The COVID-19 Effect: Story Ideas on Students, Schools

 How COVID-19 is poised to reshape the educational experience

The coronavirus pandemic News outlets round the country are an important source of data for communities 

Here are one or two of story ideas to tap in covering what continues to be a fast-changing situation on the preschool through education front, with plenty of strong samples of enterprising news coverage

 In Washington state, the first epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak within the U.S. (and the state with the foremost deaths from the virus so far), schools are required to produce not only meals to low-income families but also to function emergency child care centers, reported Janelle Retka of The Yakima Herald. How effective are such actions so far? How are parents teaming up to share resources for child care, especially in families where engaging from home isn’t an option? What are local nonprofit organizations doing to assist fill within the gaps? additionally to covering the broader problems with the pandemic, The Seattle Times has created an internet resource for families to search out out about available services, including child care and mental state support

What Are Schools Doing  or Not Doing  to Support ‘Remote’ Student Learning?

Remote learning  whether in paper form or online  is now the de facto  means of instruction for tens of countless students. But what steps exactly are schools and districts taking, or aiming to take, to assist make sure that learning continues? Early signs suggest it varies widely, as true is bound to evolve quickly, especially if the closures are prolonged

A national survey of college administrators conducted last week by Education Week suggests it's going to be a struggle in many places to pivot quickly and effectively. Districts serving large concentrations of low-income families were more likely to mention they may not provide such learning opportunities.

“The first day of the school-less reality … meant online learning for a f within the region, paper packets for others. It left some children idle. Others headed to campus at no cost school-provided meals.” In Virginia suburbs, “school systems opted for various approaches, some more intensive than others,” the story noted. In Loudoun County, Va., as an example, school officials were “working to develop a virtual curriculum for the system’s 84,000 students,” with teachers gathering yesterday for a “work day” to talk of details.

In other communities, like Anne Arundel County, Maryland, the local public TV station is broadcasting at-home lessons, with a distinct grade level featured each hour. The Montgomery County Public Schools system, Maryland’s largest, issued an announcement yesterday indicating that “teachers aren't working and can not be providing new instruction or giving new assignments  to read, play board games, write in journals, and take part on the other activities you're thinking that are appropriate for your child.”

Success Academy, the biggest public school network in big apple City, announced last week it might be moving learning for its 18,000 students entirely online.

What’s Fair and Equitable?

Questions (and even legal considerations) of educational equity have fast emerged as key problems with concern — and debate when it involves remote learning. this is often a part ripe for exploration by reporters as a part of their ongoing coverage.

Some districts say they're opting to not use online lessons due to fears that students won’t have uniform access. Philadelphia is among them, reports WHYY’s Avi Wolfman-Arent. Should more affluent students and people who have already got reliable home computing tools be discontinue from instruction so as to keep up some semblance of A level playing field for his or her less fortunate peers? What about students with disabilities?

It’s a challenge with broad implications, tied to financial consequences for districts and developmental consequences for the foremost vulnerable students in America.”

The story notes that Kentucky’s largest district, Jefferson County Public Schools, isn't moving to online learning thanks to equity concerns. 

Robin Lake, the director of the middle on Reinventing Public Education, who notes that the majority Washington state districts aren't providing distance learning, offers her tackle that debate in an opinion piece for The 74 Million.  the foremost compassionate approach is for educators to try and do the simplest they'll for each kid,” she writes.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported, numerous internet providers are offering families free or low-cost services for the subsequent few months to do and ease the transition.  this can be a decent time to induce acquainted with - or revisit - - EducationSuperHighway, a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on bringing connectivity to underserved students and schools.

Education reporters should even be closely reviewing districts’ distance learning plans: How different is that the content and approach from what students would have learned within the classroom? How will the effectiveness of programs be monitored? what proportion of the method is being left up to individual teachers? If new programs/services are being purchased  and there’s no shortage of education technology companies seeking to seize the instant – who’s vetting them?