Jennifer

Some states, districts postpone school reopening

23 hours ago Jennifer

Arizona is one of four states that White House health adviser Deborah Birx said on Wednesday should reimpose strict restrictions on the public because of coronavirus infections, including decreasing the size of crowds both inside and outside to 10 people or fewer. The other states are Florida, California and Texas. According to data tracked by The Washington Post, thousands of new cases in Arizona and Florida pushed the country’s total number of confirmed cases past 3 million on Wednesday.

Trump this week began pressuring school districts to open five days a week for all children, and he threatened to withhold

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Being safe and feeling safe aren’t the same thing — and the difference will matter when schools open

2 days ago Jennifer

This post looks at the issue of safety through a different lens. Written by Barry Svigals and Sam Seidel of Stanford University, it looks at what it means to be safe at school, and making the point that nobody can accomplish that for students if they don’t really understand what being safe means to students.

Svigals is currently a Reimagining School Safety fellow at the Stanford Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, known as the d.school, which is design thinking institute based at Stanford. He is also founder of Svigals+Partners, the architectural firm that designed the new Sandy

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Experts say face masks are essential — but some schools won’t require them this fall

3 days ago Jennifer

Cloth face coverings protect others if the wearer is infected with SARS CoV-2 and is not aware. Cloth masks may offer some level of protection for the wearer. Evidence continues to mount on the importance of universal face coverings in interrupting the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Although ideal, universal face covering use is not always possible in the school setting for many reasons. Some students, or staff, may be unable to safely wear a cloth face covering because of certain medical conditions (eg, developmental, respiratory, tactile aversion, or other conditions) or may be uncomfortable, making the consistent use of cloth face

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Why schools must re-open for the most vulnerable students —

4 days ago Jennifer

The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020. Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation. This, in turn, places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality. Beyond the educational impact and social impact of school closures, there has

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Girl Scouts is Fueling the Future of STEM

4 days ago Jennifer

By: Beth Meyer, Vice President of Partner Success at Discovery Education

The evidence is clear – the number of STEM jobs are growing, but not equally.

Insight from Pew Research Center finds that the STEM workforce outpaced all other U.S. job sectors, growing by over 79% since 1990. But while the number of STEM jobs have grown, not everyone is able to access a career in STEM. The COVID-19 global pandemic starkly illuminates not only the growing impact of STEM careers, but also concerning diversity disparities. As engineers churn out new masks and respirators and technology professionals expand contact tracing,

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Why this 1852 Frederick Douglass speech — “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” — should be taught to students today

6 days ago Jennifer

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” — Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852

Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens:

He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. I

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Teacher: ‘Parents need to go to work’ does not stop covid-19 at school entrance

1 week ago Jennifer

We hear calls that schools must open, given that millions of students are at risk of not only backsliding academically but also socially and emotionally, with the most concern for at-risk students for whom school is a safe place.

We also hear that parents need to get back to work and can’t stay home teaching their children math remotely, should schools stay closed.

By Mercedes Schneider

When I hear discussions about schools reopening in the fall, I already know what two chief reasons will be offered.

One is that students need to be educated. Of course they do, and as

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Harvard rescinds policy against single-sex clubs

1 week ago Jennifer

June 29, 2020

Dear Members of the Harvard Community,

Like many of us, I was greatly heartened by the landmark Supreme Court decision holding that federal law bars employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status. This civil rights milestone secures vital protections for millions of individuals who have so long been vulnerable under the law.

While marking a major advance for LGBTQ rights, the Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County also has significant implications for Harvard College’s policy on unrecognized single-gender social organizations. That policy itself does not concern sexual orientation or transgender status.

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U.S. History and Civics a No-Go Next Year for Nation’s Report Card – Inside School Research

1 week ago Jennifer

U.S. 8th graders won’t take part in national assessments of U.S. history or civics in 2021, the supervisory group for the Nation’s Report Card said Monday.

The board delayed until August voting on whether to likewise delay or cancel Congressionally required NAEP tests of 4th- and 8th-grade students’ reading and math skills. The National Center for Education Sciences, which conducts the assessments, estimates they will cost an additional $45 million to safely administer during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Given everything … social studies and civics and history (assessment) is just not a reasonable thing to do,” said Mark Schneider, the director

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Other News

Some states, districts postpone school reopening

23 hours ago Jennifer

Being safe and feeling safe aren’t the same thing — and the difference will matter when schools open

2 days ago Jennifer

Experts say face masks are essential — but some schools won’t require them this fall

3 days ago Jennifer

Why schools must re-open for the most vulnerable students —

4 days ago Jennifer

Girl Scouts is Fueling the Future of STEM

4 days ago Jennifer