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Biden expected to make narrowing digital divide an ‘early, urgent priority’ to help students during pandemic
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App that matches students with community service takes a virtual pivot during pandemic & opens up fresh opportunities
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Analysis: Every state & district needs to create a learning recovery task force — now. Here are some reasons why
The Morning Read
Your Daily Roundup of LAUSD news from across the web | 12.01.20
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Charter school advocates, San Diego NAACP raise objections to Biden’s pick for number two spot at Education Department
President Joe Biden’s nomination of Miguel Cardona for education secretary has been largely well received. But his choice for the number two spot at the department is prompting some objections from education interest groups. Charter school leaders and some members of the Black community have sounded alarms over the nomination of Cindy Marten, superintendent of...
By Linda Jacobson | January 26, 2021
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How an AI app that detects COVID carriers by their cough could help reopen schools
Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, school districts and public health experts have sought to solve a key missing link for safe in-person learning: how to identify asymptomatic COVID-19 cases among students and staff. Asymptomatic carriers might come into school buildings and transmit the virus unknowingly, officials worry. In Los Angeles, the district superintendent...
By Asher Lehrer-Small | January 21, 2021
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New survey: As afterschool participation falls to lowest rates since 2009, California is a promising outlier in meeting parental demand
For every child in an afterschool program in the U.S., three are waiting for a spot, according to new data released Tuesday. And the demand for programs has increased by 60 percent since 2004. More than half of the 31,000 respondents to the Afterschool Alliance’s “America After 3 p.m.” survey said cost is what’s keeping their children...
By Linda Jacobson | January 19, 2021
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Nearly a year into remote learning, UCLA report captures the depth of America’s ‘digital divide,’ with 1 in 3 households facing limited tech access
Mariah Hawkins wants to become a nurse. At 15, she is a 9th-grade student at iLEAD Academy in northern Kentucky, a selective regional high school where students take college-level courses in preparation for fast-growing STEM careers. In December, the school received a $100,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Education’s Rural Tech Challenge. Yet just...
By Brendan Lowe | January 14, 2021
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Caught in a financial ‘triple squeeze,’ districts could see annual costs of $2,500 per student to address pandemic-related learning loss
Getting students to where they’d be academically if the pandemic hadn’t occurred could cost schools an average of $12,000 to $13,500 per student over the next five years, according to a new estimate that assumes most will need some additional learning time. Conducted by Education Resource Strategies, a nonprofit consulting firm that works with districts on...
By Linda Jacobson | January 13, 2021
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Key to preventing children’s learning loss — and social regression — during COVID-19 school closures: Support from family and peers, study finds
As researchers around the world attempt to quantify the effect of COVID-19 shutdowns on student learning, a report from England suggests the most important factor is one that usually isn’t measured — the support children receive from the adults and other kids in their lives. The study, drawn from more than 900 in-person visits to schools and...
By Wayne D'Orio | January 12, 2021
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An interview with SEL expert Elizabeth Englander on preserving social-emotional learning during the pandemic, the key to managing screen time — and why families should eat dinner together
Elizabeth Englander As schools continue to grapple with coronavirus outbreaks, displaced students and classroom reopening decisions, much of the focus has been on how educators can help students catch up academically after months of virtual learning and, in many cases, limited interactions with their teachers. But what about students’ social-emotional growth, which could be stunted...
By Laura Fay | January 11, 2021
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Analysis: What does ‘attendance’ mean for remote learners in a pandemic? How 106 districts are dealing with absenteeism, student engagement & grades
As districts close out their first academic quarter, educators are reporting increased absenteeism rates for both remote learners (double the rates they saw before the pandemic) and in-person learners. About a third of educators say unexcused absences will impact student grades and, potentially, prevent some kids from passing to the next grade level. Our analysis of reopening...
By Bree Dusseault and Alvin Makori | January 7, 2021
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Research shows students benefiting from arts field trips, but will they recede after COVID?
Parents have worried all year that arts education will be among the casualties claimed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting pressures on local school budgets. Depending on how long districts are forced to cut programs, fire or reassign staff, and cope with remote learning, some advocates warn, little money or instructional time could be...
By Kevin Mahnken | January 6, 2021
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L.A. pods: In parks, backyards and old storefronts, small groups offer children some of what they’ve lost in months of online instruction
Los Angeles Pam Marton and Sharon Fabian — longtime educators in the Los Angeles schools and friends since kindergarten — were set to celebrate their retirement this year with a trip to Croatia when the pandemic cancelled their plans. It wasn’t long, however, before they “started getting emails and calls from … families, parents who...
By Linda Jacobson | January 5, 2021