A wise principal once shared with me a painful, pre-pandemic truth: No one gets through middle school unscathed. 

This is a weekly newsletter. Sign up for a free subscription, and invite a friend to subscribe ([link removed]) . 📬
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
The Report
A newsletter from The Hechinger Report
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fhechingerreport.org%2Fmiddle-school-during-a-pandemic Tweet ([link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fhechingerreport.org%2Fmiddle-school-during-a-pandemic)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
Liz Willen Dear reader,

A wise principal once shared with me a painful, pre-pandemic truth: No one gets through middle school unscathed. Our story on what’s happened to a group of Philadelphia middle schoolers ([link removed]) and their teachers who are struggling to stay connected during quarantine is a poignant reminder of the principal’s message and is well worth your time.

Reopening schools safely is as urgent as it is complicated ([link removed]) , and once school buildings do reopen, there will be many questions about the role of school police on campuses ([link removed]) . This week, The Hechinger Report also took a close look at the shift away from requiring ACT and SAT scores ([link removed]) in college admissions, while I spoke with four freshmen ([link removed]) about how their first semester of college went during the pandemic. “I barely left my dorm room,” one told me.

We also examined two critical workforce issues: why the U.S. is ill-equipped to help workers find new jobs ([link removed]) in a time of high unemployment, and why women, after encountering sexual harassment and discrimination, are pushing for big changes when it comes to apprenticeships. ([link removed]) We also bring you the latest research on what’s working ([link removed]) in special education, and some hopeful news about music education in the age of Zoom. ([link removed])

As always, we love to hear from our readers.

Liz Willen, Editor

Was this newsletter forwarded to you?
Click here to subscribe! ([link removed])
Main Idea


** ‘I can’t do this anymore’: How four middle schoolers are struggling through the pandemic ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Isolated from peers and forced into remote learning, students experience loss, educational setbacks – and some unexpected academic progress.
Reading List


** If schools don’t overhaul discipline, ‘teachers will still be calling the police on our Black students’ ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
As districts across the country cut their school resource officers, advocates warn it won’t be enough to end overly harsh discipline of Black students


**
The jobs where sexual harassment and discrimination never stopped ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Apprenticeships are spreading as a debt-free path to the middle class. But in these training programs, sexual harassment and discrimination are endemic. Now women are pushing for change.


**
COLUMN: Isolated in dorm rooms or stuck at home, some freshmen wonder if college is worth it ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Their senior year of high school was upended by the coronavirus. Now freshman year of college has been transformed too. For these students, feeling frozen in place has become the norm.


**
Should teachers be apolitical? ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
When even facts are politicized, guidance that teachers steer clear of politics in the classroom is all impossible to navigate.


**
Why is it so hard for workers to find new jobs? ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
With almost 11 million people unemployed, the United States is ill-equipped to help them retrain and prepare for new careers.


**
PROOF POINTS: New answers to old questions about special education ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
NYC study shows services improved test scores for children with dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities.


**
Advocates hope pandemic shift away from requiring SAT and ACT will help diversity ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
But experiences of colleges that are already test-optional show other changes are also needed.


**
When students research the inequality in their own schools ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
High schoolers from Rhode Island were trained to conduct their own research on the education problems they experience firsthand.



** OPINION: Singing in the parking lot, and other pandemic strategies for music students ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
A longtime music educator looks back and ahead to see how conservatories, classrooms and programs are managing.


**
COLUMN: The four steps to safely reopen schools and save our nation ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Schools can be the common ground that we’ve been looking for, but it will take more than simply reopening them to pick up the pieces of 2020.


**
OPINION: How can we prevent a generation of pandemic-isolated misfits? ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Kids need games and a chance to play so they can normalize what they’ve lost.
Solutions
"Bringing ‘book-learning’ to life: Pandemic drives surge to forest schools ([link removed]) ," Healthy Debate

This week’s solutions section came from SolutionsU ([link removed]) powered by Solutions Journalism Network and their database of solutions journalism. Search ([link removed]) for more solutions.
👋 Contact Nichole Dobo at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) to give feedback on The Hechinger Report’s newsletters. Did you know we produce newsletters on early childhood ([link removed]) , education research ([link removed]) , the future of learning ([link removed]) and higher education ([link removed]) ? And it helps us if you recommend our newsletters to a friend.
You read the whole way to the bottom of this email. You must like us. Support The Hechinger Report with monthly gift.
Donate Now ([link removed])
Give today ([link removed]) to make this message go away.
============================================================

** Twitter ([link removed])
** [link removed] ([link removed])
** Our newsletters ([link removed])

Copyright © 2021 The Hechinger Report, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up at our website The Hechinger Report.

Our mailing address is:
The Hechinger Report
475 Riverside Drive
Suite 650
New York, NY 10115
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.