RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

The latest publication from REACH explores the perspectives of over 3,000 parents across Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Oregon. Study participants were surveyed about their experience with school system responses during spring 2021 and how the pandemic impacted their attitudes and preferences about school choice. Key findings:

On average, parents were generally satisfied with their schools’ quality of education during the pandemic. Parents with children in private schools, parents with higher incomes, parents with children learning in person, and those residing in Florida expressed higher levels of satisfaction.
Parents reported on actions their schools took to address racism, bias, equity, or inclusion after the George Floyd protests, including sending a letter home (60 percent), offering resources for discussing these issues with their children (58 percent), and creating curriculum to teach students about racism (57 percent).
The majority of parents reported planning to keep their children enrolled in the same school, but parents of children learning remotely were more likely to consider new school options for next year.
Safety protocols, social-emotional learning, and a caring environment were the top ranked attributes that influenced parents’ enrollment decisions since the pandemic began.

This data adds new perspectives from one of the groups most impacted by politicized debates on how schools should respond to the current public health crises, as well as ongoing social issues.

NEW SURVEY / POLLING DATA

Only 23 percent of teachers plan to revert to using the same teaching methods as they did before the pandemic, according to a recent YouGov poll.

Forty-three percent of parents reported having to quarantine their child because of COVID-19; parents who are Hispanic, have lower incomes, or are living in a small town/rural area were more likely to quarantine more than once.

LEARNING MODELS

The U.S. Senate held a committee hearing on supporting students, educators, and families during COVID-19. Watch the recording.

The latest update from Burbio’s reopening tracker shows 19 new districts that have experienced school closures.

Transcend has released Roads to Reinvention, an online portal with resources on how schools can reinvent schooling, including a guide for conversations with students, an online tool to survey students, and a reflection tool.

Linda Jacobson reports on pandemic pods that have continued to operate for a second year, exploring their limitations and assessing their future value.

RAND researched four-day school week models that popped up last school year, investigating how they were structured and the overall outcomes from this new learning model.

In his recent podcast episode, Nat Malkus invites Kerry McDonald to discuss how the pandemic has affected homeschooling.

Three ways EdTech can support students’ well-being during the pandemic include using hotlines to provide support, using messaging services to create peer networks, and using online gamification strategies to provide socioemotional support.

FINANCE

PPIC investigated how the Local Control Funding Formula in California affects student achievement and found that the formula distributed resources more equitably, increased test scores and completion rates, and narrowed district-level gaps in test scores.

The U.S. Census Bureau released an analysis of Elementary and Secondary school revenue and spending in 2020: overall, spending rose in 45 states; the majority of increases stemmed from instructional costs and teacher salaries. Read FutureEd’s summary of the analysis.

EDUCATOR ROLES

An examination of teacher licensure and preparation program approval systems in West Virginia describes the policy context behind this system and provides recommendations to move toward teacher workforce goals.

Surveys and interviews with pod instructors last spring revealed that teachers found the pod work environment to be better than their previous work in schools.

A study on student matching—matching students to teachers of the same ethnoracial group—in New York City Schools found negative associations between matching of Black, Latino, and Asian American students to teachers and suspensions.

SCHOOL / DISTRICT OPERATIONS

Only twelve states have provided attendance guidance for students in quarantine and just eight have done so for determining when to close schools, according to CRPE’s recent analysis of state policies related to COVID-19.

A new report from Bellwether Education Partners explores relationships between rental housing access, per-pupil funding, and school district boundaries across the largest metropolitan areas, and found that inequity gaps in the U.S. averaged $6,355 in per-pupil district funding.

PARENTS / CHILDREN / YOUTH

UNESCO describes the gendered impacts of COVID-19 school closures: girls faced greater restrictions to digital accessibility and tended to take on more domestic responsibilities, while boys were more likely to help their family outside the home.

Over 140,000 children in the U.S. experienced the death of a caregiver; the risk of loss was higher among children of racial and ethnic minorities, compared to non-Hispanic white children.

The national graduation rate in 2019 reached 85.8 percent; while this figure increased from the previous year, the rate of increase slowed compared to previous advancements.

HEALTH / SAFETY

A study of COVID-19 mitigation strategies in youth summer camps found that high vaccine rates among eligible youth and having multiple COVID-19 prevention strategies in place helped avert outbreaks in congregate settings.

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