Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 schools and higher education rapidly deployed distance education approaches. Persisting inequities were illuminated by overwhelmingly digital responses and became vivid sources for observation and analysis by pre-service teachers (PSTs). This brief article details a process and resources for facilitating…

The outbreak of COVID-19 at the end of 2019 lifted 2020 of the world in turmoil. Now, the world is absolutely in a unique environment. In all corners, today, the scientific world accompanies huge consequences from the novel coronavirus. The economic, social, educational, and political aspects of the world get into the abnormal conditions. This…

Many lives have been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic and school-aged students are no exception. The closures of schools and disruption to learning will have an impact as they go forward in their lives. In this article, I set out the various school year groups in England who have seen both their learning disrupted and other…

The COVID-19 pandemic put unprecedented pressure on Pennsylvania schools to find new ways of educating students amid a worldwide health crisis. Terms like remote learning and hybrid learning became part of everyday language as local education agencies (LEAs) across the Commonwealth implemented different approaches to safely deliver instruction and…

This paper develops informed assumptions on the potential loss of trust as an unintended side-effect of the measures in education to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Well-founded concerns according to which the pandemic-induced closure of educational facilities and the shift to digitalized distance education are contributing to…

The massive, systemwide move to remote learning over the past few months created huge frustrations for educators. Those sentiments showed up in the results from surveys conducted by the EdWeek Research Center and in Education Week's reporting. Teacher morale dropped, student engagement was down, and budget cutting plans were already starting. But,…

With the health and safety of students, families, and staff as the top priority, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) announced in July of 2020 that all students would begin the 2020-2021 school year virtually on September 8, 2020, and that virtual instruction for all students would continue for six weeks through Friday, October 16,…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) closed its campuses and district offices on March 12, 2020. On March 30, 2020, HISD moved to remote learning, which included distance learning, independent study, live online meetings, and completing assignments online or paper-based packets mailed to the home.…

Practically overnight, the spread of COVID-19 caused a sudden shutdown of classroom-based instruction--the centuries-old emblem of formal education. Fortunately, the capabilities of the technological era--in which broadband connectivity, mobile communication, and video conferencing are increasingly common--meant that for the first time in world…

This "Equity by Design" brief highlights equity issues that arise in the process of reopening schools during a global pandemic. The authors examine state plans and guidance for reopening schools across states in the Midwest & Plains Equity Assistance Center (MAP EAC) region which includes the 13 states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa,…

Concerns about the new coronavirus, with the consequent school closures and with significant economic fallout, are having profound effects on the public education landscape, from how educators deliver instruction to the amount of revenue available for operating schools. Produced by WestEd as part of a collection of Crisis Response Resources, this…

Nothing in these past three months was in the training manual. Not in formal education, probably not in lived experience, and certainly not faced by the system as a whole. This document contains the initial fall reopening guidance by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). This guidance is grounded first and foremost…

Government officials are taking swift public health actions to slow the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of March, statewide school closures affected 55.1 million K-12 public school students across the country. While school closures affect all students, students from underserved communities feel this impact even greater. Data on…

By 16 March 2020, most education systems in the EU neighbourhood and Central Asia had closed their schools. In a matter of days, some distance learning was offered in most systems and in the ensuing weeks, most countries steadily broadened the offer and the extent of participation. This short report aims to describe what happened in the countries…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Equity Auditing." Contents include: (1) Using Equity Audits to Assess and…