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"content": "\u003cp>\"Rough as hell.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's how one high school principal in Nevada describes the 2021-'22 school year, when conflicts with parents and community members were all too common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Something needs to change or else we will all quit,\" says another principal, in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those voices are part of a new, nationally representative survey of 682 public high school principals, many of whom describe a level of tension and division within their broader school communities that is not only high but, in the words of one Utah principal, making the job harder \"than any other era in my 20 years of administrative experience.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Rogers, a professor of education at UCLA, helped lead the survey effort and says, while an earlier, 2018 survey of principals revealed conflicts spilling into schools, \"what's different in 2022 is that a lot of the political conflict is being \u003cem>targeted\u003c/em> at public schools,\" especially in narrowly divided \"purple\" districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two-thirds (69%) of principals surveyed report \"substantial political conflict\" with parents or members of the community last year over several controversial topics:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Teaching about issues of race and racism\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ student rights\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Social-emotional learning\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Student access to books in the school library\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The survey was conducted during the summer of 2022 by the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA and the Civic Engagement Research Group at UC Riverside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resulting report is rich with detail and gut-punch quotes that school leaders offered researchers in exchange for anonymity. NPR was not able to independently verify educators' stories or identities. Below are a handful of the survey's biggest takeaways.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Schools in purple districts saw more political conflict\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Nearly half (45%) of principals surveyed say the level of parent/community conflict they saw last year was either \"more\" or \"much more\" than anything they'd seen before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just 3% say they felt less conflict last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Principals cite many stressors, including a kind of ambient anxiety created by the pandemic that was then exacerbated by the spread of misinformation on social media, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the divisive tenure of former President Trump, and, most importantly, the role of national, largely conservative organizations in galvanizing parents and turning schools into culture war battlegrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the more politically divided a community is, the more likely principals are to say their schools have been riven by conflict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers found that schools in purple congressional districts (where Trump won 45–54.9% of the vote in 2020) were more likely to experience \"acute\" levels of political conflict than schools in blue districts (where the vote for Trump dipped below 45%) or in red districts (where Trump support exceeded 55%).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And those political conflicts can also play out between students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost seven of 10 (69%) principals report \"students have made demeaning or hateful remarks towards classmates for expressing either liberal or conservative views.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I had to come down and help the teacher, like a veteran teacher, who's never had\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>problems having discussions,\" remembers one Iowa principal. \"And the kids were just so stuck in their trenches, they weren't willing to be open to even listen to the other side.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Misinformation is making it hard to teach lots of things, including media literacy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In many places, according to the survey, misinformation sparked fires of conflict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We had a group of parents that went bananas on us on the masking, and believed that we were encouraging kids to get a shot that surely had a microchip in it because the government wanted to control their brains,\" remembers one Nevada principal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This same principal, who says he is a registered Republican in a predominantly conservative district, worries that parents' belief in misinformation has had a chilling effect on schools' ability to talk about current events and even recent history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You can't [use newspapers] anymore. You can't use CNN because the parents will go nuts on you. You can't use Fox because it's so out there. It's hard to teach kids about what's going on in any kind of context, because there is no context anymore.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two-thirds (64%) of principals report that parents or community members pushed back against information used in classrooms. And this tug-of-war over facts \"grew almost three-fold in purple communities between 2018 and 2022,\" according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The only way I think we're going to get out of a situation like this is teaching kids, and maybe even the greater public at large, what is good information,\" opines one Nebraska principal.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Schools in purple districts were more likely to put limits on teaching about race and racism\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The bitter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/11/03/texas-donors-critical-race-theory\">politicized\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/26/1124082878/how-social-emotional-learning-became-a-frontline-in-the-battle-against-crt\">fight\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/18/1093277449/florida-mathematics-textbooks\">around\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/01/22/1075055539/critical-race-theory-mississippi-protest\">critical\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1012696188/how-critical-race-theory-went-from-harvard-law-to-fox-news\">race\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/11/1015120437/texas-lawmakers-take-aim-at-critical-race-theory\">theory\u003c/a> has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/08/1062407301/san-antonio-school-district-reviewing-library-books-after-krause-inquiry\">been\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/13/1122621454/ideas-that-make-up-critical-race-theory-have-been-around-long-before-it-got-its-\">well\u003c/a>-\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1052707177/education-in-virginias-election-it-wasnt-just-about-critical-race-theory\">documented\u003c/a>. But this survey sheds new light on just how pervasive those conflicts were in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly half of principals, according to the report, say parents or other members of their communities tried \"to limit or challenge ... teaching and learning about issues of race and racism\" last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In purple districts, nearly two-thirds (63%) of principals noted that kind of community pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only that, many district leaders gave in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly a quarter (23%) of principals in purple communities told researchers that district leaders, including school board members, \"took action to limit teaching and learning about race and racism.\" That was higher than in both red communities (17%) and blue communities (8%).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"My superintendent told me in no uncertain terms that I could not address issues of race and bias...\" one Minnesota principal remembers. \"He told me, 'This is not the time or the place to do this here. You have to remember you are in the heart of Trump country and you're just going to start a big mess if you start talking about that stuff.' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another principal, in Ohio, says when a group of angry parents found no evidence of CRT in his school's social studies curriculum, they accused him of \"teaching undercover CRT.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are trying to weather this storm and see if we can get through it,\" the Ohio principal says, even as his staff \"has become scared ... worried that ... if I talk about the Civil Rights Movement and Jim Crow, am I going to be accused of telling White people they are bad?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Harassment of LGBTQ+ students is rising\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Nearly half (48%) of principals say they faced outside efforts, from parents or the broader community, to \"challenge or limit LGBTQ+ students' rights,\" with principals in purple communities almost twice as likely as those in more conservative or liberal areas to say they \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/08/1085190476/florida-senate-passes-a-controversial-schools-bill-labeled-dont-say-gay-by-criti\">faced\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/10/1091543359/15-states-dont-say-gay-anti-transgender-bills\">multiple\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/10/27/1049634164/texas-new-law-restricts-transgender-athletes-participation-on-school-sports-team\">such\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089533801/how-florida-teachers-plan-to-deal-with-dont-say-gay-rules\">efforts\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A California principal says, \"one counselor described to me how a parent screamed at her on the phone\" and used an anti-gay slur. \"It's quite disheartening to work so hard and care for all our students when so many people are being hateful and threatening.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey results also reveal a mirroring effect – where adult efforts to curtail LGBTQ+ students' rights parallel rising rates of students themselves harassing LGBTQ+ classmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The percentage of principals indicating multiple attacks on LGBTQ+ students grew across all schools,\" according to the report, \"from 15% in 2018 to 24% in 2022.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In purple communities, however, that number more than tripled.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Principals believe the majority of parents don't support these conflicts\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In spite of the pressure and its toll, many principals say they believe the vast majority of parents do not support the conflicts that have so divided their schools, that many of these fights are driven by \"small clusters of hate,\" as one North Carolina principal puts it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Principals believe this silent majority remained silent last year \"because they're too busy or overwhelmed or are afraid that if they become engaged, they're going to face danger,\u003cem>\" \u003c/em>UCLA's Rogers says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers' collaborator, Joseph Kahne, a professor of education at UC Riverside, warns that silence isn't healthy for a school system that is meant to serve all children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If the vast majority of folks are quiet, then folks who have very strong opinions or who are willing to engage in very contentious politics will have an outsized influence,\" Kahne warns. \"If all parents and community members speak up, and if they have reasoned and focused conversations, that dialogue will be good for schools.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Kahne and Rogers argue, good for democracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two-thirds (69%) of principals surveyed report \"substantial political conflict\" with parents or members of the community last year over several controversial topics:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Teaching about issues of race and racism\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ student rights\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Social-emotional learning\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Student access to books in the school library\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The survey was conducted during the summer of 2022 by the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA and the Civic Engagement Research Group at UC Riverside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resulting report is rich with detail and gut-punch quotes that school leaders offered researchers in exchange for anonymity. NPR was not able to independently verify educators' stories or identities. Below are a handful of the survey's biggest takeaways.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Schools in purple districts saw more political conflict\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Nearly half (45%) of principals surveyed say the level of parent/community conflict they saw last year was either \"more\" or \"much more\" than anything they'd seen before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just 3% say they felt less conflict last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Principals cite many stressors, including a kind of ambient anxiety created by the pandemic that was then exacerbated by the spread of misinformation on social media, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the divisive tenure of former President Trump, and, most importantly, the role of national, largely conservative organizations in galvanizing parents and turning schools into culture war battlegrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the more politically divided a community is, the more likely principals are to say their schools have been riven by conflict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers found that schools in purple congressional districts (where Trump won 45–54.9% of the vote in 2020) were more likely to experience \"acute\" levels of political conflict than schools in blue districts (where the vote for Trump dipped below 45%) or in red districts (where Trump support exceeded 55%).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And those political conflicts can also play out between students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost seven of 10 (69%) principals report \"students have made demeaning or hateful remarks towards classmates for expressing either liberal or conservative views.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I had to come down and help the teacher, like a veteran teacher, who's never had\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>problems having discussions,\" remembers one Iowa principal. \"And the kids were just so stuck in their trenches, they weren't willing to be open to even listen to the other side.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Misinformation is making it hard to teach lots of things, including media literacy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In many places, according to the survey, misinformation sparked fires of conflict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We had a group of parents that went bananas on us on the masking, and believed that we were encouraging kids to get a shot that surely had a microchip in it because the government wanted to control their brains,\" remembers one Nevada principal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This same principal, who says he is a registered Republican in a predominantly conservative district, worries that parents' belief in misinformation has had a chilling effect on schools' ability to talk about current events and even recent history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You can't [use newspapers] anymore. You can't use CNN because the parents will go nuts on you. You can't use Fox because it's so out there. It's hard to teach kids about what's going on in any kind of context, because there is no context anymore.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two-thirds (64%) of principals report that parents or community members pushed back against information used in classrooms. And this tug-of-war over facts \"grew almost three-fold in purple communities between 2018 and 2022,\" according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The only way I think we're going to get out of a situation like this is teaching kids, and maybe even the greater public at large, what is good information,\" opines one Nebraska principal.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Schools in purple districts were more likely to put limits on teaching about race and racism\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The bitter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/11/03/texas-donors-critical-race-theory\">politicized\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/26/1124082878/how-social-emotional-learning-became-a-frontline-in-the-battle-against-crt\">fight\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/18/1093277449/florida-mathematics-textbooks\">around\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/01/22/1075055539/critical-race-theory-mississippi-protest\">critical\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1012696188/how-critical-race-theory-went-from-harvard-law-to-fox-news\">race\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/11/1015120437/texas-lawmakers-take-aim-at-critical-race-theory\">theory\u003c/a> has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/08/1062407301/san-antonio-school-district-reviewing-library-books-after-krause-inquiry\">been\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/13/1122621454/ideas-that-make-up-critical-race-theory-have-been-around-long-before-it-got-its-\">well\u003c/a>-\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1052707177/education-in-virginias-election-it-wasnt-just-about-critical-race-theory\">documented\u003c/a>. But this survey sheds new light on just how pervasive those conflicts were in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly half of principals, according to the report, say parents or other members of their communities tried \"to limit or challenge ... teaching and learning about issues of race and racism\" last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In purple districts, nearly two-thirds (63%) of principals noted that kind of community pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only that, many district leaders gave in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly a quarter (23%) of principals in purple communities told researchers that district leaders, including school board members, \"took action to limit teaching and learning about race and racism.\" That was higher than in both red communities (17%) and blue communities (8%).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"My superintendent told me in no uncertain terms that I could not address issues of race and bias...\" one Minnesota principal remembers. \"He told me, 'This is not the time or the place to do this here. You have to remember you are in the heart of Trump country and you're just going to start a big mess if you start talking about that stuff.' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another principal, in Ohio, says when a group of angry parents found no evidence of CRT in his school's social studies curriculum, they accused him of \"teaching undercover CRT.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are trying to weather this storm and see if we can get through it,\" the Ohio principal says, even as his staff \"has become scared ... worried that ... if I talk about the Civil Rights Movement and Jim Crow, am I going to be accused of telling White people they are bad?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Harassment of LGBTQ+ students is rising\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Nearly half (48%) of principals say they faced outside efforts, from parents or the broader community, to \"challenge or limit LGBTQ+ students' rights,\" with principals in purple communities almost twice as likely as those in more conservative or liberal areas to say they \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/08/1085190476/florida-senate-passes-a-controversial-schools-bill-labeled-dont-say-gay-by-criti\">faced\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/10/1091543359/15-states-dont-say-gay-anti-transgender-bills\">multiple\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/10/27/1049634164/texas-new-law-restricts-transgender-athletes-participation-on-school-sports-team\">such\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089533801/how-florida-teachers-plan-to-deal-with-dont-say-gay-rules\">efforts\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A California principal says, \"one counselor described to me how a parent screamed at her on the phone\" and used an anti-gay slur. \"It's quite disheartening to work so hard and care for all our students when so many people are being hateful and threatening.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey results also reveal a mirroring effect – where adult efforts to curtail LGBTQ+ students' rights parallel rising rates of students themselves harassing LGBTQ+ classmates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The percentage of principals indicating multiple attacks on LGBTQ+ students grew across all schools,\" according to the report, \"from 15% in 2018 to 24% in 2022.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In purple communities, however, that number more than tripled.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Principals believe the majority of parents don't support these conflicts\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In spite of the pressure and its toll, many principals say they believe the vast majority of parents do not support the conflicts that have so divided their schools, that many of these fights are driven by \"small clusters of hate,\" as one North Carolina principal puts it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Principals believe this silent majority remained silent last year \"because they're too busy or overwhelmed or are afraid that if they become engaged, they're going to face danger,\u003cem>\" \u003c/em>UCLA's Rogers says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers' collaborator, Joseph Kahne, a professor of education at UC Riverside, warns that silence isn't healthy for a school system that is meant to serve all children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If the vast majority of folks are quiet, then folks who have very strong opinions or who are willing to engage in very contentious politics will have an outsized influence,\" Kahne warns. \"If all parents and community members speak up, and if they have reasoned and focused conversations, that dialogue will be good for schools.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Kahne and Rogers argue, good for democracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=School+principals+say+culture+wars+made+last+year+%27rough+as+hell%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "play-is-crucial-for-middle-schoolers-too",
"title": "Play Is Crucial for Middle Schoolers, Too",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CHANTILLY, Va. — In Fairfax County, Virginia, thousands of middle school students experience what most of their peers leave behind in elementary school — recess.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The break is only 15 minutes long. But at Rocky Run Middle School, about 25 miles west of the nation’s capital, the seventh and eighth graders make the most of one of the few stretches of time in school that they can truly call their own. Fairfax County schools, a district of around 181,000 students, has taken an unusual step in mandating recess for all its middle school students.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a day in early fall, a large group of students tossed their backpacks in a messy pile and made a beeline towards the school’s blacktop for pickup basketball and soccer games. A kickball game started up on the baseball field, with a teacher handling pitching duties to keep the action moving. Smaller groups of students headed to the school’s gym, while others peeled off towards the cafeteria to play board games, get in some extra study time with their Chromebooks, or just chat with their friends.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a break after all this other stuff you have to do,” said 12-year-old Colin Bigley, a seventh grader playing the board game Sorry! with three friends. “Playing outside is also nice. You have the option of what you’re going to do.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Aminah Naqvi, a 13-year-old eighth grader, loves the social time. She was hanging out with friends on the blacktop, shooting baskets. “You might not get to see your friends if you don’t have the same lunch,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even the school’s principal, Amy Goodloe, agrees that play is important. “There’s really high value for students and, I will underscore, teachers to have that break in the day,” she said. “We underestimate how important that is as a partner to academic learning.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60298\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play4-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, made a 15-minute recess break mandatory for middle school. At Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia, dozens of students took the opportunity to get some fresh air. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Fairfax County is an exception. In most communities, opportunities for play and playful learning tend to recede in middle school, replaced by direct instruction, competitive sports and tightly structured academic time. Educators and researchers say students pay the price. Young adolescents go through profound \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31449373/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">physical, emotional and physiological changes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">;\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> play inside and outside the classroom can provide one way \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.ucsc.edu/dist/a/409/files/2017/07/MSBT-Report-8.28.18-19gf2qp.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">for kids to develop healthy bonds with friends and become more self-confident\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I teach at a K-8 school, and when I look at these seventh and eighth graders, they’re no different than the kindergarteners,” said Robert Lane, a STEM teacher at the Sierra Verde STEAM Academy in Glendale, Arizona. “They get excited when I bring out Play Doh and googly eyes.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lane’s class is entirely built around playful learning. For example, the modeling clay and other crafts were used as part of a stop-motion animation project in his classroom. Other activities for the school’s older students included creating cardboard roller coasters to be judged by the school’s second graders and building a robot that can move without wheels.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60295\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60295\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play1-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Middle school students in Robert Lane’s STEM class dig through a box of supplies for a class project. Lane, a teacher at Sierra Verde STEAM Academy in Glendale, Arizona, says play is just as popular with older students as it is with the younger ones he works with. \u003ccite>(Image courtesy of Robert Lane)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I break them into groups where they don’t know each other and they just go all in,” said Lane, who also hosts a podcast as “Mr. Lane the STEM Guy.” The activities also give his students a chance to learn how to cooperate, accept failure when it happens, and solve problems as a team, he said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I want these kids to have all these soft skills as they get ready to go to high school and to college,” Lane said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to developing soft skills, recess is a tool that can get adolescents moving more at a time of life when they become much more sedentary.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60296\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60296\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Robert Lane’s STEM class at Sierra Verde STEAM Academy in Glendale, Arizona, playful learning takes the place of lectures and workbooks. Lane says this type of work builds so-called “soft” skills like cooperation and resilience. \u003ccite>(Image courtesy of Robert Lane)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/182251\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A 2008 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> used accelerometers to capture the activity levels of youth from ages 9 to 15. Nine-year-olds, on average, engaged in three hours of moderate to vigorous activity on weekends and weekdays, well above the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/children/what_counts.htm\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">recommendation of 60 minutes a day\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The researchers found that activity levels plunged as children reached adolescence. By age 15, they were getting an average of 49 minutes on weekdays and 35 minutes on weekends. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With benefits that appear so clear, why does middle school seem to mark an end to both unstructured play time and playful learning? There are several competing challenges, both logistical and social.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Middle schools generally have more students than elementary schools, and the students themselves are taller and heavier. It’s challenging for school leaders to find enough space and teacher supervision to manage hundreds of children during a break time. The supervision is particularly important because, while middle schoolers crave time with their friends, unstructured time like recess, lunchtime and passing between classes often offers \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://violence.chop.edu/bullying-schools\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">fertile opportunities for bullying\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60301\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60301\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play7-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Unstructured play and playful learning is usually left behind by middle school, but experts say adolescents need opportunities for play just as much as younger students. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fairfax County educators had to come up with new solutions. “The logistics were a little bit hard to figure out,” said Cynthia Conley, the principal of Washington Irving Middle School in Springfield, Virginia. Irving, with about \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:::NO::P0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID,P0_EDSL:151,0\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">1,200 students\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, is one of the Fairfax County schools that has added recess to its schedule. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have four lunch shifts, and we had to figure out how to have four breaks,” said Conley. To accommodate all the students on break at any given time, administrators have opened up several different recess areas for students, including the gym, the blacktop, and the library, which features chess sets, card games, and an exercise bike with a built-in bookstand.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“As soon as their feet hit the outside they are shooting, throwing, whatever they have in mind,” Conley said. “I’ve heard people say, why do they need a break. If you can, find me an adult who doesn’t need a 15-minute break during their work day. Everybody takes a break, to look away from the screen a little bit.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60304\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60304\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play10-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia, provides several popular games, such as Connect 4, for students who want to play indoors during their 15-minute recess period. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An additional challenge is that middle school students don’t think like younger students. Some athletic equipment won’t be enough to engage all, or even most of them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rebecca London, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has studied what happens when educators add break or recess time for middle school students. In the middle schools she observed, the sports activities were often dominated by older boys. Younger boys and girls, even athletes, tended to spend break times walking and talking unless schools made an extra effort to set up activities that would attract them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One powerful way to do that is for adults to play alongside students, even if adolescents sometimes act as if they want to get away from adults.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60303\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60303\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play9-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adolescents often respond warmly when adults play along with them, and the adult presence often creates a safe space for those who are more shy or less athletic, say researchers. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“As soon as the adults start playing, the kids want to play,” London said. “Kids inherently crave that. It’s an opportunity for kids to be seen as an expert or a leader.” A warm adult presence also makes the situation feel safer for students who may not be sports stars. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“For all those reasons, it’s great to have adults out there leading games, connecting with students in different ways,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fairfax County piloted a middle school recess break for the 2021-22 school year. Last April, the school board \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://wjla.com/news/local/an-important-break-recess-will-soon-be-required-at-all-fairfax-county-middle-schools\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">voted to make the break mandatory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for all the district’s middle schools, starting in 2022-23. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/CCLKUS53985E/%24file/P2100.3%20Wellness%20Policy03.24.2022.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">District policy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for elementary students requires at least 30 minutes of recess a day over two segments. There is no recess policy in the district for high school students. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60302\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60302\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play8-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students watch a kickball game during recess at Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia. Fairfax County schools implemented a recess period for all of its middle schools, starting in the 2022-23 school year. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Advocates for the change say it filled a real need. “All of our students need some time to rejuvenate,” said Ricardy Anderson, one of the champions of the recess policy on the school board and a former middle school principal. “We have middle school students that get into the building at 7:15 in the morning and they don’t leave the building until 2:30.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Anderson said that’s why it’s essential for students “to have a little bit of freedom to do what they’d like to do — to be free of the noise of the cafeteria. just to get some fresh air, just to have a little break in the day. The outdoors component is even more critical.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parents of elementary school children are often the driving force behind recess policies, but London, the sociology professor, hasn’t seen that same level of energy behind break times for older students. She thinks the isolation kids experienced during the first phase of the pandemic makes break time even more crucial. “It’s going to take a long time before these kids are fully recovered,” she said. “We may need even more play for older kids.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60297\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play3-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two students work on a stop-motion animation project in Robert Lane’s STEM class at Sierra Verde STEAM Academy in Glendale, Arizona. \u003ccite>(Image courtesy of Robert Lane)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lane, at the Sierra STEAM Academy, said that another barrier may be parents and school administrators who may not see the importance of playful learning.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Teachers are under so much pressure to get to a certain point,” he said, and they’re also under a microscope. Parents might not understand why class time is spent on playful learning as opposed to more clearly academic pursuits, for example. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seventh and eighth graders spend a quarter each year engaged in hands-on projects in his classroom, adding up to a semester of active learning. These activities allow students to explore their passions and also understand why failure is part of learning, Lane said. “That’s a K-8 thing, campus-wide. We don’t get frustrated. We come back, we play smarter. And the seventh and eighth graders, they crave it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60305\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60305\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play11-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Because Rocky Run Middle has to accommodate hundreds of students during its mandatory recess period, administrators open several spaces, including the gym. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite the difficulties that may come with figuring out how to squeeze play into upper grades, London said school leaders have the benefit of a set of opinionated experts — the students themselves.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If you’re going to start a recess, you should ask your students what they want to do in that time,” he said. “You can even create a school climate task force; the students who volunteer to help think about that time can be tapped as leaders. They know what they need.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/play-is-crucial-for-middle-schoolers-too/\">middle school and play\u003c/a> was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hechinger Report newsletters\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Unstructured time and playful learning are as essential for middle school students as they are for younger children, say researchers and educators. Play offers an opportunity for students to bond with their friends and learn “soft skills” that will serve them well in college and beyond. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CHANTILLY, Va. — In Fairfax County, Virginia, thousands of middle school students experience what most of their peers leave behind in elementary school — recess.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The break is only 15 minutes long. But at Rocky Run Middle School, about 25 miles west of the nation’s capital, the seventh and eighth graders make the most of one of the few stretches of time in school that they can truly call their own. Fairfax County schools, a district of around 181,000 students, has taken an unusual step in mandating recess for all its middle school students.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a day in early fall, a large group of students tossed their backpacks in a messy pile and made a beeline towards the school’s blacktop for pickup basketball and soccer games. A kickball game started up on the baseball field, with a teacher handling pitching duties to keep the action moving. Smaller groups of students headed to the school’s gym, while others peeled off towards the cafeteria to play board games, get in some extra study time with their Chromebooks, or just chat with their friends.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a break after all this other stuff you have to do,” said 12-year-old Colin Bigley, a seventh grader playing the board game Sorry! with three friends. “Playing outside is also nice. You have the option of what you’re going to do.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Aminah Naqvi, a 13-year-old eighth grader, loves the social time. She was hanging out with friends on the blacktop, shooting baskets. “You might not get to see your friends if you don’t have the same lunch,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even the school’s principal, Amy Goodloe, agrees that play is important. “There’s really high value for students and, I will underscore, teachers to have that break in the day,” she said. “We underestimate how important that is as a partner to academic learning.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60298\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play4-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, made a 15-minute recess break mandatory for middle school. At Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia, dozens of students took the opportunity to get some fresh air. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Fairfax County is an exception. In most communities, opportunities for play and playful learning tend to recede in middle school, replaced by direct instruction, competitive sports and tightly structured academic time. Educators and researchers say students pay the price. Young adolescents go through profound \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31449373/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">physical, emotional and physiological changes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">;\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> play inside and outside the classroom can provide one way \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.ucsc.edu/dist/a/409/files/2017/07/MSBT-Report-8.28.18-19gf2qp.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">for kids to develop healthy bonds with friends and become more self-confident\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I teach at a K-8 school, and when I look at these seventh and eighth graders, they’re no different than the kindergarteners,” said Robert Lane, a STEM teacher at the Sierra Verde STEAM Academy in Glendale, Arizona. “They get excited when I bring out Play Doh and googly eyes.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lane’s class is entirely built around playful learning. For example, the modeling clay and other crafts were used as part of a stop-motion animation project in his classroom. Other activities for the school’s older students included creating cardboard roller coasters to be judged by the school’s second graders and building a robot that can move without wheels.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60295\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60295\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play1-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Middle school students in Robert Lane’s STEM class dig through a box of supplies for a class project. Lane, a teacher at Sierra Verde STEAM Academy in Glendale, Arizona, says play is just as popular with older students as it is with the younger ones he works with. \u003ccite>(Image courtesy of Robert Lane)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I break them into groups where they don’t know each other and they just go all in,” said Lane, who also hosts a podcast as “Mr. Lane the STEM Guy.” The activities also give his students a chance to learn how to cooperate, accept failure when it happens, and solve problems as a team, he said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I want these kids to have all these soft skills as they get ready to go to high school and to college,” Lane said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to developing soft skills, recess is a tool that can get adolescents moving more at a time of life when they become much more sedentary.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60296\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60296\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Robert Lane’s STEM class at Sierra Verde STEAM Academy in Glendale, Arizona, playful learning takes the place of lectures and workbooks. Lane says this type of work builds so-called “soft” skills like cooperation and resilience. \u003ccite>(Image courtesy of Robert Lane)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/182251\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A 2008 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> used accelerometers to capture the activity levels of youth from ages 9 to 15. Nine-year-olds, on average, engaged in three hours of moderate to vigorous activity on weekends and weekdays, well above the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/children/what_counts.htm\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">recommendation of 60 minutes a day\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The researchers found that activity levels plunged as children reached adolescence. By age 15, they were getting an average of 49 minutes on weekdays and 35 minutes on weekends. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With benefits that appear so clear, why does middle school seem to mark an end to both unstructured play time and playful learning? There are several competing challenges, both logistical and social.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Middle schools generally have more students than elementary schools, and the students themselves are taller and heavier. It’s challenging for school leaders to find enough space and teacher supervision to manage hundreds of children during a break time. The supervision is particularly important because, while middle schoolers crave time with their friends, unstructured time like recess, lunchtime and passing between classes often offers \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://violence.chop.edu/bullying-schools\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">fertile opportunities for bullying\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60301\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60301\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play7-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Unstructured play and playful learning is usually left behind by middle school, but experts say adolescents need opportunities for play just as much as younger students. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fairfax County educators had to come up with new solutions. “The logistics were a little bit hard to figure out,” said Cynthia Conley, the principal of Washington Irving Middle School in Springfield, Virginia. Irving, with about \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:::NO::P0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID,P0_EDSL:151,0\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">1,200 students\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, is one of the Fairfax County schools that has added recess to its schedule. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have four lunch shifts, and we had to figure out how to have four breaks,” said Conley. To accommodate all the students on break at any given time, administrators have opened up several different recess areas for students, including the gym, the blacktop, and the library, which features chess sets, card games, and an exercise bike with a built-in bookstand.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“As soon as their feet hit the outside they are shooting, throwing, whatever they have in mind,” Conley said. “I’ve heard people say, why do they need a break. If you can, find me an adult who doesn’t need a 15-minute break during their work day. Everybody takes a break, to look away from the screen a little bit.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60304\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60304\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play10-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia, provides several popular games, such as Connect 4, for students who want to play indoors during their 15-minute recess period. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An additional challenge is that middle school students don’t think like younger students. Some athletic equipment won’t be enough to engage all, or even most of them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rebecca London, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has studied what happens when educators add break or recess time for middle school students. In the middle schools she observed, the sports activities were often dominated by older boys. Younger boys and girls, even athletes, tended to spend break times walking and talking unless schools made an extra effort to set up activities that would attract them.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One powerful way to do that is for adults to play alongside students, even if adolescents sometimes act as if they want to get away from adults.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60303\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60303\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play9-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adolescents often respond warmly when adults play along with them, and the adult presence often creates a safe space for those who are more shy or less athletic, say researchers. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“As soon as the adults start playing, the kids want to play,” London said. “Kids inherently crave that. It’s an opportunity for kids to be seen as an expert or a leader.” A warm adult presence also makes the situation feel safer for students who may not be sports stars. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“For all those reasons, it’s great to have adults out there leading games, connecting with students in different ways,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fairfax County piloted a middle school recess break for the 2021-22 school year. Last April, the school board \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://wjla.com/news/local/an-important-break-recess-will-soon-be-required-at-all-fairfax-county-middle-schools\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">voted to make the break mandatory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for all the district’s middle schools, starting in 2022-23. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/CCLKUS53985E/%24file/P2100.3%20Wellness%20Policy03.24.2022.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">District policy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for elementary students requires at least 30 minutes of recess a day over two segments. There is no recess policy in the district for high school students. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60302\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60302\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play8-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students watch a kickball game during recess at Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia. Fairfax County schools implemented a recess period for all of its middle schools, starting in the 2022-23 school year. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Advocates for the change say it filled a real need. “All of our students need some time to rejuvenate,” said Ricardy Anderson, one of the champions of the recess policy on the school board and a former middle school principal. “We have middle school students that get into the building at 7:15 in the morning and they don’t leave the building until 2:30.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Anderson said that’s why it’s essential for students “to have a little bit of freedom to do what they’d like to do — to be free of the noise of the cafeteria. just to get some fresh air, just to have a little break in the day. The outdoors component is even more critical.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parents of elementary school children are often the driving force behind recess policies, but London, the sociology professor, hasn’t seen that same level of energy behind break times for older students. She thinks the isolation kids experienced during the first phase of the pandemic makes break time even more crucial. “It’s going to take a long time before these kids are fully recovered,” she said. “We may need even more play for older kids.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60297\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play3-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two students work on a stop-motion animation project in Robert Lane’s STEM class at Sierra Verde STEAM Academy in Glendale, Arizona. \u003ccite>(Image courtesy of Robert Lane)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lane, at the Sierra STEAM Academy, said that another barrier may be parents and school administrators who may not see the importance of playful learning.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Teachers are under so much pressure to get to a certain point,” he said, and they’re also under a microscope. Parents might not understand why class time is spent on playful learning as opposed to more clearly academic pursuits, for example. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seventh and eighth graders spend a quarter each year engaged in hands-on projects in his classroom, adding up to a semester of active learning. These activities allow students to explore their passions and also understand why failure is part of learning, Lane said. “That’s a K-8 thing, campus-wide. We don’t get frustrated. We come back, we play smarter. And the seventh and eighth graders, they crave it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60305\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60305\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Samuels-MS-Play11-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Because Rocky Run Middle has to accommodate hundreds of students during its mandatory recess period, administrators open several spaces, including the gym. \u003ccite>(Tom Sandner for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite the difficulties that may come with figuring out how to squeeze play into upper grades, London said school leaders have the benefit of a set of opinionated experts — the students themselves.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If you’re going to start a recess, you should ask your students what they want to do in that time,” he said. “You can even create a school climate task force; the students who volunteer to help think about that time can be tapped as leaders. They know what they need.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/play-is-crucial-for-middle-schoolers-too/\">middle school and play\u003c/a> was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hechinger Report newsletters\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">OKLAHOMA CITY — Two third-graders sat on the floor of their classroom and lined up a row of dominoes along the edge of a low-lying table. They positioned themselves at each end of the row of rectangles, leaned in, and blew. The dominoes tumbled forward, crashing into each other. The girls flung their heads back and laughed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In another part of the room, two students spontaneously connected a set of wooden orbs to sticks to mimic planets circling a sun.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a solar system,” one of the students said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The third-graders in Crystal O’Brien’s class darted from station to station — laughing, arguing, playing. But it wasn’t indoor recess — play is one of the ways students learn every day in O’Brien’s science and social studies class at Shidler Elementary School. Throughout the day, O’Brien weaves free and structured play into her class time. During structured play, O’Brien guides the topic and provides parameters. But during free play, she only asks them to connect something they learned that day to their chosen play activity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They are able to choose whatever materials they want to play with in the room, but I encourage them to think about what we’ve been doing in our science block when they’re playing,” O’Brien said. “And sometimes they’ll just naturally do that. They’ll tell me, ‘Look, this is an example of gravity. This is an unbalanced force. This is a chain reaction.’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While play-based learning remains relatively rare in elementary classrooms, Oklahoma City is among a small number of school districts across the country experimenting with increased play time for children as old as 8 or 9. In Watertown, New York, for example, educators have been teaching through play in pre-K and kindergarten for years, said former Superintendent Patti LaBarr, but the district recently shifted to encouraging play for older elementary students, too. And in Austin, Texas, one school official has started training elementary teachers to use Lego Education products toys as a play-based learning tool during class time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60270\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60270\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary4-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A third grade student sets the last domino down in a row along the edge of a table while playing in Crystal O’Brien’s classroom at Shidler Elementary School in Oklahoma City. \u003ccite>(Ariel Gilreath/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The growing focus on play in older grades is not always easy, as teachers contend with pressure to meet standardized testing mandates and a lack of support from some administrators. But educators who have turned to play-based learning say the approach is particularly helpful now, as pandemic disruptions have left students with social, emotional and behavioral gaps.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It can be difficult to explain what play-based learning looks like, said Mara Krechevsky, senior researcher at Project Zero, an education research group in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Over the past seven years, Krechevsky and her research team have been working on a project called the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.pz.harvard.edu/projects/pedagogy-of-play\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pedagogy of Play\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, studying play-based learning at schools in Boston, Denmark, South Africa and Colombia.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Through their research, Krechevsky’s group came up with three basic tenets for playful learning: students should be able to help lead their own learning, explore the unknown, and find joy. Under this framework, play time doesn’t have to be the reward for completing work and learning. Play can actually be the work, Krechevsky said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Much of the impetus for the shift in Oklahoma City comes from Stephanie Hinton, who started overseeing pre-K through second grade at Oklahoma City Public Schools a few years ago. She knew she wanted to encourage hands-on, playful learning as much as possible. The approach worked for her as a teacher, and it’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.13730\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">backed up by research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Shidler Elementary, most students qualify for free and reduced lunch and test scores have \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://oklaschools.com/school/988/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">historically been low\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It’s the kind of school where, typically, it’s difficult to get everyone on board with play-based learning, Hinton said. Despite those challenges, play has begun to catch on in its classrooms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There is this push for skill and drill in schools and communities where we’re not passing the test,” Hinton said. It can be easy to think the solution is assigning more schoolwork and sending home more worksheets, Hinton added. That’s because worksheets are black and white — either the student knows the answer to the questions on the assignment or they don’t. But Hinton said regurgitating answers on a piece of paper isn’t a sign of understanding.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s not authentic, it’s not true learning,” she said. “And we know from research that when it comes down to it, it hasn’t engaged enough of the brain to make it permanent learning.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60269\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60269\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary3-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crystal O’Brien, center, plays with her third grade students during free play time in her classroom at Shidler Elementary School in Oklahoma City. Free play, which is when O’Brien lets students play any way they want, is a regular part of their class time. \u003ccite>(Ariel Gilreath/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But letting kids learn through play is hard to grasp for educators who have been trained to follow the rules and structure of a traditional school setting, said Peg Drappo, who runs the pre-K program in Watertown City School District in New York. Watertown began to increase its focus on playful learning in 2015, when the district received a federal grant that helped expand play in its pre-K program. In the seven years since, Drappo and the district’s superintendent have been helping teachers of the older grades who approached them about adding play to their own classrooms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when she was an elementary school principal several years ago, Drappo didn’t understand what playful learning was supposed to look like. Now, when she speaks at conferences on play-based learning, she tells a story about visiting a kindergarten classroom when she was a principal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The kids were all over the place, all over the floor doing things — just like a kindergarten classroom should be. But I did not know this world of pre-K and play, so I said to [the teacher], ‘I’ll come back to your classroom when you’re teaching,’” Drappo said. “Now when I walk into a classroom and it’s loud and a teacher apologizes, I say, ‘Stop apologizing. This is how it’s supposed to sound.’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60271\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60271\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary5-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of third graders in Crystal O’Brien’s class at Shidler Elementary School in Oklahoma City play with toys during a part of class time in which they are allowed to play however they want. At other times of the day, O’Brien guides the students through playful lessons. \u003ccite>(Ariel Gilreath/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Oklahoma, playful learning has support from lawmakers as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before becoming a teacher, Oklahoma state Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, a Democrat, thought all students were taught lessons through play. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I became a teacher back in 2012 and I realized it’s [play] not even accepted anymore as a way to learn, even in the younger grades,” Rosecrants said. “Some schools do it great, but I’m talking about the way that I learned — going outside, playing, discovering — that type of thing was not something that was focused on in any of the public schools I went to [as a teacher].” (Rosecrants left teaching in 2017 when he was elected to represent Norman, Oklahoma in the state house.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a middle school teacher, Rosecrants said, he rebelled against the idea that students should learn via memorization, drills, and worksheets. In 2021, the Oklahoma legislature \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2021-22%20ENR/hB/HB1569%20ENR.PDF\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">passed a law\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that encourages the use of play in pre-K through third grade classrooms. The law, which was written by Rosecrants with bi-partisan assistance, also forbids administrators from prohibiting educators’ use of a play-based approach to teaching.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’ve had a lot of teachers who asked me to print it out so they can post it in their classroom, because administrators will come in and be like, ‘Hey, we gotta hit this standard, what are you doing?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, we’re hitting this standard, but we’re [doing it] with blocks,’” Rosecrants said. “I want to add a piece to [the law] probably this year … to require training for play-based learning for all administrators in pre-K through third grade.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60273\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60273\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary8-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Educators at Blake Manor Elementary School say that students learn important math and problem-solving skills while they build, code and play with robots. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some schools are trying to increase play by turning to STEM-focused activities, like building robots with Lego Education products. Manor Independent School District, a district of about 9,000 students just east of Austin, Texas, launched a robotics program around a decade ago, in an attempt to bring more playful learning to students in the early years of elementary school. For several years, robotics was mostly confined to an after-school program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jacob Luevano, the innovative teaching strategist at Manor ISD, said he has been working to train teachers to integrate robotics into their classrooms. “I think now more than ever, we need [playful learning] in the classrooms,” Luevano said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So far, Luevano has had more success in getting robotics activities introduced to classrooms in kindergarten through second grade than in upper elementary, which he attributes, in part, to the pressure of standardized testing that starts in third grade. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60272\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60272\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary7-800x562.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"562\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A student at Blake Manor Elementary School in Manor, Texas, works on a Lego Robotics program during a morning meeting of the school’s robotics club. The Manor Independent School District is trying to increase play opportunities for students by using Lego Robotics. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As children recover from the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic, active, playful learning is more important than ever because it strengthens social and emotional skills, said Hinton in Oklahoma City. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This isn’t just about play. This is about building relationships, and social-emotional learning,” Hinton said. “Sometimes when an adult is losing their mind about something, I think: I wonder what your play behaviors were like as a child?” It helps, she clarifies, if children have already experienced losing in a cooperative setting — whether at Monopoly, Hi Ho! Cherry-O or another game. “How you handle that, it says a lot about where you are in your social emotional development,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In O’Brien’s classroom in Oklahoma City, there are no desks. Instead, students sit at round tables or on a rug in front of the whiteboard, depending on the activity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recently, the class learned about static electricity. O’Brien set up stations with different items — balloons, tissue, paper — to show the kids how static electricity works. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I asked them to figure out how they could make these different materials move without directly touching them,” O’Brien said. After that, she led a discussion on what the students discovered and presented them with some technical, scientific terms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year is O’Brien’s first back at Shidler Elementary. She left the district in 2021 to get a master’s degree in early childhood education and work at a private preschool in Colorado that uses the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/parenting/reggio-emilia-preschool.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Reggio Emilia approach\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to teaching, an approach born in Italy that encompasses significant play.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like other play-based programs, Reggio Emilia is most often seen in private and affluent preschool classrooms. When O’Brien made the decision to return to Shidler Elementary, she was partly on a mission to bring play-based learning to a public setting. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s not something that should just be for the elite, and I think all children can benefit from learning this way,” O’Brien said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/in-elementary-classrooms-demand-grows-for-play-based-learning/\">play-based learning\u003c/a> was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hechinger Reporter newsletters\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jackie Mader contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Correction: This story has been updated to note that Manor ISD in Texas is using LEGO Education products.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">OKLAHOMA CITY — Two third-graders sat on the floor of their classroom and lined up a row of dominoes along the edge of a low-lying table. They positioned themselves at each end of the row of rectangles, leaned in, and blew. The dominoes tumbled forward, crashing into each other. The girls flung their heads back and laughed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In another part of the room, two students spontaneously connected a set of wooden orbs to sticks to mimic planets circling a sun.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a solar system,” one of the students said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The third-graders in Crystal O’Brien’s class darted from station to station — laughing, arguing, playing. But it wasn’t indoor recess — play is one of the ways students learn every day in O’Brien’s science and social studies class at Shidler Elementary School. Throughout the day, O’Brien weaves free and structured play into her class time. During structured play, O’Brien guides the topic and provides parameters. But during free play, she only asks them to connect something they learned that day to their chosen play activity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They are able to choose whatever materials they want to play with in the room, but I encourage them to think about what we’ve been doing in our science block when they’re playing,” O’Brien said. “And sometimes they’ll just naturally do that. They’ll tell me, ‘Look, this is an example of gravity. This is an unbalanced force. This is a chain reaction.’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While play-based learning remains relatively rare in elementary classrooms, Oklahoma City is among a small number of school districts across the country experimenting with increased play time for children as old as 8 or 9. In Watertown, New York, for example, educators have been teaching through play in pre-K and kindergarten for years, said former Superintendent Patti LaBarr, but the district recently shifted to encouraging play for older elementary students, too. And in Austin, Texas, one school official has started training elementary teachers to use Lego Education products toys as a play-based learning tool during class time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60270\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60270\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary4-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A third grade student sets the last domino down in a row along the edge of a table while playing in Crystal O’Brien’s classroom at Shidler Elementary School in Oklahoma City. \u003ccite>(Ariel Gilreath/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The growing focus on play in older grades is not always easy, as teachers contend with pressure to meet standardized testing mandates and a lack of support from some administrators. But educators who have turned to play-based learning say the approach is particularly helpful now, as pandemic disruptions have left students with social, emotional and behavioral gaps.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It can be difficult to explain what play-based learning looks like, said Mara Krechevsky, senior researcher at Project Zero, an education research group in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Over the past seven years, Krechevsky and her research team have been working on a project called the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.pz.harvard.edu/projects/pedagogy-of-play\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pedagogy of Play\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, studying play-based learning at schools in Boston, Denmark, South Africa and Colombia.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Through their research, Krechevsky’s group came up with three basic tenets for playful learning: students should be able to help lead their own learning, explore the unknown, and find joy. Under this framework, play time doesn’t have to be the reward for completing work and learning. Play can actually be the work, Krechevsky said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Much of the impetus for the shift in Oklahoma City comes from Stephanie Hinton, who started overseeing pre-K through second grade at Oklahoma City Public Schools a few years ago. She knew she wanted to encourage hands-on, playful learning as much as possible. The approach worked for her as a teacher, and it’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.13730\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">backed up by research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Shidler Elementary, most students qualify for free and reduced lunch and test scores have \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://oklaschools.com/school/988/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">historically been low\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It’s the kind of school where, typically, it’s difficult to get everyone on board with play-based learning, Hinton said. Despite those challenges, play has begun to catch on in its classrooms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There is this push for skill and drill in schools and communities where we’re not passing the test,” Hinton said. It can be easy to think the solution is assigning more schoolwork and sending home more worksheets, Hinton added. That’s because worksheets are black and white — either the student knows the answer to the questions on the assignment or they don’t. But Hinton said regurgitating answers on a piece of paper isn’t a sign of understanding.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s not authentic, it’s not true learning,” she said. “And we know from research that when it comes down to it, it hasn’t engaged enough of the brain to make it permanent learning.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60269\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60269\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary3-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crystal O’Brien, center, plays with her third grade students during free play time in her classroom at Shidler Elementary School in Oklahoma City. Free play, which is when O’Brien lets students play any way they want, is a regular part of their class time. \u003ccite>(Ariel Gilreath/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But letting kids learn through play is hard to grasp for educators who have been trained to follow the rules and structure of a traditional school setting, said Peg Drappo, who runs the pre-K program in Watertown City School District in New York. Watertown began to increase its focus on playful learning in 2015, when the district received a federal grant that helped expand play in its pre-K program. In the seven years since, Drappo and the district’s superintendent have been helping teachers of the older grades who approached them about adding play to their own classrooms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when she was an elementary school principal several years ago, Drappo didn’t understand what playful learning was supposed to look like. Now, when she speaks at conferences on play-based learning, she tells a story about visiting a kindergarten classroom when she was a principal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The kids were all over the place, all over the floor doing things — just like a kindergarten classroom should be. But I did not know this world of pre-K and play, so I said to [the teacher], ‘I’ll come back to your classroom when you’re teaching,’” Drappo said. “Now when I walk into a classroom and it’s loud and a teacher apologizes, I say, ‘Stop apologizing. This is how it’s supposed to sound.’”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60271\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60271\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary5-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of third graders in Crystal O’Brien’s class at Shidler Elementary School in Oklahoma City play with toys during a part of class time in which they are allowed to play however they want. At other times of the day, O’Brien guides the students through playful lessons. \u003ccite>(Ariel Gilreath/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Oklahoma, playful learning has support from lawmakers as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before becoming a teacher, Oklahoma state Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, a Democrat, thought all students were taught lessons through play. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I became a teacher back in 2012 and I realized it’s [play] not even accepted anymore as a way to learn, even in the younger grades,” Rosecrants said. “Some schools do it great, but I’m talking about the way that I learned — going outside, playing, discovering — that type of thing was not something that was focused on in any of the public schools I went to [as a teacher].” (Rosecrants left teaching in 2017 when he was elected to represent Norman, Oklahoma in the state house.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a middle school teacher, Rosecrants said, he rebelled against the idea that students should learn via memorization, drills, and worksheets. In 2021, the Oklahoma legislature \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2021-22%20ENR/hB/HB1569%20ENR.PDF\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">passed a law\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that encourages the use of play in pre-K through third grade classrooms. The law, which was written by Rosecrants with bi-partisan assistance, also forbids administrators from prohibiting educators’ use of a play-based approach to teaching.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’ve had a lot of teachers who asked me to print it out so they can post it in their classroom, because administrators will come in and be like, ‘Hey, we gotta hit this standard, what are you doing?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, we’re hitting this standard, but we’re [doing it] with blocks,’” Rosecrants said. “I want to add a piece to [the law] probably this year … to require training for play-based learning for all administrators in pre-K through third grade.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60273\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60273\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary8-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Educators at Blake Manor Elementary School say that students learn important math and problem-solving skills while they build, code and play with robots. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some schools are trying to increase play by turning to STEM-focused activities, like building robots with Lego Education products. Manor Independent School District, a district of about 9,000 students just east of Austin, Texas, launched a robotics program around a decade ago, in an attempt to bring more playful learning to students in the early years of elementary school. For several years, robotics was mostly confined to an after-school program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jacob Luevano, the innovative teaching strategist at Manor ISD, said he has been working to train teachers to integrate robotics into their classrooms. “I think now more than ever, we need [playful learning] in the classrooms,” Luevano said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So far, Luevano has had more success in getting robotics activities introduced to classrooms in kindergarten through second grade than in upper elementary, which he attributes, in part, to the pressure of standardized testing that starts in third grade. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60272\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60272\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Gilreath-Play-Elementary7-800x562.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"562\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A student at Blake Manor Elementary School in Manor, Texas, works on a Lego Robotics program during a morning meeting of the school’s robotics club. The Manor Independent School District is trying to increase play opportunities for students by using Lego Robotics. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As children recover from the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic, active, playful learning is more important than ever because it strengthens social and emotional skills, said Hinton in Oklahoma City. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This isn’t just about play. This is about building relationships, and social-emotional learning,” Hinton said. “Sometimes when an adult is losing their mind about something, I think: I wonder what your play behaviors were like as a child?” It helps, she clarifies, if children have already experienced losing in a cooperative setting — whether at Monopoly, Hi Ho! Cherry-O or another game. “How you handle that, it says a lot about where you are in your social emotional development,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In O’Brien’s classroom in Oklahoma City, there are no desks. Instead, students sit at round tables or on a rug in front of the whiteboard, depending on the activity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recently, the class learned about static electricity. O’Brien set up stations with different items — balloons, tissue, paper — to show the kids how static electricity works. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I asked them to figure out how they could make these different materials move without directly touching them,” O’Brien said. After that, she led a discussion on what the students discovered and presented them with some technical, scientific terms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year is O’Brien’s first back at Shidler Elementary. She left the district in 2021 to get a master’s degree in early childhood education and work at a private preschool in Colorado that uses the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/parenting/reggio-emilia-preschool.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Reggio Emilia approach\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to teaching, an approach born in Italy that encompasses significant play.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like other play-based programs, Reggio Emilia is most often seen in private and affluent preschool classrooms. When O’Brien made the decision to return to Shidler Elementary, she was partly on a mission to bring play-based learning to a public setting. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s not something that should just be for the elite, and I think all children can benefit from learning this way,” O’Brien said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/in-elementary-classrooms-demand-grows-for-play-based-learning/\">play-based learning\u003c/a> was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hechinger Reporter newsletters\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jackie Mader contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Correction: This story has been updated to note that Manor ISD in Texas is using LEGO Education products.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-complex-world-of-pre-k-play-young-kids-benefit-from-play-but-what-should-it-look-like",
"title": "Young Kids Benefit From Play. But What Should It Look Like?",
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"headTitle": "Young Kids Benefit From Play. But What Should It Look Like? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SEATTLE — On a bright October morning, two dozen 4- and 5-year-olds were scattered around a classroom at Impact Salish Sea Elementary in south Seattle, enthralled by plastic food, dolls, blocks and clay. In the center of the room, four children buzzed around a wooden play kitchen, mixing various pretend food items in pots and pans. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m making chocolate cupcakes,” proclaimed Rosa, age 5. A few feet away, Jordyn, 4, was carefully washing plastic dishes in a bright red sink filled with water, before drying them off with a blue towel. When their teacher, Shareece DeLeon, took a seat at a pint-sized table in the middle of the kitchen, the children paused and turned to look. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Our customer is here!” one student proclaimed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With challenging elementary standards and kindergarten readiness assessments looming, some may question whether educators should be spending so much time on play. But child development experts agree that this type of playful activity is exactly what young students should be doing every day — now more than ever since young children lost crucial opportunities to play and build social and pre-academic skills during the pandemic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Play is uniquely imperative for young children given that the parts of the brain that are most developed in the earliest years are those that respond to play and activity, experts say. Young children have shown \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://parentingscience.com/benefits-of-play/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">improved language skills\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, math skills and problem-solving skills after playing. Certain types of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.12695\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">imaginative play\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have been found to improve perseverance. When children play, their brains release \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.primalplay.com/blog/play-and-the-feel-good-hormones\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">chemicals\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that can impact memory, motivation, attention and mood, and help regulate emotions and support social skills. Play is so powerful, there is evidence that it can \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/twenty-six-studies-point-to-more-play-for-young-children/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">close achievement gaps\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> between children ages three to six.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We don’t have to see it as a choice between play or academics, play should be academics for preschoolers,” said \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alissa Mwenelupembe, the senior director for early learning program accreditation at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But what does that look like? Experts and educators \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">generally agree on \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/five-essentials-meaningful-play\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a few main principles\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> when it comes to quality play for young kids: It should be a defining feature of the day and not just a brief diversion, like recess; there should be some element of choice — allowing kids to pick an activity and decide how to pursue it; it should be enjoyable and spontaneous; and in most cases, a supportive adult should provide at least some guidance and help reinforce academic and social emotional concepts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Beyond those tenets, what learning through play looks like on the ground — or playground, as the case may be — can vary greatly based on a program’s approach or philosophy. Play in early ed settings is more deliberate and nuanced — not to mention important — than the casual observer realizes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “When you’re actually really being intentional with how they’re going to play, they do pick up a lot more and they understand a lot more,” said DeLeon. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60263\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60263\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A teacher accepts plastic food items from one of her students.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shareece DeLeon, a teacher at Impact Public School’s Salish Sea Elementary, accepts plastic food items from one of her students during a 90-minute block of play time. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Impact Salish Sea Elementary, one of three elementary charter schools in the Seattle area run by Impact Public Schools, educators focus on “imaginary play,” like pretending to run a restaurant or hospital, as a tool to teach young children self-regulation and cognitive skills. The approach is partially inspired by Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who saw \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play-based-learning/according-experts/role-make-believe-play-development-self-regulation\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">imaginative play as a critical activity\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to support a child’s development. This differs from “immature play,” where children “don’t interact with each other and flit from thing to thing,” said Deborah Leong, co-founder and president of Tools of the Mind, the organization behind the curriculum used by Impact and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://toolsofthemind.org/learn/locations-alignments/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">dozens of other school\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> districts and charter schools nationwide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers act as “play mentors” to help children develop and create a scenario, build props, and plan out their play. Classrooms embrace themes — like grocery store or home — and transform their space accordingly. Children have around 90 minutes each day for this play time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This daily experience ultimately supports the development of “mature” play, where children are able to stay in pretend roles for a longer period of time, Leong said. “It’s the foundation for being able to imagine a world that’s different from what you’re living in,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60266\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60266\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK5-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The front of a school building with bricks and windows. The school name, Impact, is written above the double door entrance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Impact Salish Sea Elementary, in south Seattle, is one of three charter schools run by Impact Public Schools. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just a few weeks into the school year, the students at Impact Salish Sea were still learning the routines of their transitional kindergarten classroom, a year meant to prepare 4- and 5-year-olds for kindergarten. Play period began one mid-October morning with students picking a colorful clothespin from a board and affixing it to their shirt. The different colors of the clothespins corresponded to various play centers in the classroom. As children fanned out across the room, the classroom’s two teachers circulated. They stopped to watch various students, asking questions about their play, and encouraging them to count as they used blocks to build rocket ships or problem solve when the water in the sink became too cold. When a young charge approached DeLeon after the doll she wanted was taken by another student, DeLeon encouraged her to go talk to her peer and try to work it out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While such classrooms can look different from traditional elementary classrooms, and even appear chaotic at times, students are indeed learning how to interact with their peers and solidifying early math, science and literacy skills. “It’s not just play for play’s sake,” said Lauren Ellis, senior director of programs at Impact Public Schools, though free play is also important, she added. Students at Impact also receive nearly an hour of recess a day, play games throughout the day and have a block of free play near the end of the day. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Having frequent opportunities to play is something experts with NAEYC look for when assessing the quality of preschools. Regardless of the school’s curriculum or approach, NAEYC evaluators want children to be engaged in play and have some choice about their activities for a “substantial” part of the day, said Mwenelupembe.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One sign of quality play is when children are interacting with materials and peers, she added. Teachers should be asking questions that “stretch” emerging knowledge, and helping children navigate conflicts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60264\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60264\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two children play with blocks and other tools during a morning play session at Impact Salish Sea Elementary.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students at Impact Salish Sea Elementary play during a long, morning play session. The school uses a curriculum by Tools of the Mind that emphasizes imaginative play. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Play can be seen as a spectrum, ranging from direct, teacher-led instruction on one end, to free play on the other, said Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. While there are benefits to other types of play, the sweet spot for classrooms is in the middle at “guided play,” she added, where children play with a learning goal in mind and educators provide gentle guidance. That does not, however, include activities that some teachers may view as play, she added, like making letters out of Play-Doh. “That is direct instruction in play clothes,” she said, since children are being told exactly what to do with their materials.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet some play advocates lean more toward a form of free play that includes no adult-directed learning goal or teacher direction. AnjiPlay, a philosophy that originated in the Zhejiang Province of China about 20 years ago and has pilot programs around the world, provides children with at least two hours of uninterrupted outdoor play each day using materials like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.anjiplay.com/materials\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ladders, barrels and climbing cubes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Children have additional play time inside, read daily and spend time reflecting on their play through drawings and discussion.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The goal, as stated on the organization’s website, is to enable “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.anjiplay.com/rights\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">deep and uninterrupted engagement\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” in a chosen play activity. While teachers are on hand, they do not steer or guide students at all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Children make the distinction between play that belongs to them, and play that is coming from somebody else,” said Jesse Coffino, CEO of Anji Education, Inc. and chair of the True Play Foundation. “I don’t see guided play as play,” he said. “There’s specific learning outcomes that an adult has decided are important.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This type of child-led, free play is beneficial and all too often lacking, said Doris Bergen, a distinguished professor emeritus at Miami University of Ohio’s Department of Educational Psychology whose research has focused on child development and play. Bergen finds it worrisome when “children have too much structured time when they’re young,” adding that they should be permitted to make up their own rules and pursue their own interests at least part of the time. “They need to have some control, and some time where they are deciding what to do … and where to be, and what to use.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60261\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60261\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK6-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Experts say providing ample time for play is even more important now than ever, helping to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on young children, many of whom missed out on opportunities to play and build relationships with their peers. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The obstacles to introducing more play opportunities can be formidable: \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/11/teaching-pre-k-higher-standards-not-enough-training-and-the-importance-of-purposeful-play.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rigorous\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> academic concepts are \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307895775_Pulling_preK_1_into_a_K-12_orbit_the_evolution_of_preK_in_the_age_of_standards\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sliding down\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the preschool years as kids are prepped for more challenging early elementary grades. In addition, research shows teachers may not have support for play-based learning from some school \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/academics-vs-play\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">principals\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who don’t understand that young children learn most readily through play, or teachers may get \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1350293X.2019.1678717?src=recsys\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">pushback from parents\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who fear children won’t be prepared for kindergarten. Play and free-choice time can be even more restricted in classrooms that serve \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200609000726?via%3Dihub\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">high rates of low-income, Black or Hispanic children\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, research shows. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given the constraints many teachers are under when introducing or \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/04/playtime-for-preschoolers-essential-study-says/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">expanding play time\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, some experts try not to get consumed in debates over approach. Instead, they say, they advise educators to get going however they can. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Any amount of play someone brings, we should be celebrating it,” said Sally Haughey, a former early childhood educator who taught in public and private settings for nearly 20 years before founding an organization that trains educators in play-based learning. Teachers who want to include more play can start simply by adding some student-led play time in their day, she added. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Start with what’s freely chosen and just keep expanding it.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even if teachers have a strict curriculum to teach, it’s possible to infuse more play, said Temple’s Hirsh-Pasek. “It’s redoing the mindset of how you teach the curriculum,” she added, like swapping out a worksheet about numbers with a physical activity where kids can jump, run and compare distances to learn about counting, adding and subtracting. More training and support could help. “It’s imperative that we start putting it in teacher preparation right now,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amber Unger, a pre-K teacher in Milwaukee who has been teaching for 14 years, encourages teachers to look at their schedules to find a few minutes a day to add or expand free-choice play. If teachers typically start the day with desk work, for example, she suggests swapping that out with play time, even just once a week to start. Unger’s efforts are supported by her district, which has embraced a play-based approach to pre-K, but she knows other teachers who don’t have that support. “We all have different situations,” she said. “You just need to do the best you can with the knowledge and experience you have.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60262\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60262\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A 4-year-old child washes dishes as part of a classroom activity.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jordyn, 4, washes dishes during a unit about the home in one of Impact Salish Sea’s transitional kindergarten, or TK, class. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unger, who also runs a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://creamcityteacher.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">website\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> which helps teachers incorporate play-based learning strategies, slots a “play workshop” into her longest, uninterrupted block of time each day. During that time, children are free to play at 17 different centers around her classroom. Over the past few years, she has increased the amount of play in her room by looking for opportunities to make moments “playful” during the day: encouraging students to pretend to be butterflies while walking down the hallway or using playful activities to reinforce skills taught during brief periods of direct instruction, like making patterns out of shells and corks. “Play is the vehicle to make that happen,” she said. “I 100 percent, confidently believe that play allows our students to practice what we are teaching them.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, Unger said it’s taken years of research and practice to nurture her approach to play-based learning, and she is still learning and finding what works best for her students. “I definitely see more opportunities for play than what I did five years ago,” she said. “I was so hung up on doing play ‘right’ … There isn’t a right way and a wrong way to do play.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/the-complex-world-of-pre-k-play/\">learning through play\u003c/a> was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation. Sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/earlychildhood/\">Hechinger Report newsletters\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Correction: This article has been updated to reflect Lauren Ellis’ job title.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SEATTLE — On a bright October morning, two dozen 4- and 5-year-olds were scattered around a classroom at Impact Salish Sea Elementary in south Seattle, enthralled by plastic food, dolls, blocks and clay. In the center of the room, four children buzzed around a wooden play kitchen, mixing various pretend food items in pots and pans. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m making chocolate cupcakes,” proclaimed Rosa, age 5. A few feet away, Jordyn, 4, was carefully washing plastic dishes in a bright red sink filled with water, before drying them off with a blue towel. When their teacher, Shareece DeLeon, took a seat at a pint-sized table in the middle of the kitchen, the children paused and turned to look. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Our customer is here!” one student proclaimed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With challenging elementary standards and kindergarten readiness assessments looming, some may question whether educators should be spending so much time on play. But child development experts agree that this type of playful activity is exactly what young students should be doing every day — now more than ever since young children lost crucial opportunities to play and build social and pre-academic skills during the pandemic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Play is uniquely imperative for young children given that the parts of the brain that are most developed in the earliest years are those that respond to play and activity, experts say. Young children have shown \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://parentingscience.com/benefits-of-play/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">improved language skills\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, math skills and problem-solving skills after playing. Certain types of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.12695\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">imaginative play\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have been found to improve perseverance. When children play, their brains release \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.primalplay.com/blog/play-and-the-feel-good-hormones\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">chemicals\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that can impact memory, motivation, attention and mood, and help regulate emotions and support social skills. Play is so powerful, there is evidence that it can \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/twenty-six-studies-point-to-more-play-for-young-children/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">close achievement gaps\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> between children ages three to six.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We don’t have to see it as a choice between play or academics, play should be academics for preschoolers,” said \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alissa Mwenelupembe, the senior director for early learning program accreditation at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But what does that look like? Experts and educators \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">generally agree on \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/five-essentials-meaningful-play\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a few main principles\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> when it comes to quality play for young kids: It should be a defining feature of the day and not just a brief diversion, like recess; there should be some element of choice — allowing kids to pick an activity and decide how to pursue it; it should be enjoyable and spontaneous; and in most cases, a supportive adult should provide at least some guidance and help reinforce academic and social emotional concepts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Beyond those tenets, what learning through play looks like on the ground — or playground, as the case may be — can vary greatly based on a program’s approach or philosophy. Play in early ed settings is more deliberate and nuanced — not to mention important — than the casual observer realizes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “When you’re actually really being intentional with how they’re going to play, they do pick up a lot more and they understand a lot more,” said DeLeon. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60263\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60263\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A teacher accepts plastic food items from one of her students.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shareece DeLeon, a teacher at Impact Public School’s Salish Sea Elementary, accepts plastic food items from one of her students during a 90-minute block of play time. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Impact Salish Sea Elementary, one of three elementary charter schools in the Seattle area run by Impact Public Schools, educators focus on “imaginary play,” like pretending to run a restaurant or hospital, as a tool to teach young children self-regulation and cognitive skills. The approach is partially inspired by Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who saw \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play-based-learning/according-experts/role-make-believe-play-development-self-regulation\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">imaginative play as a critical activity\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to support a child’s development. This differs from “immature play,” where children “don’t interact with each other and flit from thing to thing,” said Deborah Leong, co-founder and president of Tools of the Mind, the organization behind the curriculum used by Impact and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://toolsofthemind.org/learn/locations-alignments/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">dozens of other school\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> districts and charter schools nationwide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers act as “play mentors” to help children develop and create a scenario, build props, and plan out their play. Classrooms embrace themes — like grocery store or home — and transform their space accordingly. Children have around 90 minutes each day for this play time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This daily experience ultimately supports the development of “mature” play, where children are able to stay in pretend roles for a longer period of time, Leong said. “It’s the foundation for being able to imagine a world that’s different from what you’re living in,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60266\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60266\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK5-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The front of a school building with bricks and windows. The school name, Impact, is written above the double door entrance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Impact Salish Sea Elementary, in south Seattle, is one of three charter schools run by Impact Public Schools. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just a few weeks into the school year, the students at Impact Salish Sea were still learning the routines of their transitional kindergarten classroom, a year meant to prepare 4- and 5-year-olds for kindergarten. Play period began one mid-October morning with students picking a colorful clothespin from a board and affixing it to their shirt. The different colors of the clothespins corresponded to various play centers in the classroom. As children fanned out across the room, the classroom’s two teachers circulated. They stopped to watch various students, asking questions about their play, and encouraging them to count as they used blocks to build rocket ships or problem solve when the water in the sink became too cold. When a young charge approached DeLeon after the doll she wanted was taken by another student, DeLeon encouraged her to go talk to her peer and try to work it out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While such classrooms can look different from traditional elementary classrooms, and even appear chaotic at times, students are indeed learning how to interact with their peers and solidifying early math, science and literacy skills. “It’s not just play for play’s sake,” said Lauren Ellis, senior director of programs at Impact Public Schools, though free play is also important, she added. Students at Impact also receive nearly an hour of recess a day, play games throughout the day and have a block of free play near the end of the day. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Having frequent opportunities to play is something experts with NAEYC look for when assessing the quality of preschools. Regardless of the school’s curriculum or approach, NAEYC evaluators want children to be engaged in play and have some choice about their activities for a “substantial” part of the day, said Mwenelupembe.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One sign of quality play is when children are interacting with materials and peers, she added. Teachers should be asking questions that “stretch” emerging knowledge, and helping children navigate conflicts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60264\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60264\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two children play with blocks and other tools during a morning play session at Impact Salish Sea Elementary.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students at Impact Salish Sea Elementary play during a long, morning play session. The school uses a curriculum by Tools of the Mind that emphasizes imaginative play. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Play can be seen as a spectrum, ranging from direct, teacher-led instruction on one end, to free play on the other, said Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. While there are benefits to other types of play, the sweet spot for classrooms is in the middle at “guided play,” she added, where children play with a learning goal in mind and educators provide gentle guidance. That does not, however, include activities that some teachers may view as play, she added, like making letters out of Play-Doh. “That is direct instruction in play clothes,” she said, since children are being told exactly what to do with their materials.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet some play advocates lean more toward a form of free play that includes no adult-directed learning goal or teacher direction. AnjiPlay, a philosophy that originated in the Zhejiang Province of China about 20 years ago and has pilot programs around the world, provides children with at least two hours of uninterrupted outdoor play each day using materials like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.anjiplay.com/materials\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ladders, barrels and climbing cubes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Children have additional play time inside, read daily and spend time reflecting on their play through drawings and discussion.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The goal, as stated on the organization’s website, is to enable “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.anjiplay.com/rights\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">deep and uninterrupted engagement\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” in a chosen play activity. While teachers are on hand, they do not steer or guide students at all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Children make the distinction between play that belongs to them, and play that is coming from somebody else,” said Jesse Coffino, CEO of Anji Education, Inc. and chair of the True Play Foundation. “I don’t see guided play as play,” he said. “There’s specific learning outcomes that an adult has decided are important.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This type of child-led, free play is beneficial and all too often lacking, said Doris Bergen, a distinguished professor emeritus at Miami University of Ohio’s Department of Educational Psychology whose research has focused on child development and play. Bergen finds it worrisome when “children have too much structured time when they’re young,” adding that they should be permitted to make up their own rules and pursue their own interests at least part of the time. “They need to have some control, and some time where they are deciding what to do … and where to be, and what to use.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60261\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60261\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK6-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Experts say providing ample time for play is even more important now than ever, helping to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on young children, many of whom missed out on opportunities to play and build relationships with their peers. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The obstacles to introducing more play opportunities can be formidable: \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/11/teaching-pre-k-higher-standards-not-enough-training-and-the-importance-of-purposeful-play.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rigorous\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> academic concepts are \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307895775_Pulling_preK_1_into_a_K-12_orbit_the_evolution_of_preK_in_the_age_of_standards\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sliding down\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the preschool years as kids are prepped for more challenging early elementary grades. In addition, research shows teachers may not have support for play-based learning from some school \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/academics-vs-play\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">principals\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who don’t understand that young children learn most readily through play, or teachers may get \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1350293X.2019.1678717?src=recsys\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">pushback from parents\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who fear children won’t be prepared for kindergarten. Play and free-choice time can be even more restricted in classrooms that serve \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200609000726?via%3Dihub\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">high rates of low-income, Black or Hispanic children\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, research shows. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given the constraints many teachers are under when introducing or \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/04/playtime-for-preschoolers-essential-study-says/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">expanding play time\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, some experts try not to get consumed in debates over approach. Instead, they say, they advise educators to get going however they can. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Any amount of play someone brings, we should be celebrating it,” said Sally Haughey, a former early childhood educator who taught in public and private settings for nearly 20 years before founding an organization that trains educators in play-based learning. Teachers who want to include more play can start simply by adding some student-led play time in their day, she added. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Start with what’s freely chosen and just keep expanding it.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even if teachers have a strict curriculum to teach, it’s possible to infuse more play, said Temple’s Hirsh-Pasek. “It’s redoing the mindset of how you teach the curriculum,” she added, like swapping out a worksheet about numbers with a physical activity where kids can jump, run and compare distances to learn about counting, adding and subtracting. More training and support could help. “It’s imperative that we start putting it in teacher preparation right now,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amber Unger, a pre-K teacher in Milwaukee who has been teaching for 14 years, encourages teachers to look at their schedules to find a few minutes a day to add or expand free-choice play. If teachers typically start the day with desk work, for example, she suggests swapping that out with play time, even just once a week to start. Unger’s efforts are supported by her district, which has embraced a play-based approach to pre-K, but she knows other teachers who don’t have that support. “We all have different situations,” she said. “You just need to do the best you can with the knowledge and experience you have.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60262\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-60262\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-PreK1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A 4-year-old child washes dishes as part of a classroom activity.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jordyn, 4, washes dishes during a unit about the home in one of Impact Salish Sea’s transitional kindergarten, or TK, class. \u003ccite>(Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unger, who also runs a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://creamcityteacher.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">website\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> which helps teachers incorporate play-based learning strategies, slots a “play workshop” into her longest, uninterrupted block of time each day. During that time, children are free to play at 17 different centers around her classroom. Over the past few years, she has increased the amount of play in her room by looking for opportunities to make moments “playful” during the day: encouraging students to pretend to be butterflies while walking down the hallway or using playful activities to reinforce skills taught during brief periods of direct instruction, like making patterns out of shells and corks. “Play is the vehicle to make that happen,” she said. “I 100 percent, confidently believe that play allows our students to practice what we are teaching them.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, Unger said it’s taken years of research and practice to nurture her approach to play-based learning, and she is still learning and finding what works best for her students. “I definitely see more opportunities for play than what I did five years ago,” she said. “I was so hung up on doing play ‘right’ … There isn’t a right way and a wrong way to do play.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/the-complex-world-of-pre-k-play/\">learning through play\u003c/a> was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation. Sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/earlychildhood/\">Hechinger Report newsletters\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Correction: This article has been updated to reflect Lauren Ellis’ job title.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Want resilient and well-adjusted kids? Let them play",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 1966, when psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Brown was assigned to a commission to investigate what led University of Texas student Charles Whitman to kill 12 people in one of the country’s first mass shootings, Brown and his colleagues considered many different aspects of Whitman’s background. The student had access to firearms at home; he had witnessed abuse while growing up; and he had a difficult relationship with his father.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Brown was struck by one other factor that came up in the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.playcore.com/news/rough-and-tumble-play-is-it-necessary-part-2\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">commission’s discussions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Whitman had experienced play deprivation, or an “almost complete suppression of normal play behavior,” as the commission put it, while growing up. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That finding motivated Brown to ask more questions about play and its role in healthy human development. In the years after the shooting, he and a team of researchers interviewed men who were incarcerated in the Texas Huntsville Prison for homicide. When the researchers compared information about the inmates’ childhoods with a population outside the prison, they found that the comparison group could provide abundant examples of free play in childhood, while the group inside prison largely \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.playcore.com/news/rough-and-tumble-play-is-it-necessary-part-2\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">could not\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “The parallelism between their play deficiencies, and the objective problems in forming trusting social bonds with others seems very significant,” concluded Brown in a 2018 article. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While such play deficiencies did not on their own cause the men to commit homicide, they significantly shaped their well-being and development, Brown said in an interview with The Hechinger Report this summer. “The adaptive tolerance and empathy toward others that is learned in early preschool through rough and tumble play is really a fundamental part of our having tolerance for people who are different than we are,” Brown said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now 89, Brown is the founder and past president of the National Institute for Play, and has spent much of his life studying play’s importance. While he cautions against drawing conclusions about outcomes for children who experience a lack of play, he said his findings in numerous studies since the Texas tragedy all underscore the fact that human beings – and, in fact, all mammals – have an innate need to engage in playful activities as a part of healthy development. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The presence or absence of play, particularly in child development, has a great deal to do with competency, resiliency, emotional health [and] brain size,” Brown said. Play is “not frivolous and not just for kids, but something that is an inherent part of human nature.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Indeed, numerous researchers have found play is a natural and critical part of child development. This year, The Hechinger Report embarked on a reporting project to look at the often overlooked yet deeply consequential role of play in child development — and at the small but growing movement to bring play back into classrooms across the country. Our team of reporters found that although play is natural for children, opportunities to play in a school setting, and even outside of it, can be minimal and uneven and many obstacles stand in the way of increasing and improving play time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Experts say adults, including parents and educators, need more support and encouragement to maximize the benefits of play, but face many obstacles in doing so. At the school level, it can be challenging to get a buy-in for more play time from stressed-out administrators and educators who are dealing with state testing pressures. Adults working in classrooms with younger children find that it takes planning and careful thought to design play environments and experiences that allow children to reap the benefits of play. And parents must be convinced that free time to play can be as important as organized activities and lessons. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the country emerges from a pandemic during which children spent more time \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2785686\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">in front of screens\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8393419/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">missing crucial play opportunities\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the stakes are high. Thoughtful efforts to reintegrate play into daily routines can be crucial for children’s emotional, social, and academic health and progress. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60258\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-60258\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-Research-2-800x534.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at a Milwaukee child care center. Research shows when children play, there is also a release of chemicals in the brain that can support social skills and impact memory and attention. \u003ccite>(Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Play should not be seen as tangential to learning, experts say, but should be viewed instead as the natural way young children learn. “The parts of the brain that are most developed in the early years are the ones that respond to active experiences,” said Dee Ray, a professor of early childhood education and director of the Center for Play Therapy at the University of North Texas College of Education. In contrast, the parts of the brain that allow children to learn by listening to a lecture or watching a video are developed later, she added. “The brain is structured to learn from experience first, and then learn through all the other means that we usually use [to teach],” she said. “Play is essential to education. Play is education for children.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When children play with dolls, for example, they can test out different scenarios for responding to a crying baby, including holding the doll or feeding the doll, Dee added. They create new neural networks and gain new understanding. This “pretend play” is a critical way children explore their environment and learn about the world, said Doris Bergen, a professor at Miami University of Ohio’s Department of Educational Psychology whose research has focused on child development and play. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Research shows that when mammals play, their \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nifplay.org/what-is-play/biological-drive-to-play/#evolved\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">brains are activated\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in a way that can \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/06/336361277/scientists-say-childs-play-helps-build-a-better-brain\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">change neuron connections\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the prefrontal cortex, which impact emotional regulation and problem-solving. Play can also release \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.primalplay.com/blog/play-and-the-feel-good-hormones\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">chemicals\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the brain, including oxytocin (which helps regulate emotions and supports social skills) and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22581-dopamine\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">dopamine\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (a neurotransmitter that impacts memory, motivation, attention and mood). Kids are “flooded, a lot of times in play, with positive emotions,” Dee said. Play is so powerful that it is often used as a form of therapy for children who deal with anxiety or trauma.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even as children move up through the early grades, research shows play can continue to have an impact. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://childrenatrisk.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2018-CHILDREN-AT-RISK-Texas-Recess-Report.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elementary principals\u003c/span>\u003c/a> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have reported that recess, for example, has a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/is-recess-a-right-or-a-privilege/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">positive impact\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on academic performance and that students are more focused afterward. Play is considered to be integral to the academic environment for both social-emotional and academic development, according to the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/119/1/182/70699/The-Importance-of-Play-in-Promoting-Healthy-Child\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">American Academy of Pediatrics\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Researchers have largely relied on experiments with animals to hone in on play’s impact on the brain. A \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://parentingscience.com/benefits-of-play/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2003\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> study of rats’ brains found that rats raised in a playful, stimulating environment had higher levels of a protein that grows and maintains brain cells than rats raised in a solitary, boring environment. Other studies have shown that play in young rats impacts the parts of the brain associated with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/06/336361277/scientists-say-childs-play-helps-build-a-better-brain\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">social interactions and thinking\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Studies of children have also shown play’s benefits, including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://parentingscience.com/benefits-of-play/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">improved language skills\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, problem solving skills and math skills. Certain types of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.12695\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">imaginative play\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have been found to improve perseverance. Play can even be used to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/twenty-six-studies-point-to-more-play-for-young-children/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">close achievement gaps\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> between young children, some experts argue.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To truly benefit from play, children must be given ample, unstructured play time, said Bergen. That means they should receive at least an hour each day in a safe environment to “create their own enjoyment, their own rules, their own experiences,” she said. This child-led free play time can also help children internalize what they are taught about the world, she added. “Play is one of the main ways that children really consolidate their learning. The way we really make our skills permanent and enriched and highly developed, is often through our play experiences.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Experts say such play time should not just happen outside of school or at recess, but should be a necessary part of teaching and learning. Supporting the most beneficial play activities, however, can take training and planning. Play should be looked at as a way to learn within schools, said Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Hirsh-Pasek sees play as a spectrum of activity, ranging from free play, where “adults should just get out of the way,” to direct instruction, where adults set the agenda.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60259\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-60259\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-play-research-3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play a game at a forest school. Experts say unstructured play time is critical for healthy child development. \u003ccite>(Adria Malcolm for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s the middle of this spectrum, where children experience “guided play” with a learning goal in mind, that has perhaps the most potential for young children, she added. For instance, to teach engineering concepts, adults might tell children to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/psychology/pdf/klahr/PDFs/Guided%20Play%202016.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">build a sturdy skyscraper\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, then ask the children open-ended questions about their efforts. To foster the development of mathematical concepts and skills, adults might draw a number line on the ground, ask children to jump, and then compare their distances. Some research shows children can learn just as much – if not more -- through guided play experiences like these than when they are taught in less active ways. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An added benefit to increasing play-based learning in classrooms is that active and engaging learning experiences can lead to deeper, more permanent learning, Hirsh-Pasek said. “Where do you find these features: something being active, engaging, meaningful, iterative and joyful? They coalesce under this behavior we call play.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about the \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/want-resilient-and-well-adjusted-kids-let-them-play/\">benefits of play\u003c/a> was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation. Sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/earlychildhood/\">Hechinger Report newsletters\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 1966, when psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Brown was assigned to a commission to investigate what led University of Texas student Charles Whitman to kill 12 people in one of the country’s first mass shootings, Brown and his colleagues considered many different aspects of Whitman’s background. The student had access to firearms at home; he had witnessed abuse while growing up; and he had a difficult relationship with his father.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Brown was struck by one other factor that came up in the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.playcore.com/news/rough-and-tumble-play-is-it-necessary-part-2\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">commission’s discussions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Whitman had experienced play deprivation, or an “almost complete suppression of normal play behavior,” as the commission put it, while growing up. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That finding motivated Brown to ask more questions about play and its role in healthy human development. In the years after the shooting, he and a team of researchers interviewed men who were incarcerated in the Texas Huntsville Prison for homicide. When the researchers compared information about the inmates’ childhoods with a population outside the prison, they found that the comparison group could provide abundant examples of free play in childhood, while the group inside prison largely \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.playcore.com/news/rough-and-tumble-play-is-it-necessary-part-2\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">could not\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “The parallelism between their play deficiencies, and the objective problems in forming trusting social bonds with others seems very significant,” concluded Brown in a 2018 article. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While such play deficiencies did not on their own cause the men to commit homicide, they significantly shaped their well-being and development, Brown said in an interview with The Hechinger Report this summer. “The adaptive tolerance and empathy toward others that is learned in early preschool through rough and tumble play is really a fundamental part of our having tolerance for people who are different than we are,” Brown said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now 89, Brown is the founder and past president of the National Institute for Play, and has spent much of his life studying play’s importance. While he cautions against drawing conclusions about outcomes for children who experience a lack of play, he said his findings in numerous studies since the Texas tragedy all underscore the fact that human beings – and, in fact, all mammals – have an innate need to engage in playful activities as a part of healthy development. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The presence or absence of play, particularly in child development, has a great deal to do with competency, resiliency, emotional health [and] brain size,” Brown said. Play is “not frivolous and not just for kids, but something that is an inherent part of human nature.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Indeed, numerous researchers have found play is a natural and critical part of child development. This year, The Hechinger Report embarked on a reporting project to look at the often overlooked yet deeply consequential role of play in child development — and at the small but growing movement to bring play back into classrooms across the country. Our team of reporters found that although play is natural for children, opportunities to play in a school setting, and even outside of it, can be minimal and uneven and many obstacles stand in the way of increasing and improving play time.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Experts say adults, including parents and educators, need more support and encouragement to maximize the benefits of play, but face many obstacles in doing so. At the school level, it can be challenging to get a buy-in for more play time from stressed-out administrators and educators who are dealing with state testing pressures. Adults working in classrooms with younger children find that it takes planning and careful thought to design play environments and experiences that allow children to reap the benefits of play. And parents must be convinced that free time to play can be as important as organized activities and lessons. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the country emerges from a pandemic during which children spent more time \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2785686\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">in front of screens\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8393419/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">missing crucial play opportunities\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the stakes are high. Thoughtful efforts to reintegrate play into daily routines can be crucial for children’s emotional, social, and academic health and progress. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60258\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-60258\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-Play-Research-2-800x534.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at a Milwaukee child care center. Research shows when children play, there is also a release of chemicals in the brain that can support social skills and impact memory and attention. \u003ccite>(Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Play should not be seen as tangential to learning, experts say, but should be viewed instead as the natural way young children learn. “The parts of the brain that are most developed in the early years are the ones that respond to active experiences,” said Dee Ray, a professor of early childhood education and director of the Center for Play Therapy at the University of North Texas College of Education. In contrast, the parts of the brain that allow children to learn by listening to a lecture or watching a video are developed later, she added. “The brain is structured to learn from experience first, and then learn through all the other means that we usually use [to teach],” she said. “Play is essential to education. Play is education for children.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When children play with dolls, for example, they can test out different scenarios for responding to a crying baby, including holding the doll or feeding the doll, Dee added. They create new neural networks and gain new understanding. This “pretend play” is a critical way children explore their environment and learn about the world, said Doris Bergen, a professor at Miami University of Ohio’s Department of Educational Psychology whose research has focused on child development and play. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Research shows that when mammals play, their \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nifplay.org/what-is-play/biological-drive-to-play/#evolved\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">brains are activated\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in a way that can \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/06/336361277/scientists-say-childs-play-helps-build-a-better-brain\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">change neuron connections\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the prefrontal cortex, which impact emotional regulation and problem-solving. Play can also release \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.primalplay.com/blog/play-and-the-feel-good-hormones\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">chemicals\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the brain, including oxytocin (which helps regulate emotions and supports social skills) and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22581-dopamine\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">dopamine\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (a neurotransmitter that impacts memory, motivation, attention and mood). Kids are “flooded, a lot of times in play, with positive emotions,” Dee said. Play is so powerful that it is often used as a form of therapy for children who deal with anxiety or trauma.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even as children move up through the early grades, research shows play can continue to have an impact. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://childrenatrisk.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2018-CHILDREN-AT-RISK-Texas-Recess-Report.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elementary principals\u003c/span>\u003c/a> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have reported that recess, for example, has a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/is-recess-a-right-or-a-privilege/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">positive impact\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on academic performance and that students are more focused afterward. Play is considered to be integral to the academic environment for both social-emotional and academic development, according to the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/119/1/182/70699/The-Importance-of-Play-in-Promoting-Healthy-Child\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">American Academy of Pediatrics\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Researchers have largely relied on experiments with animals to hone in on play’s impact on the brain. A \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://parentingscience.com/benefits-of-play/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2003\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> study of rats’ brains found that rats raised in a playful, stimulating environment had higher levels of a protein that grows and maintains brain cells than rats raised in a solitary, boring environment. Other studies have shown that play in young rats impacts the parts of the brain associated with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/06/336361277/scientists-say-childs-play-helps-build-a-better-brain\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">social interactions and thinking\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Studies of children have also shown play’s benefits, including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://parentingscience.com/benefits-of-play/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">improved language skills\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, problem solving skills and math skills. Certain types of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.12695\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">imaginative play\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have been found to improve perseverance. Play can even be used to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/twenty-six-studies-point-to-more-play-for-young-children/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">close achievement gaps\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> between young children, some experts argue.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To truly benefit from play, children must be given ample, unstructured play time, said Bergen. That means they should receive at least an hour each day in a safe environment to “create their own enjoyment, their own rules, their own experiences,” she said. This child-led free play time can also help children internalize what they are taught about the world, she added. “Play is one of the main ways that children really consolidate their learning. The way we really make our skills permanent and enriched and highly developed, is often through our play experiences.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Experts say such play time should not just happen outside of school or at recess, but should be a necessary part of teaching and learning. Supporting the most beneficial play activities, however, can take training and planning. Play should be looked at as a way to learn within schools, said Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Hirsh-Pasek sees play as a spectrum of activity, ranging from free play, where “adults should just get out of the way,” to direct instruction, where adults set the agenda.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_60259\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-60259\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/11/Mader-play-research-3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play a game at a forest school. Experts say unstructured play time is critical for healthy child development. \u003ccite>(Adria Malcolm for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s the middle of this spectrum, where children experience “guided play” with a learning goal in mind, that has perhaps the most potential for young children, she added. For instance, to teach engineering concepts, adults might tell children to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/psychology/pdf/klahr/PDFs/Guided%20Play%202016.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">build a sturdy skyscraper\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, then ask the children open-ended questions about their efforts. To foster the development of mathematical concepts and skills, adults might draw a number line on the ground, ask children to jump, and then compare their distances. Some research shows children can learn just as much – if not more -- through guided play experiences like these than when they are taught in less active ways. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An added benefit to increasing play-based learning in classrooms is that active and engaging learning experiences can lead to deeper, more permanent learning, Hirsh-Pasek said. “Where do you find these features: something being active, engaging, meaningful, iterative and joyful? They coalesce under this behavior we call play.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about the \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/want-resilient-and-well-adjusted-kids-let-them-play/\">benefits of play\u003c/a> was produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation. Sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/earlychildhood/\">Hechinger Report newsletters\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "What parents, teachers and students should know about the CDC's new COVID guidelines",
"title": "What parents, teachers and students should know about the CDC's new COVID guidelines",
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"content": "\u003cp>The new school year is underway and so are \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/08/11/1116991600/with-new-guidance-cdc-ends-test-to-stay-for-schools-and-relaxes-covid-rules\">new federal guidelines\u003c/a> to curb the spread of COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated recommendations on Thursday, largely loosening virus protocols and leaving much of the decision-making to individuals and local officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes to the existing guidance are a reflection of the country's sweeping immunity. Around 95% of the population have some immunity due to a combination of vaccination and past infections, according to Greta Massetti, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We also have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus,\" Massetti said \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p0811-covid-guidance.html\">in a statement\u003c/a>. \"This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health measures will probably look different depending on the school district, but here are some things to know about best practices recommended by the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Universal indoor masking is recommended in nearly half the country\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The CDC calls on students and staff members to wear \"well-fitting\" masks at school if they live in communities where COVID-19 community transmission levels are high. As of Thursday, that accounts for \u003ca href=\"https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view?list_select_state=all_states&list_select_county=all_counties&data-type=CommunityLevels&null=CommunityLevels\">nearly 40% of counties\u003c/a> in the U.S., including Los Angeles, Nashville and most of Florida.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, students who are sick from or exposed to the virus should wear face coverings for 10 days, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or previously infected. The latest guidance also advise people to put on a mask while in the school nurse's office or other health care settings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC asked school administrators to ensure that masking polices accommodate students with disabilities or those who are immunocompromised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Students with immunocompromising conditions or other conditions or disabilities that increase risk for getting very sick with COVID-19 should not be placed into separate classrooms or otherwise segregated from other students,\" the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Routine testing is no longer recommended, with some exceptions\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The agency no longer recommends routine testing in K-12 schools unless \u003cstrong>COVID-19 community transmission levels\u003c/strong> are high in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that's the case, school administrators should consider implementing health screens for \"high-risk activities\" like close-contact sports, band and theater. Large events like prom, tournaments and field trips should also incorporate testing or possibly be rescheduled if infection rates become concerning. The same rules apply for the first day back after the holidays and other vacation breaks, according to the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to testing, the new guidelines also make no distinction between vaccinated or unvaccinated people — which is a sharp difference from previous rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Quarantine requirements are dropped\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Similar to routine testing, the CDC is no longer advising students or staff members who are exposed to the virus to quarantine. Instead, the agency's new advice is that people who were exposed wear face coverings for 10 days and get tested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of the testing and quarantine policy changes, the CDC says that \"test-to-stay\" programs, which required exposed unvaccinated students to get tested frequently in order to attend school, are no longer necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That being said, the agency urges schools to allow for \"flexible, non-punitive and supportive\" paid sick leave policies as well as allow for excused absences when students are sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Avoid policies that incentivize coming to school while sick, and support children who are learning at home if they are sick,\" the new guidelines say.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What to do if you or your student is sick\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Students and staff members who experience symptoms like a cough, fever or sore throat should head home and get tested immediately, the CDC said. For people who are at risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19, the agency recommends consulting their doctor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who test positive should isolate at home for at least five days. Afterward, isolation depends on whether they continue to exhibit symptoms or test positive for the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students and staff members sick with the virus don't have to get a negative test result to end isolation, but it could shorten the number of days they should wear a mask after getting sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But generally, the CDC recommends students and staff continue wearing a mask for 10 days after symptoms began to show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+parents%2C+teachers+and+students+should+know+about+the+CDC%27s+new+COVID+guidelines&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The new school year is underway and so are \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/08/11/1116991600/with-new-guidance-cdc-ends-test-to-stay-for-schools-and-relaxes-covid-rules\">new federal guidelines\u003c/a> to curb the spread of COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated recommendations on Thursday, largely loosening virus protocols and leaving much of the decision-making to individuals and local officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes to the existing guidance are a reflection of the country's sweeping immunity. Around 95% of the population have some immunity due to a combination of vaccination and past infections, according to Greta Massetti, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We also have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus,\" Massetti said \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p0811-covid-guidance.html\">in a statement\u003c/a>. \"This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health measures will probably look different depending on the school district, but here are some things to know about best practices recommended by the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Universal indoor masking is recommended in nearly half the country\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The CDC calls on students and staff members to wear \"well-fitting\" masks at school if they live in communities where COVID-19 community transmission levels are high. As of Thursday, that accounts for \u003ca href=\"https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view?list_select_state=all_states&list_select_county=all_counties&data-type=CommunityLevels&null=CommunityLevels\">nearly 40% of counties\u003c/a> in the U.S., including Los Angeles, Nashville and most of Florida.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, students who are sick from or exposed to the virus should wear face coverings for 10 days, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or previously infected. The latest guidance also advise people to put on a mask while in the school nurse's office or other health care settings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC asked school administrators to ensure that masking polices accommodate students with disabilities or those who are immunocompromised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Students with immunocompromising conditions or other conditions or disabilities that increase risk for getting very sick with COVID-19 should not be placed into separate classrooms or otherwise segregated from other students,\" the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Routine testing is no longer recommended, with some exceptions\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The agency no longer recommends routine testing in K-12 schools unless \u003cstrong>COVID-19 community transmission levels\u003c/strong> are high in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that's the case, school administrators should consider implementing health screens for \"high-risk activities\" like close-contact sports, band and theater. Large events like prom, tournaments and field trips should also incorporate testing or possibly be rescheduled if infection rates become concerning. The same rules apply for the first day back after the holidays and other vacation breaks, according to the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to testing, the new guidelines also make no distinction between vaccinated or unvaccinated people — which is a sharp difference from previous rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Quarantine requirements are dropped\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Similar to routine testing, the CDC is no longer advising students or staff members who are exposed to the virus to quarantine. Instead, the agency's new advice is that people who were exposed wear face coverings for 10 days and get tested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of the testing and quarantine policy changes, the CDC says that \"test-to-stay\" programs, which required exposed unvaccinated students to get tested frequently in order to attend school, are no longer necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That being said, the agency urges schools to allow for \"flexible, non-punitive and supportive\" paid sick leave policies as well as allow for excused absences when students are sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Avoid policies that incentivize coming to school while sick, and support children who are learning at home if they are sick,\" the new guidelines say.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What to do if you or your student is sick\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Students and staff members who experience symptoms like a cough, fever or sore throat should head home and get tested immediately, the CDC said. For people who are at risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19, the agency recommends consulting their doctor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who test positive should isolate at home for at least five days. Afterward, isolation depends on whether they continue to exhibit symptoms or test positive for the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students and staff members sick with the virus don't have to get a negative test result to end isolation, but it could shorten the number of days they should wear a mask after getting sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But generally, the CDC recommends students and staff continue wearing a mask for 10 days after symptoms began to show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+parents%2C+teachers+and+students+should+know+about+the+CDC%27s+new+COVID+guidelines&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>What do we know about how kids are catching up at school as the pandemic drags on? The good news, according to the latest achievement data, is that learning resumed at a more typical pace during the 2021-22 school year that just ended. Despite the Delta and Omicron waves that sent many students and teachers into quarantine and disrupted school, children’s math and reading abilities generally improved as much as they had in years before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The big picture takeaway is that learning mirrors pre-pandemic trends,” said Karyn Lewis, a researcher at NWEA, which sells assessments to schools to track student progress. Lewis analyzed how student achievement improved between fall and spring assessments, called Measures of Academic Progress or MAP, taken by eight million elementary and middle school children across the country. “In some cases, the growth is a little bit more than a typical year, maybe a 6 percent increase. It’s very small.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of these small increases in the rate of learning, some students were able to make up as much as a quarter or a third of the so-called learning loss that they suffered during the school closures and remote instruction of 2020 and 2021. But even with those gains, student achievement still lags far behind what children at each grade level used to demonstrate before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If improvements continue at the rate we saw this year, the timeline for a full recovery is years away and will likely extend past the availability of federal recovery funds,” NWEA wrote in a press release accompanying a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/student-achievement-in-2021-22-cause-for-hope-and-continued-urgency\">learning loss report released on July 19, 2022\u003c/a>. Depending upon the student’s grade and subject, NWEA estimated recovery to be as short as one or two years but surpassing five years in some cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Slow recovery: Reading and math scores stabilize and begin to recover for many students. Math scores continue to drop for middle schoolers\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59580\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 977px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-59580 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"977\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests.png 977w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests-800x287.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests-160x57.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests-768x275.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A comparison of spring achievement scores before and after the pandemic on NWEA’s MAP tests. Recovery varies by grade and subject. Source: NWEA\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A good analogy is a cross-country road trip. Imagine that students were traveling at 55 miles an hour, ran out of gas and started walking instead. Now they’re back in their cars and humming along at 55 miles an hour again. Some are traveling at 60 miles an hour, but they’re still far away from the destination they would have arrived at if they hadn’t run out of gas. It’s this distance from the destination that educators are describing when they talk about learning loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One group of economists studied NWEA’s achievement data at the peak of learning loss in the spring of 2021 and estimated that fourth and fifth graders had fallen \u003ca href=\"https://www.the74million.org/article/analysis-pandemic-learning-loss-could-cost-u-s-students-2-trillion-in-lifetime-earnings-what-states-schools-can-do-to-avert-this-crisis/\">eight to 10 weeks behind in reading and math\u003c/a>, respectively. Based on the subsequent catch up that NWEA documented in the spring of 2022, upper elementary school students might now be six to seven weeks behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, some groups of students, especially middle schoolers, didn’t make such good progress. Students who completed eighth grade in the spring of 2022 fell 18 percent further behind in math compared to 2021. This suggests their math learning losses might have expanded from 19 weeks to 23 weeks – almost six months behind – as they start high school in the fall. Seventh graders also made no forward catch-up progress in math.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-59579\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"977\" height=\"527\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels.png 977w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels-800x432.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels-160x86.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels-768x414.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Middle schoolers are where we see the most stagnation,” said Lewis. “It is certainly concerning. Those are the kids with the longest roadmap to catch up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting kids back on track academically is arguably one of the most important challenges our nation faces right now. The long-term economic and social costs are enormous if we fail. One group estimated that the U.S. economy could lose more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning\">$128 billion a year\u003c/a>, another worried that today's generation of students risks losing \u003ca href=\"https://www.the74million.org/article/analysis-pandemic-learning-loss-could-cost-u-s-students-2-trillion-in-lifetime-earnings-what-states-schools-can-do-to-avert-this-crisis/\">$2 trillion in lifetime earnings\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This report doesn’t address why or how some students bounced back while others fell further. Eighth graders were in sixth grade when the pandemic first hit in the spring of 2020 and their mental health might have been more affected by pandemic isolation. At the same time, the material that students need to learn in middle school is more complex and the rate of learning slows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third graders posted more sluggish progress in reading than fourth and fifth graders. These third graders were in first grade when the pandemic hit in 2020 and were just learning to read. Based on their rate of progress, NWEA estimates that it will take more than five years to catch up. Third graders were the youngest students analyzed in this NWEA report, which tracked only children who were already enrolled in school before the pandemic hit in order to measure learning losses. We don’t know from this report if even younger children are suffering more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Low-income students appeared to make as much achievement progress as higher income students. For example, fifth graders in high-poverty schools and low-poverty schools alike both improved by nine points on math tests. But low-income children, who were already behind before the pandemic, lost the most ground and their achievement gaps with higher income children are still gigantic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Students in low-poverty schools will likely recover faster as they have less ground to make up,” NWEA researchers wrote in their brief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also cannot tell from this report which catch-up interventions, such as tutoring and summer school, led to better learning progress. NWEA is working with outside researchers and is slated to issue its first report later this year. Perhaps those reports can help shed light on the best ways to help children who are behind catch up – whether there’s a pandemic or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-pace-of-learning-back-to-normal-during-the-2021-22-pandemic-school-year-but-student-achievement-lags-far-behind-data-shows/\">\u003cem>learning loss\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.us2.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=66c306eebb323868c3ce353c1&id=d3ee4c3e04\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletter.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>What do we know about how kids are catching up at school as the pandemic drags on? The good news, according to the latest achievement data, is that learning resumed at a more typical pace during the 2021-22 school year that just ended. Despite the Delta and Omicron waves that sent many students and teachers into quarantine and disrupted school, children’s math and reading abilities generally improved as much as they had in years before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The big picture takeaway is that learning mirrors pre-pandemic trends,” said Karyn Lewis, a researcher at NWEA, which sells assessments to schools to track student progress. Lewis analyzed how student achievement improved between fall and spring assessments, called Measures of Academic Progress or MAP, taken by eight million elementary and middle school children across the country. “In some cases, the growth is a little bit more than a typical year, maybe a 6 percent increase. It’s very small.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of these small increases in the rate of learning, some students were able to make up as much as a quarter or a third of the so-called learning loss that they suffered during the school closures and remote instruction of 2020 and 2021. But even with those gains, student achievement still lags far behind what children at each grade level used to demonstrate before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If improvements continue at the rate we saw this year, the timeline for a full recovery is years away and will likely extend past the availability of federal recovery funds,” NWEA wrote in a press release accompanying a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/student-achievement-in-2021-22-cause-for-hope-and-continued-urgency\">learning loss report released on July 19, 2022\u003c/a>. Depending upon the student’s grade and subject, NWEA estimated recovery to be as short as one or two years but surpassing five years in some cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Slow recovery: Reading and math scores stabilize and begin to recover for many students. Math scores continue to drop for middle schoolers\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_59580\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 977px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-59580 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"977\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests.png 977w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests-800x287.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests-160x57.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-MAP-tests-768x275.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A comparison of spring achievement scores before and after the pandemic on NWEA’s MAP tests. Recovery varies by grade and subject. Source: NWEA\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A good analogy is a cross-country road trip. Imagine that students were traveling at 55 miles an hour, ran out of gas and started walking instead. Now they’re back in their cars and humming along at 55 miles an hour again. Some are traveling at 60 miles an hour, but they’re still far away from the destination they would have arrived at if they hadn’t run out of gas. It’s this distance from the destination that educators are describing when they talk about learning loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One group of economists studied NWEA’s achievement data at the peak of learning loss in the spring of 2021 and estimated that fourth and fifth graders had fallen \u003ca href=\"https://www.the74million.org/article/analysis-pandemic-learning-loss-could-cost-u-s-students-2-trillion-in-lifetime-earnings-what-states-schools-can-do-to-avert-this-crisis/\">eight to 10 weeks behind in reading and math\u003c/a>, respectively. Based on the subsequent catch up that NWEA documented in the spring of 2022, upper elementary school students might now be six to seven weeks behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, some groups of students, especially middle schoolers, didn’t make such good progress. Students who completed eighth grade in the spring of 2022 fell 18 percent further behind in math compared to 2021. This suggests their math learning losses might have expanded from 19 weeks to 23 weeks – almost six months behind – as they start high school in the fall. Seventh graders also made no forward catch-up progress in math.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-59579\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"977\" height=\"527\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels.png 977w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels-800x432.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels-160x86.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2022/07/NWEA-Achievement-Levels-768x414.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Middle schoolers are where we see the most stagnation,” said Lewis. “It is certainly concerning. Those are the kids with the longest roadmap to catch up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting kids back on track academically is arguably one of the most important challenges our nation faces right now. The long-term economic and social costs are enormous if we fail. One group estimated that the U.S. economy could lose more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning\">$128 billion a year\u003c/a>, another worried that today's generation of students risks losing \u003ca href=\"https://www.the74million.org/article/analysis-pandemic-learning-loss-could-cost-u-s-students-2-trillion-in-lifetime-earnings-what-states-schools-can-do-to-avert-this-crisis/\">$2 trillion in lifetime earnings\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This report doesn’t address why or how some students bounced back while others fell further. Eighth graders were in sixth grade when the pandemic first hit in the spring of 2020 and their mental health might have been more affected by pandemic isolation. At the same time, the material that students need to learn in middle school is more complex and the rate of learning slows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third graders posted more sluggish progress in reading than fourth and fifth graders. These third graders were in first grade when the pandemic hit in 2020 and were just learning to read. Based on their rate of progress, NWEA estimates that it will take more than five years to catch up. Third graders were the youngest students analyzed in this NWEA report, which tracked only children who were already enrolled in school before the pandemic hit in order to measure learning losses. We don’t know from this report if even younger children are suffering more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Low-income students appeared to make as much achievement progress as higher income students. For example, fifth graders in high-poverty schools and low-poverty schools alike both improved by nine points on math tests. But low-income children, who were already behind before the pandemic, lost the most ground and their achievement gaps with higher income children are still gigantic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Students in low-poverty schools will likely recover faster as they have less ground to make up,” NWEA researchers wrote in their brief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also cannot tell from this report which catch-up interventions, such as tutoring and summer school, led to better learning progress. NWEA is working with outside researchers and is slated to issue its first report later this year. Perhaps those reports can help shed light on the best ways to help children who are behind catch up – whether there’s a pandemic or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-pace-of-learning-back-to-normal-during-the-2021-22-pandemic-school-year-but-student-achievement-lags-far-behind-data-shows/\">\u003cem>learning loss\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.us2.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=66c306eebb323868c3ce353c1&id=d3ee4c3e04\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletter.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"storyMajorUpdateDate\">\u003cstrong>Updated June 22, 2022 at 12:54 PM ET\u003c/strong>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>How did the pandemic disrupt learning for America's more than 50 million K-12 students?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For two years, that question has felt immeasurable, like a phantom, though few educators doubted the shadow it cast over children who spent months struggling to learn online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as a third pandemic school year draws to a close, new research offers the clearest accounting yet of the crisis's academic toll — as well as reason to hope that schools can help.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>1. Surprise! Students learned less when they were remote\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>But really, this should surprise no one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most schools had little to no experience with remote instruction when the pandemic began; they lacked teacher training, appropriate software, laptops, universal internet access and, in many cases, students lacked stability and a supportive adult at home to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even students who spent the least amount of time learning remotely during the 2020-21 school year — just a month or less — missed the equivalent of seven to 10 weeks of math learning, says Thomas Kane of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of that missed learning, Kane says, was likely a hangover from spring 2020, when nearly all schools were remote and remote instruction was at its worst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane is part of a collaborative of researchers at Harvard, the American Institutes for Research, Dartmouth College and the school-testing nonprofit NWEA, who \u003ca href=\"https://cepr.harvard.edu/files/cepr/files/5-4.pdf?m=1651690491\">set out to measure\u003c/a> just how much learning students missed during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And notice we're saying \"missed,\" not \"lost,\" because the problem is that when schools went remote, kids simply did not learn as much or as well as they would have in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\"\u003c/strong>We try not to say 'learning loss,' because if they didn't learn it, they didn't lose it,\" explains Ebony Lee, an assistant superintendent in Clayton County, Ga.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone agrees. Some parents who saw their kids struggle while trying to learn remotely believe \"learning loss\" fits — because it captures the urgency they now feel to make up for what was lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It would mean so much for parents if somebody would acknowledge it. 'You know, we have learning loss,' \" says Sheila Walker, a parent in Northern California. \"Like our board, they don't even use those words. We know we have learning loss, so how are we going to address it?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane and his fellow researchers studied the test scores of more than 2 million elementary- and middle-schoolers, comparing the growth they made between fall 2017 and fall 2019 to their pandemic-era growth, from fall 2019 to fall 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though researchers focused on math, the instructional time students missed in reading was \"comparable,\" Kane says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One quick caveat: Obviously, test scores can tell us only so much about what students actually learn in a given year (social-emotional skills, for example, are harder to measure). But they're a start.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>2. Students at high-poverty schools were hit hardest\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Students at high-poverty schools experienced an academic double-whammy: Their schools were more likely to be remote and, when they were, students missed more learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let's break that down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, high-poverty schools spent about 5.5 more weeks in remote instruction during the 2020-21 school year than low- and mid-poverty schools, the report says. Researchers also found a \"higher incidence of remote schooling for Black and Hispanic students.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And second, in high-poverty schools that stayed remote for the majority of the 2020-21 school year, students missed the equivalent of 22 weeks of in-person math learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's more than half of a traditional school year (roughly 36-40 weeks).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By contrast, students in similarly remote, low-poverty schools missed considerably less learning: roughly 13 weeks, Kane says, and he warns that closing these gaps could take years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new data backs up what many teachers and school leaders have been saying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's very disconcerting,\" says Sharon Contreras, the superintendent of North Carolina's third-largest district, in Guilford County. \"Because we know that the students who are most vulnerable saw the most amount of learning loss, and they were already behind.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why did students in high-poverty schools miss more learning while remote? Recent U.S. Government Accountability Office \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104487\">surveys of more\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105815.pdf\">than 2,800 teachers\u003c/a> offer some explanations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers in remote, high-poverty schools were more likely to report that their students lacked a workspace and internet at home, and were less likely to have an adult there to help. Many older students disengaged because the pandemic forced them to become caretakers, or to get jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making matters worse, as NPR has reported, high-poverty students were also more likely to experience \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/27/917554000/in-pandemic-many-students-lose-critical-access-to-meals\">food\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/02/1077300038/some-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-remote-learning-and-school-meal\">insecurity\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/07/920320592/an-impossible-choice-for-homeless-parents-a-job-or-their-childs-education\">homelessness\u003c/a> and the loss of a loved one to COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"These gaps are not new,\" says Becky Pringle, head of the National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest teachers union. \"We know that there are racial and social and economic injustices that exist in every system ... what the pandemic did was just like the pandemic did with everything: It just made it worse.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>3. Different states saw different gaps\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Kane and his fellow researchers found that learning gaps were most pronounced in states with higher rates of remote instruction overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, in the quarter of states where students spent the most time learning remotely, including California, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia, \"high-poverty schools spent an additional nine weeks in remote instruction (more than two months) than low-poverty schools,\" the report says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, in the quarter of states where overall use of remote instruction was the lowest, including Texas, Florida and a host of rural states, the report says, high-poverty schools were still more likely to be remote \"but the differences were small: 3 weeks remote in high poverty schools versus 1 week remote in low poverty schools.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report says, \"as long as schools were in-person throughout 2020-21, there was no widening of math achievement gaps between high-, middle-, and low-poverty schools.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane says he hopes that, instead of relitigating districts' choices to stay remote, politicians and educators can use this data as a call to action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That student achievement declined is not a surprise,\" Kane says. \"Rather, we should think of it as a bill for a public health measure that was taken on our behalf. And it's our obligation now, whether or not we agreed with those decisions, to pay that bill. We can't stiff our children.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>4. High school graduation rates didn't change much\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2022/05/10/how-has-the-pandemic-affected-high-school-graduation-and-college-entry/amp/\">One more study\u003c/a>, from Brookings, looks at the impact all this pandemic-driven turmoil had on high school graduation and college entry rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out, for the 2019-20 school year, when graduation ceremonies were canceled and students ended the year at home, high school graduation rates actually \u003cem>increased\u003c/em> slightly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The message clearly was 'just show up,' \" says Douglas Harris, the study's lead researcher and director of the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice at Tulane University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"So it became pretty easy,\" Harris says. \"Anybody who was on the margin of graduating at that point was going to graduate because the states officially relaxed their standards.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the 2020-21 school year, Harris says, states and school districts largely returned to pre-pandemic standards and, as a result, the high school graduation rate dipped slightly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>5. Many high school grads chose to delay college\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>While the pandemic appeared to have little impact on students' ability to finish high school, it seemed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1048955023/college-enrollment-down-pandemic-economy\">have the opposite effect\u003c/a> on their willingness to \u003cem>start\u003c/em> college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris says entry rates for recent high school grads at four-year colleges dipped 6% and a worrying 16% at two-year colleges. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris has a theory: \"I think for anybody, regardless of age, starting something new, trying to develop new relationships in the pandemic, was a nonstarter.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>6. Schools can do something about it\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>School leaders are now racing to build programs that, they hope, will help students make up for at least some of this missed learning. One popular approach: \"high-dosage\" tutoring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"For us, high-dosage means two to three times per week for at least 30 minutes, and ... no more than three students in a group,\" says Penny Schwinn, Tennessee's state education commissioner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwinn led the creation of the TN ALL Corps, a sprawling, statewide network of tutors who, Schwinn hopes, can reach 150,000 elementary- and middle-schoolers over three years. High school students with busier schedules can access online tutoring anytime, on demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Guilford County, Contreras says the benefits of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/23/1064975215/heres-what-schools-are-doing-to-try-to-address-students-social-emotional-needs\">their tutoring program\u003c/a> go well beyond learning recovery. Their new tutoring corps draws heavily from graduate assistants at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, a regional HBCU.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\"\u003c/strong>We want to continue to grow the number of Black and brown teachers in the district,\" Contreras says. \"So hiring graduate assistants was a very intentional effort to make sure our students saw themselves, but also to introduce those graduate assistants to the teaching profession.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple superintendents, including Contreras, emphasized that the purpose of these tutoring efforts was not to look backward, over old material, but to support students as they move forward through new concepts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We don't want to remediate,\" Contreras says emphatically. \"We want to accelerate learning.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane says districts should also consider making up for missed learning \u003ca href=\"https://www.timeandlearning.org/research/student-achievement\">by adding more days to the school calendar\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Schools already have the teachers. They already have the buildings. They already have the bus routes,\" Kane explains. Extending the school year may be logistically easier than, say, hiring and scheduling hundreds of new tutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn't mean extending the school year is easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, where students spent most of the 2020-21 school year learning remotely, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says he would love to expand the next school year by as many as 10 additional days to help address what he calls \"unprecedented, historic learning loss.\" But, he says, \"[that idea] ran into a lot of opposition\" from parents and teachers alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Carvalho has had to settle for four additional student learning days next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane acknowledges that adding time to the school year is asking a lot of teachers and some families and would likely require a pay bump above educators' normal weekly rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Everybody is eager to return to normal. And I can appreciate that,\" Kane says, \"but normal is not enough.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If there is a silver lining for districts rushing to create new learning opportunities, it's that many school leaders — and politicians — are realizing they make good sense long-term too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, Carvalho says many students attending high-poverty schools \"were in crisis prior to COVID-19,\" academically speaking. And he hopes these new efforts, forced by the pandemic, \"may actually catapult their learning experience.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tennessee's ALL Corps \"is now funded forever more,\" Schwinn says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"So this isn't going to be a COVID recovery. This is just good practice for kids.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=6+things+we%27ve+learned+about+how+the+pandemic+disrupted+learning&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"storyMajorUpdateDate\">\u003cstrong>Updated June 22, 2022 at 12:54 PM ET\u003c/strong>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>How did the pandemic disrupt learning for America's more than 50 million K-12 students?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For two years, that question has felt immeasurable, like a phantom, though few educators doubted the shadow it cast over children who spent months struggling to learn online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as a third pandemic school year draws to a close, new research offers the clearest accounting yet of the crisis's academic toll — as well as reason to hope that schools can help.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>1. Surprise! Students learned less when they were remote\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>But really, this should surprise no one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most schools had little to no experience with remote instruction when the pandemic began; they lacked teacher training, appropriate software, laptops, universal internet access and, in many cases, students lacked stability and a supportive adult at home to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even students who spent the least amount of time learning remotely during the 2020-21 school year — just a month or less — missed the equivalent of seven to 10 weeks of math learning, says Thomas Kane of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of that missed learning, Kane says, was likely a hangover from spring 2020, when nearly all schools were remote and remote instruction was at its worst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane is part of a collaborative of researchers at Harvard, the American Institutes for Research, Dartmouth College and the school-testing nonprofit NWEA, who \u003ca href=\"https://cepr.harvard.edu/files/cepr/files/5-4.pdf?m=1651690491\">set out to measure\u003c/a> just how much learning students missed during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And notice we're saying \"missed,\" not \"lost,\" because the problem is that when schools went remote, kids simply did not learn as much or as well as they would have in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\"\u003c/strong>We try not to say 'learning loss,' because if they didn't learn it, they didn't lose it,\" explains Ebony Lee, an assistant superintendent in Clayton County, Ga.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone agrees. Some parents who saw their kids struggle while trying to learn remotely believe \"learning loss\" fits — because it captures the urgency they now feel to make up for what was lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It would mean so much for parents if somebody would acknowledge it. 'You know, we have learning loss,' \" says Sheila Walker, a parent in Northern California. \"Like our board, they don't even use those words. We know we have learning loss, so how are we going to address it?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane and his fellow researchers studied the test scores of more than 2 million elementary- and middle-schoolers, comparing the growth they made between fall 2017 and fall 2019 to their pandemic-era growth, from fall 2019 to fall 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though researchers focused on math, the instructional time students missed in reading was \"comparable,\" Kane says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One quick caveat: Obviously, test scores can tell us only so much about what students actually learn in a given year (social-emotional skills, for example, are harder to measure). But they're a start.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>2. Students at high-poverty schools were hit hardest\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Students at high-poverty schools experienced an academic double-whammy: Their schools were more likely to be remote and, when they were, students missed more learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let's break that down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, high-poverty schools spent about 5.5 more weeks in remote instruction during the 2020-21 school year than low- and mid-poverty schools, the report says. Researchers also found a \"higher incidence of remote schooling for Black and Hispanic students.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And second, in high-poverty schools that stayed remote for the majority of the 2020-21 school year, students missed the equivalent of 22 weeks of in-person math learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's more than half of a traditional school year (roughly 36-40 weeks).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By contrast, students in similarly remote, low-poverty schools missed considerably less learning: roughly 13 weeks, Kane says, and he warns that closing these gaps could take years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new data backs up what many teachers and school leaders have been saying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's very disconcerting,\" says Sharon Contreras, the superintendent of North Carolina's third-largest district, in Guilford County. \"Because we know that the students who are most vulnerable saw the most amount of learning loss, and they were already behind.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why did students in high-poverty schools miss more learning while remote? Recent U.S. Government Accountability Office \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104487\">surveys of more\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105815.pdf\">than 2,800 teachers\u003c/a> offer some explanations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers in remote, high-poverty schools were more likely to report that their students lacked a workspace and internet at home, and were less likely to have an adult there to help. Many older students disengaged because the pandemic forced them to become caretakers, or to get jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making matters worse, as NPR has reported, high-poverty students were also more likely to experience \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/27/917554000/in-pandemic-many-students-lose-critical-access-to-meals\">food\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/02/1077300038/some-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-remote-learning-and-school-meal\">insecurity\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/07/920320592/an-impossible-choice-for-homeless-parents-a-job-or-their-childs-education\">homelessness\u003c/a> and the loss of a loved one to COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"These gaps are not new,\" says Becky Pringle, head of the National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest teachers union. \"We know that there are racial and social and economic injustices that exist in every system ... what the pandemic did was just like the pandemic did with everything: It just made it worse.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>3. Different states saw different gaps\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Kane and his fellow researchers found that learning gaps were most pronounced in states with higher rates of remote instruction overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, in the quarter of states where students spent the most time learning remotely, including California, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia, \"high-poverty schools spent an additional nine weeks in remote instruction (more than two months) than low-poverty schools,\" the report says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, in the quarter of states where overall use of remote instruction was the lowest, including Texas, Florida and a host of rural states, the report says, high-poverty schools were still more likely to be remote \"but the differences were small: 3 weeks remote in high poverty schools versus 1 week remote in low poverty schools.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report says, \"as long as schools were in-person throughout 2020-21, there was no widening of math achievement gaps between high-, middle-, and low-poverty schools.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane says he hopes that, instead of relitigating districts' choices to stay remote, politicians and educators can use this data as a call to action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That student achievement declined is not a surprise,\" Kane says. \"Rather, we should think of it as a bill for a public health measure that was taken on our behalf. And it's our obligation now, whether or not we agreed with those decisions, to pay that bill. We can't stiff our children.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>4. High school graduation rates didn't change much\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2022/05/10/how-has-the-pandemic-affected-high-school-graduation-and-college-entry/amp/\">One more study\u003c/a>, from Brookings, looks at the impact all this pandemic-driven turmoil had on high school graduation and college entry rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out, for the 2019-20 school year, when graduation ceremonies were canceled and students ended the year at home, high school graduation rates actually \u003cem>increased\u003c/em> slightly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The message clearly was 'just show up,' \" says Douglas Harris, the study's lead researcher and director of the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice at Tulane University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"So it became pretty easy,\" Harris says. \"Anybody who was on the margin of graduating at that point was going to graduate because the states officially relaxed their standards.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the 2020-21 school year, Harris says, states and school districts largely returned to pre-pandemic standards and, as a result, the high school graduation rate dipped slightly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>5. Many high school grads chose to delay college\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>While the pandemic appeared to have little impact on students' ability to finish high school, it seemed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1048955023/college-enrollment-down-pandemic-economy\">have the opposite effect\u003c/a> on their willingness to \u003cem>start\u003c/em> college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris says entry rates for recent high school grads at four-year colleges dipped 6% and a worrying 16% at two-year colleges. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris has a theory: \"I think for anybody, regardless of age, starting something new, trying to develop new relationships in the pandemic, was a nonstarter.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>6. Schools can do something about it\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>School leaders are now racing to build programs that, they hope, will help students make up for at least some of this missed learning. One popular approach: \"high-dosage\" tutoring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"For us, high-dosage means two to three times per week for at least 30 minutes, and ... no more than three students in a group,\" says Penny Schwinn, Tennessee's state education commissioner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwinn led the creation of the TN ALL Corps, a sprawling, statewide network of tutors who, Schwinn hopes, can reach 150,000 elementary- and middle-schoolers over three years. High school students with busier schedules can access online tutoring anytime, on demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Guilford County, Contreras says the benefits of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/23/1064975215/heres-what-schools-are-doing-to-try-to-address-students-social-emotional-needs\">their tutoring program\u003c/a> go well beyond learning recovery. Their new tutoring corps draws heavily from graduate assistants at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, a regional HBCU.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\"\u003c/strong>We want to continue to grow the number of Black and brown teachers in the district,\" Contreras says. \"So hiring graduate assistants was a very intentional effort to make sure our students saw themselves, but also to introduce those graduate assistants to the teaching profession.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple superintendents, including Contreras, emphasized that the purpose of these tutoring efforts was not to look backward, over old material, but to support students as they move forward through new concepts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We don't want to remediate,\" Contreras says emphatically. \"We want to accelerate learning.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane says districts should also consider making up for missed learning \u003ca href=\"https://www.timeandlearning.org/research/student-achievement\">by adding more days to the school calendar\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Schools already have the teachers. They already have the buildings. They already have the bus routes,\" Kane explains. Extending the school year may be logistically easier than, say, hiring and scheduling hundreds of new tutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn't mean extending the school year is easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, where students spent most of the 2020-21 school year learning remotely, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says he would love to expand the next school year by as many as 10 additional days to help address what he calls \"unprecedented, historic learning loss.\" But, he says, \"[that idea] ran into a lot of opposition\" from parents and teachers alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Carvalho has had to settle for four additional student learning days next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kane acknowledges that adding time to the school year is asking a lot of teachers and some families and would likely require a pay bump above educators' normal weekly rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Everybody is eager to return to normal. And I can appreciate that,\" Kane says, \"but normal is not enough.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If there is a silver lining for districts rushing to create new learning opportunities, it's that many school leaders — and politicians — are realizing they make good sense long-term too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, Carvalho says many students attending high-poverty schools \"were in crisis prior to COVID-19,\" academically speaking. And he hopes these new efforts, forced by the pandemic, \"may actually catapult their learning experience.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tennessee's ALL Corps \"is now funded forever more,\" Schwinn says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"So this isn't going to be a COVID recovery. This is just good practice for kids.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=6+things+we%27ve+learned+about+how+the+pandemic+disrupted+learning&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>State-based preschool programs suffered big drops in enrollment and state funding in the teeth of the pandemic, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/YB2021_Full_Report.pdf\">annual review\u003c/a> by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. If there is good news in the report, it's that, during the 2020-2021 school year, federal relief money filled the hole left by states' spending cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There is no time to waste. State-funded programs desperately need the resources to address pervasive problems in access to high-quality early learning and to support teachers,\" says Allison Friedman-Krauss, NIEER assistant research professor and the parent of a preschooler.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NIEER has been releasing its annual State of Preschool report for two decades now, and this year's edition, looking at the 2020-2021 school year, offers a remarkable, albeit dated, snapshot of the pandemic's impact on preschool in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The review is a blizzard of swirling data points, so we thought we'd start by handpicking a few of the most compelling numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Pre-K enrollment declined for the first time in 20 years\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>According to the report, nearly 300,000 fewer children were enrolled in preschool during the 2020-2021 school year compared to 2019-2020 – an 18% drop. Given the timeframe, researchers attribute the drop largely to pandemic-driven school closures and the challenges of providing preschool remotely. On average, states wound up serving less than 30% of all 4-year-olds. The news was worse for 3-year-olds: States served less than 5%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The pandemic wiped out a decade of progress increasing enrollment in state-funded preschool programs,\" the report warns.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Some states cut funding, but Congress plugged the gap\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>States spent roughly $9 billionon pre-K during the 2020-2021 school year – an inflation-adjusted decrease of $254 million compared to the previous year and \"the largest decline in funding since the Great Recession,\" according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the good news: The federal government provided roughly $440 million in preschool pandemic relief that states were able to use to more than offset that $254 million drop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States spent $5,867 per child, on average, a number that NIEER says \"has not improved appreciably in two decades\" after adjusting for inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One caveat: This is an estimate, based not on programs' actual enrollment but on capacity. That's because with funding largely flat overall but enrollment significantly down, states actually spent more than $7,000 per child. But NIEER says measuring programs' spending based on capacity last year, instead of actual enrollment, is a more accurate comparison to previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, the report notes that, overall, state spending on preschool has more than doubled over the last two decades, from $4.1 billion in 2002 to roughly $9 billion in 2021. But when you slice the data another way, looking at state dollars \u003cem>per child\u003c/em>, spending has been remarkably flat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I can tell you, preschool matters,\" said U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on a Monday call with reporters. \"Preschool should be available for everyone, but right now it's not. We made some strides as a nation, but we still have a long way to go.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Low-income families were hit hardest\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the most worrying data in the report come from parent surveys that capture the pandemic's impact on preschool enrollment based on family income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the pandemic, nearly half of low-income children, 47%, were enrolled in some kind of preschool. By fall of 2021, though, that number had dipped to 31%. By comparison, before the pandemic, 62% of children from families with incomes above $25,000 were enrolled in preschool, and, though that number likewise dropped, by fall 2021 it had returned to 58%.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>In six states, enrollment dropped by more than 30%\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The report includes a color-coded map showing which states suffered the greatest drops in preschool enrollment: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Kentucky and Nevada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interestingly, half a dozen states saw enrollment increases: Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Some states were close to universal pre-K before the pandemic\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When you combine state preschool, special education and federally funded Head Start programs, NIEER found six states, plus Washington, D.C., were serving at least 70% of their 4-year-olds before the pandemic began: Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Only D.C. continued to serve more than 70% of 4-year-olds in 2020-2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming did not offer a public preschool program during the 2020-2021 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Enough about quantity, what about quality?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>NIEER's annual review isn't just about enrollment and funding; it's also about quality control. Researchers evaluate every state using 10 benchmarks of quality, including whether they have early learning standards, small class sizes and well-trained teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just five state programs scored a perfect 10 out of 10: Alabama, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Hawaii's Executive Office on Early Learning Public Prekindergarten Program and Michigan's Great Start Readiness Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West Virginia is one of a handful of state programs that scored between nine and a 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"West Virginia has now become the diamond in the rough that everybody missed,\" said the state's Republican governor, Jim Justice, on a phone call with reporters discussing the NIEER report. West Virginia's Universal Pre-K program operates in every county in the state and met nine of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks. Justice called investing in preschool \"off-the-charts important.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I don't care if you're a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent – first and foremost, we're Americans. And we need to be constantly doing the right thing for America,\" Justice said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the other end of the spectrum, programs in Alaska, Florida and North Dakota met just two of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 40% of all children in state-funded preschool are enrolled in programs that meet fewer than half of NIEER's quality standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Whatever happened to President Biden's big preschool plan?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NIEER's review lands at an awkward moment for the Biden administration. The president is an outspoken champion of universal preschool and made the idea a central theme of his Build Back Better agenda, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ffyf.org/faq-on-the-child-care-and-preschool-provisions-in-the-build-back-better-act/\">pledging $10 billion over the next two years\u003c/a> to ramp up states' pre-K capacity. That legislation has been stalled for months in the Senate, though Biden did also ask for additional pre-K funding in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/28/1089144412/biden-budget-fiscal-2023\">2023 budget proposal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+pandemic+erased+a+decade+of+public+preschool+gains&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State-based preschool programs suffered big drops in enrollment and state funding in the teeth of the pandemic, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/YB2021_Full_Report.pdf\">annual review\u003c/a> by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. If there is good news in the report, it's that, during the 2020-2021 school year, federal relief money filled the hole left by states' spending cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There is no time to waste. State-funded programs desperately need the resources to address pervasive problems in access to high-quality early learning and to support teachers,\" says Allison Friedman-Krauss, NIEER assistant research professor and the parent of a preschooler.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NIEER has been releasing its annual State of Preschool report for two decades now, and this year's edition, looking at the 2020-2021 school year, offers a remarkable, albeit dated, snapshot of the pandemic's impact on preschool in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The review is a blizzard of swirling data points, so we thought we'd start by handpicking a few of the most compelling numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Pre-K enrollment declined for the first time in 20 years\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>According to the report, nearly 300,000 fewer children were enrolled in preschool during the 2020-2021 school year compared to 2019-2020 – an 18% drop. Given the timeframe, researchers attribute the drop largely to pandemic-driven school closures and the challenges of providing preschool remotely. On average, states wound up serving less than 30% of all 4-year-olds. The news was worse for 3-year-olds: States served less than 5%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The pandemic wiped out a decade of progress increasing enrollment in state-funded preschool programs,\" the report warns.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Some states cut funding, but Congress plugged the gap\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>States spent roughly $9 billionon pre-K during the 2020-2021 school year – an inflation-adjusted decrease of $254 million compared to the previous year and \"the largest decline in funding since the Great Recession,\" according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the good news: The federal government provided roughly $440 million in preschool pandemic relief that states were able to use to more than offset that $254 million drop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States spent $5,867 per child, on average, a number that NIEER says \"has not improved appreciably in two decades\" after adjusting for inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One caveat: This is an estimate, based not on programs' actual enrollment but on capacity. That's because with funding largely flat overall but enrollment significantly down, states actually spent more than $7,000 per child. But NIEER says measuring programs' spending based on capacity last year, instead of actual enrollment, is a more accurate comparison to previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, the report notes that, overall, state spending on preschool has more than doubled over the last two decades, from $4.1 billion in 2002 to roughly $9 billion in 2021. But when you slice the data another way, looking at state dollars \u003cem>per child\u003c/em>, spending has been remarkably flat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I can tell you, preschool matters,\" said U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on a Monday call with reporters. \"Preschool should be available for everyone, but right now it's not. We made some strides as a nation, but we still have a long way to go.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Low-income families were hit hardest\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the most worrying data in the report come from parent surveys that capture the pandemic's impact on preschool enrollment based on family income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the pandemic, nearly half of low-income children, 47%, were enrolled in some kind of preschool. By fall of 2021, though, that number had dipped to 31%. By comparison, before the pandemic, 62% of children from families with incomes above $25,000 were enrolled in preschool, and, though that number likewise dropped, by fall 2021 it had returned to 58%.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>In six states, enrollment dropped by more than 30%\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The report includes a color-coded map showing which states suffered the greatest drops in preschool enrollment: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Kentucky and Nevada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interestingly, half a dozen states saw enrollment increases: Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Some states were close to universal pre-K before the pandemic\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When you combine state preschool, special education and federally funded Head Start programs, NIEER found six states, plus Washington, D.C., were serving at least 70% of their 4-year-olds before the pandemic began: Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Only D.C. continued to serve more than 70% of 4-year-olds in 2020-2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming did not offer a public preschool program during the 2020-2021 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Enough about quantity, what about quality?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>NIEER's annual review isn't just about enrollment and funding; it's also about quality control. Researchers evaluate every state using 10 benchmarks of quality, including whether they have early learning standards, small class sizes and well-trained teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just five state programs scored a perfect 10 out of 10: Alabama, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Hawaii's Executive Office on Early Learning Public Prekindergarten Program and Michigan's Great Start Readiness Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>West Virginia is one of a handful of state programs that scored between nine and a 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"West Virginia has now become the diamond in the rough that everybody missed,\" said the state's Republican governor, Jim Justice, on a phone call with reporters discussing the NIEER report. West Virginia's Universal Pre-K program operates in every county in the state and met nine of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks. Justice called investing in preschool \"off-the-charts important.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I don't care if you're a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent – first and foremost, we're Americans. And we need to be constantly doing the right thing for America,\" Justice said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the other end of the spectrum, programs in Alaska, Florida and North Dakota met just two of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 40% of all children in state-funded preschool are enrolled in programs that meet fewer than half of NIEER's quality standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Whatever happened to President Biden's big preschool plan?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NIEER's review lands at an awkward moment for the Biden administration. The president is an outspoken champion of universal preschool and made the idea a central theme of his Build Back Better agenda, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ffyf.org/faq-on-the-child-care-and-preschool-provisions-in-the-build-back-better-act/\">pledging $10 billion over the next two years\u003c/a> to ramp up states' pre-K capacity. That legislation has been stalled for months in the Senate, though Biden did also ask for additional pre-K funding in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/28/1089144412/biden-budget-fiscal-2023\">2023 budget proposal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+pandemic+erased+a+decade+of+public+preschool+gains&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two years ago this month, schools closed their doors in 185 countries. \u003ca href=\"https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse\">According to UNESCO\u003c/a>, roughly 9 out of 10 schoolchildren worldwide were out of school. It would soon be the biggest, longest interruption in schooling since formal education became the norm in wealthier countries in the late 19th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/04/02/824964864/nine-out-of-10-of-the-world-s-children-are-out-of-school-what-now\"> time, I spoke with\u003c/a> several experts in the field of research known as \"education in emergencies.\" They gave their predictions for the long-term implications of school closures in the United States based on the research on previous school interruptions caused by war, refugee crises, natural disasters and previous epidemics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years on, schools are open and masks are coming off in most places, restoring a feeling of normalcy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, how have these predictions played out? Let's take a look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Prediction: Student learning will suffer. Vulnerable and marginalized students will be most affected.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Verdict: TRUE\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the United States, \u003ca href=\"https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse#durationschoolclosures\">compared with wealthy countries\u003c/a> in Western Europe and East Asia, schools were typically closed longer. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/03/24/980592512/new-data-highlight-disparities-in-students-learning-in-person#:~:text=And%20the%20survey%20found%20large,27%25%20of%20White%20students%20were.\">majority\u003c/a> of Black, Hispanic and Asian students stayed remote through early 2021. In the fall of 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/07/921287309/pandemic-seems-to-be-driving-school-enrollment-down-npr-investigation-shows\">enrollment dropped\u003c/a>, driven by families who sat out pre-K and kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2022376118\">All \u003c/a>the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning\">data\u003c/a> we have to date shows students falling behind where they would have been without the interruption. As predicted, these gaps are consistently bigger for low-income, Black and Latino children. This study from \u003ca href=\"https://www.nber.org/papers/w29497\">November\u003c/a> found these gaps were bigger at schools that had less in-person learning in the 2020-2021 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the latest research focuses on students \u003ca href=\"https://amplify.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/mCLASS_MOY-Results_February-2022-Report.pdf\">learning to read\u003c/a>. One recent \u003ca href=\"https://pals.virginia.edu/public/pdfs/login/PALS_StateReport_Fall_2021.pdf\">study in Virginia\u003c/a> found early reading skills at a 20-year low this past fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, schools were closed for a few months, and student learning recovered to its previous trajectory after two full school years – and then \u003ca href=\"https://crpe.org/what-post-katrina-new-orleans-can-teach-schools-about-addressing-covid-learning-losses/\">improved from there\u003c/a>. Post-COVID recovery \u003ca href=\"https://eab.com/insights/expert-insight/strategy/lessons-aftermath-hurricane-katrina-support-pandemic-recovery/\">could take even longer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Prediction: A spike in the high school dropout rate and a fall in college enrollment. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Verdict: MOSTLY TRUE\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the class of 2020, districts relaxed graduation requirements, and students graduated in similar or even improved numbers compared with previous years. For 2021, it was a different story. Data is incomplete, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/1/24/22895461/2021-graduation-rates-decrease-pandemic\">Chalkbeat reported\u003c/a> recently that high school graduation rates were trending down in most states for which they had data. And district superintendents have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/15/1062999168/school-enrollment-drops-for-second-straight-year\">told NPR\u003c/a> they are missing older students who have traded schooling for paid work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/01/13/1072529477/more-than-1-million-fewer-students-are-in-college-the-lowest-enrollment-numbers-\">Federal data,\u003c/a> meanwhile, show college enrollment is down more than 1 million students over the past two years. This is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/12/27/1068298117/-17-trillion-thats-how-much-the-pandemic-could-take-away-from-todays-kids\">an international phenomenon\u003c/a> that could reduce earnings around the world by a total of $17 trillion if not addressed, the UN predicts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Prediction: Children are at risk for toxic stress when schools close.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Verdict: TRUE\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools provide food, safety, relationships, stability and hope for most children around the world. Conversely, school closures tend to take place in the context of massive social upheaval. The pandemic was no exception. At least \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/10/07/1043881136/covid-deaths-leave-thousands-of-u-s-kids-grieving-parents-or-primary-caregivers#:~:text=Press-,COVID%20deaths%20leave%20thousands%20of%20U.S.%20kids%20grieving%20parents%20or,racial%20and%20ethnic%20minority%20groups.\">175,000 children\u003c/a> were bereaved or orphaned in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School and child-care closures drove mothers out of the workforce, increasing stress on them and creating economic uncertainty for children. Government assistance, such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/01/27/1075299510/the-expanded-child-tax-credit-briefly-slashed-child-poverty-heres-what-else-it-d\">expanded child tax credit\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/02/1077300038/some-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-remote-learning-and-school-meal\">school meals, \u003c/a>has been inconsistent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and the nation's pediatricians are calling youth mental health a\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/07/1062112212/the-u-s-surgeon-general-issues-a-stark-warning-about-the-state-of-youth-mental-h\"> \"crisis\"\u003c/a> and an\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/10/20/1047624943/pediatricians-call-mental-health-crisis-among-kids-a-national-emergency\"> \"emergency.\"\u003c/a> In October 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/students-mental-health-ranks-top-concern-for-teachers-returning-to-the-classroom-but-teachers-note-connections-with-families-have-improved-during-pandemic-301395304.html\">teachers told pollsters \u003c/a>that children's mental health was their top concern. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/16/1081049158/consensus-grows-that-the-pandemic-has-taken-a-big-emotional-toll-on-young-people\">Eighty percent of parents\u003c/a> in a more recent poll are worried about their own kids' well-being.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a bright spot, now that things are reopening, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/23/1064975215/heres-what-schools-are-doing-to-try-to-address-students-social-emotional-needs\">97% of schools in a federal survey\u003c/a> say they are taking new steps to support student well-being.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Prediction: School systems are sometimes entirely remade.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Verdict: Jury's still out. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crisis can bring reinvention. In New Orleans, after Katrina in 2005, public schools were entirely replaced with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/08/15/431967706/new-orleans-schools-10-years-after-katrina-beacon-or-warning\">controversial \"portfolio district\"\u003c/a> of charter schools. School performance improved as measured by test scores, but by the time of the COVID shutdown, the city \u003ca href=\"https://thelensnola.org/2019/11/06/compare-2019-new-orleans-school-ratings/\">still ranked below\u003c/a> the state average . Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria in 2017, passed a law reorganizing the school system and creating charters and voucher programs. Serious \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-new-actions-improve-educational-outcomes-students-puerto-rico\">learning interruptions \u003c/a>and impacts have continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, in the United States, we're hearing a lot more about \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/statement-us-secretary-education-miguel-cardona-one-year-anniversary-american-rescue-plan\">recovery\u003c/a> than reform. But an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/13/1061787233/more-black-families-are-homeschooling-their-children-citing-the-pandemic-and-rac\">apparent spike in home-schooling \u003c/a>combined with a persistent \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/15/1062999168/school-enrollment-drops-for-second-straight-year\">downturn in enrollment\u003c/a> in big-city school districts could indicate parents searching for alternatives – or creating them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Two+years+ago+schools+shut+down+around+the+world.+These+are+the+biggest+impacts&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two years ago this month, schools closed their doors in 185 countries. \u003ca href=\"https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse\">According to UNESCO\u003c/a>, roughly 9 out of 10 schoolchildren worldwide were out of school. It would soon be the biggest, longest interruption in schooling since formal education became the norm in wealthier countries in the late 19th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/04/02/824964864/nine-out-of-10-of-the-world-s-children-are-out-of-school-what-now\"> time, I spoke with\u003c/a> several experts in the field of research known as \"education in emergencies.\" They gave their predictions for the long-term implications of school closures in the United States based on the research on previous school interruptions caused by war, refugee crises, natural disasters and previous epidemics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years on, schools are open and masks are coming off in most places, restoring a feeling of normalcy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, how have these predictions played out? Let's take a look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Prediction: Student learning will suffer. Vulnerable and marginalized students will be most affected.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Verdict: TRUE\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the United States, \u003ca href=\"https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse#durationschoolclosures\">compared with wealthy countries\u003c/a> in Western Europe and East Asia, schools were typically closed longer. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/03/24/980592512/new-data-highlight-disparities-in-students-learning-in-person#:~:text=And%20the%20survey%20found%20large,27%25%20of%20White%20students%20were.\">majority\u003c/a> of Black, Hispanic and Asian students stayed remote through early 2021. In the fall of 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/07/921287309/pandemic-seems-to-be-driving-school-enrollment-down-npr-investigation-shows\">enrollment dropped\u003c/a>, driven by families who sat out pre-K and kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2022376118\">All \u003c/a>the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning\">data\u003c/a> we have to date shows students falling behind where they would have been without the interruption. As predicted, these gaps are consistently bigger for low-income, Black and Latino children. This study from \u003ca href=\"https://www.nber.org/papers/w29497\">November\u003c/a> found these gaps were bigger at schools that had less in-person learning in the 2020-2021 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the latest research focuses on students \u003ca href=\"https://amplify.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/mCLASS_MOY-Results_February-2022-Report.pdf\">learning to read\u003c/a>. One recent \u003ca href=\"https://pals.virginia.edu/public/pdfs/login/PALS_StateReport_Fall_2021.pdf\">study in Virginia\u003c/a> found early reading skills at a 20-year low this past fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, schools were closed for a few months, and student learning recovered to its previous trajectory after two full school years – and then \u003ca href=\"https://crpe.org/what-post-katrina-new-orleans-can-teach-schools-about-addressing-covid-learning-losses/\">improved from there\u003c/a>. Post-COVID recovery \u003ca href=\"https://eab.com/insights/expert-insight/strategy/lessons-aftermath-hurricane-katrina-support-pandemic-recovery/\">could take even longer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Prediction: A spike in the high school dropout rate and a fall in college enrollment. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Verdict: MOSTLY TRUE\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the class of 2020, districts relaxed graduation requirements, and students graduated in similar or even improved numbers compared with previous years. For 2021, it was a different story. Data is incomplete, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/1/24/22895461/2021-graduation-rates-decrease-pandemic\">Chalkbeat reported\u003c/a> recently that high school graduation rates were trending down in most states for which they had data. And district superintendents have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/15/1062999168/school-enrollment-drops-for-second-straight-year\">told NPR\u003c/a> they are missing older students who have traded schooling for paid work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/01/13/1072529477/more-than-1-million-fewer-students-are-in-college-the-lowest-enrollment-numbers-\">Federal data,\u003c/a> meanwhile, show college enrollment is down more than 1 million students over the past two years. This is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/12/27/1068298117/-17-trillion-thats-how-much-the-pandemic-could-take-away-from-todays-kids\">an international phenomenon\u003c/a> that could reduce earnings around the world by a total of $17 trillion if not addressed, the UN predicts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Prediction: Children are at risk for toxic stress when schools close.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Verdict: TRUE\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools provide food, safety, relationships, stability and hope for most children around the world. Conversely, school closures tend to take place in the context of massive social upheaval. The pandemic was no exception. At least \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/10/07/1043881136/covid-deaths-leave-thousands-of-u-s-kids-grieving-parents-or-primary-caregivers#:~:text=Press-,COVID%20deaths%20leave%20thousands%20of%20U.S.%20kids%20grieving%20parents%20or,racial%20and%20ethnic%20minority%20groups.\">175,000 children\u003c/a> were bereaved or orphaned in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School and child-care closures drove mothers out of the workforce, increasing stress on them and creating economic uncertainty for children. Government assistance, such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/01/27/1075299510/the-expanded-child-tax-credit-briefly-slashed-child-poverty-heres-what-else-it-d\">expanded child tax credit\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/02/1077300038/some-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-remote-learning-and-school-meal\">school meals, \u003c/a>has been inconsistent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and the nation's pediatricians are calling youth mental health a\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/07/1062112212/the-u-s-surgeon-general-issues-a-stark-warning-about-the-state-of-youth-mental-h\"> \"crisis\"\u003c/a> and an\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/10/20/1047624943/pediatricians-call-mental-health-crisis-among-kids-a-national-emergency\"> \"emergency.\"\u003c/a> In October 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/students-mental-health-ranks-top-concern-for-teachers-returning-to-the-classroom-but-teachers-note-connections-with-families-have-improved-during-pandemic-301395304.html\">teachers told pollsters \u003c/a>that children's mental health was their top concern. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/16/1081049158/consensus-grows-that-the-pandemic-has-taken-a-big-emotional-toll-on-young-people\">Eighty percent of parents\u003c/a> in a more recent poll are worried about their own kids' well-being.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a bright spot, now that things are reopening, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/23/1064975215/heres-what-schools-are-doing-to-try-to-address-students-social-emotional-needs\">97% of schools in a federal survey\u003c/a> say they are taking new steps to support student well-being.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Prediction: School systems are sometimes entirely remade.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Verdict: Jury's still out. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crisis can bring reinvention. In New Orleans, after Katrina in 2005, public schools were entirely replaced with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/08/15/431967706/new-orleans-schools-10-years-after-katrina-beacon-or-warning\">controversial \"portfolio district\"\u003c/a> of charter schools. School performance improved as measured by test scores, but by the time of the COVID shutdown, the city \u003ca href=\"https://thelensnola.org/2019/11/06/compare-2019-new-orleans-school-ratings/\">still ranked below\u003c/a> the state average . Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria in 2017, passed a law reorganizing the school system and creating charters and voucher programs. Serious \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-new-actions-improve-educational-outcomes-students-puerto-rico\">learning interruptions \u003c/a>and impacts have continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, in the United States, we're hearing a lot more about \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/statement-us-secretary-education-miguel-cardona-one-year-anniversary-american-rescue-plan\">recovery\u003c/a> than reform. But an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/13/1061787233/more-black-families-are-homeschooling-their-children-citing-the-pandemic-and-rac\">apparent spike in home-schooling \u003c/a>combined with a persistent \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/15/1062999168/school-enrollment-drops-for-second-straight-year\">downturn in enrollment\u003c/a> in big-city school districts could indicate parents searching for alternatives – or creating them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Two+years+ago+schools+shut+down+around+the+world.+These+are+the+biggest+impacts&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Better air in classrooms matters beyond COVID. Here's why schools aren't there yet",
"title": "Better air in classrooms matters beyond COVID. Here's why schools aren't there yet",
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"content": "\u003cp>Not many people can say the pandemic has made their jobs easier. But in some ways, Tracy Enger can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You know, it is such a hallelujah moment, absolutely,\" says Enger, who works at the Environmental Protection Agency's Indoor Environments Division. For more than 25 years, she's been fighting to improve the air quality inside of America's schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are lots of competing demands for limited school budgets. And in the past, getting school districts to prioritize indoor air quality hasn't been easy. Often, she says, it took some kind of crisis to get schools to focus on the issue – \"when they found the mold problem, when their asthma rates were kind of going through the roof.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came the COVID-19 pandemic — spread by virus particles that can build up in indoor air and linger, sometimes for hours. Key to clearing out those infectious particles: good ventilation and filtration. For example, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7021e1.htm\">one study of Georgia schools\u003c/a> linked improved ventilation strategies, combined with HEPA filtration, to a 48 percent lower rate of COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suddenly – finally – lots of people have started to pay attention to indoor air quality in schools, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.centerforgreenschools.org/anisa-heming\">Anisa Heming\u003c/a>, director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.centerforgreenschools.org/\">Center for Green Schools\u003c/a> at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgbc.org/\">U.S. Green Building Council\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It matters more to people right now,\" says Heming. \"COVID is this immediate threat that has made air quality immediately relevant.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's why she and other indoor air-quality experts say the Biden administration's new \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/\">National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan\u003c/a> is a step in the right direction: It specifically highlights the need to help schools upgrade their ventilation systems for the long term, using funding from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/\">American Rescue Plan Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heming says in the past, it's been hard to make a health case for improving air quality in schools, because the health impacts tend to be longer term. But a \u003ca href=\"https://forhealth.org/Harvard.Schools_For_Health.Foundations_for_Student_Success.pdf\">whole body of research \u003c/a>shows the health and academic benefits are substantial – and go beyond COVID. When a room is better ventilated, influenza rates, asthma attacks and absenteeism go down, reading and math test scores go up. Less carbon dioxide builds up in a room, which helps students think more clearly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's well documented across all different countries and all different ages,\" says Joseph Allen, director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/joseph-allen/healthy-buildings/\">Healthy Buildings program\u003c/a> at Harvard University. \"We see benefits in kindergarteners, we see benefits in high school, we see benefits in college students and middle schoolers – every age group.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allen says understanding these long-term benefits of upgrading ventilation is vital, \"because an investment right now is not just a short-term investment for COVID. If a school does this right, they can expect not only years, but decades of benefits to health beyond reductions in infectious disease transmission.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And experts say those investments are desperately needed, because most U.S. schools are poorly ventilated to begin with. The average American school is over 45 years old, and many have HVAC systems that are outdated or need repairs, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-494\">2020 report from the Government Accountability Office\u003c/a>. Some schools are so old, they don't even have mechanical ventilation systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I don't think a lot of people recognize that the design standards [that govern ventilation rates in schools and other buildings] are bare minimums. They were never actually set for health,\" says Allen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carl Thurnau knows all too well just how bad deferred school maintenance can get. Several years ago, a classroom ceiling actually collapsed at a school in the City School District of New Rochelle, New York. That's when the district recruited Thurnau, an engineer, to become its director of facilities to oversee a $106 million overhaul of buildings – a process that was already funded and in motion when COVID struck. That money meant the school district could quickly pivot to implement ventilation upgrades in response to COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having funding in place \"is why we were able to get ahead of this – and in my opinion, stay ahead,\" Thurnau says. But \"there's no doubt that districts with less financial resources are struggling to find the money to solve some of these problems.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ventilation and green building experts have been offering schools guidance on how to improve their air quality to reduce COVID risk since the early days of the pandemic, even before the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/05/920446534/cdc-acknowledges-coronavirus-can-spread-via-airborne-transmission\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged the virus could spread through the air.\u003c/a> Broadly speaking, Allen says, the advice boils down to three major things: increasing the amount of outdoor air in a classroom; using higher-efficiency MERV filters in HVAC systems; and supplementing these measures with portable air cleaners with HEPA filters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But two years in, it's unclear how many schools have actually made these changes. That information isn't tracked at the federal level, though some reports hint at the challenges schools have faced. What's clear, says Allen, is that while a lot of schools have taken steps to improve ventilation, many others haven't. \"Some haven't done the basic measures, the stopgap measures,\" Allen says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heming says schools have been able to tap federal funds for ventilation upgrades since\u003ca href=\"https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/crrsaa.html\"> late December 2020\u003c/a>, and the American Rescue Plan Act, passed in March 2021, made a lot more money – $122 billion – available to schools for this and other pandemic-related purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So why have many schools been slow to act when it comes to indoor air quality? Last year, the Center for Green Schools published a \u003ca href=\"https://www.ashrae.org/file%20library/technical%20resources/covid-19/preparation-in-the-pandemic_iaq-in-schools_final2.pdf\">survey\u003c/a> of more than 47 school districts representing 2.5 million students in 24 states. The vast majority of them said they prefer to invest in long-term solutions rooted in revamping or replacing their HVAC systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with so many old and outdated school buildings, Heming says \"these strategies that schools need to use require that they do pretty major renovations.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That kind of work takes many months to plan and contract. In many cases, she says, those plans are only being firmed up now. And \u003ca href=\"https://aasa.org/uploadedFiles/ARP-Survey-Findings-Part2.pdf\">a recent survey found\u003c/a> many school districts are worried that they won't be able to complete the work by a September 2024 deadline under the law, especially because of supply chain issues and labor and material shortages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stopgap measures like opening windows or using portable air cleaners really do work to improve indoor air quality, Heming says, but they can only take schools so far. For example, open windows aren't realistic when outdoor temperatures are freezing, she says, and in humid regions, they can pull in more humidity, promoting the growth of mold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while many school districts have invested in stand-alone portable air cleaners, they come with their own headaches, says Heming: The units can be disruptively noisy and they need to be stored and maintained over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, she says, the school districts that were able to move quickest to improve their air ventilation and filtration in response to the pandemic were those that already had money available to upgrade their facilities, and in many cases, they'd already assessed their buildings and knew which ones needed work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are some encouraging signs that more schools may be catching up soon. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.future-ed.org/financial-trends-in-local-schools-covid-aid-spending/\">analysis released in February\u003c/a> by FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University, found that school districts already had plans in place to spend about $4.4 billion on HVAC updates, and if trends continue, that could reach nearly $10 billion. Another FutureEd \u003ca href=\"https://www.future-ed.org/how-district-poverty-levels-influence-covid-relief-spending/\">analysis\u003c/a> found that high-poverty districts are more likely to plan to use federal funds to upgrade aging ventilation systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA's Tracy Enger says interest in the agency's guidance on indoor air quality for school has skyrocketed over the last year. \"What we are seeing is this moment turning into a movement for improving indoor air quality in schools and creating healthier learning spaces,\" she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heming says she's also optimistic, but her enthusiasm is tempered. She notes that the $122 billion of American Rescue Plan funds designated for schools has to pay for a host of pandemic-related needs – from hiring more staff to summer school programs – not just ventilation upgrades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if every last dime of the American Rescue Plan funds for schools were spent on facilities, \"it's still a big gap between that and what's actually needed,\" Heming says. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.wellcertified.com/state-of-our-schools\">2021 report found that \u003c/a>each year, districts spend $85 billion less than what's needed to get schools into good condition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Better+air+in+classrooms+matters+beyond+COVID.+Here%27s+why+schools+aren%27t+there+yet&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Not many people can say the pandemic has made their jobs easier. But in some ways, Tracy Enger can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"You know, it is such a hallelujah moment, absolutely,\" says Enger, who works at the Environmental Protection Agency's Indoor Environments Division. For more than 25 years, she's been fighting to improve the air quality inside of America's schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are lots of competing demands for limited school budgets. And in the past, getting school districts to prioritize indoor air quality hasn't been easy. Often, she says, it took some kind of crisis to get schools to focus on the issue – \"when they found the mold problem, when their asthma rates were kind of going through the roof.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came the COVID-19 pandemic — spread by virus particles that can build up in indoor air and linger, sometimes for hours. Key to clearing out those infectious particles: good ventilation and filtration. For example, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7021e1.htm\">one study of Georgia schools\u003c/a> linked improved ventilation strategies, combined with HEPA filtration, to a 48 percent lower rate of COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suddenly – finally – lots of people have started to pay attention to indoor air quality in schools, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.centerforgreenschools.org/anisa-heming\">Anisa Heming\u003c/a>, director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.centerforgreenschools.org/\">Center for Green Schools\u003c/a> at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgbc.org/\">U.S. Green Building Council\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It matters more to people right now,\" says Heming. \"COVID is this immediate threat that has made air quality immediately relevant.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's why she and other indoor air-quality experts say the Biden administration's new \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/\">National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan\u003c/a> is a step in the right direction: It specifically highlights the need to help schools upgrade their ventilation systems for the long term, using funding from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/\">American Rescue Plan Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heming says in the past, it's been hard to make a health case for improving air quality in schools, because the health impacts tend to be longer term. But a \u003ca href=\"https://forhealth.org/Harvard.Schools_For_Health.Foundations_for_Student_Success.pdf\">whole body of research \u003c/a>shows the health and academic benefits are substantial – and go beyond COVID. When a room is better ventilated, influenza rates, asthma attacks and absenteeism go down, reading and math test scores go up. Less carbon dioxide builds up in a room, which helps students think more clearly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's well documented across all different countries and all different ages,\" says Joseph Allen, director of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/joseph-allen/healthy-buildings/\">Healthy Buildings program\u003c/a> at Harvard University. \"We see benefits in kindergarteners, we see benefits in high school, we see benefits in college students and middle schoolers – every age group.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allen says understanding these long-term benefits of upgrading ventilation is vital, \"because an investment right now is not just a short-term investment for COVID. If a school does this right, they can expect not only years, but decades of benefits to health beyond reductions in infectious disease transmission.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And experts say those investments are desperately needed, because most U.S. schools are poorly ventilated to begin with. The average American school is over 45 years old, and many have HVAC systems that are outdated or need repairs, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-494\">2020 report from the Government Accountability Office\u003c/a>. Some schools are so old, they don't even have mechanical ventilation systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I don't think a lot of people recognize that the design standards [that govern ventilation rates in schools and other buildings] are bare minimums. They were never actually set for health,\" says Allen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carl Thurnau knows all too well just how bad deferred school maintenance can get. Several years ago, a classroom ceiling actually collapsed at a school in the City School District of New Rochelle, New York. That's when the district recruited Thurnau, an engineer, to become its director of facilities to oversee a $106 million overhaul of buildings – a process that was already funded and in motion when COVID struck. That money meant the school district could quickly pivot to implement ventilation upgrades in response to COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having funding in place \"is why we were able to get ahead of this – and in my opinion, stay ahead,\" Thurnau says. But \"there's no doubt that districts with less financial resources are struggling to find the money to solve some of these problems.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ventilation and green building experts have been offering schools guidance on how to improve their air quality to reduce COVID risk since the early days of the pandemic, even before the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/05/920446534/cdc-acknowledges-coronavirus-can-spread-via-airborne-transmission\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged the virus could spread through the air.\u003c/a> Broadly speaking, Allen says, the advice boils down to three major things: increasing the amount of outdoor air in a classroom; using higher-efficiency MERV filters in HVAC systems; and supplementing these measures with portable air cleaners with HEPA filters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But two years in, it's unclear how many schools have actually made these changes. That information isn't tracked at the federal level, though some reports hint at the challenges schools have faced. What's clear, says Allen, is that while a lot of schools have taken steps to improve ventilation, many others haven't. \"Some haven't done the basic measures, the stopgap measures,\" Allen says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heming says schools have been able to tap federal funds for ventilation upgrades since\u003ca href=\"https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/crrsaa.html\"> late December 2020\u003c/a>, and the American Rescue Plan Act, passed in March 2021, made a lot more money – $122 billion – available to schools for this and other pandemic-related purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So why have many schools been slow to act when it comes to indoor air quality? Last year, the Center for Green Schools published a \u003ca href=\"https://www.ashrae.org/file%20library/technical%20resources/covid-19/preparation-in-the-pandemic_iaq-in-schools_final2.pdf\">survey\u003c/a> of more than 47 school districts representing 2.5 million students in 24 states. The vast majority of them said they prefer to invest in long-term solutions rooted in revamping or replacing their HVAC systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with so many old and outdated school buildings, Heming says \"these strategies that schools need to use require that they do pretty major renovations.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That kind of work takes many months to plan and contract. In many cases, she says, those plans are only being firmed up now. And \u003ca href=\"https://aasa.org/uploadedFiles/ARP-Survey-Findings-Part2.pdf\">a recent survey found\u003c/a> many school districts are worried that they won't be able to complete the work by a September 2024 deadline under the law, especially because of supply chain issues and labor and material shortages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stopgap measures like opening windows or using portable air cleaners really do work to improve indoor air quality, Heming says, but they can only take schools so far. For example, open windows aren't realistic when outdoor temperatures are freezing, she says, and in humid regions, they can pull in more humidity, promoting the growth of mold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while many school districts have invested in stand-alone portable air cleaners, they come with their own headaches, says Heming: The units can be disruptively noisy and they need to be stored and maintained over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, she says, the school districts that were able to move quickest to improve their air ventilation and filtration in response to the pandemic were those that already had money available to upgrade their facilities, and in many cases, they'd already assessed their buildings and knew which ones needed work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are some encouraging signs that more schools may be catching up soon. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.future-ed.org/financial-trends-in-local-schools-covid-aid-spending/\">analysis released in February\u003c/a> by FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University, found that school districts already had plans in place to spend about $4.4 billion on HVAC updates, and if trends continue, that could reach nearly $10 billion. Another FutureEd \u003ca href=\"https://www.future-ed.org/how-district-poverty-levels-influence-covid-relief-spending/\">analysis\u003c/a> found that high-poverty districts are more likely to plan to use federal funds to upgrade aging ventilation systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA's Tracy Enger says interest in the agency's guidance on indoor air quality for school has skyrocketed over the last year. \"What we are seeing is this moment turning into a movement for improving indoor air quality in schools and creating healthier learning spaces,\" she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heming says she's also optimistic, but her enthusiasm is tempered. She notes that the $122 billion of American Rescue Plan funds designated for schools has to pay for a host of pandemic-related needs – from hiring more staff to summer school programs – not just ventilation upgrades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if every last dime of the American Rescue Plan funds for schools were spent on facilities, \"it's still a big gap between that and what's actually needed,\" Heming says. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.wellcertified.com/state-of-our-schools\">2021 report found that \u003c/a>each year, districts spend $85 billion less than what's needed to get schools into good condition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Better+air+in+classrooms+matters+beyond+COVID.+Here%27s+why+schools+aren%27t+there+yet&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"storyMajorUpdateDate\">\u003cstrong>Updated February 7, 2022 at 5:39 PM ET\u003c/strong>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Oregon is the latest state to set plans to lift its statewide mask mandate for schools, following earlier announcements Monday from New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The loosening guidelines are signs that the four states are changing how they manage the COVID-19 pandemic as cases from the omicron surge continue to subside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon health officials announced Monday its end date for indoor mask requirements for public places and inside schools is March 31.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The evidence from Oregon and around the country is clear: masks save lives by slowing the spread of COVID-19,\" Oregon state health officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger said in a \u003ca href=\"https://covidblog.oregon.gov/indoor-mask-requirement-to-be-lifted-no-later-than-march-31-2022/\">news release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/k5YN95tCtJQ\">recommended Monday\u003c/a> that the state end the statewide mask mandate on Feb. 28 — the earliest date of the three states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the state mandate is lifted, the Democratic governor said it would be up to local leaders, like mayors or superintendents, to make their own decisions on mask requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Today with boosters, given vaccines, given the N95 masks, you are in a better position to keep yourself safe,\" Lamont said at a press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Garden State will lift its mask mandate in schools for both students and employees beginning on March 7, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday morning, though districts will still be able to require masking to control any spikes in infections. The news was first \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/nyregion/nj-school-mask-mandate-murphy.html\">reported by The New York Times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Balancing public health with getting back to some semblance of normalcy is not easy. But we can responsibly take this step due to declining COVID numbers and growth in vaccinations,\" Murphy \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GovMurphy/status/1490723235138318337\">said in a tweet\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New Jersey was among the hardest-hit states early in the pandemic, and Murphy implemented a variety of strict public health measures to control the virus, garnering both praise and criticism for the aggressive approach to controlling COVID-19's spread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Murphy said employees and students can still choose to wear masks in schools where they aren't required.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delaware's indoor mask mandate for public and private K-12 schools and child care facilities will end on March 31, Gov. John Carney \u003ca href=\"https://news.delaware.gov/2022/02/07/governor-carney-announces-expiration-of-universal-indoor-mask-mandate-on-february-11/\">announced\u003c/a>. The universal indoor mask mandate expires Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the date would give districts and schools time to consider local masking requirements and allow the state to update its quarantine and contact tracing guidance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We're in a much better place than we were several weeks ago in the middle of the Omicron surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations,\" Carney said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I want to be clear about this point — COVID is still circulating in our communities. And the virus still poses a risk of serious illness, particularly among those who are not up to date on their vaccinations,\" he added. \"But we have the tools to keep ourselves and each other safe.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California announced Monday it will end indoor masking requirements for vaccinated people on Feb. 15, but that doesn't extend to schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story originally appeared \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/live-updates/morning-edition-2022-02-07#new-jersey-and-delaware-set-timelines-to-end-mask-mandates-for-schools\">\u003cem>in the\u003c/em> Morning Edition\u003cem> live blog\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=4+states+announce+they%27re+dropping+mask+mandates+for+schools&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "It's a sign the three Northeastern states are changing how they manage the COVID-19 pandemic as cases from the omicron surge continue to drop.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the state mandate is lifted, the Democratic governor said it would be up to local leaders, like mayors or superintendents, to make their own decisions on mask requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Today with boosters, given vaccines, given the N95 masks, you are in a better position to keep yourself safe,\" Lamont said at a press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Garden State will lift its mask mandate in schools for both students and employees beginning on March 7, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday morning, though districts will still be able to require masking to control any spikes in infections. The news was first \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/nyregion/nj-school-mask-mandate-murphy.html\">reported by The New York Times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Balancing public health with getting back to some semblance of normalcy is not easy. But we can responsibly take this step due to declining COVID numbers and growth in vaccinations,\" Murphy \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GovMurphy/status/1490723235138318337\">said in a tweet\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New Jersey was among the hardest-hit states early in the pandemic, and Murphy implemented a variety of strict public health measures to control the virus, garnering both praise and criticism for the aggressive approach to controlling COVID-19's spread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Murphy said employees and students can still choose to wear masks in schools where they aren't required.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delaware's indoor mask mandate for public and private K-12 schools and child care facilities will end on March 31, Gov. John Carney \u003ca href=\"https://news.delaware.gov/2022/02/07/governor-carney-announces-expiration-of-universal-indoor-mask-mandate-on-february-11/\">announced\u003c/a>. The universal indoor mask mandate expires Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the date would give districts and schools time to consider local masking requirements and allow the state to update its quarantine and contact tracing guidance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We're in a much better place than we were several weeks ago in the middle of the Omicron surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations,\" Carney said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I want to be clear about this point — COVID is still circulating in our communities. And the virus still poses a risk of serious illness, particularly among those who are not up to date on their vaccinations,\" he added. \"But we have the tools to keep ourselves and each other safe.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California announced Monday it will end indoor masking requirements for vaccinated people on Feb. 15, but that doesn't extend to schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story originally appeared \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/live-updates/morning-edition-2022-02-07#new-jersey-and-delaware-set-timelines-to-end-mask-mandates-for-schools\">\u003cem>in the\u003c/em> Morning Edition\u003cem> live blog\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=4+states+announce+they%27re+dropping+mask+mandates+for+schools&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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},
"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"onourwatch": {
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"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
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},
"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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