WGN: COVID tool tracks cases at school and campuses across Illinois. “There is a new tool to track COVID in real time for schools and campuses across the state. The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) is behind the website. The interactive website will help track coronavirus-related health and safety concerns. The information will be utilized […]
EurekAlert: Students returning home may have caused 9,400 secondary COVID-19 infections across UK. “As the study does not consider transmission to the students’ wider home communities or include the journey home – which may give rise to a larger number of cases, particularly if public transport is taken – the numbers are a lower bound […]
New York Times: Children Love Snow Days. The Pandemic May End Them Forever.. “‘Snow day.’ These two words have charmed New York children for generations, conjuring thoughts of sledding down Central Park’s Pilgrim Hill or building snowmen at Forest Park in Queens; of strapping on ice skates and heating up hot chocolate. But as school […]
San Francisco Chronicle: The risk of getting coronavirus at Bay Area schools is low. So why is fear of returning still so high?. “Teacher Liz Duffield was terrified to return to her classroom in September, scared she could spread COVID-19 to her students or get it from them. Three months later, the Novato teacher is […]
WUSA: ‘Data is useless unless you find a way to communicate’ | New website for COVID-19 data in DC schools. “As DC Public Schools plan to open their doors to in-person learning in 2021, there is a new tool parents are sharing about COVID-19 data, but it doesn’t exactly come from an official source.”
ProPublica: The Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped This School District From Suing Parents Over Unpaid Textbook Fees. “When the pandemic started, several school districts in Indiana halted a long-standing practice: suing families for unpaid textbook fees. But one school district has filed nearly 300 lawsuits against parents, and others also have returned to court.”
Washington Post: ‘A lost generation’: Surge of research reveals students sliding backward, most vulnerable worst affected. “After the U.S. education system fractured into Zoom screens last spring, experts feared millions of children would fall behind. Hard evidence now shows they were right. A flood of new data — on the national, state and district levels […]
Washington Post: Failing grades double and triple — some rising sixfold — amid pandemic learning. “Failure rates in math and English jumped as much as sixfold for some of the most vulnerable students in Maryland’s largest school system, according to data released as the pandemic’s toll becomes increasingly visible in schools across the country. In […]
CNN: Even beloved public schools may lose students forever. “The Newhart family moved to their Chicago suburb for the public schools. But when William Hatch Elementary closed its doors at the beginning of the pandemic, it contributed to a downward spiral for the family.”
Hong Kong Free Press: Activist sets up online archive to highlight ‘political’ editing of Hong Kong school textbooks. “A pro-democracy activist and his newly-founded group Education Breakthrough have set up an online archive dedicated to highlighting what they describe as politically motivated changes to Hong Kong school textbooks aimed at showing China in a better […]
Washington Post: When will children get a coronavirus vaccine? Not in time for the new school year, experts fear.. “As the United States eagerly awaits the availability of a safe, effective vaccine for the coronavirus that has plagued the nation for months, a significant group, making up more than one-fifth of the population, will need […]
District Administration: COVID dashboards: Best practices advice from a national COVID database creator. “Many school districts are updating their communities on COVID case information via an easy-to-read dashboard. Here’s what these communication tools should include—and what superintendents surveyed by DA report about their dashboard development and features.”
Chalkbeat: DeVos says schools are sitting on billions in COVID relief. Here’s why that’s misleading.. “Last month Education Secretary Betsy DeVos claimed that schools have left billions unspent while many school buildings remained closed. Schools, ‘while complaining about a lack of resources, have left significant sums of money sitting in the bank,’ she said in […]
Texas Tribune: A North Texas superintendent is openly defying the state mask mandate in schools. No one is stopping him.. “At Peaster Independent School District, 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth, Superintendent Lance Johnson has said masks are optional in his school district buildings and classrooms. They’re not.”
New York Times: Ransomware Attack Closes Baltimore County Public Schools. “Kathleen S. Causey, chair of the Baltimore County Board of Education, said the situation was ‘very disturbing.’ Students, she added, were ‘relying on us to provide education and other opportunities.’ Officials declined to provide details of the attack, including what demands had been made.”