 Dear reader,
I’ve had a lot of conversations recently with educators at conferences and elsewhere about how to help students rebound and catch up after months of pandemic-disrupted schooling. It’s one reason I’m so taken with a look by Hechinger’s Javeria Salman at how one California school district came together to connect 98 percent of its students with 36,000 laptops and more than 11,500 hot spots. Oakland’s effort involved enormous cooperation among schools, nonprofits, libraries, politicians and parents, and is emerging as a shining example of how the digital divide might be narrowed.
Reading loss is another area of post-pandemic concern, with so many students losing months of reading instruction or struggling to learn reading over Zoom. Naturally, it’s led to renewed debate over the best ways to teach reading, along with discussions over how to use an infusion of federal funds to get students the help they need. Our story this week on reading intervention strategies looks at other questions too, including what kind of training teachers need to reach all their students.
This week we also bring you a new way to address a perennial Hechinger Report topic: the high cost of college and the debt burdens that derail so many. We ask: What are the implications of offering a degree in three years instead of four?
In addition, we bring to light a key and critical question for middle schoolers and others, particularly in an age of misinformation: Who is teaching science? What kind of training do those instructors have – or lack?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these stories, or other things on your mind. We love to hear from readers, and especially love when they encourage others to sign up for our newsletters.
Liz Willen, Editor
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