CRPE in the media, COVID-19
CRPE in the news – Responding to education changes due to COVID-19
56łÔąĎÍř Bothell’s education center, Center for Reinventing Public Education, has pivoted their research focus to provide support and expertise in response to K-12 education affected by COVID-19 closures. This page includes news stories about CRPE from April – June 2020
June 2020
- June 29, 2020
Nationwide, only one in three districts expected teachers to provide remote instruction and monitor students’ academic engagement this spring, according to a study that tracked 477 districts. “There wasn’t a lot in the way of interventions for kids who were falling off,” said Robin Lake, director of CRPE, a nonpartisan research group in Washington state that conducted the study. - June 29, 2020
Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd speaks with Robin Lake, director of CRPE. - , June 28, 2020
America’s service members long have been concerned about the lack of access to effective schools for their children. An estimated one-third of school districts tracked by CRPE are not requiring schools to provide remote instruction. - 2020
Across the country, students already at a disadvantage—students who are too often first- or second-generation immigrants—are on the verge of being completely left behind as learning has moved online. “Unless we get serious about flattening the learning loss curve,… too many students could go into academic death spirals,” said Robin Lake, director of CRPE, in remarks delivered to the House Education and Labor Committee on May 7. - June 26, 2020
CRPE has been tracking remote learning efforts for months as well. - June 26, 2020
Of all the lessons learned during the COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions, one of the most important was something parents and educators likely agree on: We need schools to reopen in the fall and get students back in the classroom. The gaps in learning and actual teacher instruction were particularly notable when comparing rural and urban districts and affluent and low-income districts, according to CRPE, an education think tank. - to best accommodate learning for students during the summer. Experts from CRPE, a nonpartisan education research center, say that this summer is still a missed opportunity for many districts.
- , June 24, 2020
This spring was a dismal one for America’s schools. CRPE looked at 477 school districts and found that, even as the school year was winding down, just one in three expected all teachers to deliver instruction. - , June 22, 2020
The remote-learning experiment isn’t going well. This month CRPE published a report looking at how 477 school districts nationwide have responded to the Covid-19 crisis. - Jun 22, 2020
Education leaders across the country are trying to determine whether and when they can safely reopen K-12 schools. During the lockdown, only one-fifth of the school districts surveyed by CRPE—including districts in many of America’s most populous cities—required their teachers to provide live online video lessons to students. - , June 18, 2020
One thing is clear from this spring: Countless students will start next school year with considerable learning loss. Bree Dusseault, the practitioner-in-residence at CRPE, said that many schools in the organization’s database of district coronavirus responses adopted a do-no-harm approach to grading for these past few months—switching to a pass/fail system, for example, or saying that students’ grades could only be improved during this time period, not lowered. - , June 17, 2020
Former education secretary John King’s comments come as more than 500 superintendents say connectivity gaps would hinder fall distance learning. Organized by nonprofit Common Sense Media — and including Robin Lake, director of CRPE — the media call focused especially on a Democrat-sponsored bill in the Senate that would appropriate $4 billion in E-Rate funding for internet and devices. - June 17, 2020
GreatSchools.org partners with the CRPE to shine the light on what district do — and do not — provide during school closures. - , June 16, 2020
Researchers at CRPE spent this spring analyzing 82 school districts’ responses to COVID-19 closures. - June 16, 2020
More than a few school leaders are publicly insisting that, absent a huge new influx of federal dollars, they can’t afford to open schools. CRPE has looked at 477 school districts and reports that just 1 in 3 expected all teachers to deliver instruction and that less than half communicated an expectation that teachers would either take attendance or check in with students regularly. - , Washingtonpost.com, June 15, 2020
Education secretary pitches choices outside traditional schooling and sends federal dollars to private schools. Robin Lake, the director of CRPE is quoted. - , June 15, 2020
Disappointing results for in-person summer school programs hint that short virtual programs may not be successful. In June 2020, CRPE, a think tank based at the 56łÔąĎÍř Bothell, posted a survey of summer school plans around the country. Only slightly more than half of the 100 U.S. districts the organization is tracking were planning to offer summer school for elementary and middle school students. - , June 12, 2020
Some researchers say districts are missing the chance to innovate if they’re not offering online summer learning. “What we’ve observed is that there are some areas of potential missed opportunity for districts this summer, just given the very unique circumstances that we’re in in this moment in time in the country,” said Bree Dusseault, practitioner-in-residence at CRPE. - June 11, 2020
Orchestra and dance are unusual in central Los Angeles schools, and for students with disabilities, the arts and other enrichment activities are frequently missing altogether. That makes Renaissance Arts a double rarity — a free arts school for underserved students and a place where children who need special education services are thriving. The school has been singled out in research from the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools and CRPE as a program whose innovative practices are particularly helpful to students with disabilities. - , June 10, 2020
After a major disruption to learning, what should summer school look like? CRPE recently analyzed summer school plans for 100 public school districts across the U.S. and found uneven programming, with 61% of those districts offering summer school. - , June 10, 2020
On this week’s podcast, Robin Lake, director of CRPE, talks with Mike Petrilli and David Griffith about how well school districts handled remote learning this spring. - , June 10, 2020
The global pandemic upended life as we know it, shutting down school campuses across the country, but Zahriana Newson’s schedule at Roxbury Prep charter school barely changed. Studies of the switch to online learning are ongoing, but a review this spring of 82 US school districts by CRPE found just 17, or 21 percent, provided live instruction to any of their students. - June 9, 2020
Despite the limitations of distance learning, only 61 of 100 districts across the country queried in a recent survey have so far said they plan to offer summer school to help bridge the education gap. The survey, conducted by CRPE, covered 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and included 30 of the nation’s largest school districts. - , June 9, 2020
CRPE is out with a new analysis of remote education in a nationally representative sample of 477 school systems. - , June 9, 2020
A new analysis of the remote learning plans of 477 U.S. school districts shows about a third have provided clear expectations for how teachers should provide instruction and track students’ participation and progress, according to CRPE. - , June 5, 2020
Only 61 of 100 districts across the country queried in a recent survey have so far said they plan to offer summer school to help bridge the education gap. The survey, conducted by CRPE, covered 50 states plus Washington, D.C. and included 30 of the nation’s largest school districts. - , June 5, 2020
The abrupt switch to remote learning wiped out academic gains for many students in America, and widened racial and economic gaps. CRPE, a think tank, will release an analysis next week of the pandemic learning policies of 477 school districts. - , June 4, 2020
Report by Robin Lake and Bree Dusseault of CRPE - , June 4, 2020
Districts’ summer school plans are showing missed opportunities for addressing learning loss for students and fostering social connections, according to a new analysis by researchers who have closely monitored schools’ transition to distance learning during school closures. In their review released Wednesday, researchers from CRPE wrote that less than half of the 100 school districts, and four of the 18 charter management organizations in their database were offering summer learning programs for elementary and middle school students. - June 4, 2020
In a year when the coronavirus robbed students of learning time, educators and policymakers are particularly worried that they’ve lost academic ground. An analysis of districts’ summer offerings, released June 3 by CRPE, found that even when districts are offering summer school, it’s a slimmed-down version. - , June 3, 2020
Researchers at the CRPE analyzed dozens of publicly available summer school plans and found that the lessons, where offered, are mostly review, optional and online. - June 2, 2020
As school districts start preparing for the 2020-21 fall reopening, we at CRPE are wrapping up our survey of responses to COVID-19 and our spring remote learning plan database, and turning our attention to the future. - , June 2, 2020
Many school districts haven’t announced plans for summer school. CRPE has been tracking remote learning during the crisis, found that as of May 12, just 26 out of 82 school districts have said they will offer summer school. - , June 2, 2020
More than two months after schools across the United States began closing in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the shutdown is taking a profound toll on the nation’s system of education, Reuters found by surveying nearly 60 school districts serving some 2.8 million students. Betheny Gross, associate director at CRPE, is quoted - , June 1, 2020
To stop COVID-19 dead in its tracks, many governors, mayors and superintendents are threatening to keep schools closed this fall, failing to consider the greater harm that comes from refusing to open them. Robin Lake at CRPE says that “elementary students [in urban districts] may have lost 30 percent of their reading skills.”
May 2020
- May 31, 2020
There is a lot of uncertainty around what this summer holds for out-of-school experiences, yet one thing is clear: its values are immense and planning for summer camps and classes should emphasize accessibility and affordability across the board whether virtually or safely in person. Furthermore, RESCHOOL and its partners at CRPE found in 2019 that 50% of available summer programs in the Denver Metro Area for kids over 5 years old cost more per hour than the minimum hourly wage, highlighting the difficult tradeoffs that some working-class families have to consider. - , May 29, 2020
“U.S. schools were not prepared for an overnight shift to virtual learning,” USA Today reported recently, a fact that became obvious to most parents as soon as schools were shut down by the pandemic. As Robin Lake and Bree Dusseault from CRPE noted recently, charter networks in particular were able to make “rapid leaps from the classroom to the cloud.” - May 28, 2020
The picture of instruction that has emerged since the coronavirus forced students and teachers into remote learning is clear and troubling: There’s less of it, and the children with the greatest need are getting the least. The defining question in K-12 education right now is “balancing the tension between high expectations and the need for flexibility” as everyone in the system tries to regain their footing, said Bree Dusseault, who’s been leading an analysis of districts’ coronavirus responses for CRPE. - , May 27, 2020
More than two months into this pandemic, an estimated one-third of school districts tracked by CRPE, representing hundreds of thousands of students across the country, are not requiring schools to provide remote instruction. - May 27, 2020
CRPE polled districts and found about 40% of those responding were not grading this term. - , May 26, 2020
America’s sprawling K-12 public education system is scrambling to move online, almost overnight, with little time to plan and even less clarity about what happens next. CRPE, a research and advocacy organization, has been tracking districts’ responses to the coronavirus crisis. - May 26, 2020
As the school year winds down and summer approaches, educators and those who support them are working to evaluate the success of the new programs and practices they put in place this spring so they can be prepared for whatever the new school year brings. The Evidence Project at CRPE. - May 25, 2020
Analysis by Sean Gill, a research analyst at CRPE. - , May 24, 2020
Since the Hawaii Department of Education closed schools in March and switched to distance learning to stem the spread of coronavirus, it has struggled to answer two critical questions: how many students are participating in online learning, and how many don’t have the tools or technology to access it? A report by CRPE is referenced. - , May 21, 2020
Seventeen percent of U.S. students don’t have access to computers at home, making the current transition to online learning a daily struggle for many teens. While that data is being collected, it is important to remember: “The crisis didn’t create inequity, the inequity was already there,” said Robin Lake, director of CRPE. - , May 20, 2020
The most effective argument made by opponents of school choice has long been the simple assertion that we can’t trust choice to yield decent options for every child. A report by the Center on Reinventing Public Education is referenced. The center is affiliated with the 56łÔąĎÍř. - – Journalistsresource.org, May 19, 2020
The Center on Reinventing Public Education at the 56łÔąĎÍř has a database that tracks how school districts are providing instruction. - , May 18, 2020
Across the country, widespread school closures have upended special education, which is administered through carefully constructed plans called Individualized Education Programs and require extensive services that are not easily transferred to the internet, even for families who have access. An analysis by the Center for Reinventing Public Education at 56łÔąĎÍř Bothell is referenced. - May 17, 2020
Now, amid the pandemic-driven national experiment in compulsory homeschooling and online learning, Success Academy and its chief, Eva Moskowitz, appear poised to shock the system again — offering both Âinspiration and rebuke. Only 44 percent of US school districts are providing instruction online and monitoring students’ attendance and progress, according to CRPE. - , May 14, 2020
Georgia Heyward, a research analyst at CRPE, is quoted. - May 14, 2020
Now, amid the pandemic-driven national experiment in compulsory homeschooling and online learning, Success Academy and its president and CEO, Eva Moskowitz, appear poised to shock the education system again—serving as both inspiration and rebuke. A survey by the Center on Reinventing Public Education is referenced. - , May 13, 2020
Since the middle of March, when schools across the country closed to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Center on Reinventing Public Education’s nationwide tracking effort has told a story of school systems slowly making the transition from the classroom to the cloud. - , May 12, 2020
Webcast with researchers from the Center on Reinventing Public Education who have been tracking how 100 school districts and charter school organizations nationwide transitioned to distance learning. - , May 12, 2020
Many U.S. schools have stopped taking attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes online, but one South Florida district has remained committed to the scholastic task, saying it is a way to keep students safe and productive while learning at home. Only a third of 100 school districts tracked by the Center on Reinventing Public Education in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic have said they are still taking attendance. - , May 12, 2020
Some researchers predict that school shutdowns could have dramatic negative effects, particularly in school districts like Chicago’s. School districts might look at how schools in New Orleans tried to catch students up after Hurricane Katrina, said Paul Hill, a University of Washington professor who founded the Center on Reinventing Public Education. - , May 12, 2020
As school winds down for more than 900,000 Colorado school children, parents who need to get back to work outside the home may not know until late May whether and how their children will be able to participate in summer camps. A study by the Center on Reinventing Public Education is referenced. - , May 11, 2020
With conventional schools shut down because of COVID-19, school officials are scrambling to provide students with education services through the use of online-learning tools. A new analysis by the Center on Reinventing Public Education compared the pivot to online learning at 18 charter school management organizations, which run networks of charter schools, and 82 public school districts across the country. - , May 10, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has done nothing to level the playing field of American education, and instead has widened the gaps that have always existed. The Center on Reinventing Public Education, a think tank, examined the remote learning policies of 100 public school districts and charter networks nationwide. - , May 7, 2020
The Committee on Education and Labor held a virtual member briefing to examine the learning challenges schools are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, briefed the committee.
>Watch briefing:
>Dr. Lake begins talking at 17:56. - , May 5, 2020
Marc Sternberg runs the Walton Family Foundation’s K-12 Education Program. Walton is one of the nation’s largest K-12 education donors, with a long-standing interest in new forms of educational delivery. Investments in organizations such as the Center for Reinventing Public Education and CREDO at Stanford University will allow us to take a rigorous look at all the activity happening during this time. - , May 4, 2020
Podcast: The director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, Robin Lake, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new report published by CRPE which details school district response plans to Covid-19. - , May 4, 2020
Schools and a handful of states have begun issuing guidelines on shaping the school day into something both manageable and productive for students. Sean Gill, a research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, is quoted. - , May 2, 2020
How one career and technical high school is going remote. Robin Lake, the director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education is quoted.
April 2020
- – , April 30, 2020
With schools across the country closed by the coronavirus pandemic, currently there’s no plan to prevent what could be long-lasting academic casualties. By Robin Lake. - – April 30, 2020
In the absence of grading — which, like BVSD, many districts are not doing at all or are only doing on a partial basis — feedback on the work students are completing has become the primary exchange between teachers and students. Feedback on student work is also one aspect of districts’ distance learning plans CRPE is tracking as part of a periodically updated database. - – , April 28, 2020
Despite President Trump’s prodding, most districts have no plans to end online lessons soon. To make up for lost classroom time, schools may need to provide remedial instruction, additional special-education services and counseling, said Robin Lake, director of CRPE. - – , April 28, 2020
Six weeks into COVID-19 school closures, and at roughly the midpoint of the final academic quarter of this school year, it is a good time to step back to assess what schools and districts have accomplished. Analysis by Robin Lake and Bree Dusseault of the CRPE. - – , April 28, 2020
On March 13, Florida schools announced an extended spring break, which would be followed by a statewide shutdown extending into April—and now, through the end of the school year. Commentary from Travis Pillow, editorial director for CRPE. - – , April 28, 2020
Nearly six weeks since most schools closed, CRPE reports more than half of the districts it is tracking are still not providing curriculum, instruction, and progress monitoring. - – , April 27, 2018
In stark contrast to the regular public system and even many private schools, the Success Academy charter network announced Monday that it will continue giving its students grades this year. Stephen Wilson of CRPE embedded in the SA remote-learning system for two days early on, and saw great success. - – , April 27, 2020
As the pandemic has forced classes online, not all students have been able to follow. Many school districts are not formally tracking attendance, according to CRPE which reviewed coronavirus education plans from 82 districts enrolling nine million students. - – , April 23, 2020
Confronting the unprecedented challenge of lengthy school closures because of coronavirus, the nation’s roughly 13,000 public school districts are scrambling to cope. “Nobody knows the right path forward,” said Robin Lake, director of CRPE, a nonpartisan education research center in Seattle that has compiled an online database of coronavirus response plans provided by scores of districts as a resource for other educators. - – April 23, 2020
More than three dozen states now have ordered or recommended that schools stay shut for the rest of this academic year, and so this nationwide experiment with distance learning continues. Bree Dusseault with CRPE is interviewed. - – , April 23, 20202
Are there ways educators could be taking advantage of the Every Student Succeeds Act to help students in need? The answer is yes, says Ashley Jochim, a senior research analyst at the CRPE in Seattle. - – April 22, 2020
Initial findings from the first month of CRPE’s in-depth reviews of district and charter school organizations’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis has revealed major gaps in learning opportunities available to students. - – , April 22, 2020
Wealthier households and districts are able to weather the virtual shift, while low income and special needs kids, not so much. Cites research by CRPE. - – , April 21, 2020
In Washington state, districts have spent weeks weighing the dilemma of trying to teach all students, or no students, remotely. Similar patterns were seen across the country: In late March, most of the 82 closed districts surveyed by the Seattle-based CRPE weren’t offering any instruction. - – , April 21, 2020
“The Risks of Homeschooling” published recently in Harvard Magazine presents Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Bartholet’s argument for a presumptive ban on homeschooling. Research by the CRPE is cited. - – , April 19, 2020
After a period of confusion caused by the U.S. Department of Education, school districts are rushing to get teaching and learning online. Opinion by Paul Hill, founder of CRPE. - – , April 17, 2020
In mid-March, the nation’s education community — school administrators, teachers, students and parents — began a crash course in e-learning. One likely consequence, for example, is a lag in student achievement, says Georgia Heyward, a research analyst at CRPE, which has created a database detailing and comparing the e-learning plans of school districts across the country. - – , April 16, 2020
The shutdown has been a stark reminder that we’ve also tasked schools with providing a vast web of social supports and services — from health care to counseling to meal service. Three weeks after schools started closing, the CRPE’s tracking of 82 major school systems drolly reported that “most districts are still not providing any instruction.” - – , April 15, 2020
More than a month has passed since the middle of March, when the majority of districts across the country closed. This week, we continue to track progress toward remote learning. Analysis by Robin Lake, director of CRPE. - – , April 15, 2020
CRPE is cataloging efforts by districts across the country to continue instruction for students as their schools are closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. - – , April 14, 2020
Although campuses are likely to reopen in the fall, the school day may unfold in starkly different ways, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday, suggesting staggered start times. Robin Lake, director of CRPE is quoted. - – , April 13, 2020
When the pandemic upended the school year, Oklahoma teacher Melissa Lau switched gears to teach her class the science of social distancing. CRPE is referenced. - – , April 13, 2020
School districts countrywide are learning their own lessons right now, all about distance learning. Robin Lake, director of CRPE, a nonpartisan research and policy analysis organization, says rushing into the wrong solution could create confusion, but she understands the clear urgency. - – April 13, 2020
The districts and schools most likely to succeed in remote education will be those that provide a substantial amount of synchronous instruction and live student–teacher interaction. References a database assembled by CRPE. - – April 12, 2020
Taking “attendance” in America’s schools has never been more complicated. But many districts aren’t formally tracking student attendance, according to a by CRPE and Chalkbeat reporting across the country. - – April 10, 2020
The new virus has once again shown us how badly we need swift boats, not ocean liners. It is high time we reinvented our public school systems. References a survey conducted by CRPE. - – g, April 10, 2020
Should DeVos Ask Congress To Waive Parts of the Special Education Law amid the Coronavirus Pandemic? Forum essay by Robin Lake, director of CRPE. - – April 10, 2020
What Washington schools have learned about the digital equity issues of confronting the coronavirus with online education. References a report by CRPE. - – April 9, 2020
- Education data guru Chris Minnich has some advice for school leaders: You may still be struggling to get food, hotspots and human connection to students, but right now is the time to plan for how school must be different next year if you’re going to address learning gaps widened by the pandemic. Data being collected by CRPE is referenced.
- – , April 8, 2020
A disruption in education also means the loss of critical special education services. Districts across Washington are scrambling to do what they can. Robin Lake, director of CRPE is quoted. - – , April 7, 2020
This report presents results from the first wave of AEI’s COVID-19 Education Response Longitudinal Survey (C-ERLS), which documents how a nationally representative sample of public schools is responding to the ongoing epidemic. CRPE was the first to develop a publicly available online database tracking the responses to closure in 101 large public school districts and charter management organizations. - – , April 7, 2020
As public schools across the country build out remote learning plans to support students during school closures prompted by the novel coronavirus, some of the nation’s most prominent charter networks have made rapid leaps from the classroom to the cloud. Analysis by Robin Lake, director of CRPE. - – , April 6, 2020
Critical building blocks of an effective educational experience are still missing in most places. Analysis by Robin Lake, director of CRPE. - – , April 6,2020
Few urban districts yet offer synchronous learning at all, and many leave families to scour online for learning resources. Opinion by Steven Wilson, a senior fellow with CRPE. - – , April 6, 2020
Q&A with Robin Lake, the director of the CRPE, which is tracking district responses to school closures in real time, and making that data publicly available. - – , April 2, 2020
While the impact of the pandemic on education doesn’t have an official start date in the United States, by March 11th, many of Washington state’s schools, including in Seattle, were closed for business. Experts like Robin Lake of CRPE agree that while we must address these unprecedented challenges, you don’t stop, because not all can’t benefit. - – , April 2, 2020
Another early source on how prepared districts were for such an abrupt shift is CRPE’s database of districts’ closure response plans. The center is affiliated with the 56łÔąĎÍř. - – , April 2, 2020
The COVID-19 crisis threatens to undo years of educational efforts to help disadvantaged students catch up to their more affluent classmates. The editorial cites a report by CRPE. - – April 1, 2020
Robin Lake is the director of CRPE, which is tracking district responses to school closures in real time, and making that data publicly available. This effort has been widely praised for shedding light on how districts are tackling challenges like providing meals, solving internet connectivity issues, and rolling out distance learning plans.