With school campuses shuttered due to COVID-19, the rate and level of quality of student instruction varies across the nation, states, regions and even neighborhood to neighborhood. It's now almost certain that the 2019-20 school year -- as it was meant to be executed -- is now over. Given this fact, the questions on many state leaders' minds are…

This brief, produced by WestEd as part of a collection of Crisis Response Resources, provides guidance and resources to help educators support students with disabilities -- ranging from mild to low-incidence -- through distance learning prompted by the COVID-19 crisis. Many of the structures and supports for students with disabilities that were in…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a breathtaking amount of change to the nation's schools in a matter of weeks. On March 11, Seattle Public Schools was the first major district to close schools. The next day, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the first statewide school closure order effective March 17, beginning a cascade of similar orders. By…

With the increase in the number of online courses being offered, it is important for faculty to be prepared to teach online. In this study, we examine US and German faculty perceptions on their preparedness to teach online based on the perception of importance of teaching online competencies and their efficacy to teach online. We also examine…

The intent of this case study is to understand profoundly gifted students' perceptions of virtual programs. The participants for this study were five profoundly gifted students who were enrolled in a fully virtual writing course hosted by a school that serves the profoundly gifted population. The researcher gathered data via asynchronous focus…

Most online courses rely solely on asynchronous text-based online communication. This type of communication can foster anytime, anywhere reflection, critical thinking, and deep learning. However, it can also frustrate participants because of the lack of spontaneity and visual cues and the time it takes for conversations to develop and feedback to…

Two mechanisms for engaging in critical reflective dialogue are discussed and compared: face-to-face meetings and asynchronous online discussion. The context is an umbrella action research project, with over 20 participants, which aimed to improve practices in online teaching and contribute to the development of graduate attributes. The article…

Student engagement increases student satisfaction, enhances student motivation to learn, reduces the sense of isolation, and improves student performance in online courses. This survey-based research study examines student perception on various engagement strategies used in online courses based on Moore's interaction framework. One hundred and…

There is a growing demand for online course options, including classes offered and required in foreign languages. However, offering courses in multiple formats presents the challenges of developing high quality online courses and assessing the overall program effectiveness as students may elect to take the sequenced language acquisition courses in…

Since spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted development of the next generation of cancer researchers and physicians, forcing pathway programs across the nation to cancel, postpone or reinvent education and training activities. Accordingly, the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center's Chicago EYES (Educators and Youth…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions were shut down all over the world, which impacted over 60% of students and caused a massive disruption of the education system. The goal of this paper was to identify the critical success factors for E-learning during COVID-19 using the multi-criteria Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our institution, like others in higher education, suspended face- to-face classes and offered remote learning as an alternative. We report five cases of undergraduate and graduate courses that transitioned from a face-to-face to a remote mode. Each case will provide a detailed description of how the course was…

While a fair amount is known about effective instructional practices for students who are English learners, less is known about how these practices might look different in a distance learning context compared to the classroom. This brief, produced by WestEd as part of a collection of Crisis Response Resources, is designed to help educators make…

Since mid-March, millions of schoolchildren have been stuck at home due to school closures brought on by the rapid spread of COVID-19. School districts' initial responses were captured by the first wave of the American Enterprise Institute's (AEI) COVID-19 Education Response Longitudinal Survey (C-ERLS), a nationally representative survey of…

When school buildings first closed in mid-March, few education leaders knew how long such closures would last. Now, that picture is becoming increasingly clear. Nearly all state governments have issued orders or recommendations requiring school buildings to remain closed for the duration of the 2019-20 academic year due to the threat of COVID-19.…