Happy Easter, Happy Spring! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Happy Easter, Happy Spring! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

I don’t get into religion much other than to say it should be kept separate from the state.

But let me take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Easter and a very happy spring.

It has been a difficult, stressful year for everyone.

Some of us have lost members of our families to COVID.

We should all get vaccinated to stop the spread of this disease, to protect ourselves, our families, and our community.

I had my two shots (of Moderna), had no side effects, and feel protected. But I am still wearing a mask and taking other necessary precautions. Listen to the science.

There are mixed reports about whether the virus is winding down or gearing up for another surge. The latter CONTINUE READING: Happy Easter, Happy Spring! | Diane Ravitch's blog

A long-awaited federal survey highlights challenges ahead for schools - Chalkbeat

A long-awaited federal survey highlights challenges ahead for schools - Chalkbeat

The federal government finally has data on schooling during COVID. Here are 3 key takeaways.

The federal government has released its first, long-awaited snapshot of schooling during the pandemic.

A newly released federal survey shows that a huge swath of American school children — particularly students of color — were still learning remotely in January. Of those students, a small but substantial share were getting little or no live instruction from a teacher.

The information was collected as part of President Biden’s push to get more schools reopened for in-person learning. The Trump administration had rejected the idea of such national recordkeeping.

The survey questions were given to a representative set of schools in 44 states serving either fourth or eighth grade. The data will be updated monthly through July.

In the months since schools answered these questions, more school buildings have opened as COVID case rates have fallen. A more recent estimate suggests that 80% of students now have access to in-person instruction.

But the federal survey highlights two major, continuing challenges facing school officials: the fact that tens of millions of students have received virtual instruction for months, and have missed out on learning and crucial support, and the continued reluctance of some families to return for in-person instruction, even when it’s available.

“We have a huge and long road of recovery and restoring instructional support to CONTINUE READING: A long-awaited federal survey highlights challenges ahead for schools - Chalkbeat

CURMUDGUCATION: What Is The Secret Teacher Plot?

CURMUDGUCATION: What Is The Secret Teacher Plot?

What Is The Secret Teacher Plot?

It's its own genre now. Generally runs something like this:

I think teachers are mighty swell and I respect the hard work they do, but as you can see from these studies that I have carefully cherry-picked selected, the science says that school buildings should be fully open right now, and teachers and their unions have no damn excuse not to get the hell back in their and do their frickin' job, for which I respect them very much (though I may have to stop respecting them soon if they don't get the hell back in there). 

You can find the latest widely shared example over at Vox:

And if educators and their unions don’t embrace the established science, they risk continuing to widen gaps in educational attainment — and losing the support of their many long-time allies, like me.

Sigh.

There are many, many twists and turns to the debate about red-opening buildings (schools, I want to be clear, have not ceased operation). CDC advice has varied over time, and continues to include guidance like the hilarious advice in the new guidelines that districts should recruit and train a whole bunch of substitutes to cover the many staff absences they're about to have, and that sounds reasonable, unless you've been around the education system in the last ten years in which case you know that the CDC might as well suggest that the new army of subs be trained to ride unicorns that CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: What Is The Secret Teacher Plot?

CURMUDGUCATION: New Update From What Is No Longer The Trailing Edge of the Pandemic

CURMUDGUCATION: New Update From What Is No Longer The Trailing Edge of the Pandemic

New Update From What Is No Longer The Trailing Edge of the Pandemic

It has been just about two months since I told you that if anyone had a shot of starting school up without major Covid consequences, it would be my little corner of the world. I'm here to report that things are not going well.

Back on September 7, the number of cases for the whole county, since March, was 70. People were not panicked, but cautious, with the usual outlying groups of deniers and total freak-outers. Okay, lots of deniers--this is Trump country, and at this point locals know that there are some stores you avoid if you take masking seriously. Our four school districts went ahead and opened, with two choosing a sort of gradual "soft" opening, and the other two just going for it. 

By October 15, the number of cases had doubled. Two of the four high schools had had two cases each. One shut down to clean for 48 hours; the other sent forty students to isolation. Everyone's sports are still going on, but with limited audiences. 

Yesterday, the state said we had our highest single day total--46 confirmed cases. I'm sure that's nothing in major cities, but we've got fewer than 50K in the whole county. And our totals are probably lagging because there is no place to go get tested in this county. 

That brings our grand total to 359. As you can see, we're escalating quickly. 

In schools, things are going poorly. At my former district, somehow, they managed to expose the entire administration team, so all administrators and most of the main office staff have been in isolation. This week the district has gone to virtual school. Two weeks back, an entire fifth grade team was sent into isolation. In another district, three teachers have just tested positive. The state has met with several local superintendents, and schools are going to the hybrid model next week; one administrator has already told his people that after a week of hybrid, they'll be going virtual. 

Districts had protocols in place before the year started, but those aren't always being followed. Teachers are largely on a DIY basis for PPE. Plenty of folks, including some teachers, are pretty sure CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: New Update From What Is No Longer The Trailing Edge of the Pandemic

Celebrating in the Face of COVID, Hurricanes, and DeVos | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Celebrating in the Face of COVID, Hurricanes, and DeVos | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Celebrating in the Face of COVID, Hurricanes, and DeVos

I am sitting in my living room waiting for Hurricane Zeta to pass over my southeastern Louisiana home in a few hours. It’s our fifth hurricane to hit the region this season and the seventh time southern Louisiana has fallen within the cone of hurricane threat.

This year has been a regular diet of COVID and hurricanes overshadowing my teaching experience, even as Betsy DeVos continues to publicly express her disdain for America’s systems of public schools.

Well, Betsy, my public school is a good school, and I am a good public school teacher.

In the last several weeks, seven new students have enrolled in my Eng IV classes. Six arrived from other schools. That would not happen in a private school. There is no obligation to enroll whoever shows up on the private school doorstep. But we enroll students as they arrive, and each one enters my classroom with a circumstance that I must figure out how to navigate so that the student can become part of my class as successfully and seamlessly as is possible.

It is quite a challenge, but we do not turn students away. We. Do. Not. Turn. Students. Away. That is profound, and the likes of Betsy DeVos, steeped in her ideological bias, completely misses it. 

Then there are the numerous specialized situations in which students and their families find themselves, circumstances that necessitate individualized, often instantaneous and creative, CONTINUE READING: Celebrating in the Face of COVID, Hurricanes, and DeVos | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog