Washington Post Explores How Pandemic Uprooted American Education
March 15, 2021
From an overnight reliance on remote learning and a national focus on learning loss to an urgent accounting of school building infrastructure and access to mental health services, the Washington Post team recounts the many ways in which COVID-19 uprooted schooling in a piece marking one year since the onset of the pandemic. Schools, districts, and lawmakers, says the Post team, will likely continue grappling with consequences stemming from pandemic disruption for some time to come, as sharp declines in enrollment or shifts to charter or private schools, sustained use of virtual learning systems, and ongoing conversations about the role of assessments and data in guiding education strategies continue to be front-and-center conversations in most states. The relationship between state education agencies and the federal government, in particular, will require clarification as school officials decide just how much reopening will represent a return to normalcy versus a reimagining of how education should be delivered and improved upon in a post-pandemic nation.