During the current COVID-19 global health crisis and shift to distance learning, students are being asked to do more independent work—reading, writing, and problem solving—outside of their time in class. School and district leaders in the West have expressed a need for teachers to have access to user-friendly, research-based guidance on effective ways to design Read more about REL West Resources on Independent Learning[…]
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the education field in multiple ways. Policymakers, superintendents, school leaders, and teachers have had to adopt new models, processes, policies, protocols, and strategies in order to conduct the business of teaching and learning over the last year. As the nation (eventually) emerges from this pandemic, which changes are likely to Read more about Issue Brief: Pandemic Trends that may Stick Around[…]
For many state education leaders looking to recoup learning losses caused by interruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, a competency-based approach is attractive. It provides the flexibility and autonomy for students to earn credits and satisfy diploma requirements by demonstrating mastery of competencies, rather than fulfilling seat time requirements. However, a competency-based approach requires fundamental changes Read more about Policy Solutions that Foster Competency-Based Learning[…]
Below are three proposals for scaling tutoring nationwide to combat the learning loss experience during COVID-19: 1. A new EdWorking Paper by Matthew Kraft and Grace Falken, “A Blueprint for Scaling Tutoring Across Public Schools” explores how tutoring could be scaled nationally to address COVID-19 learning loss and become a permanent feature of the U.S. Read more about Scaling Tutoring Nationwide – 3 Proposals[…]
School districts in the United States have approached reopening public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic in notably different ways. The authors of a new report, titled “Remote Learning Is Here to Stay: Results from the First American School District Panel Survey” by RAND developed a national picture of school districts’ needs and approaches to school Read more about Remote Learning is Here to Stay[…]
McREL researchers Samantha Holquist and Marisa Crowder collaborated with members of student voice organizations in Oregon and Kentucky to provide us with a deeper level of understanding about what may be shaping students’ engagement in the school community. Their research report is comprehensive, offering many insights from the students’ perspective and proposing a framework for Read more about The “Silent Epidemic” Finds Its Voice: Demystifying How Students View Engagement in Their Learning[…]
Edutopia reviewed hundreds of educational studies in 2020 and has highlighted 10 that they believe are the most significant—covering topics from virtual learning to the reading wars and the decline of standardized tests. Selected studies include the following: To teach vocabulary, let kids be thespians. Neuroscientists defend the value of teaching handwriting – again. The Read more about The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2020[…]
Attendance looks dramatically different in the COVID-19 era of remote and online learning, and states are grappling with setting policies that account for what attendance should mean and what it should look like. The Aurora Institute has responded to multiple requests for technical assistance on this subject with a new issue brief, Determining Attendance and Read more about Determining Attendance and Alternatives to Seat-Time[…]
Chelsea Waite, writing for the Christensen Institute, recently explored reasons why 2020 may — or may not — result in lasting change in the education sector. Excerpts from the piece appear below: In moments that require radical adaptation, it’s tempting to see crisis as an inevitable harbinger of change. So far, 2020 has seemed like Read more about Does 2020 present a crucible moment for K–12 education? The answer may surprise you[…]
Writing for Brookings, Rebecca Winthrop explores the power of parent engagement in the transformation of schools. Excerpts from the piece appear below: School closures and remote learning have propelled children’s ability to learn independently to the forefront of every busy and stressed out parent’s wish list. This ability, often described by education experts as “student Read more about New forms of parent engagement as an education game changer post-COVID-19[…]
During the coronavirus pandemic, NCEE has been exploring how high-performing education systems have adapted to distance learning and how they are thinking long-term about future education redesign. As part of that effort, NCEE’s President and CEO Anthony Mackay recently moderated the 2020 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP). Convened by Education International, the Organisation Read more about Supporting The Teaching Profession During Times Of Crisis[…]
As the pandemic continues, the task of supporting students becomes ever more difficult. Education leaders face an unprecedented challenge as students attend school in various forms this fall. Based on a developing list of questions from policymakers and practitioners, the EdResearch for Recovery Project taps top researchers from across the country to develop evidence briefs Read more about Research And Evidence To Help Guide Educators During The Pandemic[…]
The Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed), in conjunction with the Future Ready Schools® (FRS) advisory team of nationally recognized school- and district-level practitioners, has developed Planning for High-Quality Remote Learning, a new resource to share ideas, best practices, and practical considerations for addressing the unique challenges of virtual learning. This guide helps school and district Read more about Planning for High-Quality Remote Learning – a Future Ready School Guide[…]
Writing for the Center on Reinventing Public Education, Bree Dusseault, Georgia Heyward, and Travis Pillow provide an analysis of the professional learning opportunities that districts can utilize to support remote learning. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Districts have an urgent need to find new ways to help teachers learn on the job and hone Read more about More districts should seize the opportunity to improve professional learning for teachers[…]
The idea of student-centered learning is not new; teachers have long sought to design personalized, competency-based environments that are tailored to individuals and that empower students to drive their own learning. What is new is the emergence of an online learning ecosystem and, with it, the technical possibility of equipping all students with a student-centered Read more about Educator competencies for student-centered teaching[…]
What may be possible for education on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic? It is hard to imagine there will be another moment in history when the central role of education in the economic, social, and political prosperity and stability of nations is so obvious and well understood by the general population. Now is Read more about Beyond reopening schools: How education can emerge stronger than before COVID-19[…]