Patricia Levesque is the Chief Executive Officer for ExcelinEd.
It has been two months since the COVID-19 pandemic altered nearly every aspect of our lives. The pandemic has revealed stories of heroism, humanity and innovation, yet also exposed systemic inefficiencies and inequities. As a nation, we have been forced to reflect on the strengths and challenges inherent in the pre-COVID status quo while also anxiously imagining what the “new normal” means for ourselves, our families and our communities. This is especially true in education.
State and local education leaders have spent the past two months focused on quickly pivoting to remote and virtual learning and providing students with wraparound supports for the remainder of this school year. However, they have also been considering what education could look like for the 2020-21 school year and beyond.
It’s clear that decisions about reopening schools cannot be made in isolation. We learn more every day about the public health considerations of COVID-19 and the role schools might play in increasing or mitigating the impact of the virus on communities and populations within communities. At the same time, when and how schools resume is inextricably linked to efforts to “reopen” state and local economies in terms of parents’ ability to work outside the home. The rate and level of quality of student instruction during the pandemic has varied widely across the nation, states, regions and even from neighborhood to neighborhood; educators and parents are understandably concerned about the short- and long-term impacts of potential learning loss and missing student support.
To support state policymakers and education leaders, ExcelinEd has developed Reopening Schools After COVID-19 Closures: Considerations for States, which was created with input and feedback from national, state and local leaders.
This resource outlines a variety of approaches and considerations for reopening based on the following questions:
The document outlines a variety of options addressing each of these questions without promoting one option over another. Rather, ExcelinEd’s intent is to share ideas with state leaders and policymakers—all of whom are grappling with some version of these questions.
During ExcelinEd’s conversations with education leaders, many expressed the desire to learn how other states are approaching the complex and multifaceted process of reopening schools in ways that support student safety, academic progress and whole-child well-being. We invited state education chiefs and governor’s offices in all 50 states to participate in an anonymous survey on reopening schools to capture the current directional thinking of state leaders.
Thirty-five state leaders responded, and we’ve published their responses in State Leader Survey on Reopening Schools: Survey Results. (As the survey is anonymous, none of the responses can be attributed to a specific state or state leader.)
The results contained five major trends:
As state leaders continue to evaluate which options are most appropriate for their unique context, they will need to consider additional issues, including:
ExcelinEd is committed to supporting states and leaders as they continue to navigate the complex decisions related to continuing instruction, reopening schools and supporting students, educators and families.
