Learning in the Time of COVID-19

This blog series explores evidence-based and equity-focused strategies and investments to address the current crisis and build long-term systems capacity.

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Blog

COVID-19 Challenges Catalyze Promising Shifts in Professional Learning

Jennifer A. Bland

Nov 29 2021
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A thoughtful planning process following the first few months of distance learning led one San Francisco Bay Area school district to rethink its professional development strategy for elementary math instruction. The result: More collaboration, alignment, and engagement among teachers and minimal disruption to student learning, even when the pandemic necessitated switching of classrooms and teachers.

Topics Educator Quality: Professional Learning, Educator Quality, COVID-19
Blog

Ending the Masking Wars: The Path to Ensuring Our Children Are Safe and Well-Educated This Year

Linda Darling-Hammond

Aug 31 2021
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Many students, families, and teachers looked forward to in-person learning this fall, but now find themselves on a pandemic roller coaster as the school year opens with a surge of COVID-19 cases. It is critical that we follow the available science so that we can protect students and ensure their education.

Topic COVID-19
Blog

Back to School: Lessons Learned About Safe School Reopening

Naomi Ondrasek,

Adam K. Edgerton

Aug 18 2021
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Although schools are reopening on the shifting sands of COVID-19 variants and low vaccination rates in some regions, they can resume in-person classes in a safe and supportive manner using science-based mitigation approaches, such as masking and social distancing, and by attending to student and teacher social and emotional needs.

Topic COVID-19
Blog

Leveraging Recovery Funds to Prioritize Wellness and Accelerate Learning

Adam K. Edgerton

Jul 27 2021
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Thanks to unprecedented funding from the American Rescue Plan and other federal, state, and local resources, school districts across the country are leveraging several evidence-informed strategies to accelerate learning and support student wellbeing. Local initiatives include conducting formative assessments to measure and support students’ growth and health, providing high-quality tutoring that is connected to classroom instruction, and expanding learning time.

Topics Equitable Resources and Access, COVID-19, Deeper Learning: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment
Blog

Accelerating Learning As We Build Back Better

Linda Darling-Hammond,

Adam K. Edgerton

Apr 05 2021
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As we work to reopen schools safely and effectively, it’s important not to return to “normal” but to reinvent school in ways that center relationships and are grounded in the science of learning and development. We must move past remediation and, instead, turn to the research on how people learn.

Topics COVID-19, Equitable Resources and Access, Deeper Learning, Deeper Learning: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment
Blog

An Unparalleled Investment in U.S. Public Education: Analysis of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

Michael Griffith

Mar 11 2021
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The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 includes just over $170.3 billion for schools, making this the federal government’s largest-ever single education investment. Among approved uses for funds are initiatives to accelerate learning, such as through summer school, expanded learning time, or tutoring programs; upgrades to facilities and other improvements to ensure a safe school reopening; investments in wraparound supports, such as through community schools; and initiatives to stabilize and diversify the educator workforce.

Topics COVID-19, Equitable Resources and Access
Blog

Eroding Opportunity: COVID-19’s Toll on Student Access to Well-Prepared and Diverse Teachers

Michael A. DiNapoli Jr.

Feb 10 2021
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Well before the pandemic, districts across the country grappled with ongoing teacher shortages, driven by both teacher turnover and significant declines in those choosing to enter the profession. COVID-19 has only worsened these pre-pandemic conditions, undermining access to well-prepared and experienced teachers, especially for students from historically underserved groups. A number of federal opportunities are key levers to strengthening the pipeline into the profession.

Topics COVID-19, Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention
Blog

The Importance of Getting Tutoring Right

Adam K. Edgerton

Jan 21 2021
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Can large-scale tutoring support students and teachers in addressing lost instructional time? The short answer is yes, but only if we pay close attention to the details of implementation to avoid the mistakes of the past. New policy proposals can draw upon the most up-to-date education research to design tutoring programs that are effective in meeting student needs.

Topics COVID-19, Deeper Learning: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, Deeper Learning, Equitable Resources and Access
Blog

Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities: The Role of Expanded Learning Time in Advancing Educational Equity

Sarah Klevan

Jan 14 2021
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In Baltimore City and around the country, community-based organizations, often in partnership with schools and districts, are providing students with structured expanded learning opportunities during the pandemic. These connections and supports are providing students critical opportunities to build skills and stay connected to their peers, mentors, and community while schools are shuttered.

Topics COVID-19, Equitable Resources and Access
Blog

A Second Round of Federal Relief: An Important Next Step

Michael Griffith,

Jessica Cardichon,

Michael A. DiNapoli Jr.

Dec 28 2020
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A new bipartisan federal COVID-19 rescue package will supply public schools with additional financial support to help address a wide range of needs. The question is, what will this long-awaited federal aid provide and what more will be needed to allow schools to open safely and offer quality instruction?

Topics COVID-19, Equitable Resources and Access

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Santa Fe cityscape with the Bataan Memorial Building in foreground and mountains in the background

Report

Improving Education the New Mexico Way: An Evidence-Based Approach

Dec 01 2020

In New Mexico, children and young people who face barriers to school success from poverty and marginalization are the norm, not the exception. A year-long study from LPI is designed to provide New Mexico policymakers, stakeholders, leaders, and other interested parties a research perspective on the challenges facing education in the state and to identify evidence-based policies that could build a high-quality, equitable system.

Report

Sustainable Strategies for Funding Teacher Residencies: Lessons From California

Nov 12 2020

High-quality teacher residencies have the potential to address workforce challenges, including teacher shortages, underprepared educators, and, when adequately funded, workforce diversity. In 2018-19, California provided seed funding to jump-start or scale such programs. Recognizing that state funding may not always be reliable, programs are also working toward greater financial sustainability. This report examines the current state of teacher residencies in California and strategies these programs use to sustain funding, particularly in the wake of COVID-19.

Report

Elementary School Principals' Professional Learning: Current Status and Future Needs

Oct 27 2020

Research has found that high-quality professional learning opportunities for principals can build leadership capacity. This study reports on findings from a survey of elementary school principals on access to high-quality professional learning. The survey showed that, while most had access to professional development, far fewer were able to participate in authentic learning opportunities addressing deeper learning, student well-being, and equity.

Learning in the Time of COVID-19

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