Sep 2, 2020, 4:52 PM
(From The New York Times) The start of the school year in New York City will be delayed after city officials reached a deal with union leaders who had argued that it wasn’t safe to reopen buildings on September 10. Under the new plan, teachers will report to schools as scheduled, using the additional time to set up their classrooms and meet with students individually. Starting in October, the city will also require random monthly coronavirus testing in all schools, with results that will be ready in 48 hours. The deal does not appear to include mandatory testing of students and staff before school buildings reopen, something union officials had been demanding.
(From The Washington Post) Students in England fell behind by an average of three months during coronavirus-mandated school closures, according to a new study by the National Foundation for Educational Research. Of school faculty members who participated in the National Foundation for Educational Research study, 98 percent said their students had fallen behind since March, when schools switched to remote learning. Boys appeared to have been affected more than girls, the study found, and poor students struggled the most. On average, teachers estimated that the learning gap between disadvantaged students and their classmates had widened by 46%.
(From UN News) When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools last spring, one in three children around the world missed out on remote learning, according to a new report from the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef). The report — based on a globally representative analysis on the availability of home-based remote learning technology in schools — also found that even when children had the necessary platforms, they may not be able to learn remotely due to competing factors such as pressure to do chores, being forced to work, a poor environment for learning, and lack of support in using the online or broadcast curriculum. Experts and advocates are concerned about what that means for the long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic, as 900 million students are set to return to school this fall.
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