The Education Policy Hotlist

Top News in U.S. Education Policy for the Week of August 10

Last week, I took a couple days off to celebrate my birthday with my babies on the Southern Oregon Coast. It was a special time to take pause from the churn of challenges, guidance, and mis-guided decisions that we are digesting each day. After watching my kids chase frogs in the river, play tag in the field, and run in the Oregon waves I feel deeply honored to be here in this moment with my family. Parenting through a pandemic is difficult. We are making rapid choices that feel confusing, is it safe to send our kids to school, to basketball practice, for a walk around the block? Do we visit our aging parents in another state? Are we doing enough or the best for our babies' learning and development?

Daily, these questions flood my mind and I've had to pivot the way I am thinking about my work in this world. For years I've planned for where I am headed professionally and personally and now I feel more excited about growing - we grew into our family of six this year and we are growing into new ways of learning, working, and caring for one another. Our work with students and families, while it must be expeditious, it must also center caring and compassion.

FEDERAL FUNDING AND POLICY

On Friday, Congress and the White House were unable to agree on terms of the next relief package and both the House and Senate are leaving DC this weekend. Meanwhile, school districts are increasingly moving to exclusive online offerings in the fall and the most recent US Senate bill, the HEALS Act, may disproportionately keep funding from our untapped and exceptional students in need of additional federal dollars. In the same light, a seminal study released last week by Dr. Kirabo Jackson sounded the warning call that a $1,000 reduction in per-pupil spending may widen the racial achievement disparities between Black and White students by about 6%. Moving in a positive direction, USED awarded $180M to a group of states through the Rethink Education Models grant, as part of the CARES Act. The REM program will support state innovations to improve access to education throughout pandemic-impacted schooling.

• Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) calls the meeting with White House “disappointing,” and Secretary Mnuchin says he will recommend executive action to the president.
• Researchers: State budget cuts feed declines in test scores, achievement
• Analysis: As More Districts Opt for Virtual Learning in the Fall, the Senate HEALS Act Risks Being out of Touch With Public Health Reality — and Delaying Desperately Needed Funds
• Secretary DeVos Awards More than $180 Million to States Rethinking K-12 Education to Better Meet Students’ Needs During Coronavirus Disruption

REOPENING PLANS AND STATE EXAMPLES

States are at the helm of reopening our communities and schools safely, unfortunately they need more clarity, guidance, and support from federal government. Still, a new study evidences how states can do better for local leaders; as of July 29th, only 15 states required districts to plan for remote learning and only half of states are requiring districts to submit reopening plans. Over the next couple weeks local leaders need states to reinforce and underwrite parts of their reopening plans while they are addressing the many facets of planning for the 2021 school year like virtual schools, safety standards, sick-outs, strikes, and seeking additional grant money.

• Policy Brief: Education during COVID-19 and beyond
• Review of State School Reopening Plans and Implications and Suggestions for State Funded Pre-K Programs
• Georgia spending $6M to boost students’ internet access
• Safely Returning to In-Person Instruction (AZ)
• Iowa Ed Department to rule on in-person school appeals (IA)
• Under COVID-19, Indiana districts launch virtual schools. Can they succeed where some for-profit operators failed? (IN)
• How did Michigan school districts plan to educate students during COVID-19? An analysis of district Continuity of Learning plans (MI)
• School building reopening plans must meet safety standards (NYC)
• NYC Teachers Group Threatens Sickout Over School Reopening Plans (NYC)
• These Tennessee school districts are already reporting COVID-19 cases after reopening (TN)
• Tennessee officials offer $100K teacher program grants (TN)
• Parents say indecision, late planning by school districts are forcing them to come up with alternatives (TX)
• TEA Will Offer Free Learning Management System to Texas Schools for Two Years to Help Bolster Remote and Classroom Instruction (TX)
• Utah teachers union demands that the governor abandon his plan to reopen schools (UT)

ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

There is an evolving national dialogue about the future of assessment and accountability in the context COVID-19. After considerable debate, the National Assessment Governing Board decided to proceed with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administration in 2021. In the same week, Chiefs for Change released their approach to assessments next school year, suggesting that states consider analyzing district interim results and freeze school ratings for the 2021 school year. While it seems many advocacy organizations are beginning to highlight areas of unity, there remains some uncertainties about the details of assessments next year.

• USED seeking approval to collect new data aimed at examining pandemic influence on (a) implementation of waivers from key provisions of ESSA and (b) state and district use of federal funds.
• Statement on a principled approach to testing in unprecedented times
• Measuring Growth in 2021: What State Leaders Need to Know
• Assessment Update: Using Data to Support Students During COVID-19 Recovery
• Plans to Administer ‘Nation’s Report Card’ in 2021 to Proceed Despite Concerns Over Reliability and Funding During Pandemic
• Don't Rush to 'Diagnose' Learning Loss With a Formal Test. Do This Instead
• Why teachers shouldn’t give kids standardized tests when school starts

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Parents and teachers are all concerned about the health, safety, and prosperity of their families and communities as schools reopen. Some parents, with resources to take matters into their own hands, are establishing “learning pods” or small “study groups,” while other advocates are backing the longstanding, evidence-based practice of high-dosage tutoring statewide. There are a lot of details for school leaders to decide on in a short amount of time and many pending variables like state budgets, curriculum mapping, and access to devices and connectivity.

• States: It's not too late to guide districts on teaching and learning
• American parents are setting up homeschool “pandemic pods”
• What are pandemic pods, and what do they mean for education?
• COVID-19 RESPONSE: High Dosage Tutoring to Accelerate Student Learning
• Assessments Will Likely Show COVID-19-Related Learning Loss: Then What?
• Teacher Experiences and Working Conditions in the Wake of COVID-19 — CPRE Knowledge Hub
• “New Normal” for Children and Families: Developing a Universal Approach with a Focus on Equity

STATE AND FEDERAL BILL WATCH

• MA S 2814, Sen Comerford (MA-D), An Act responding to the COVID-19 emergency by instituting a moratorium of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.
• MO SB 12, Sen Schupp (MO-D), Establishes the Smart and Safe Schools Act and creates provisions regarding elementary and secondary school operations during a pandemic.
• MI HB 6012, Rep Kennedy (MI-D), Increasing growth percentage to 40% and removing requirement for leadership evaluation at the building and district levels. 
• MI HB 6013, Rep Carter (MI-D), Removes requirement for letter grade system for ranking public schools in the 2020-2021 school year. 
• MI HB 6014, Rep Stone (MI-D), Removes requirement to administer the state assessments in 2020-2021 school year. 
• MI HB 6015, Rep Anthon (MI-D), Excludes 2020-2021 school year from the third-grade reading provisions.
• MI HB 6016, Rep Koleszar (MI-D), Education: examinations; Michigan merit examination; suspend for the 2020-2021 school year.
• US S 4322, Sen Alexandar (TN-R), A bill to help Americans safely get back to school and back to work, and for other purposes.

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Dr. Christine M. T. Pitts is a Policy Advisor at NWEA. As an Oregonian, raised by a multicultural family of educators, she brings a decade of progressive strategic leadership experience, a transformational vision, and analytic skill to crafting state education policy. An educator, leader, and researcher by training, she has conducted legislation, governance, and policy analyses on a wide array of education issues using social network analysis and mixed methods research. In addition, Dr. Pitts is a facilitative leader who deeply understands and executes transformative partnerships and convening across stakeholder groups. Dr. Pitts currently coordinates across policymakers and state leaders to investigate and advocate for policies that prioritize equity in education. Follow her on Twitter @cmtpitts.