The Hechinger Report - Learning from Lockdown

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By Peggy Barmore

There's no going back.

That is the consensus emerging from education leaders across the country as the nation enters a second year of schooling in a pandemic.

A public school district in Arizona is looking to become a service provider for parents who have pulled their children out to home-school them. In Oklahoma, students are having a say in where and when they learn. And educators everywhere are paying closer attention to students’ mental well-being.

“None of us would have ever wanted to go through this,” said Deborah Gist, the superintendent of schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “We have a chance now to make it something that will change teaching and learning forever for the better.”

At the outset of the pandemic, schools nationwide had to make swift and drastic changes in public education to keep students learning. And while teachers, principals, district leaders and parents forced to shift to virtual learning are eager for an end to the emergency measures, many are already looking ahead and considering which education solutions have worked well, and what parts of public schooling should be permanently altered.

The changes to schools go beyond the sudden dive into education technology. In fact, some of the most exciting education solutions forced by the pandemic have very little to do with giving every student a device.

Keep reading

Staff writer Javeria Salman is on leave this week. This week's newsletter features stories from The Hechinger Report's newest collaborative reporting project.

Learning from Lockdown

The closing of schools across the United States has been a disaster for most students, families, and teachers. But in some places, educators are making things work, and even finding ideas that could outlast the pandemic and transform American schooling for the better.

In a new reporting collaborative, the Education Labs at AL.com, the Dallas Morning News and Seattle Times partnered with The Christian Science Monitor, Hechinger Report and Solutions Journalism Network to produce this series of solutions-oriented stories.