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.
Schools across California have reopened for in-person learning, undertaking the challenging but crucial work of ensuring student safety. Examining multiple districts across the state, LPI researchers provide important models and key lessons for safe school reopening. As their work demonstrates, schools implementing multilayered mitigation strategies can stay open safely, minimize further disruptions to learning, and ensure that students can focus on their education and reconnecting to their school community.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, districts nationwide have faced the difficult task of reopening schools safely and keeping them open, while also accelerating student learning and attending to the trauma and loss experienced by students and families. By adopting a nimble and forward-looking recovery strategy encompassing social and emotional, as well as physical, safety, Tulsa Public Schools had a safe and successful spring and summer 2021, and plans to continue these efforts into the fall.
