Monday, May 25, 2020

What I'm reading about what comes next

I feel as though I behind in posting on here about what I'm reading; I'm doing better on keeping Twitter and Facebook updated on that. Here are the latest round of links I've been reading on what comes next for schools during the pandemic:
  • First, a blog post from Oakland teacher Harley Litzelman has rightfully gone viral for walking through what a school day looks like in an urban high school, and what the pandemic means for it. His conclusion is his title: "We Cannot Return to Campus This Fall"
    I’ve often heard teachers respond to suggestions on how to reopen with a common phrase: Have you ever met children? I hope this article leads you to ask the same question in response to politicians’ claims that schools could safely reopen this fall if they implement physical distancing and adequate sanitation. As a high school history teacher, let me show you what it would look like for a school to reopen in the middle (yes, in the middle) of a global pandemic.
    In particular, let me note that I know of many teachers pleading with those in authority to read it.

  • Next, I've backed off linking to EdWeek because their paywalls are rough, but the headline does a lot of the work on this one: "Too Expensive to Reopen Schools? Some Superintendents Say It Is." Note also this piece from Brookings calling for "unprecedented federal aid" for schools.
  • This coming week's edition of The New Yorker has a piece "The Complex Equation of Reopening Schools" which also looks at the challenges of reopening, and adds the equation of the inequities of the system:
    There is a risk that the reopening process will only amplify those divisions, with wealthier districts (and private schools) raising money for infrared thermometers and contract tracers, and poorer ones left to scrounge for bandannas and disinfectant wipes. Before the pandemic, public school teachers spent hundreds of dollars a year of their own money on classroom supplies; they can't just be handed a new, longer shopping list.
  • There are of course countries that run on a different calendar than ours that are sending kids back now. This Learning Policy Institute brief reviews what is being done in China, Denmark, Norway, Singapore, and Taiwan as they reopen their schools. It looks at attendance, social distancing, and hygiene and cleaning. Note that the U.K., where Prime Minister Johnson had announced that schools would reopen on June 1, is now instead having a staggered opening, with only primary schools (more or less our elementary schools) opening then in England, with Scotland and Northern Ireland not opening until August and Wales announcing no date as yet, much of that as a result of a pushback by parents and teachers. Closing note of that article from the Guardian:
    Sir Michael Wilshaw, the former chief inspector of schools in England, told Sky News that implementing social distancing for children as young as five “is going to be like herding cats, it’s going to be really difficult. But other schools are doing it abroad and we should be doing the same.”
  • Finally, there have started to be some attempts to model what is being lost during the pandemic of student learning; see here for one example. 
More as I have it, and if there are things you'd share, please send them along.

No comments: