campaign literature. We will not accept second-class citizenship. We demand our seat at the table so you can hear and learn from our collective expertise and experiences, which come out of rich histories of struggle against oppression in this country. … You cannot ignore us and expect us to march blindly to the ballot box to support you.鈥� .

Chad Aldeman: How Much Learning Time Are Students Getting? In 7 Large School Districts, Less Than Normal 鈥� and in 3, They鈥檙e Getting More

Remote Learning: Back in August, contributor Chad Aldeman calculated that the remote learning schedule for his local public school district of Fairfax, Virginia, was offering less than half of a typical school year to his first-grade son. This trend is not unique to Fairfax: The majority of American students are experiencing either a partial school day or week, or fully virtual classes. While Aldeman doesn’t question the logic of district decisions in this regard, he wondered 鈥� collectively, how much learning time will these policies cost students? To find out, he compared the number of hours of live instruction planned this year for 5th-, 8th- and 11th-graders in 10 large districts with their state鈥檚 requirement for the amount of school time students should normally receive. Seven of the 10 鈥� Los Angeles; Clark County, Nevada; Wake County, North Carolina; New York City; Montgomery Country, Maryland; Fairfax; and Chicago 鈥� are planning to deliver far less instructional time to students than normal. But Houston; Gwinnett County, Georgia; and Miami-Dade, Florida, are on track to surpass the minimal state requirements for instructional hours. Read the full analysis.

Derrell Bradford: Black Lives Matter and Black Education Matters Because Freedom Matters. Only When Black Folks Are Safe to Both Learn and Live Will America Be Free

Equity: The killing of George Floyd and subsequent calls to action by the Black Lives Matter movement drove home some long-ago lessons for contributor Derrell Bradford about the continuum on which race, the police and education interact. “If you think about race and education and policing as intertwined, there is also no moment when you do not see how they conspire for the betterment or detriment of the country鈥檚 children; and, for much of my adult life, the country鈥檚 Black children. 鈥� And at this moment, the overlap could not be clearer. You cannot solve a problem of Black lives with an all-lives solution. We can鈥檛 have an ‘all education matters’ approach to the challenges of Black education. One that doesn鈥檛 require states or districts to meet the needs of kids who, too, are fighting to be free and equal, but instead demands they conform to systems that have not historically worked for them in the name of the public good. All education cannot matter until Black education does. 鈥� As the only people in this nation鈥檚 history who have been both physically enslaved and intellectually starved as a result of not just sentiment, or economics, but public policy, no solution that requires the sacrifice of Black people to be successful will be a solution that works for Black people. The story of Black people is the story of our country鈥檚 efforts to live up to its founding values. Black lives matter, and Black education matters, because everyone鈥檚 freedom matters. And only when Black folks are safe to both learn, and live, will all Americans be free.” Read the full essay.

A Teacher鈥檚 View: 2020 Can Be an Opportunity for Us to Hone Our Craft and Become Better Educators. We Must Not Waste It

Instruction: In just a few short months, contributor Mandy Peyrani’s city of Houston has experienced massive challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as nurses work on the front lines battling the coronavirus, educators are on the front lines of a battle against learning loss. Teachers have always been heroes 鈥� and this moment, she writes, presents an opportunity like never before to show the world why that鈥檚 true. Despite unprecedented instructional challenges, distance learning can be viewed as a once-in-a-generation chance for teachers to hone their craft. In virtual classrooms, instructional coaches can efficiently dip in and out of lessons, offering immediate feedback, and in schools where the best educator on a given topic delivers the lesson, colleagues can witness that educator’s pedagogical techniques, gauge the response from the class and then integrate them into their own toolkits 鈥� a kind of real-time professional development. “Teachers everywhere can and should meet this moment to show just how important we are to eventually achieving normalcy amid a pandemic 鈥� and to exemplify the difference we can make, particularly for kids who need our support most.” Read the full essay.

Andrew Rotherham: From Homeschooling to the Digital Divide to Philanthropy, 10 Questions About COVID-19 and the Future of Education

2021 and Beyond: Considering how little we knew about coronavirus in May, it was striking to contributor Andrew Rotherham how much certainty there was about different aspects of the crisis playing out in real time. The education world was no exception; despite a generally haphazard response, a surprising certitude about what would work and not work or happen or not happen was pervasive. Whether it was ed tech boosters or teachers union leaders, everyone’s take seemed to line up with their priors from before the novel coronavirus struck, even as the situation seems to call for radical pragmatism. But working with stakeholders around the country made Rotherham certain only about the uncertainty. From homeschooling and the digital divide to the quality of curriculum, real estate and education philanthropy, here were 10 questions he started asking during the first wave of the pandemic. Read the full essay.

John Bailey & Olivia Shaw: How Are Families Navigating COVID-19? This Week-by-Week Survey of 500 Parents Has Some Answers

Parent Perceptions: The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the lives of millions of Americans, but for parents, it has created a unique set of challenges. Many suddenly found themselves homeschooling their kids, working from home, facing reduced hours at their jobs or, in some cases, unemployed. To better understand how parents are navigating these challenges, the American Enterprise Institute is analyzing weekly surveys, conducted by Echelon Insights, of 500 public school parents. The results of these surveys, which began in April, provide a unique insight into the concerns and experiences of parents through their evolving responses to COVID-19, and can help leaders with their plans for reopening schools. Contributors John Bailey and Olivia Shaw break down the top findings. Read the full analysis.

Marguerite Roza & Katie Silberstein: Pandemic-Fueled Financial Turbulence Is Hitting School Districts Across the Country. 5 Big Things to Watch For

School Finances: It鈥檚 tough to overstate just how much the pandemic is asking of school districts and their financial leaders, write contributors Marguerite Roza and Katie Silberstein of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab. They鈥檙e being asked to budget in the face of whiplash-inducing on-again, off-again reopening scenarios 鈥� all set against a backdrop of collapsing state revenues for K-12 education. At Edunomics Lab, they鈥檝e been tracking districts鈥� budget decisions in the wake of the pandemic-triggered financial upheaval, and while their effort doesn’t provide an exhaustive national picture, it does offer a snapshot of a fast-moving situation. What they鈥檙e seeing are some short-term district actions that could have significant 鈥� and, in some cases, troubling 鈥� long-term ramifications. Among these are awarding emergency financial powers, tapping reserve funds and locking in spending for services that students can’t access while learning at home. “While none of us wished for this wildly uncertain future,” they write, “here we are. The essential job description for district financial leaders continues to be one of leveraging limited resources to maximize student learning. But doing that job is now immensely more complicated than at any time in recent history.” Read the full analysis.

Conor Williams: Coronavirus Pandemic Reveals the Reality 鈥� and the Risk 鈥� of America鈥檚 Child Safety Net Being Its Public Schools

School Communities: The angst that accompanied the decision by many superintendents to close schools in the spring 鈥� especially in big urban centers like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles 鈥� was not all about lost learning. If the calculation were merely about missed classroom time vs. public health and safety, the choice would have been simpler. But as contributor Conor Williams explains, our public schools, which serve a majority of the nation鈥檚 low-income students, are much more than learning centers. They are where students are fed, receive medical, dental and mental health services and even wash their clothes. As Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a press conference in March, “Public education is also this state’s child care system. It is this nation’s child care system,鈥� meaning schools allow parents to work and society to function. The coronavirus crisis, Williams writes, 鈥渋lluminates just how much we now ask of our public education system. That鈥檚 the real question. As Americans spend the next few weeks managing their isolated, individual anxieties, it鈥檚 worth asking whether the cancellation of classes should mean that large numbers of children go without food.鈥� Read the full essay.

David Steiner & Daniel Weisberg: When Students Go Back to School, Too Many Will Start the Year Behind. Here鈥檚 How to Catch Them Up 鈥� in Real Time

Learning Loss: It鈥檚 September 2021. You are a 10th-grade English teacher. Your curriculum says teach George Orwell鈥檚 novel 1984, but half your class lacks the vocabulary and interpretive skills to read the book. So you ask those students to read Lois Lowry鈥檚 The Giver, a seventh-grade text, instead. Versions of this scene will play out in thousands of classrooms across the country next year, as students who have missed months of learning time finally return to classrooms far behind academically. Giving those students lower-level work to help them catch up 鈥� or, in the more extreme version, asking them to repeat an entire grade 鈥� has good intentions and a certain logic. It鈥檚 also largely ineffective, write contributors David Steiner and Daniel Weisberg; rather than delay access to grade-level material for students who鈥檝e fallen behind, accelerate it, doing focused work with the less-prepared students before the whole class encounters the text. Done right, these interventions can give students who are lagging the ability to handle grade-level assignments at the same time as their peers. 鈥滶ven in the best-case scenario, mastering an entirely new approach to catching students up will take time. That鈥檚 okay. Just trying to give every child a real chance to do grade-level work, however imperfectly, will lead to far better results than picking and choosing who gets those opportunities. … In the aftermath of this crisis, schools will have an opportunity to provide students, especially marginalized students, with far better academic experiences than they did before. It starts with a commitment to accelerating learning instead of ratcheting it ever downward.鈥� Read the full essay.

Morgan Polikoff & Daniel Silver: Getting Testy About Testing 鈥� K-12 Parents Support Canceling Standardized Testing this Spring. That Might Not Be a Good Idea

Accountability: In March, with students suddenly learning from home, the U.S. Department of Education granted states a blanket exemption from standardized testing. The decision was relatively straightforward, as there was virtually no infrastructure in place for securely administering high-stakes exams remotely. But with many schools at least partially reopening in the fall, deciding what to do about standardized testing this coming spring is anything but. It’s a complex issue, with historically stressful circumstances for students and teachers on one side and crucially important data on the other. One thing, though is clear, write contributors Daniel Silver and Morgan Polikoff of the University of Southern California: Parents want the tests canceled. The Understanding America Study, administered by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research to a nationally representative sample of 1,335 U.S. K-12 households, found the proportion who 鈥渟upport鈥� or 鈥渟trongly support鈥� such a move has risen steadily from 43 percent in mid-April to 64 percent in mid-October. Read their full analysis of why canceling exams, even with all their challenges, might not be a good idea.

Student Supports: Despite educators鈥� valiant efforts this past spring, many students still struggled to connect to their peers, teachers and counselors. Some went missing from virtual classes altogether, leaving teachers and principals scrambling to find them. Others, particularly middle and high school students, . These levels of disconnection threaten both students鈥� well-being and their academic progress. Surrounding students with an interconnected web of positive relationships is the foundation of healthy youth development, write contributors Mahnaz Charania and Julia Freeland Fisher. And within that web, access to what researchers dub a 鈥減erson on the ground鈥� 鈥� a mentor, tutor, parent or neighbor who is physically present to offer support 鈥� is a proven, critical ingredient to successful distance learning. Schools that understand the quantity and quality of relationships at their students鈥� disposal will be well positioned to sustain their well-being and academic progress in the coming year, whether campuses open or remain closed. .

Kimberly A. Smith: A Call to Action 鈥� Black Educators Need White Co-Conspirators to Combat Racism in Schools and Empower Our Students to Succeed

Racism: The image of George Floyd gasping for air held symbolic resonance for contributor Kimberly A. Smith 鈥� racism in America’s schools, she writes, is suffocating Black students. But as a Black woman working in education, she knows the system cannot be changed solely by Black leaders or educators; it is centered in whiteness, so transformation resides in the privilege afforded to white leaders, from policymakers to nonprofit executives to superintendents. Hence, the need for “co-conspirators” willing to be unapologetically anti-racist, committed to listening and learning, willing to cede power while using privilege to invite others to lead, uncompromising in providing high-quality education for Black children and prepared to take political risks to advance their needs. The work, she says, must be done in full and equitable partnership with Black leaders in order to shape the pillars of an education institution that values and celebrates Black students. “I seek to identify a national coalition of white education co-conspirators willing to use their privilege to catalyze anti-racist actions in partnership, advocacy and support of Black leaders, with the goal of creating the conditions for Black students to thrive.” Read the full essay.

A Principal鈥檚 View: Social-Emotional Learning Is More Important Than Ever. Here鈥檚 How We Do It Virtually at My School

Social-Emotional Learning: As Principal Sara Carlson Striegel prepared to launch the new virtual school year in August, they were working to ensure students have access to high-quality academic resources and teacher guidance. But just as important was for students and teachers to come together in support of their mental health. Last fall, the school launched a social-emotional learning program, Compass Circles, which provides a framework for teachers to host regular meetings with small groups of students. When in person, participants sit in a circle and go through structured rituals where they discuss how they are doing emotionally and support their peers and colleagues in doing the same. When schools began shutting down last spring, they moved their Circle practice online using video conferencing platforms. Once a week, third- through fifth-graders join a Zoom room with other members of their Circle and go through the same sequence they would have in person. From deep-breathing exercises and emotional check-ins to “badge work” and a closing cheer, Principal Striegel describes how this SEL practice works online and the benefits it provides in keeping the school community healthy and connected. Read the full essay.

Go Deeper: See all our top coverage from 2020 in 蜜桃影视鈥檚 鈥楤est Of鈥� Roundups. Get our latest news, commentary and exclusives delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter.

It was an unprecedented Election Day to match this unprecedented school year. Our coverage in November centered around 48 key candidates, votes and ballot propositions across the country that could reshape education policy and the complications surrounding remote learning which is now becoming even more pervasive as campuses close once again due to skyrocketing coronavirus numbers.

Beyond the pandemic, we also took stock of Betsy DeVos鈥檚 tenure as education secretary, surveyed the latest 12th-grade results on the nation鈥檚 report card and continued our tracking of school discipline reform in Minnesota, where the promise to break ties with local police departments has created a whole new host of problems regarding who should be hired to protest classrooms and the consequences of using technology to better surveil students COVID closures.

Here are our 10 most-shared articles from November; follow our ongoing coverage of the pandemic, school reopenings and concerns about student learning loss at The74Million.org/PANDEMIC. (You can also get alerts about our latest exclusives and analysis by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

DeVos on the Docket: With 455 Lawsuits Against Her Department and Counting, Education Secretary is Left to Defend Much of Her Agenda in Court

Education Department: No education secretary has ever been sued as much as Betsy DeVos. In four years, over 455 lawsuits have been filed against either DeVos or the U.S. Department of Education, according to 蜜桃影视鈥檚 analysis of court filings and opinions. Many of the cases, involving multiple states and advocacy organizations, were filed in response to Trump administration moves to reverse Obama-era rules in the areas of civil rights and protections for student loan borrowers. DeVos has always been outspoken about lightening Washington鈥檚 footprint in education. But in her department鈥檚 effort to grab what one education attorney called 鈥渜uick political wins,鈥� judges 鈥� even Trump appointees 鈥� are finding flaws in its approach. One exception might be the revised Title IX policy, which has already sparked four lawsuits, but might be hard for a future administration to tear down. Linda Jacobson has the story.

A 2020 EDlection Cheat Sheet: Recapping the 48 Key Races, Winners and Campaign Issues That Could Reshape America鈥檚 Schools and Education Policy

EDlection 2020: A first-ever ballot proposition on sex education in Washington state that critics decried as 鈥渟chool porn鈥� but voters approved. A school board election in New Orleans, in part a referendum on closing failing schools, that remains largely undecided. A victory by former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, whose education background runs deep and who is one of the few Democrats to unseat a GOP incumbent for U.S. Senate. While a historic presidential race 鈥� and a test of our democracy 鈥� fixated the nation, education was on the ballot this unprecedented election cycle. Elected officials, particularly at the state level, will play a pivotal role in steering schools through the public health and economic crises of the pandemic. That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e curated 48 federal, state and local races with key implications for students, teachers and families. Here’s the full rundown of the 2020 votes that mattered most to education, plus a full archive of our Election Week livechat, which included rolling updates on candidates, votes and the national conversation.

Some notable highlights from the 2020 EDlection map:

• The Senate: With Senate control uncertain, cash-strapped school districts look to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who calls pandemic relief package 鈥榡ob one鈥� (Read the full story)
• California: After a costly campaign, charter- and union-backed candidates each win seats on L.A. Unified School Board (Read the full story)
• Texas: State鈥檚 House of Representatives remains under Republican control, will face pandemic challenges in protecting 2019 school finance reform (Read the full story)
• Washington: State passes sex education ballot proposition with strong support (Read the full story)
• Georgia: Gwinnett County, where election is under a microscope, gets 2 new Black school board members in contest seen as referendum on race (Read the full story)
• Early Education: As pre-K measures pass across country, 4 big wins for America鈥檚 4-year-olds (Read the full summary)
• Washington, D.C.: State Board of Education set to welcome 4 new members (Read the full story)
• North Carolina: School choice proponent Catherine Truitt wins state鈥檚 top schools post, vows local control in pandemic response (Read the full story)
• New Mexico: Voters approve $156 million bond for higher education, tribal schools & schools for the visually and hearing-impaired (Read the full story)
• Colorado: Former Gov. John Hickenlooper unseats GOP incumbent to win seat in U.S. Senate (Read the full story)
• Go Deeper: See our full roundup of key races, winners and campaign issues that could reshape America鈥檚 schools and education policy

鈥楧on鈥檛 Get Gaggled鈥�: Minneapolis School District Spends Big on Student Surveillance Tool, Raising Ire After Terminating Its Police Contract

School Safety: After George Floyd died at the hands of a Minneapolis officer in May, the school district cut ties with the city police department and launched reforms that officials said would build trust between adults and students. But since COVID-19 closed schools in March in favor of online classes, the district has shelled out more than $355,000 for a digital surveillance tool called Gaggle, according to contracts obtained by 蜜桃影视. The platform, used in hundreds of districts across the U.S., relies on artificial intelligence and a team of moderators to scan student emails, chat messages, files and Google Classroom tools for references to sex, drugs, self-harm, depression and violence. The company says its tool is crucial for protecting students, but civil rights groups are worried, and in Minneapolis, the revelation was met with backlash. 鈥淢y concern was that they would replace physical policing with technological policing, which appears to be something like Gaggle,鈥� said local activist Marika Pfefferkorn. The tool, she said, 鈥渉as the potential to further criminalize students.鈥� Read more from 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber.

Aldeman: How Much Learning Time Are Students Getting? In 7 Large School Districts, Less Than Normal 鈥� and in 3, They鈥檙e Getting More

Instruction: Back in August, contributor Chad Aldeman calculated that the remote learning schedule for his local public school district of Fairfax, Virginia, was offering less than half of a typical school year to his first-grade son. This trend is not unique to Fairfax: The majority of American students are experiencing either a partial school day or week, or fully virtual classes. While Aldeman doesn’t question the logic of district decisions in this regard, he wondered 鈥� collectively, how much learning time will these policies cost students? To find out, he compared the number of hours of live instruction planned this year for 5th-, 8th- and 11th-graders in 10 large districts with their state鈥檚 requirement for the amount of school time students should normally receive. Seven of the 10 鈥� Los Angeles; Clark County, Nevada; Wake County, North Carolina; New York City; Montgomery Country, Maryland; Fairfax; and Chicago 鈥� are planning to deliver far less instructional time to students than normal. But Houston; Gwinnett County, Georgia; and Miami-Dade, Florida, are on track to surpass the minimal state requirements for instructional hours. Read his full report.

Politics, Not Science, is Driving School Reopening Decisions to a 鈥楻eally Dangerous鈥� Degree, Research Suggests

Big Picture: The 2020 school year has exposed a national divide in America’s coronavirus response: Even as some districts have long since welcomed students back to physical classrooms, millions of their classmates are still receiving their education through a screen. Now, a growing number of academic and independent researchers are pointing to the influence of politics in determining which districts have reopened for in-person instruction. Across several analyses, experts have found little or no correlation between the severity of COVID-19 spread and districts’ plans for reopening; in contrast, reopening decisions are shown to be strongly associated with partisan considerations, including the strength of local teachers unions and support for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. According to Jon Valant, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center on Education Policy, while the question hasn’t been settled, the influx of new evidence is “strongly suggestive” that political calculations are weighing heavily on the minds of school authorities: “There’s a long list of issues associated with COVID that should not be politicized, but have been politicized, and it feels as though school reopenings are on that list.” Read Kevin Mahnken鈥檚 full report.

Sign on, Zoom in, Drop Out: Pandemic Sparks Fears That Without Sports and Other Activities, Students Will Disengage from School

Student Engagement: With millions of students attending virtual school this fall, many educators have focused closely on learning loss, the so-called COVID slide. But as the shutdowns have lingered, attention has turned to the loss of engagement that makes students interested in staying in school long enough to learn. That鈥檚 why postponing, minimizing or canceling school sports, along with activities like drama, band and debate, is ringing alarm bells for educators nationwide, who know that these activities serve a vital, unspoken purpose: They keep kids interested in school and reduce their risk of dropping out or falling behind. Johns Hopkins University education researcher Robert Balfanz, who has studied high school dropouts for decades, said literature on the topic is clear: Having a handful of adults and peers in a school who know and care about a student is key to graduating. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in drama, debate and the football team,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 doing something that you think is bigger than yourself.鈥� Read Greg Toppo鈥檚 full report.

Special Education: Even in normal times, families of children with disabilities must often fight to get the special education services they are entitled to. During distance learning, those services have disappeared at many schools, leaving desperate parents without solid plans to stanch learning losses. But a number of New Orleans schools offer a hopeful model. Prodded by Louisiana education officials not to wait to begin making up for missed therapies and interventions special education students depend on, over the summer many began providing what special educators call compensatory services. Advocates credit the state鈥檚 push for helping teachers and principals take stock of what has and hasn鈥檛 worked for children with disabilities, both in brick-and-mortar schools and in remote learning. 鈥淚t made schools really think through their re-entry,鈥� a community leader who reviewed schools鈥� reopening special education plans tells Beth Hawkins. 鈥淲e have to reimagine instruction, because when we didn鈥檛 do it before, we saw what happened.鈥� .

Educators Wanted Vulnerable Students To Return First for In-Person Learning, But a Racial Divide Spoiled Their Plans

COVID-19: White families are ready to get back to normal 鈥� and they are pressuring superintendents to let their children back into school buildings. Meanwhile, Black and Latino families, many of whom are in the high-needs categories that school districts prioritized in their reopening plans, are holding back. The realities of COVID-19 in their communities, with higher death rates and harder economic hits, are making them wary of trusting school officials to keep kids safe. 鈥淭he assumptions we made about who would choose to return,鈥� Northside ISD Superintendent Brian Woods said, 鈥渉ave not largely proven correct.鈥� Read Bekah McNeel鈥檚 full report.

Nation鈥檚 Report Card: Recent results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress have shown stagnation or decline in multiple age and subject groups, and last week’s release of 12th-grade scores is no different. The exam, often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, shows a two-point drop in average reading scores for high school seniors since 2015, echoing similar declines for fourth- and eighth-graders in 2019. Average math scores were not significantly changed from the last round of testing, but lower-performing students 鈥� those at the 10th and 25th percentiles 鈥� saw statistically significant reductions in both subjects. The slumping performance from lower-scoring kids carried over an ominous trend from previous NAEP releases, which Peggy Carr, an associate commissioner at the National Center on Education Statistics, called “a troubling indication that too many students are falling behind.鈥� .

7 Ways American Education Could Change Forever After COVID

Analysis: A Nation at Risk, President Ronald Reagan鈥檚 1983 blue-ribbon panel鈥檚 review of American public education, is frequently referenced as the benchmark and starting flag of the reform movement. But in a new essay today, contributor John M. McLaughlin argues that its 37-year reign as the reference point for educational progress is over. The pandemic, he writes, has now taken the pole position: 鈥淚t will be the new reference point for the evolution of public schooling, and changes as a result of COVID-19 will be more rapid and far-reaching than any measures of the past 37 years.鈥� From fiscal restructuring to reconfigured school days, millions of new homeschoolers and a renewed push for both individualized instruction and parental choice, McLaughlin says there is no going back to a pre-COVID world for public education 鈥� and that while the coming evolution will be messy and varied, the results will be a wider array of options for families and education structures that better reflect the society they serve. Read more about the seven ways education could change forever.

As many cities and school districts across the country have announced plans for remote learning to extend through the fall, and likely into 2021, we鈥檝e started taking a deeper look at the long-run consequences of kids being unable to return to the classroom. Several of our most popular articles this month attempt to better measure the impact: Hundreds of thousands of kindergarteners have yet to enroll in school, researchers estimate that many students may have already lost a year鈥檚 worth of learning in math, and education experts are noting a widespread surge in families opting out of the public school system entirely to homeschool their children.

Simultaneously, our coverage has framed possible solutions for improving distance learning. One new feature this month examined emerging research that showed even lightly-trained individual tutors can make a profound difference when it comes to reversing learning loss; another profiled a school network that鈥檚 launching a first-of-its-kind K-12 alumni initiative that will aid graduates in reconnecting with former classmates to aid them through this challenging time.

Here are our 11 most-shared articles from October; follow our ongoing coverage of the pandemic, school reopenings and concerns about student learning loss at The74Million.org/PANDEMIC. (You can also get alerts about our latest exclusives and analysis by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter)

鈥榃here Are the Rest of You?鈥� With as Many as 600,000 Students Skipping Kindergarten During the Pandemic, Districts Plead With Parents Not to Delay

Early Education: 鈥淲here are the rest of you?鈥� Superintendent Morcease Beasley of Georgia’s Clayton County Public Schools asked last month in a live address to the school community, expressing his dismay that at least 600 students expected in kindergarten this fall had not yen enrolled. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, enrollment in kindergarten is down by almost 10 times that much, even though the district has made multiple attempts to remind parents to register. And some experts predict that nationally, as many as 600,000 5-year-olds might not begin school as scheduled. Those children include Ethan Pena, who would have been starting transitional kindergarten in California this fall but will now spend another year in preschool. 鈥淓very day he was like, 鈥業 miss my friends. I miss circle time,鈥欌�� said his mother, Nereida Pena. Linda Jacobson has the story.

Using Tutors to Combat COVID Learning Loss: New Research Shows That Even Lightly Trained Volunteers Drive Academic Gains

Big Picture: Could tutoring hold the key to COVID learning recovery? With a return to full-time, in-person schooling still weeks away in some areas, families are searching for any solution to deal with their children’s COVID-related learning losses. Now, a working paper circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that tutoring programs 鈥� whether led by certified teachers, paraprofessionals, even parents 鈥� could play a significant role in getting students back on track. It’s a strategy that has already been embraced by parents blessed with the money and bandwidth to create small-scale learning pods, but experts suggest that supplementary instruction could be scaled up dramatically through the use of lightly trained volunteers and virtual learning platforms. Still, both the cost and the organizational challenges of expanding tutoring are great. 鈥淭he logistics of setting this up on the kind of scale we need to to address the problem is more complicated than we initially realized,” co-author Philip Oreopoulos of the University of Toronto told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken. Read the full article.

Students Could Have Lost as Much as 183 Days of Learning Time in Reading, 232 Days in Math During First Four Months of Largely Virtual Schooling

Learning Loss: A month into the school year, parents are beginning to question how far behind their children are because of closures last spring. New data from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University estimates that students could be as much as a year off track in reading and well more than a year behind in math. Without 2019-20 assessment data, experts said the results, while upsetting, fill an important gap. Recovery plans, the researchers stressed, will require new approaches across a variety of settings in which students are learning 鈥� at school, online, in community spaces and with their families. But others questioned the results, saying it might be a mistake to assume students haven鈥檛 learned anything since March. The findings, they add, also shouldn鈥檛 leave teachers and parents with the impression that they now have to double down on literacy and math. Linda Jacobson reports.

The Kids Are All Right at Home: Texas, North Carolina, Nebraska Seeing Signs of a Pandemic Homeschooling Boom

Homeschooling: Whether they’re looking to avoid remote learning or COVID-19 exposure, families around the country appear to be homeschooling in increasing numbers this year. In San Antonio, one organization saw its 鈥渘ew to homeschool鈥� information requests jump from about 20 per month to over 200 in August, and it’s not just happening in the Lone Star State, where the Texas Home School Coalition reported a 1,500 percent uptick in families using its online withdrawal form in the days after the state announced its school reopening plans. Nebraska reports a 56 percent increase in families officially registering to homeschool, and North Carolina鈥檚 numbers have tripled over last year’s. Local support groups are hiring staff and increasing offerings to welcome families into their new reality, and their leaders predict that while some will go back to regular school once the pandemic passes, many will opt to continue. Bekah McNeel reports.

Youth Suicide: The Other Public Health Crisis

Student Health: Brad Hunstable believes his son died of the coronavirus 鈥� just not in the way one might expect. As COVID-19 shuttered schools nationwide and put students鈥� social lives on pause, Hayden committed suicide just days before his 13th birthday. His father blames that pandemic-induced social isolation 鈥� and a fit of rage 鈥� for his son鈥檚 death. Though the national youth suicide rate has been on the rise for years, students say the unprecedented disruption of the last few months has taken a toll on their emotional well-being. Researchers worry that a surge in depression and anxiety could drive a spike in youth suicide. Sandy Hook Promise, which runs an anonymous reporting tool, has seen a 12 percent increase in suicide-related reports since March. The issue has become a political football ahead of the election next month, with President Donald Trump 鈥� who tested positive for the virus late last week 鈥� and others citing rising rates of depression and suicide as reasons to relax COVID-19-related restrictions on in-person classes. Read more by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber.

KIPP Launches First-Of-Its-Kind Alumni Network to Help Its 30K Graduates With Careers, Mental Health and Finances

College Persistence: The KIPP charter school network began in Houston in 1994 and has since grown to 255 schools serving more than 100,000 students across the country. During that time, some 30,000 students have graduated from the K-12 schools, which were created to ensure that low-income children of color got into college. As KIPP evolved over the years, its focus has shifted beyond college acceptance to graduation, and now, with today鈥檚 announcement of the National KIPP Alumni Network, to life after college. The KIPP network will offer alum-to-alum support, as well as access to three external partners providing career guidance; job placement and coaching for historically underrepresented talent; and mental health services. Those services will be designed to assist alumni suffering from the impacts of COVID-19 and the fatal police shootings of Black men and women. 74 contributor and author Richard Whitmire reports that the network will give KIPP鈥檚 first-generation college grads the kind of boost that their more well-off peers derive from well-established family and friend connections. KIPP expects its alumni ranks to swell to 80,000 by 2025. Read the full feature.

Shut Out of Schools Due to Pandemic, Many Education Researchers Say Their Work Is 鈥業n Shambles

Education Research: While it may seem wonkish and esoteric to outsiders, the multi-million-dollar world of scholastic research would typically be humming in a school near you by now, quietly attempting to resolve many of the most vexing riddles in education: How do we close the achievement gap between white students and students of color? How do we isolate what makes teachers effective? How do we turn around chronically low-performing schools? But the pandemic has changed all that. As 74 contributor Greg Toppo reports, researchers find themselves closed out of the classrooms, and data, they need to do their jobs. Ongoing long-term studies 鈥渁re now kind of in shambles,鈥� said Douglas Harris of Tulane University. But the crisis also offers researchers the opportunity to follow topics, such as online teaching and homeschooling, that got short shrift before the pandemic. 鈥淎nybody who’s frustrated that their data collection protocol on one more study on [professional development] that none of us will trust is being disrupted, I think it shows just a profound failure of imagination,鈥� said Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute. Read the full article.

Race, Trump & History: Weeks Before Election, President Leaps Into Culture War Skirmish Over Teaching 1619 Project

EDlection 2020: When it was published last year, The New York Times’s 1619 Project won almost immediate adulation. The blockbuster package 鈥� combining historical analysis, photography, fiction and poetry to examine the legacy of slavery and racial prejudice in the present-day United States 鈥� spawned a podcast and a history curriculum used in thousands of American classrooms, and won a Pulitzer Prize for Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. But some historians say it overreached in its assessments and inaccurately depicted key events like the American Revolution, and the president soon joined in, folding the 1619 Project into a wider culture-war strategy to win reelection. Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told 蜜桃影视’s Kevin Mahnken that while the controversy mirrors earlier disputes over American history in the classroom, our current tumultuous racial politics set this one apart: “There is something different about this moment.” Read the full feature.

The First Day of School Came and Went for NYC Special Needs Students Stranded Without a Nurse or Other Adult Required to Ride the Bus With Them

New York City: Benjam铆n Miranda should have been among the first New York City public school students to return to in-person learning, but he couldn’t board the bus to get there. Eleven-year-old Benjam铆n, who was supposed to start sixth grade, is a student in District 75, a network of 57 specialized schools serving some 25,000 NYC students with significant disabilities. Their reopening was prioritized by Mayor Bill de Blasio in recognition that special education students were among those most harmed when schools were shuttered by the pandemic, and that they remain among the most in need of in-person learning. But Benjam铆n鈥檚 disabilities require that a paraprofessional ride the bus with him, and last Monday there was none to accompany him. That sent his mother, a single mom from Mexico who works two jobs, on a familiar quest to scale the obstacles standing between her son and his education. 蜜桃影视’s Zo毛 Kirsch spoke with her and with city advocates, who say other special ed students are also being left stranded without a 鈥渂us para鈥� or 鈥渂us nurse鈥� because of delayed planning and communication. 鈥淏uses are a priority for District 75,” said one parent. “For most families 鈥� families in poor neighborhoods, parents working three jobs 鈥� busing is access. For a lot of parents, if the para or nurse doesn’t show up, the child will be stuck at home.” Read the full article.

Special Education: Long before the pandemic closed schools, students with disabilities were subjected to harsh discipline far more frequently than their peers without special needs. But now, as districts return to in-person learning with a long list of public health rules like face mask mandates, disability-rights advocates fear the situation could become worse. In a new white paper, the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools urges educators to commit to more progressive discipline approaches and eschew punitive measures, like suspensions, expulsions and seclusion. Schools should also be transparent with parents about new rules and expectations and recognize that many children are suffering from trauma because of the pandemic. 鈥淕iven the disproportionate discipline of students with disabilities pre-pandemic, raising the bar on student expectations feels like a recipe for disaster,鈥� the paper argues. But there are creative workarounds 鈥� like using masks with fun designs and slowly getting special needs children accustomed to wearing them 鈥� that can keep schools safe while defusing disciplinary showdowns. .

Beyond the Scantron: Inside Our New Series on Why We Test Students, How Testing Can Lead to More Equitable Schools Amid the Pandemic & the Push to Build Better Assessments

Accountability & Equity: The role of testing dominates many education policy conversations, from classroom practice to state accountability systems to college admissions. It’s easy to get lost just thinking about the types of tests and the science behind their design. What makes an assessment high quality? What tests should be used for what purpose? Why do they matter 鈥� and to whom? And how has COVID-19 complicated it all? In a new three-week series, in partnership with the George W. Bush Institute, expert parents, educators, researchers and policymakers discuss how assessments are built, how they are used, how they can be improved and the critical role they play for students during the pandemic and beyond. Scan and share the full series at The74Million.org/BeyondTheScantron.

What does school safety look like amid a public health emergency? How can we maintain a push toward equitable education when classrooms are being replaced by pods 鈥� and when remote learning looks very different on alternating ends of the socioeconomic spectrum? As long as the school system remains partially shuttered, what does this mean for student growth, college attainment and the American workforce?

As the hopes of summer have faded into the stark reality of a second school year disrupted, readers have clearly started focusing on the fallout and the consequences to come. Here are our 13 most-shared articles from September; follow our ongoing coverage of the pandemic, school reopenings and concerns about student learning loss at The74Million.org/PANDEMIC. (You can also get alerts about our latest exclusives and analysis by signing up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter.)

Parents File Lawsuits to Halt School Face Mask Mandates as Districts Impose Health Rules to Slow Pandemic

School Safety: Florida mom Grace Warniment vowed to never put a face mask on her elementary-school-age sons, arguing that the cloth coverings 鈥� which have been recommended by public health officials 鈥� could put her kids at risk. So when her school district in Hillsborough County reopened with a rule that children must wear masks for in-person learning, she teamed up with parents she met in a Moms Against Mask Mandates Facebook group and sued. Similar lawsuits have cropped up around the country, from Tennessee to Connecticut, as schools reopen with a slew of new public health rules while the pandemic drags on and some citizens push back against what they see as government overreach. The issue is part ideological; some of the plaintiffs also oppose vaccines. But the lawsuits highlight the logistical challenges of requiring students to wear masks over the course of a school day, especially with young children and those with special needs. Read the full article.

• Related: Enforcing mask mandates in schools becomes sticking point as students return to campus while pandemic rages ()

When the Point of the Pod Is Equity: How Small Grants Are Empowering Parents of Underserved Students to Form Pandemic Microschools

Homeschooling: A six-child school with a focus on Black girl magic. Bilingual materials for a living-room preschool in an English-only state. Lessons rich with art and self-expression for six foster kids. A curriculum built for kids affected by incarceration. The first round of microschool grants announced by the National Parents Union are nothing like the pandemic pods described in one news story after another this summer: wealthy parents banding together to hire a teacher or take turns overseeing distance learning. The young organization鈥檚 inaugural grants were intended to support families often failed by traditional schools, so perhaps it shouldn鈥檛 be surprising that many of the winning proposals center on celebrating underserved students鈥� heritage or meeting specific, frequently overlooked needs. Beth Hawkins talks to several grantees about their kids and their plans. Read the full feature.

New Data Suggest Pandemic May Not Just Be Leaving Low-Income Students Behind; It May Be Propelling Wealthier Ones Even Further Ahead

Equity: The pandemic may be exacerbating achievement gaps not only by leaving some students behind but also by propelling more privileged children even further ahead academically, new data from the spring suggest. The numbers, collected and crunched by economists at Harvard University鈥檚 Opportunity Insights research group, are from Zearn Math, a free online program for kindergarten through fifth-grade students. But they’re the best measure researchers have for overall engagement with online learning. The program was being used by more than 2.5 million students in more than half the country鈥檚 school districts before the COVID-19 shutdown. Researchers used a representative national sample of about 800,000 students from district public, charter and parochial schools to track what happened after that. Read the full article.

New Report Estimates School Closures鈥� Long-Term Impact on the U.S. Economy at More Than $14 Trillion

Workforce: A new paper from economists Eric Hanushek of Stanford University and Ludger Woessmann of the University of Munich presents a sobering prediction of how school closures could impact the U.S. economy for the next 80 years. The paper estimates that the shutdowns could ultimately lead to losses ranging from $14.2 trillion for a third of the school year to almost $28 trillion for two-thirds. That鈥檚 because 鈥渓earning loss will lead to skill loss, and the skills people have relate to their productivity,鈥� writes international education expert Andreas Schleicher, of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The U.S., Schleicher said, was actually better positioned than many other nations to make the transition to remote learning. But looking ahead, he said the country could do a better job of directing education spending toward quality instruction and the students who need resources the most. Read the full report.

Education Policy 鈥楪host鈥� Carmel Martin Is Biden鈥檚 Most Important Staffer You鈥檝e Never Heard Of

EDlection 2020: Carmel Martin’s employment history reads like the r茅sum茅 of a top White House adviser. And come January, that might be exactly what she is. A former staffer for Sen. Ted Kennedy, assistant education secretary under President Barack Obama and vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress, she is now a senior adviser to the Biden campaign. Education observers on the left and right agree that she is likely to fill a top position if Joe Biden wins in November. But in the years since Martin served in the last Democratic administration, many in the party have distanced themselves from the education reform ethos typified by initiatives like No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top and Common Core 鈥� all of which Martin played a role in shaping, implementing or defending. Many former colleagues believe Martin’s under-the-radar pragmatism could help bridge intraparty divides on policy. According to CAP president and progressive policy maven Neera Tanden, “Carmel is very much evidence-based. She’s not like, ‘I worked on something 20 years ago, so that’s got to be the law today.’ I feel like she knows these issues really well, and that’s really guided her.” Read the full profile.

Charters Close Achievement Gap With District Schools, Study Finds, With Black and Low-Income Students Making the Greatest Gains

Big Picture: Comparisons between district and charter schools are often just a snapshot of student achievement at a particular moment in time. That鈥檚 one reason many studies have concluded that the differences between student performance in the two sectors aren鈥檛 that meaningful, say the authors of a study released yesterday. But Harvard University researchers M. Danish Shakeel and Paul E. Peterson take a longer view, using reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress to examine how the performance of fourth- and eighth-graders in district and charter schools have lined up over time. Their findings are significant: Between 2005 and 2017, reporter Linda Jacobson writes, students in charter schools came from behind and closed the gap, making gains that were roughly twice as large as those made by students in district schools. Black students in charter schools made the greatest gains, especially in math. But experts note that the sample of charter school students in NAEP is not necessarily representative of charter schools as a whole. In addition, the positive trend likely reflects results in urban areas where charter schools are more concentrated. The study adds to evidence that market forces have weeded out lower-performing charter schools and that parents of higher-performing students now see charter schools as a viable option. Read the full report.

U.S. Department of Education Announces Flexibility in Afterschool Funding to Accommodate Learning Hubs and Centers During Virtual School Days

Funding: In a virtual school day, what counts as before, or after, school? Can an afterschool provider work during the same hours that a student is logged in for remote instruction? Those are among the questions district and community organizations are asking as they brainstorm how to supervise and support learning for students who can鈥檛 stay home with parents during distance learning. The lines between before, during and after school have 鈥渂lurred so much. The funding has to keep pace,鈥� one state leader tells reporter Linda Jacobson. The federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers program has traditionally paid for staff, space and other afterschool expenses. But advocacy organizations and members of Congress are saying new funding and flexibility are needed so program providers can create learning hubs and other arrangements 鈥� not just so parents can work but also to fill the gaps created by school closures. 鈥淓nrichment can support the academic learning loss,鈥� says Afterschool Alliance鈥檚 Jodi Grant. Read the full story.

Individualize Instruction, Remove Barriers, Track Student Progress: Some Tips for Making Distance-Learning Special Ed Work

Special Education: An accessibility scientist with the nonprofit assessment group NWEA, Elizabeth Barker studies how to remove barriers that keep students with unique and sometimes profound challenges from engaging fully with everything from tests to academic content. Over the past few weeks, she鈥檚 fielded the same question over and over from teachers hoping to be more effective in the new school year: What does a good online special ed lesson look like? There鈥檚 no good answer 鈥� because students with disabilities need personalized support. There are, however, four ingredients that boost the odds that a special ed strategy will be effective, she says, and educators should keep them in mind as they seek creative solutions for students with learning differences in remote classrooms. Barker shares some advice on reopening with Beth Hawkins.

Data Exclusive: Scores of New York City Schools Still Unclear Who Will Evaluate Students With COVID Symptoms a Week Before Reopening

Reopening: When New York City school officials finally sent medical help to Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School after a staffer fell ill Sept. 10 and was ordered home to get tested for COVID-19, longtime English teacher Jan Scott was dismayed to learn that the dispatched school nurse wouldn’t be staying long. That same day, the nurse left. The following Monday, a different one arrived 鈥� again, just for the day. “We still do not have a permanent nurse,” said Scott, who noted the mayor鈥檚 promise that every school building would have a nurse by the first day of school. “How can they expect us to open the school on Monday, not knowing whether a nurse will appear?” Teachers and administrators citywide are clamoring for answers to important questions less than a week before city schools are set to reopen for some in-person learning. One of those questions, Zo毛 Kirsch reports, surrounds the people who will be on the front lines, should someone fall ill. While a spokesman from the Department of Education declined to provide the latest on how many nurse vacancies remain, an exclusive analysis by 蜜桃影视 of school reopening plans made public on the DOE鈥檚 website reveals that, as of Sept. 12, 109 schools reported they were still determining who will evaluate sick students with potential COVID-19 symptoms. Read the full report.

Analysis: Research Shows Students Lose Learning Even During Brief School Closures for Snow Days. Those Case Studies Show the Harm From COVID Will Be Multiplied Many Times Over

Learning Loss: During particularly harsh winters when schools are closed, states require students to make up any days they miss. So why, asks contributor Chad Aldeman, shouldn’t students have to make up the learning time they lose due to COVID-19 disruptions? Research shows that after missing out on just a few days of school, students start to suffer noticeable effects on their learning. The statistically and substantively large impacts from even relatively small amounts of lost time from snow days could be multiplied many times over with COVID-19 school disruptions. “The potential learning losses are staggering,” he writes, “but if state and district leaders heed some of the lessons from past educational disruptions, it鈥檚 possible they could mitigate some of the damage.” Find out how, and read about three ways that districts can start thinking about school days and instructional minutes differently.

Most Schools Have Long Had Pandemic Plans. But a Watchdog Warned Years Ago That Half of All Districts Had No Real Strategy for How to Operate If Classrooms Remained Closed

School Safety: When the swine flu killed thousands of Americans and shuttered hundreds of K-12 schools a decade ago, it should have been a 鈥渨ake-up call鈥� that widespread school closures could sweep the nation, says disaster expert Thomas Chandler. But most leaders missed the alarm. Although schools have had emergency response plans to meet a host of tragedies, from hurricanes to school shootings 鈥� including viral outbreaks 鈥� experts said many didn鈥檛 take pandemics seriously, and those that did failed to adequately envision our current reality: months of campus closures and widespread virtual instruction. Now, as a new school year is about to begin with many campuses still shuttered, the months-long crisis has generated renewed scrutiny of schools鈥� emergency preparedness and prompted calls for major changes in the post-pandemic future. A 2016 Government Accountability Office report found that just 70 percent of districts maintained protocols on infectious disease outbreaks and only half considered how to keep operations afloat after schools shuttered. Years later, figuring out how to offer remote learning over the long haul has 鈥渞eally turned out to be where the rubber hits the road,鈥� says the GAO鈥檚 Jackie Nowicki. Read more by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Mark Keierleber.

鈥�1619 Project鈥� Writer Nikole Hannah-Jones on Reframing the Narrative Around America鈥檚 Racialized History and Education News Coverage in a Pandemic

Curriculum: The fact that a year after its publication, a Who鈥檚 Who of GOP leadership has attacked the New York Times鈥檚 landmark look at 400 years of racialized American history is a testament to journalism鈥檚 power to change narratives, Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones told an audience of education journalists. 鈥淚 think if anything, that really speaks to the power that 鈥楾he 1619 Project鈥� has had and the power of journalism to not just report on what’s happening, but to actually move the narratives that we’ve all long accepted,鈥� said Hannah-Jones, winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for commentary for the project鈥檚 centerpiece essay. The idea that the project is being taught in schools throughout the country, she said, is 鈥渄eeply gratifying.鈥� Beth Hawkins attended Hannah-Jones鈥檚 remote talk at this year鈥檚 Education Writers Association National Seminar and has takeaways, including Hannah-Jones鈥檚 desire for reporters to do more to document how the pandemic is widening persistent racial inequities in U.S. schools. Read her full report.

A Principal鈥檚 View: Social-Emotional Learning Is More Important Than Ever. Here鈥檚 How We Do It Virtually at My Denver School

Social-Emotional Learning: As contributor Sara Carlson Striegel and her team at Rocky Mountain Prep prepared to launch the new virtual school year, they were working to ensure that students had access to high-quality academic resources and teacher guidance. But just as important was for students and teachers to come together in support of their mental health. Last fall, the school launched a social-emotional learning program, Compass Circles, which provides a framework for teachers to host regular meetings with small groups of students. When in person, participants sit in a circle and go through structured rituals in which they discuss how they are doing emotionally and support their peers and colleagues in doing the same. When schools began shutting down last spring, they moved their Circle practice online using videoconferencing platforms. Once a week, third- through fifth-graders join a Zoom room with other members of their Circle and go through the same sequence they would have in person. From deep-breathing exercises and emotional check-ins to “badge work” and a closing cheer, Principal Striegel describes how this SEL practice works online and the benefits it provides in keeping the school community healthy and connected. Read Principal Striegel鈥檚 essay.