Choosing Democracy: Are Children Falling Behind?

Choosing Democracy: Are Children Falling Behind?

Are Children Falling Behind?

What Shall We Do About the Children After the Pandemic

Teresa Thayer Snyder December 12, 2020

Diane Ravitch's BLOG

I sincerely plead with my colleagues, to surrender the artificial constructs that measure achievement and greet the children where they are, not where we think they “should be.”

Students line up to have their temperature checked before entering PS 179 elementary school in the Kensington neighborhood, Sept. 29, 2020 in Brooklyn, AP Photo/Mark Lennihan // Politico

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

I am writing today about the children of this pandemic. After a lifetime of working among the young, I feel compelled to address the concerns that are being expressed by so many of my peers about the deficits the children will demonstrate when they finally return to school. My goodness, what a disconcerting thing to be concerned about in the face of a pandemic which is affecting millions of people around the country and the world. It speaks to one of my biggest fears for the children when they return. In our determination to “catch them up,” I fear that we will lose who they are and what they have learned during this unprecedented era. What on CONTINUE READING: Choosing Democracy: Are Children Falling Behind?

Kids Are NOT Falling Behind. They Are Surviving a Pandemic | gadflyonthewallblog

Kids Are NOT Falling Behind. They Are Surviving a Pandemic | gadflyonthewallblog

Kids Are NOT Falling Behind. They Are Surviving a Pandemic

Everyone is worried about how the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting children.

And it IS affecting them.  

But so much worry is being wasted on the wrong things. 

Instead of agonizing about kids being put in danger of infection at in-person schools where the virus is out of control, we’re told to worry about academic regression.

Instead of feeling anxiety about abandoning kids at home as outbreaks close their schools and parents still have to go in to work, we’re told to agonize over failing test scores.  

In nearly every case, the reality is papered over by concern trolls clutching their pearls and demanding we point our attention away from the real dangers in favor of CONTINUE READING: Kids Are NOT Falling Behind. They Are Surviving a Pandemic | gadflyonthewallblog