Previous posts made the case for why post-pandemic school may be unchanged, or may be different.

So, what do I think?

The last post made the case for why post-pandemic public education in the U.S. might not be any different than pre-pandemic education. The summary, in short:

Recent posts have looked at how the fall 2020 semester is likely to play out, and key school needs for re-opening. In this post I’m going to look at post-pandemic school with a wider lens—and as you’ll see, a fairly skeptical one with regards to the question of whether school as we know it will be forever changed.

A recent post asked What will the fall semester look like for K-12 schools? and explained that we are hearing from many districts planning for rolling closures, and anticipating the possibility that some parents will not want to send their children to schools even if the schools are open.

In the United States, we recently celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week. This year, the recognition took on greater meaning and stirred even more heartfelt gratitude for the selfless work of educators.

Among the striking aspects of Covid-19 has been the speed at which the pandemic has developed, creating a “new normal” of closed schools and shuttered shops. Now, just as we are getting to the point where teachers and students are better adapting to remote learning, schools are shifting focus to what they will do in the fall.

Precautionary response to circumvent the impact of COVID-19 has displaced K-12 students nationwide from normal school activities. As a result, millions of families and students were expected to quickly adjust to home-based continuous learning opportunities.

We’ve left behind the bells of the school house, the pressures of standardized testing, and the demands of 1-to 30 student-teacher ratios.

Every state is facing the realization that budgets are going to take a big hit in FY2021. Although pandemic-related budget impacts across states are often portrayed as similar to one another, there are many variables that differ in each state and will affect the extent of budget impacts.

Our last post about the Education Stabilization Fund-Rethink K-12 Education Models mentioned some confusion around how the “coronavirus burden” would be calculated. Since we drafted and published the post, Elizabeth LeBlanc of the Institute for Teaching and Leading directed us to a Coronavirus Burden Table from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

As much as it sometimes feels like everyone is caught up entirely in the day-to-day pandemic response, we’re also seeing green shoots of organizations proactively looking to the future and creating our collective new normal. With that goal in mind, on Thursday May 7th I’m moderating a discussion hosted by The NROC Project,

Earlier this week we posted first thoughts on the US DOE competitive grant funds for statewide virtual learning. We are adding additional ideas here after reviewing the notice inviting applications.

On April 27 the U.S. DOE announced a grant competition that seems promising for proponents of using online learning in ways that will go beyond filling the gaps in emergency remote instruction.

In a digital context for learning, fluency involves using technologies “readily and strategically to learn, to work, and to play, and the infusion of technology in teaching and learning to improve outcomes for all students.”

COVID-19 news is dominating airwaves and websites, perhaps even faster than the virus itself is spreading. Evergreen’s John Watson was interviewed for the National Public Radio’s Marketplace podcast and radio show focused on COVID-19 and digital learning. Additionally, an Education Week article discusses and links to the DLC report on eLearning Days…

In the media and in the education conference circuit, it’s almost impossible not to cross paths with three burgeoning issues in K-12 education: Equity, personalized learning, and social-emotional learning (SEL).

Technology departments today play an exciting and essential role in furthering the educational mission within our K-12 schools.

As the Jordan School District shows, however, a solution for the students who want to start later exists and can be implemented by almost all districts now.

Internet speeds in the United States have for years lagged behind other developed countries.