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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s no handbook for how to raise teenagers during a pandemic. Adolescents are struggling for valid reasons and many parents are grappling with how to support their teens while also navigating their own pressing concerns. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Katie Hurley, an \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">adolescent psychotherapist and author of the new book, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Year-Positive-Thinking-Teens-Motivation/dp/1647396409\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“A Year Of Positive Thinking For Teens,” \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">says that in her practice, she has seen the toll\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of these last several months. What do teens need most right now, from her perspective? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It sounds really simple, but the thing that teenagers are craving the most is connection and listening because this is hard for everyone,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Take Your Own Emotional Temperature\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With so much of school and social life occurring over screens, parents offer their children a vital physical presence. But this can also feel daunting as parents feel the pressure of meeting their family’s physical and emotional needs while also assuming greater responsibility for their children’s schooling.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hurley encourages adults to check their own emotional thermometer throughout the day. Our children are watching how we react and our responses matter, says Hurley. “Children take their cues first from us, always. We are their people.” But adults do not need to be paragons of positivity. We don’t have to pretend it’s easy, says Hurley. Instead, we can talk about how we are feeling with teens “so that they know that, right now, feeling like you're on a roller coaster every day is normal.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">No single strategy, like deep breathing, will magically make our worries disappear. That said, “having coping strategies in your back pocket is super important,” says Hurley. “It helps us know what to do when our stress levels rise, but it doesn't fix everything.” It also takes consistent practice to hone these skills so that you can apply them when you feel your temperature rise. With both adults and kids experiencing challenges right now, it’s a powerful time for families to practice being open about emotions and making self-care a family affair. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Whether it is taking that daily walk or doing an online yoga class or some sort of exercise to get the endorphins going, we have to think about our own coping strategies,” says Hurley. She also strongly recommends meditation apps because mindfulness is a proven way to reduce the acute stress response. “When we use it, it works.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Check-In Without Interviewing\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teens need adults to keep an eye on them right now, but sometimes how we check-in can inadvertently increase anxiety. “We have to practice checking in with them in non-threatening ways,” says Hurley. That means putting a stop to “constantly interviewing kids about what homework they’ve done, what they’ve sent in and what's still outstanding.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right now, there’s a lot of media chatter about “lost learning and how kids are falling behind,” says Hurley. \"And it's translating to pressure within the home.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s hard to see our children struggle with remote or hybrid schooling, so “we keep interviewing them to try to get information so that we can know how to fix it. We can't fix this. But what we can do is we can step back and say, ‘Hey, this is hard academically and emotionally. It's exceptionally difficult to learn math online right now.’ What we need to do more of is just listening and asking, ‘How are you doing? How are you feeling?’\" \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hurley said the most common response she’s hearing from kids right now is that they are lonely. They miss their friends, and they miss “a teacher leaning over their desk to point something out on their paper. Teachers have this magical way of connecting with kids in small ways and they can't get that over Zoom, no matter how hard they try.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Meet Them Where They Are\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parents often report that their teens are not coming to them for support. But they are, Hurley says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They're just doing it in a way that you don't like. When they're venting or sniping at you over little things – there it is! They are trying to hand you their feelings. They're projecting outward because those feelings are uncomfortable and they don't know what to do with them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes teens seek to connect over play through video games, cards, basketball, jigsaw puzzles, etc. “Play is how kids connect at all ages,” says Hurley. “It's a reason teenagers will say, ‘Dad, would you shoot hoops with me?’” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Harvard psychologist Nancy Hill \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/40845/as-teens-push-away-what-can-parents-do-to-support-success\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">once noted\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, “Parenting teens is like hugging a cactus. Even as the ‘warm fuzzies’ are not often reciprocated, teens still need them, still need to know they are loved unconditionally.” According to a study she \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gse.harvard.edu/file/parental-involvementwang-hill-hofkens-2014pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">authored\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, parental warmth amplifies all other parenting strategies, even when teens distance themselves from parents.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Listen Your Way Through Their Problems\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The best thing parents and caregivers can give teens right now is the undivided attention of listening, empathizing and compassion, says Hurley. When teens do share their worries, resist the urge to either minimize them or solve the problem for them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They want you to listen your way through their problems so that they have somebody to vent to and bounce ideas off of,” says Hurley. Practice being a sounding board – a calm presence who offers short, empathetic responses such as: \"Wow, that's hard. I feel for you. I'm heartbroken for you. This seems really difficult.\" \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the face of this empathetic listening, teens often start to solve their own problems. “They shift from what feels like a litany of complaints to a little bit of, ‘Maybe I should do this or that.’ They start coming up with ideas,” says Hurley. The hardest part for parents is to just listen and not share our own ideas because we know what's worked for us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hurley offered this example of how adult language can support teen problem-solving: When teens share what bothers them, first validate their emotions with \"That sounds really hard” or “That stinks.\" And then ask something like, “Is this a problem that you think you can solve or is this a problem that we need to endure? Are you looking for an answer or do you want help riding out the storm by talking you through it, guiding you through it or just listening you through it?” Nine times out of ten, says Hurley, they want someone to “listen through it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If teens struggle to come up with their own next steps, adults can reaffirm that “there's no easy answer,” says Hurley, and perhaps ask, “What are some things that give you little bits of hope right now? What would help you feel one percent better?” These “little bits of hope” can become small steps for moving forward.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Drowning Doesn’t Build Resilience\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the last 20 years, the term “helicopter parenting” became shorthand for parents who are overly involved in their children’s lives and whose “hovering” interferes with children’s ability to develop independence. But, like any other parenting conundrum, the desire to avoid becoming a “helicopter parent” can be taken to extremes. When teens are in distress, sometimes parents think, \"I need to step away from you. You have to figure it out all by yourself.\" And while adolescents are highly capable problem-solvers, we don’t need to leave them to go it alone. “That's not resilience. That's loneliness,” says Hurley. “We know from years and years of research that human beings need each other. We are supposed to help each other out. We aren't supposed to be drowning in a stormy sea without a life ring.” Rather, she says, teens need adults to be the anchors to hold them steady.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, the science around resilience – or the capacity to recover from difficulties – highlights the need for adults to support children in developing this character strength. According to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/15/03/science-resilience\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> out of Harvard’s Center for the Developing Child, “Resilience can be built; it’s not an innate trait . . . [It] is shaped throughout life by the accumulation of experiences — both good and bad — and the continuing development of adaptive coping skills connected to those experiences.” Hurley says, “If there were awards for your soft skills, resilience would be a lifetime achievement award. It’s something that’s accrued over time, as we learn that we can work through hard things, we can solve problems and we can cope. But it’s not reasonable to expect teenagers to be able to do this independently a hundred percent of the time because their brains are not even fully formed until they’re 25 years old.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And here’s more good news for adults worried about their own capacity to help their adolescents right now. According to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/supportive-relationships-and-active-skill-building-strengthen-the-foundations-of-resilience/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, “children who do well despite serious hardship have had at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive adult.” In other words, in tough times, a parent or caregiver’s very presence can be a protective factor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Practice Zooming Out & Finding Purpose\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As humans, we tend to zoom in to hyperfocus on what we think is important. For parents of teens, that often includes grades, test scores and the college process. But what if those aren’t the right places to focus our lenses right now? Hurley says, “We have to hit pause, zoom out and say, ‘What other things can our kids learn during this time?’ Can they learn the value of pulling in the trash cans for an elderly neighbor? Can they learn how to help a younger child by reading them stories over Zoom? Yes, they can. There are all sorts of different ways that we can channel this stressful energy into positive outcomes.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And if a teen has a hard time thinking outside of themselves right now – beyond what they are feeling and missing – that doesn’t mean they are selfish. It just means that they're human and they're struggling. Meet them there and say, \"I get this. This is hard. What else can you do?\" says Hurley. “We have to help kids find some purpose, anything. Because when we have purpose, we are optimistic and we feel like we can get through hard things.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Look for Small Pieces of Happiness\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For parents who are struggling to find their own equilibrium, Hurley suggests looking for small pieces of happiness and hope each day. “We have this tendency to kind of hitch our wagons to big ideas and big things. But right now, we need to dial that back and look for the small things. So, if siblings who have been fighting for six months straight are not fighting as much anymore, that's kind of a big thing.” Likewise, if a teen who is struggling in school finds a new interest – from birdwatching to cooking to Garageband compositions – “that's a big win right there; we have to look for these little, big things.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Similarly, we can acknowledge all the ways teens are coping and growing and giving and express our awe at how well they are doing in an unnerving time. Recently, Hurley found herself saying to her own kids, “‘I think you guys are remarkable. This has been a really difficult time. And it hasn't always been easy for you, but you're weathering the storm with us, and you're doing what you need to do. And you're coming to us when it's too hard. And you're asking to play a game or walk the dog together if you need to connect.’ Those things are important and we have to call those out.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"description": "There's a lot for parents to be anxious about during distance learning and that's rubbing off on teens. Parents can help teens by listening and putting their well-being beyond academics at the center. ",
"title": "Listen and Connect: How Parents Can Support Teens’ Mental Health Right Now - MindShift",
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"headline": "Listen and Connect: How Parents Can Support Teens’ Mental Health Right Now",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s no handbook for how to raise teenagers during a pandemic. Adolescents are struggling for valid reasons and many parents are grappling with how to support their teens while also navigating their own pressing concerns. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Katie Hurley, an \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">adolescent psychotherapist and author of the new book, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Year-Positive-Thinking-Teens-Motivation/dp/1647396409\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“A Year Of Positive Thinking For Teens,” \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">says that in her practice, she has seen the toll\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of these last several months. What do teens need most right now, from her perspective? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It sounds really simple, but the thing that teenagers are craving the most is connection and listening because this is hard for everyone,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Take Your Own Emotional Temperature\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With so much of school and social life occurring over screens, parents offer their children a vital physical presence. But this can also feel daunting as parents feel the pressure of meeting their family’s physical and emotional needs while also assuming greater responsibility for their children’s schooling.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hurley encourages adults to check their own emotional thermometer throughout the day. Our children are watching how we react and our responses matter, says Hurley. “Children take their cues first from us, always. We are their people.” But adults do not need to be paragons of positivity. We don’t have to pretend it’s easy, says Hurley. Instead, we can talk about how we are feeling with teens “so that they know that, right now, feeling like you're on a roller coaster every day is normal.”\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\">No single strategy, like deep breathing, will magically make our worries disappear. That said, “having coping strategies in your back pocket is super important,” says Hurley. “It helps us know what to do when our stress levels rise, but it doesn't fix everything.” It also takes consistent practice to hone these skills so that you can apply them when you feel your temperature rise. With both adults and kids experiencing challenges right now, it’s a powerful time for families to practice being open about emotions and making self-care a family affair. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Whether it is taking that daily walk or doing an online yoga class or some sort of exercise to get the endorphins going, we have to think about our own coping strategies,” says Hurley. She also strongly recommends meditation apps because mindfulness is a proven way to reduce the acute stress response. “When we use it, it works.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Check-In Without Interviewing\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teens need adults to keep an eye on them right now, but sometimes how we check-in can inadvertently increase anxiety. “We have to practice checking in with them in non-threatening ways,” says Hurley. That means putting a stop to “constantly interviewing kids about what homework they’ve done, what they’ve sent in and what's still outstanding.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right now, there’s a lot of media chatter about “lost learning and how kids are falling behind,” says Hurley. \"And it's translating to pressure within the home.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s hard to see our children struggle with remote or hybrid schooling, so “we keep interviewing them to try to get information so that we can know how to fix it. We can't fix this. But what we can do is we can step back and say, ‘Hey, this is hard academically and emotionally. It's exceptionally difficult to learn math online right now.’ What we need to do more of is just listening and asking, ‘How are you doing? How are you feeling?’\" \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hurley said the most common response she’s hearing from kids right now is that they are lonely. They miss their friends, and they miss “a teacher leaning over their desk to point something out on their paper. Teachers have this magical way of connecting with kids in small ways and they can't get that over Zoom, no matter how hard they try.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Meet Them Where They Are\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parents often report that their teens are not coming to them for support. But they are, Hurley says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They're just doing it in a way that you don't like. When they're venting or sniping at you over little things – there it is! They are trying to hand you their feelings. They're projecting outward because those feelings are uncomfortable and they don't know what to do with them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes teens seek to connect over play through video games, cards, basketball, jigsaw puzzles, etc. “Play is how kids connect at all ages,” says Hurley. “It's a reason teenagers will say, ‘Dad, would you shoot hoops with me?’” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Harvard psychologist Nancy Hill \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/40845/as-teens-push-away-what-can-parents-do-to-support-success\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">once noted\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, “Parenting teens is like hugging a cactus. Even as the ‘warm fuzzies’ are not often reciprocated, teens still need them, still need to know they are loved unconditionally.” According to a study she \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gse.harvard.edu/file/parental-involvementwang-hill-hofkens-2014pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">authored\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, parental warmth amplifies all other parenting strategies, even when teens distance themselves from parents.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Listen Your Way Through Their Problems\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The best thing parents and caregivers can give teens right now is the undivided attention of listening, empathizing and compassion, says Hurley. When teens do share their worries, resist the urge to either minimize them or solve the problem for them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“They want you to listen your way through their problems so that they have somebody to vent to and bounce ideas off of,” says Hurley. Practice being a sounding board – a calm presence who offers short, empathetic responses such as: \"Wow, that's hard. I feel for you. I'm heartbroken for you. This seems really difficult.\" \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the face of this empathetic listening, teens often start to solve their own problems. “They shift from what feels like a litany of complaints to a little bit of, ‘Maybe I should do this or that.’ They start coming up with ideas,” says Hurley. The hardest part for parents is to just listen and not share our own ideas because we know what's worked for us. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hurley offered this example of how adult language can support teen problem-solving: When teens share what bothers them, first validate their emotions with \"That sounds really hard” or “That stinks.\" And then ask something like, “Is this a problem that you think you can solve or is this a problem that we need to endure? Are you looking for an answer or do you want help riding out the storm by talking you through it, guiding you through it or just listening you through it?” Nine times out of ten, says Hurley, they want someone to “listen through it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If teens struggle to come up with their own next steps, adults can reaffirm that “there's no easy answer,” says Hurley, and perhaps ask, “What are some things that give you little bits of hope right now? What would help you feel one percent better?” These “little bits of hope” can become small steps for moving forward.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Drowning Doesn’t Build Resilience\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the last 20 years, the term “helicopter parenting” became shorthand for parents who are overly involved in their children’s lives and whose “hovering” interferes with children’s ability to develop independence. But, like any other parenting conundrum, the desire to avoid becoming a “helicopter parent” can be taken to extremes. When teens are in distress, sometimes parents think, \"I need to step away from you. You have to figure it out all by yourself.\" And while adolescents are highly capable problem-solvers, we don’t need to leave them to go it alone. “That's not resilience. That's loneliness,” says Hurley. “We know from years and years of research that human beings need each other. We are supposed to help each other out. We aren't supposed to be drowning in a stormy sea without a life ring.” Rather, she says, teens need adults to be the anchors to hold them steady.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, the science around resilience – or the capacity to recover from difficulties – highlights the need for adults to support children in developing this character strength. According to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/15/03/science-resilience\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> out of Harvard’s Center for the Developing Child, “Resilience can be built; it’s not an innate trait . . . [It] is shaped throughout life by the accumulation of experiences — both good and bad — and the continuing development of adaptive coping skills connected to those experiences.” Hurley says, “If there were awards for your soft skills, resilience would be a lifetime achievement award. It’s something that’s accrued over time, as we learn that we can work through hard things, we can solve problems and we can cope. But it’s not reasonable to expect teenagers to be able to do this independently a hundred percent of the time because their brains are not even fully formed until they’re 25 years old.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And here’s more good news for adults worried about their own capacity to help their adolescents right now. According to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/supportive-relationships-and-active-skill-building-strengthen-the-foundations-of-resilience/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, “children who do well despite serious hardship have had at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive adult.” In other words, in tough times, a parent or caregiver’s very presence can be a protective factor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Practice Zooming Out & Finding Purpose\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As humans, we tend to zoom in to hyperfocus on what we think is important. For parents of teens, that often includes grades, test scores and the college process. But what if those aren’t the right places to focus our lenses right now? Hurley says, “We have to hit pause, zoom out and say, ‘What other things can our kids learn during this time?’ Can they learn the value of pulling in the trash cans for an elderly neighbor? Can they learn how to help a younger child by reading them stories over Zoom? Yes, they can. There are all sorts of different ways that we can channel this stressful energy into positive outcomes.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And if a teen has a hard time thinking outside of themselves right now – beyond what they are feeling and missing – that doesn’t mean they are selfish. It just means that they're human and they're struggling. Meet them there and say, \"I get this. This is hard. What else can you do?\" says Hurley. “We have to help kids find some purpose, anything. Because when we have purpose, we are optimistic and we feel like we can get through hard things.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Look for Small Pieces of Happiness\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For parents who are struggling to find their own equilibrium, Hurley suggests looking for small pieces of happiness and hope each day. “We have this tendency to kind of hitch our wagons to big ideas and big things. But right now, we need to dial that back and look for the small things. So, if siblings who have been fighting for six months straight are not fighting as much anymore, that's kind of a big thing.” Likewise, if a teen who is struggling in school finds a new interest – from birdwatching to cooking to Garageband compositions – “that's a big win right there; we have to look for these little, big things.” \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\">Similarly, we can acknowledge all the ways teens are coping and growing and giving and express our awe at how well they are doing in an unnerving time. Recently, Hurley found herself saying to her own kids, “‘I think you guys are remarkable. This has been a really difficult time. And it hasn't always been easy for you, but you're weathering the storm with us, and you're doing what you need to do. And you're coming to us when it's too hard. And you're asking to play a game or walk the dog together if you need to connect.’ Those things are important and we have to call those out.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "How Friends Influence One Another–For Better or Worse–in High School",
"title": "How Friends Influence One Another–For Better or Worse–in High School",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">High school students face many of the same friendship dynamics as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56979/what-the-research-says-about-the-academic-power-of-friendship\">elementary \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/57010/how-understanding-middle-school-friendships-can-help-students\">middle school \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">students, yet friendship operates in distinct ways in these later adolescence years. The buffering effect friends provided in earlier childhood, for example, seems to disappear. “Not only did the presence of friends not reduce stress,” \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/01/friendship-crucial-adolescent-brain/605638/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">writes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Lydia Denworth in the 2020 book \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lydiadenworth.com/books/friendship/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Friendship\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: “It made things worse. Cortisol levels went up.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time students reach high school, friendships become more stable. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“In middle school, it’s unusual for an individual to maintain the same group of close friends over the space of 18 months,” says \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://edpsych.education.wisc.edu/staff/brown-b-bradford/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">B. Bradford Brown, \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> an educational psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: “In high school, that is no longer the case.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Likely because \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/YmT-Co2OEkuD8p3Ei18ymG?domain=psycnet.apa.org\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">individual identities are more solidified\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, older teens \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/po4jCpYzGli9yE3mtDSq8h?domain=srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">tolerate greater dissimilarity\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in one another. As a result, compromise and collaboration increasingly take the place of conformity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Like friendship churn, concern over one’s reputation in broader groups peaks in middle school (and early high school). That leaves most high school students\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> relatively less worried about their larger reputation and more focused on the social dynamics within their chosen peer groups, Brown says. It’s a much more adult-like approach. Though we care about being popular our whole lives, many of us begin to focus more on the likeability aspect of popularity than the status side of things as we age, says \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://mitch.web.unc.edu/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mitch Prinstein\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina and author of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.mitchprinstein.com/books/popular-book/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Popular\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">A shift in the primacy of romantic partners vis-a-vis friends takes place as well. Over the course of mid-to-late adolescence, romantic partners “increasingly rival and eventually surpass friends in terms of closeness,” says \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/AeRyCqx2Jms1R6jZUQ_NWC?domain=psy.fau.edu\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Brett Laursen\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, a child psychology professor at Florida Atlantic University. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By the tenth grade, teens \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-010\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">tend to\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> interact more with romantic partners than anyone else, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26595356/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research Laursen has been part of\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> shows that as adolescents become involved in romantic relationships, their drinking increasingly mirrors that of their partners rather than their friends.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Peer influence as a positive?\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a predictable corollary, romantic partners begin to exert more influence than friends in high school, and friend groups more than larger crowds.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most educators know the basics of peer pressure. One \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224545.1984.9924535\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">famous study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> showed that the number of one’s friends using drugs is the biggest determinant of drug use. We also know that when peers are present, adolescents take more risks (for example, teenage males \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-007\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">drive faster\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the presence of other teenage boys). \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But recent research reveals a twist: It’s not necessarily because of any direct egging on. Just presence is enough, because \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.01035.x?referrer_access_token=K09nMQ8q3wZ19cgm97vVqYta6bR2k8jH0KrdpFOxC65pt-xzvuAaJZ2k-ByuzkBqs1VdEr2WPrYfTh_Z9o8EG23A0JPdi6h9e6O4K4GL0Qw1VPBJJ4UKbLB-MXHDJawexP0TYngb635esVu0-r69PmTBZ6ED615Z2vqawwCsfhM%3D\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the reward centers of adolescents’ brains\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are more active with peers than when alone, according to the research of Temple University’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.laurencesteinberg.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Laurence Steinberg\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For her book, Denworth tracked him down as well as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/site/blakemorelab/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sarah-Jayne Blakemore\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at University of Cambridge, who explained the academic upside: “Risk taking in an educational context is a vital skill that enables progress and creativity.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s just one \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-007\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">positive lens on peer influence\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://curry.virginia.edu/scott-gest\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scott Gest\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a University of Virginia professor, says: “People talk about negative peer influence … but they neglect the pretty substantial literature that shows a lot of negative behavior of high school kids is discouraged by friends. There is a lot of very positive pressure that peers apply, like, ‘No man, that’s stupid.’” This “obstructing” is one of the many underreported modes of peer influence, Brown says. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-002\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s also\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> teasing, reinforcement such as laughing or nodding, and creating situations that facilitate a certain type of behavior, like throwing an unchaperoned party. None of these modes is inherently good or bad, Brown points out. A teen could just as easily create a situation conducive to altruism, like asking a friend to meet them at the food pantry before a concert, knowing full well they’ll end up handing out meals for a few minutes—or cracking a joke about tongue brushing that reinforces oral hygiene.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Behavioral display,” or modeling that leads to emulation, is another type of peer influence. In one 2018 study of college freshmen, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecin.12730\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">researchers found\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “having friends with higher propensities to study is predictive of receiving higher freshman grades.” Because the study looked at both assigned roommate pairings and chosen friend groups, the researchers were able to show the effect wasn’t just a reflection of “selection bias,” with studious kids having already chosen to befriend each other. Hanging out with someone studious, they concluded, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">caused \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">adolescents to study for more hours and post higher grades. The findings confirm \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0272431610384487\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">previous\u003c/span>\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-00748-008\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> showing a correlation between how a child views the importance of doing well in school and how their friends do. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Similar effects have been demonstrated for volunteer work and health-promotive behaviors, such as exercise, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.mitchprinstein.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prinstein\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> says. Positive change has also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-010\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">been documented\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in high school students dating high-functioning peers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What does all this mean for educators? Influential students can be explicitly tapped to improve classroom dynamics. In \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289366010_Changing_climates_of_conflict_A_social_network_experiment_in_56_schools\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">one program\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, kids were trained to publicly encourage anti-conflict norms. Disciplinary reports of student conflict dropped 30% over one year. This success may be owed in part to the fact that the program enlisted kids’ help. Efforts that engage teens in actual, real-life tasks \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-007\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have been the most promising\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> when it comes to changing the content of the values transmitted within adolescent peer groups. Other successful efforts to “benevolently exploit peer influence,” as Prinstein puts it, include using small group discussions to combat bullying and drinking.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why meddling can backfire\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ready for another twist? In the anti-conflict norms study, the effect among kids was stronger when the messengers were popular, but were popular for their likeabaility, not status. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Laursen, who is also editor in chief of the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">International Journal of Behavioral Development\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, helps explain why: “Influence within friend pairings is unilateral and unidirectional, flowing to the child who has the potential to have more friends outside the relationship.” That means, “if I’m better liked, and I drink less than you, your rate of increasing drinking is going to slow down,” he says. But it \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdep.12246\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cuts both ways\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Delinquency, for example, tends to increase when a less-accepted child befriends someone more delinquent. When it comes to academic improvement, Laursen says, “if it’s the less-liked peer doing better in school, forget about it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For this same reason, he says adults must “tread carefully” in trying to manipulate friendships. It’s just very hard from the outside to know what a kid is and isn’t getting from interactions with a peer: “Let’s say you are a parent and you have a child who’s hanging around with somebody you think isn’t the most desirable friend in terms of their attributes. But perhaps in this friendship your child is the one holding all the cards; everybody is trying to be like your child. If you disrupt that friendship, there’s going to be another in its place, and now you may have put your child in a position where they are the susceptible one. You can make them more vulnerable to negative peer influence than they were before.” (Add on top of that \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-007\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research showing\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that teens who are alienated from their close friends become more aggressive.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even greater benefits of cooperation\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A cousin of peer influence is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56979/what-the-research-says-about-the-academic-power-of-friendship\">collaboration\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and high school students get unique benefits from it. Carefully structured cooperative learning experiences \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ888657\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have been tied to\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> students exerting greater effort and using higher-level reasoning strategies more frequently, ultimately boosting achievement and decreasing problematic behaviors, according to the research of Michigan State University’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://croseth.educ.msu.edu/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cary Roseth.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> What’s more, “in a study of high school seniors,” he reports, “a predisposition to work with peers cooperatively was found to be highly correlated with psychological health.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The promise of boosted academic and social-emotional learning \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/50960/how-being-part-of-a-house-within-a-school-helps-students-gain-a-sense-of-belonging\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">doesn’t always have to mean\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> group assignments though. Laursen says by high school “many kids hate these sort of paired activities when a grade is riding on the product.” On the other hand, they appreciate the opportunity to work alongside a peer on their own work. Friends are distributed over classes so the bump students see from working with someone they like and trust may be easier to get in a study hall setting where students undertake, in toddler parlance, “parallel play” or “being with.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both logistical benefits and moral support can also be fostered in a high school class with no preexisting friendships. One \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://unistars.org/papers/STARS2017/08A.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">small Australian study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of first-year university students showed that when students discussed class content outside of class, they were more likely to progress to second year. Friends provided feedback, reassurance, and encouragement that “increased students’ emotional engagement, their enthusiasm and interest in the course content and in the classroom.” The study’s authors ultimately encouraged teachers to instruct students to talk to each other during breaks, exchange contact information, and consider arranging study sessions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">During distance learning this fall, Mira Debs, executive director of Yale’s education studies program, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/mira_debs/status/1302632659856785411\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">had students\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> write introductions. She hosted a weekly virtual lunch. One student set up an optional group text message chain for the class. Each of these actions increases a sense of belonging—which in turn \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a33608758/virtual-learning-tips-for-parents/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">boosts motivation\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—and also provides students with tangible resources. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://my.vanderbilt.edu/elizabethself/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elizabeth Self\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University, explains how these college-level findings relate to teens: “If you think about an AP class—high workload, high stress—the way that kids can come together to study, the way they come together to share notes, the way they come together to figure out an assignment …. For those that do, it’s a huge advantage.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Growing importance of race\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“And if you are left out of those groups,” Self continues, “the effect that has for you is not just social but also academic.” She reminds us \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56979/what-the-research-says-about-the-academic-power-of-friendship\">as kids age\u003c/a>, they increasingly “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.brown.edu/amst-2220j-s01-2017-fall/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">experience the world from a race perspective\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” Whether or not they “can be resilient and sustain themselves within systems of oppression in schooling,” she says, “comes down to who their friends are. Do I have a friend that when I feel like a teacher is being racist toward me can affirm that ‘yes, this is happening,’ versus gaslighting me?” Teenagers who have that kind of affirmation “can feel good and whole in the classroom and be successful.” That’s why Beverly Daniel Tatum concludes in \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.beverlydanieltatum.com/published-works/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that as counterintuitive as it may seem, allowing Black students “the psychological safety of their own group” can actually increase the likelihood that they form friendships outside it, benefitting fully from collaborative opportunities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Technology\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nd\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> distance\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With schools across the country closed, child development experts worry most about the future of our youngest learners. After all, high school students already had mechanisms in place for connecting at a distance, practices like exchanging Snapchat videos about the parts of the homework that don’t make sense. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Denworth \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-waves/202007/why-zoom-fatigue-is-real-and-what-you-can-do-about-it\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">says\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> we can’t discount “Zoom fatigue.” In a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-waves/202007/why-zoom-fatigue-is-real-and-what-you-can-do-about-it\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">recent article\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Psychology Today\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, she describes a book called \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Relating Through Technology \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">by Jeffrey Hall, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. He told Denworth, “Compared to face to face, texting and using social media, energy use during a Zoom call is higher.” Disruptions like your own image, delays, and cross-talk make video calls more intense. They also heighten loneliness: “Zoom is exhausting and lonely because you have to be so much more attentive and so much more aware of what’s going on than you do on phone calls.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And even though teens can socialize virtually, Brown says, “the intensity of seeing close friends and romantic partners in person is difficult to give up, so the lack of those face-to-face opportunities is going to create anxiety.” Their developmentally appropriate craving for intimacy is what drives “the way that individuals \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2020/09/15/paul-rudd-masks-psa-orig-jk.cnn\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">18 to 25\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are behaving right now,” he says, “having real difficulty engaging in social distancing, wearing a face covering, and staying feet apart.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While distance learning may \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.statesman.com/opinion/20200728/opinion-when-itrsquos-safe-offer-in-person-learning-to-youngest-kids-first\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">work best for teenagers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, everything we know about friendship in late adolescence suggests they too would benefit from \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a33434758/homeschooling-pods/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">in-person learning experiences\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at the earliest safe opportunity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article is part of the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/friendships\">Friendship in Schools\u003c/a>” series, which explores the complexities of friendship at various stages of learning.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gailcornwall\">Gail Cornwall\u003c/a> works as a mother and writer in San Francisco.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">High school students face many of the same friendship dynamics as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56979/what-the-research-says-about-the-academic-power-of-friendship\">elementary \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/57010/how-understanding-middle-school-friendships-can-help-students\">middle school \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">students, yet friendship operates in distinct ways in these later adolescence years. The buffering effect friends provided in earlier childhood, for example, seems to disappear. “Not only did the presence of friends not reduce stress,” \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/01/friendship-crucial-adolescent-brain/605638/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">writes\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Lydia Denworth in the 2020 book \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lydiadenworth.com/books/friendship/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Friendship\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: “It made things worse. Cortisol levels went up.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time students reach high school, friendships become more stable. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“In middle school, it’s unusual for an individual to maintain the same group of close friends over the space of 18 months,” says \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://edpsych.education.wisc.edu/staff/brown-b-bradford/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">B. Bradford Brown, \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> an educational psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: “In high school, that is no longer the case.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Likely because \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/YmT-Co2OEkuD8p3Ei18ymG?domain=psycnet.apa.org\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">individual identities are more solidified\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, older teens \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/po4jCpYzGli9yE3mtDSq8h?domain=srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">tolerate greater dissimilarity\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in one another. As a result, compromise and collaboration increasingly take the place of conformity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Like friendship churn, concern over one’s reputation in broader groups peaks in middle school (and early high school). That leaves most high school students\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> relatively less worried about their larger reputation and more focused on the social dynamics within their chosen peer groups, Brown says. It’s a much more adult-like approach. Though we care about being popular our whole lives, many of us begin to focus more on the likeability aspect of popularity than the status side of things as we age, says \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://mitch.web.unc.edu/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mitch Prinstein\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina and author of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.mitchprinstein.com/books/popular-book/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Popular\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">A shift in the primacy of romantic partners vis-a-vis friends takes place as well. Over the course of mid-to-late adolescence, romantic partners “increasingly rival and eventually surpass friends in terms of closeness,” says \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/AeRyCqx2Jms1R6jZUQ_NWC?domain=psy.fau.edu\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">Brett Laursen\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, a child psychology professor at Florida Atlantic University. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By the tenth grade, teens \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-010\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">tend to\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> interact more with romantic partners than anyone else, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26595356/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research Laursen has been part of\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> shows that as adolescents become involved in romantic relationships, their drinking increasingly mirrors that of their partners rather than their friends.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Peer influence as a positive?\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a predictable corollary, romantic partners begin to exert more influence than friends in high school, and friend groups more than larger crowds.\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\">Most educators know the basics of peer pressure. One \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224545.1984.9924535\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">famous study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> showed that the number of one’s friends using drugs is the biggest determinant of drug use. We also know that when peers are present, adolescents take more risks (for example, teenage males \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-007\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">drive faster\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the presence of other teenage boys). \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But recent research reveals a twist: It’s not necessarily because of any direct egging on. Just presence is enough, because \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.01035.x?referrer_access_token=K09nMQ8q3wZ19cgm97vVqYta6bR2k8jH0KrdpFOxC65pt-xzvuAaJZ2k-ByuzkBqs1VdEr2WPrYfTh_Z9o8EG23A0JPdi6h9e6O4K4GL0Qw1VPBJJ4UKbLB-MXHDJawexP0TYngb635esVu0-r69PmTBZ6ED615Z2vqawwCsfhM%3D\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the reward centers of adolescents’ brains\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are more active with peers than when alone, according to the research of Temple University’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.laurencesteinberg.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Laurence Steinberg\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For her book, Denworth tracked him down as well as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/site/blakemorelab/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sarah-Jayne Blakemore\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at University of Cambridge, who explained the academic upside: “Risk taking in an educational context is a vital skill that enables progress and creativity.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s just one \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-007\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">positive lens on peer influence\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://curry.virginia.edu/scott-gest\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scott Gest\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a University of Virginia professor, says: “People talk about negative peer influence … but they neglect the pretty substantial literature that shows a lot of negative behavior of high school kids is discouraged by friends. There is a lot of very positive pressure that peers apply, like, ‘No man, that’s stupid.’” This “obstructing” is one of the many underreported modes of peer influence, Brown says. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-002\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s also\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> teasing, reinforcement such as laughing or nodding, and creating situations that facilitate a certain type of behavior, like throwing an unchaperoned party. None of these modes is inherently good or bad, Brown points out. A teen could just as easily create a situation conducive to altruism, like asking a friend to meet them at the food pantry before a concert, knowing full well they’ll end up handing out meals for a few minutes—or cracking a joke about tongue brushing that reinforces oral hygiene.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Behavioral display,” or modeling that leads to emulation, is another type of peer influence. In one 2018 study of college freshmen, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecin.12730\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">researchers found\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “having friends with higher propensities to study is predictive of receiving higher freshman grades.” Because the study looked at both assigned roommate pairings and chosen friend groups, the researchers were able to show the effect wasn’t just a reflection of “selection bias,” with studious kids having already chosen to befriend each other. Hanging out with someone studious, they concluded, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">caused \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">adolescents to study for more hours and post higher grades. The findings confirm \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0272431610384487\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">previous\u003c/span>\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-00748-008\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> showing a correlation between how a child views the importance of doing well in school and how their friends do. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Similar effects have been demonstrated for volunteer work and health-promotive behaviors, such as exercise, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.mitchprinstein.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prinstein\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> says. Positive change has also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-010\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">been documented\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in high school students dating high-functioning peers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What does all this mean for educators? Influential students can be explicitly tapped to improve classroom dynamics. In \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289366010_Changing_climates_of_conflict_A_social_network_experiment_in_56_schools\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">one program\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, kids were trained to publicly encourage anti-conflict norms. Disciplinary reports of student conflict dropped 30% over one year. This success may be owed in part to the fact that the program enlisted kids’ help. Efforts that engage teens in actual, real-life tasks \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-007\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have been the most promising\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> when it comes to changing the content of the values transmitted within adolescent peer groups. Other successful efforts to “benevolently exploit peer influence,” as Prinstein puts it, include using small group discussions to combat bullying and drinking.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why meddling can backfire\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ready for another twist? In the anti-conflict norms study, the effect among kids was stronger when the messengers were popular, but were popular for their likeabaility, not status. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Laursen, who is also editor in chief of the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">International Journal of Behavioral Development\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, helps explain why: “Influence within friend pairings is unilateral and unidirectional, flowing to the child who has the potential to have more friends outside the relationship.” That means, “if I’m better liked, and I drink less than you, your rate of increasing drinking is going to slow down,” he says. But it \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdep.12246\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cuts both ways\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Delinquency, for example, tends to increase when a less-accepted child befriends someone more delinquent. When it comes to academic improvement, Laursen says, “if it’s the less-liked peer doing better in school, forget about it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For this same reason, he says adults must “tread carefully” in trying to manipulate friendships. It’s just very hard from the outside to know what a kid is and isn’t getting from interactions with a peer: “Let’s say you are a parent and you have a child who’s hanging around with somebody you think isn’t the most desirable friend in terms of their attributes. But perhaps in this friendship your child is the one holding all the cards; everybody is trying to be like your child. If you disrupt that friendship, there’s going to be another in its place, and now you may have put your child in a position where they are the susceptible one. You can make them more vulnerable to negative peer influence than they were before.” (Add on top of that \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-08239-007\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">research showing\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that teens who are alienated from their close friends become more aggressive.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even greater benefits of cooperation\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A cousin of peer influence is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56979/what-the-research-says-about-the-academic-power-of-friendship\">collaboration\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and high school students get unique benefits from it. Carefully structured cooperative learning experiences \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ888657\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have been tied to\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> students exerting greater effort and using higher-level reasoning strategies more frequently, ultimately boosting achievement and decreasing problematic behaviors, according to the research of Michigan State University’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://croseth.educ.msu.edu/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cary Roseth.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> What’s more, “in a study of high school seniors,” he reports, “a predisposition to work with peers cooperatively was found to be highly correlated with psychological health.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The promise of boosted academic and social-emotional learning \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/50960/how-being-part-of-a-house-within-a-school-helps-students-gain-a-sense-of-belonging\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">doesn’t always have to mean\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> group assignments though. Laursen says by high school “many kids hate these sort of paired activities when a grade is riding on the product.” On the other hand, they appreciate the opportunity to work alongside a peer on their own work. Friends are distributed over classes so the bump students see from working with someone they like and trust may be easier to get in a study hall setting where students undertake, in toddler parlance, “parallel play” or “being with.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both logistical benefits and moral support can also be fostered in a high school class with no preexisting friendships. One \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://unistars.org/papers/STARS2017/08A.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">small Australian study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of first-year university students showed that when students discussed class content outside of class, they were more likely to progress to second year. Friends provided feedback, reassurance, and encouragement that “increased students’ emotional engagement, their enthusiasm and interest in the course content and in the classroom.” The study’s authors ultimately encouraged teachers to instruct students to talk to each other during breaks, exchange contact information, and consider arranging study sessions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">During distance learning this fall, Mira Debs, executive director of Yale’s education studies program, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/mira_debs/status/1302632659856785411\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">had students\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> write introductions. She hosted a weekly virtual lunch. One student set up an optional group text message chain for the class. Each of these actions increases a sense of belonging—which in turn \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a33608758/virtual-learning-tips-for-parents/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">boosts motivation\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—and also provides students with tangible resources. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://my.vanderbilt.edu/elizabethself/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elizabeth Self\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University, explains how these college-level findings relate to teens: “If you think about an AP class—high workload, high stress—the way that kids can come together to study, the way they come together to share notes, the way they come together to figure out an assignment …. For those that do, it’s a huge advantage.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Growing importance of race\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“And if you are left out of those groups,” Self continues, “the effect that has for you is not just social but also academic.” She reminds us \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56979/what-the-research-says-about-the-academic-power-of-friendship\">as kids age\u003c/a>, they increasingly “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.brown.edu/amst-2220j-s01-2017-fall/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">experience the world from a race perspective\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” Whether or not they “can be resilient and sustain themselves within systems of oppression in schooling,” she says, “comes down to who their friends are. Do I have a friend that when I feel like a teacher is being racist toward me can affirm that ‘yes, this is happening,’ versus gaslighting me?” Teenagers who have that kind of affirmation “can feel good and whole in the classroom and be successful.” That’s why Beverly Daniel Tatum concludes in \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.beverlydanieltatum.com/published-works/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that as counterintuitive as it may seem, allowing Black students “the psychological safety of their own group” can actually increase the likelihood that they form friendships outside it, benefitting fully from collaborative opportunities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Technology\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">nd\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> distance\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With schools across the country closed, child development experts worry most about the future of our youngest learners. After all, high school students already had mechanisms in place for connecting at a distance, practices like exchanging Snapchat videos about the parts of the homework that don’t make sense. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Denworth \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-waves/202007/why-zoom-fatigue-is-real-and-what-you-can-do-about-it\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">says\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> we can’t discount “Zoom fatigue.” In a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-waves/202007/why-zoom-fatigue-is-real-and-what-you-can-do-about-it\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">recent article\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Psychology Today\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, she describes a book called \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Relating Through Technology \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">by Jeffrey Hall, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. He told Denworth, “Compared to face to face, texting and using social media, energy use during a Zoom call is higher.” Disruptions like your own image, delays, and cross-talk make video calls more intense. They also heighten loneliness: “Zoom is exhausting and lonely because you have to be so much more attentive and so much more aware of what’s going on than you do on phone calls.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And even though teens can socialize virtually, Brown says, “the intensity of seeing close friends and romantic partners in person is difficult to give up, so the lack of those face-to-face opportunities is going to create anxiety.” Their developmentally appropriate craving for intimacy is what drives “the way that individuals \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2020/09/15/paul-rudd-masks-psa-orig-jk.cnn\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">18 to 25\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are behaving right now,” he says, “having real difficulty engaging in social distancing, wearing a face covering, and staying feet apart.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While distance learning may \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.statesman.com/opinion/20200728/opinion-when-itrsquos-safe-offer-in-person-learning-to-youngest-kids-first\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">work best for teenagers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, everything we know about friendship in late adolescence suggests they too would benefit from \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a33434758/homeschooling-pods/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">in-person learning experiences\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at the earliest safe opportunity.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article is part of the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/friendships\">Friendship in Schools\u003c/a>” series, which explores the complexities of friendship at various stages of learning.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gailcornwall\">Gail Cornwall\u003c/a> works as a mother and writer in San Francisco.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "How Parents Can Help Kids Who Are Scared and Anxious During the Pandemic",
"title": "How Parents Can Help Kids Who Are Scared and Anxious During the Pandemic",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>For the kids in our lives, the last nine months have been many things. Scary — because an invisible, unknown illness was suddenly spreading across the globe. Maybe even fun, when the possibility of school closing felt like a snow day. But for many, that novelty has given way to frustration and sadness — even depression and anxiety. Just like adults, kids are wondering: Will I get sick? Will someone I love die?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's a lot for kids \u003cem>and \u003c/em>parents to handle. So we talked to the experts and came away with five tips for how you can help your kids through this.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Make sure your kids wear their masks\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\"Kids generally don't get very sick from this virus,\" says \u003ca href=\"https://vivo.brown.edu/display/ajha13\">Dr. Ashish Jha\u003c/a>, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. But, he says, they can still play a part in making sure others don't get sick by wearing their masks and social distancing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might take a little imagination. If you have younger kids, you can explain the spread of the coronavirus by comparing their mouths to a bottle of bug spray. Weird, yes — but it's one way for young ones to visualize the tiny droplets they spread, even when they aren't sick. If they wear a mask, it helps keep those droplets in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you've got older kids or teenagers, take this a step further: Encourage them to spread the word. Practice what they might say if they're with friends at the park and someone takes their mask off. Maybe your 13-year-old has been waiting months to see Grandma and could say, \"I need to keep my Grandma safe, so do you mind putting your mask on?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rehearse it with your kids so the conversation goes smoothly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Practice positive thinking and mindfulness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a recent report, \u003ca href=\"https://www.calpartnersproject.org/arethekidsalright\">researchers interviewed 46 teenagers in California\u003c/a> and found that the teens reported a huge sense of loss — similar to the stages of grief. Most of the teens were sleeping badly because of lack of activity and lots of screen time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kids of all ages — as well as their parents — can probably relate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the obvious prescription — trade in some of that screen time for physical exercise — try some \u003cem>brain\u003c/em> exercises too, like replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. You might try saying a few things you're grateful for each night before dinner or before bed. There's evidence behind that: Gratitude boosts your immune system, lowers blood pressure and motivates us to practice healthy habits. It may feel awkward or cheesy, but practicing mindfulness and positivity very consciously can help kids and parents too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's also important to watch for signs of something more serious too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Depression in teenagers sometimes looks like a prickly porcupine. Everybody rubs them the wrong way,\" adolescent psychologist \u003ca href=\"https://www.drlisadamour.com/\">Lisa Damour\u003c/a> says. Don't take it personally; just keep offering them a listening ear.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Meet tough moments with empathy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There will be times when feelings bubble up. Meltdowns will happen. In those moments, \u003ca href=\"http://guidedsurrender.com/\">wellness guide Frannie Williams\u003c/a> says, take a moment to put yourself in your child's shoes. If they're acting like it's the end of the world, well it might be because their world has turned upside down this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says that to help kids calm down, parents have to calm down too. Once she was working with a 5-year-old who was struggling. Williams began taking deep breaths, and \"Out of nowhere, I noticed that she was mimicking me,\" Williams remembers. \"She was modeling me. She started taking these big belly deep breaths.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sesameworkshop.org/who-we-are/our-leadership/rosemarie-truglio\">Rosemarie Truglio\u003c/a>, senior vice president of curriculum and content at Sesame Workshop, says kids learn a lot about dealing with adversity by watching adults. \"And they're seeing how we are reacting to setbacks, mistakes and challenges,\" Truglio explains. \"So this is a big message for adults, because our actions are speaking a lot louder than our words.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Find new ways of connecting with people\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Your kids are almost certainly missing out on some socializing — with friends and extended family. Get creative about making time for reestablishing some of those lost connections. It will help your children, it will help you and it will likely help the people you're reconnecting with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/pediatrics/faculty_detail.aspx?name=osofsky_joy\">Joy Osofsky\u003c/a>, a professor at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, says her grandkids, who live outside the U.S., call her every morning on their way to school so they can play online games together. It's time that both Osofsky and her grandkids have come to cherish.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Get more safe physical contact\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Damour says that kids, even teens, are likely missing out on lots of the physical contact they normally get — contact that can't be replicated over Zoom or WhatsApp. Keep that in mind, and don't hold back on the physical affection — the hugs, the pillow fights, the hair ruffles, all of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The podcast portion of this episode was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/895086511/meghan-keane\">\u003cem>Meghan Keane\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We'd love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For more Life Kit, \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/newsletter/life-kit\">\u003cem>subscribe to our newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Kids+Are+Anxious+And+Scared+During+The+Pandemic.+Here%27s+How+Parents+Can+Help&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the kids in our lives, the last nine months have been many things. Scary — because an invisible, unknown illness was suddenly spreading across the globe. Maybe even fun, when the possibility of school closing felt like a snow day. But for many, that novelty has given way to frustration and sadness — even depression and anxiety. Just like adults, kids are wondering: Will I get sick? Will someone I love die?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's a lot for kids \u003cem>and \u003c/em>parents to handle. So we talked to the experts and came away with five tips for how you can help your kids through this.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Make sure your kids wear their masks\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\"Kids generally don't get very sick from this virus,\" says \u003ca href=\"https://vivo.brown.edu/display/ajha13\">Dr. Ashish Jha\u003c/a>, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. But, he says, they can still play a part in making sure others don't get sick by wearing their masks and social distancing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might take a little imagination. If you have younger kids, you can explain the spread of the coronavirus by comparing their mouths to a bottle of bug spray. Weird, yes — but it's one way for young ones to visualize the tiny droplets they spread, even when they aren't sick. If they wear a mask, it helps keep those droplets in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you've got older kids or teenagers, take this a step further: Encourage them to spread the word. Practice what they might say if they're with friends at the park and someone takes their mask off. Maybe your 13-year-old has been waiting months to see Grandma and could say, \"I need to keep my Grandma safe, so do you mind putting your mask on?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rehearse it with your kids so the conversation goes smoothly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Practice positive thinking and mindfulness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a recent report, \u003ca href=\"https://www.calpartnersproject.org/arethekidsalright\">researchers interviewed 46 teenagers in California\u003c/a> and found that the teens reported a huge sense of loss — similar to the stages of grief. Most of the teens were sleeping badly because of lack of activity and lots of screen time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kids of all ages — as well as their parents — can probably relate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the obvious prescription — trade in some of that screen time for physical exercise — try some \u003cem>brain\u003c/em> exercises too, like replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. You might try saying a few things you're grateful for each night before dinner or before bed. There's evidence behind that: Gratitude boosts your immune system, lowers blood pressure and motivates us to practice healthy habits. It may feel awkward or cheesy, but practicing mindfulness and positivity very consciously can help kids and parents too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's also important to watch for signs of something more serious too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Depression in teenagers sometimes looks like a prickly porcupine. Everybody rubs them the wrong way,\" adolescent psychologist \u003ca href=\"https://www.drlisadamour.com/\">Lisa Damour\u003c/a> says. Don't take it personally; just keep offering them a listening ear.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Meet tough moments with empathy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There will be times when feelings bubble up. Meltdowns will happen. In those moments, \u003ca href=\"http://guidedsurrender.com/\">wellness guide Frannie Williams\u003c/a> says, take a moment to put yourself in your child's shoes. If they're acting like it's the end of the world, well it might be because their world has turned upside down this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says that to help kids calm down, parents have to calm down too. Once she was working with a 5-year-old who was struggling. Williams began taking deep breaths, and \"Out of nowhere, I noticed that she was mimicking me,\" Williams remembers. \"She was modeling me. She started taking these big belly deep breaths.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sesameworkshop.org/who-we-are/our-leadership/rosemarie-truglio\">Rosemarie Truglio\u003c/a>, senior vice president of curriculum and content at Sesame Workshop, says kids learn a lot about dealing with adversity by watching adults. \"And they're seeing how we are reacting to setbacks, mistakes and challenges,\" Truglio explains. \"So this is a big message for adults, because our actions are speaking a lot louder than our words.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Find new ways of connecting with people\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Your kids are almost certainly missing out on some socializing — with friends and extended family. Get creative about making time for reestablishing some of those lost connections. It will help your children, it will help you and it will likely help the people you're reconnecting with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/pediatrics/faculty_detail.aspx?name=osofsky_joy\">Joy Osofsky\u003c/a>, a professor at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, says her grandkids, who live outside the U.S., call her every morning on their way to school so they can play online games together. It's time that both Osofsky and her grandkids have come to cherish.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Get more safe physical contact\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Damour says that kids, even teens, are likely missing out on lots of the physical contact they normally get — contact that can't be replicated over Zoom or WhatsApp. Keep that in mind, and don't hold back on the physical affection — the hugs, the pillow fights, the hair ruffles, all of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The podcast portion of this episode was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/895086511/meghan-keane\">\u003cem>Meghan Keane\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We'd love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For more Life Kit, \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/newsletter/life-kit\">\u003cem>subscribe to our newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Kids+Are+Anxious+And+Scared+During+The+Pandemic.+Here%27s+How+Parents+Can+Help&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Some Families Hope Pandemic Can Spur Change in Special Education",
"title": "Some Families Hope Pandemic Can Spur Change in Special Education",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about special education services was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cem>The Hechinger Report\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=66c306eebb323868c3ce353c1&id=d3ee4c3e04\">\u003cem>Hechinger’s newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Single mom Nicole Vaughn has spent the better part of her adult life advocating for her five adopted children with disabilities. But when schools shuttered for the coronavirus last spring, Vaughn gained a slew of new responsibilities, like helping her kids access virtual classrooms and coordinating the special education services they receive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to send emails to the speech and language provider saying, ‘Hey, they haven’t seen you, I haven’t seen you. What’s going on?’ ” said Vaughn, who lives in the Detroit metropolitan area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once those services resumed, Vaughn said sessions were shorter than the time mandated by her children’s individualized education programs. Known as IEPs, these plans are meant to ensure that students with disabilities receive specialized instruction and services tailored to their needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaughn decided to let it go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s to the point now you have to pick and choose your battles,” she said. “Because other than that, I’m calling and texting everybody, every day, about something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_57072\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1452px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-57072\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1452\" height=\"1936\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5.jpg 1452w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-160x213.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1452px) 100vw, 1452px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though they’re in different grades, each member of the Vaughn family gathers around the table for their respective online classes. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Nicole Vaughn )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Simultaneous crises of a pandemic and recession are further straining a special education system that has long struggled to effectively serve students with disabilities. Chronic shortfalls in federal funding have burdened local education agencies and families, and — in the most extreme cases — denied these children access to quality education. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), today, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp\">more than 7 million children, or 14 percent of public school students\u003c/a>\u003cu>, \u003c/u>are entitled to special services and accommodations to help them learn. But in the legislation’s almost 50-year history, the federal government has never fulfilled its promise to pay 40 percent of the average cost of educating students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special education teachers, meanwhile, tend to be among the least-experienced educators, and states often have trouble filling those positions. In Vaughn’s state of Michigan, over 40 percent of teacher vacancies last year were in special education, according to a Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Teacher-Shortage-Survey-Results.pdf\">survey\u003c/a> with responses from roughly half the state’s school districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The consequences are evident in the data: \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/high-schools-fail-provide-legally-required-education-students-disabilities/\">Graduation rates\u003c/a> for young people with disabilities often fall far below those of other students, and without the right support, children in special education are also much more likely to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncld.org/research/state-of-learning-disabilities/supporting-academic-success#ch3challenge3\">repeat grades\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncld.org/research/state-of-learning-disabilities/social-emotional-and-behavioral-challenges#ch4challenge2\">twice as likely to be suspended\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These students in particular are getting the short end of the stick, and they have been for some time,” said Elena Silva, director of the pre-K-12 education policy program at the think tank New America and the mother of a child with a physical disability. “The schools, the staff — they know it. You talk to anybody at a school or staff about the need, and whether they have what they need to meet the needs of these kids. And they’ll tell you, they don’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some families and their advocates are hopeful that the pandemic could prompt a reckoning and systemic change. During distance learning, educators have needed to get creative to reach all their students, leading to new ways of collaborating with parents and approaches to instruction that education experts say could be integrated into how schools operate going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think anyone’s going to say that what we were doing worked or was equitable,” said Meghan Whittaker, the director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities. “And this gives us a chance to rethink that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaughn’s advocacy on behalf of her kids came to a temporary standstill this spring, when she was hospitalized with the coronavirus. In late March, her symptoms worsened quickly and doctors put her on a ventilator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaughn feared how her absence would affect her children’s education. “I cannot leave them,” she remembered thinking before slipping into a coma. “Nobody is going to go to bat for my kids the way I go to bat for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After waking up five days later, she wasted no time trying to help her kids adapt to their new normal, which included online classes. Before she could even speak again, she wrote messages on a whiteboard that a nurse read over the phone to her children and sister, who was filling in as their guardian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not unusual for parents of students with disabilities to take an outsize role in their children’s education. Special education can be a confusing and impenetrable system, and parents often have to become experts in state and federal laws to ensure their kids receive appropriate support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Parents are co-equal members of an IEP team,” said Julie Causton, chief executive of Inclusive Schooling, an education consultancy, and a former professor of special education at Syracuse University. But not all families have the time or means to take on that responsibility, so the goal must be to “make sure kids get what they need without relying on the family structure,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_57073\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1152px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-57073\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1152\" height=\"1438\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8.jpg 1152w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8-800x999.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8-1020x1273.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8-160x200.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8-768x959.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicole Vaughn adopted five children with disabilities who qualify for special services and accommodations in Michigan public schools. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Nicole Vaughn )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A graduate of Detroit Public Schools and the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree, Vaughn adopted a newborn named Daniel in 2001 and, later, his biological younger brother, Jacob. When Daniel’s preschool teachers said he was often restless and impulsive, and Jacob missed typical milestones for walking and talking, both boys were assessed for disabilities. Together, they were diagnosed with autism, ADHD and cognitive impairment, and Vaughn was told Jacob might never be able to live independently. Vaughn recalls feeling like the special education professionals were speaking in code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All these educational terms and these acronyms — it was just all new to me, and it was also very intimidating,” said Vaughn. “I would come home after we had one of these meetings or sessions, and I’m Googling, I’m researching, and it’s overwhelming.” In time, Vaughn decided to get a master’s degree in special education to make sense of the system. She also adopted three more children: a daughter and twins with speech and language delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with her training, Vaughn ran into problems as she tried to help her kids. The school district in which her elder children were previously enrolled, Dearborn Heights School District 7, graduates special education students with regular diplomas at a rate of 73 percent, well below the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/PartBC_IndicatorDescriptions_550415_7.pdf\">target rate\u003c/a> of 80 percent, according to the state’s most recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.michigan.gov/documents/cepi/Public_Reporting_File_Masked_Part_B_Member_District_3-19-20_ADA_685172_7.xlsx\">special education public report\u003c/a>. The district and surrounding area also have trouble with staffing: As of mid-November, there were around \u003ca href=\"https://www.applitrack.com/resa/OnlineApp/default.aspx?Category=Center+Based+and+Special+Education+Services\">40 special education job vacancies\u003c/a> in Wayne County, where Dearborn Heights is located, and about \u003ca href=\"https://4.files.edl.io/f7a9/05/08/19/221423-fa291483-ca10-44f4-b94b-6c93b5d2f28b.pdf\">13 percent of all teachers and 32 percent of principals and school leaders\u003c/a> in the district lacked prior experience in these roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Jacob was in third grade, Vaughn said she was informed that his speech and language and occupational therapies were ending. “ ‘He’s pretty much plateaued; he’s reached his maximum level of performance,’ ” Vaughn said the IEP team told her. “ ‘We don’t want him just lingering in the services. We have other children.’ ” On another occasion, a social worker referred to Jacob as “she” in his behavior plan, Vaughn said. She confronted the principal for reusing another child’s program. “It’s called an individualized education plan!” she recalled saying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Vaughn works as a counselor for Detroit Public Schools and said she sympathizes with overburdened school staff. “It keeps going back to time and money, which it seems like school districts never have enough of,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaughn was not alone in her struggles to get her children services this year. Last spring, during remote learning, just 20 percent of students with disabilities received the services to which they were entitled, and 39 percent received no support at all, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://parentstogetheraction.org/2020/05/27/parentstogether-survey-reveals-remote-learning-is-failing-our-most-vulnerable-students/\">survey\u003c/a> by ParentsTogether Action, a parent-led advocacy group. And an American Institutes for Research \u003ca href=\"https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/COVID-Survey-Spotlight-on-Students-with-Disabilities-FINAL-Oct-2020.pdf\">survey\u003c/a> found that nearly three-quarters of 744 school districts reported it was more or substantially more difficult to provide appropriate accommodations for their students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a student that has a learning, attention or behavioral disability, being at home — without teachers, without educators, without one-on-one support, being on screens — is almost an impossible way for them to learn well,” said Silva of New America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some families have grown so discouraged with special education during the pandemic that they have opted out of the school system altogether, at least for now. In March, LaTonya Davis, an education consultant in Houston, decided to pull her 10-year-old son with autism out of his KIPP public charter school and home-school him for the duration of the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I'm solely responsible for making sure I make the best choices for him,” she said of her decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis, a single mother, developed a daily schedule of activities tailored to her son’s needs, known as a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/treatments-approaches/therapies/sensory-diet-treatment-what-you-need-to-know\">sensory diet\u003c/a>,” which she’d tried unsuccessfully to have his teachers adopt in the past. She said she hopes that giving her son one-on-one attention will help him get a quality education even during school closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_57074\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 908px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-57074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"908\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9.png 908w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9-800x471.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9-160x94.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9-768x453.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 908px) 100vw, 908px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaTonya Davis, who is homeschooling for the duration of the pandemic, created a virtual classroom for her 10-year-old son with autism. \u003ccite>(LaTonya Davis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But few parents have the expertise to support their kids around the clock like Davis, which could put students in special education, who are already among the most vulnerable, further behind. Indeed, special education experts have already sounded the alarm about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/it-feels-a-little-hopeless-parents-of-kids-with-disabilities-worry-coronavirus-quarantine-will-mean-regression/\">academic regression and loss of life skills\u003c/a> during school closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizing the unique obstacles that students with disabilities face in remote learning, several of the country’s biggest school districts, including Los Angeles County and Baltimore City, have prioritized bringing back at least some special education students to school buildings before their peers. But doing so has proved very difficult. Seattle Public Schools, which approved a school-reopening plan prioritizing kids with disabilities in August, made \u003ca href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/only-1-seattle-public-schools-student-is-receiving-special-education-services-in-person-right-now/#:~:text=Ishisaka-,Only%201%20Seattle%20Public%20Schools%20student%20is%20receiving%20special,services%20in%20person%20right%20now&text=Education%20Lab%20is%20a%20Seattle,persistent%20challenges%20in%20public%20education.&text=Other%20districts%20are%20usi\">headlines\u003c/a> in October because just one student was receiving in-person services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet, for schools continuing to teach remotely, resources are getting harder to come by. In California’s Hawthorne School District, special education teacher Albert Morales teaches transitional kindergarten (an extra year of instruction before kindergarten) through first grade. Classes will be online until at least the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, Morales has struggled to get the tools he needs to support his students. The district distributed Chromebooks at the start of the school year, but several of his young students with disabilities couldn’t use the mouse and keyboard. And though the school is swapping out the devices for iPads, which are more accessible to kids with disabilities, there weren’t enough for all students, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morales added that education companies made a few services that worked for his students free this spring, but that’s no longer the case. “All these great resources are out there,” he said. “But teachers have to pay out of pockets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special education teachers aren’t meant to carry the financial burden. However, the federal government reimburses just 15 percent of the additional costs for educating students with disabilities — far short of the 40 percent promised under IDEA — according to the \u003ca href=\"https://ncld.org/news/policy-and-advocacy/idea-full-funding-why-should-congress-invest-in-special-education/\">National Center for Learning Disabilities\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a budget crisis won’t help close funding gaps: “They’re not going to have as much money, and they’re going to need to do twice as much,” said Silva of New America. “What do you do for your most vulnerable, when you have to do so much more and you have half the money?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s just a very real problem,” she said. “I don’t think we can innovate out of that problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bills introduced in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/4100/text\">Senate\u003c/a> this summer and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/8523/text\">House\u003c/a> in October would provide more than $12 billion for students with disabilities, but both have stalled. Special education advocates, however, are hopeful that President-elect Joe Biden, whose wife, Jill, is an educator, could make good on \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-is-america-finally-getting-woke-to-its-largest-minority-group/\">a promise he made\u003c/a> to fully fund IDEA within 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without additional financial help, some public schools could be forced to make do with even fewer experienced staff serving kids with disabilities. Shortages of special education teachers are a national problem, with 48 states and D.C. reporting difficulty hiring and retaining staff, according to a 2016 report from the \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/A_Coming_Crisis_in_Teaching_REPORT.pdf\">Learning Policy Institute\u003c/a>\u003cu>,\u003c/u> the most recent data available. The problem is most severe in districts predominantly serving students of color and from low-income backgrounds, where schools are already \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Restart_Reinvent_Schools_COVID_REPORT.pdf\">more likely\u003c/a> to be staffed by a transient group of untrained teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nationally, special education has the highest proportion of unlicensed teachers, even though many districts waive certain typical teacher licensure requirements for those positions, according to Roddy Theobald, a researcher at the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. Throughout the pandemic, many states have waived even more requirements, said Dan Goldhaber, director of the center. That could ultimately cause harm to students if it means they are being instructed primarily by teachers who lack the skills to serve them, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, paraprofessional positions, an hourly role supporting students with disabilities, are \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2020/08/districts_layoff_thousands_of_.html\">on the chopping block\u003c/a> in districts around the country. Some experts worry that special education teacher positions could be next. The first teachers to be laid off are typically the least-experienced, which could disproportionately affect special education teachers, who tend to be younger on account of the profession’s high attrition rates, said Goldhaber.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Budget cuts haven’t hit Hawthorne’s special education staff yet, but the pandemic has deepened staffing issues in Morales’ district nonetheless. In 2018, nearly \u003ca href=\"https://gettingdowntofacts.com/sites/default/files/2018-09/GDTFII_Report_Darling-Hammond.pdf\">eight in 10\u003c/a> California schools had openings for special education teachers, and \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/interactive-map-understanding-teacher-shortages-california\">more than two-thirds\u003c/a> of Hawthorne’s new hires had not met all of California’s teacher certification requirements, according to the Learning Policy Institute. This September, a deficit of teachers trained to support students with disabilities meant that when a special education colleague was absent, Morales had to teach an online class twice the size of his usual group, which he said made high-quality instruction impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_57077\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-57077\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-768x512.png 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Albert Morales, a transitional kindergarten through first grade special education teacher, tries to plan lessons that are both engaging and accessible for his students. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Albert Morales)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And that’s in California, which has done more than many states to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. At a time of widespread budget cuts, it is boosting support for special education: Its \u003ca href=\"http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2020-21/pdf/Enacted/GovernorsBudget/6000.pdf\">2020-21 budget\u003c/a> allocates an additional $550 million to special education and $100 million for students requiring specialized services, and sets aside $15 million to recruit and train special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the special education system under strain, many weary parents and teachers share a common mantra: a hope that things will get back to normal soon. However, advocates say that “normal” isn’t good enough when public school wasn’t designed to support every child in the first place; instead, what’s needed is systemic change that goes further to improve schools for all children, especially the most vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do we take what we’re doing in this moment and use this chance to prioritize equity and put marginalized students first, so that building our system back, they are at the center of it, rather than at the margins?” said Whittaker of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fueled by pandemic-driven necessity, some districts have found ways for parents and educators to collaborate more closely to support kids with disabilities. This spring, many states implemented what are often called “individualized distance learning plans,” which spell out more clearly than IEPs do how schools and families should work together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The importance of parent-teacher cooperation is outlined in IDEA, yet “we don’t do it well at all,” said Silva of New America. “This is an opportunity to connect home and school in a way that we’ve always promised and never been able to achieve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And though IEPs have long pledged individualized instruction, distance learning often makes it a requisite. “It acknowledged that students have lives outside of school with very real stressors and responsibilities,” said Causton of Inclusive Schooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, teachers across the country have been forced to find ways to reach their students in a manner suited to their needs: by recording videos for children who missed synchronous lessons, sending worksheets home with kids who lacked internet access and adjusting deadlines to fit students’ schedules. Causton wants to see schools continue this creative, flexible approach with all students going forward. Not only will children with disabilities benefit, she said, “but so will everyone else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of that goal involves rethinking special education so that disability doesn’t suggest a deficit in a student’s ability to learn, but rather a set of individualized needs that schools must meet — not unlike a student without internet access’s need for a hard-copy alternative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We for too long sorted and separated human beings based on disability,” said Causton. “This is the moment where we need to look at all the structures that have created such inequitable outcomes for kids,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of measuring how ready a student is to fit into our system, we can measure how ready our system is to support all students together,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the kind of change Nicole Vaughn hopes to see. At a meeting this fall to discuss her son Jacob’s IEP, a social worker told her for the sixth consecutive year that the boy, now a high school senior, doesn’t answer open-ended questions, she said. This time, Vaughn had had enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I said, ‘Please don’t say it anymore, because it’s the equivalent of saying a person that’s in a wheelchair cannot run a marathon,’ ” said Vaughn. “ ‘I don’t want to hear any more about what he can’t do. Let’s talk about what Jacob can do.’ ” Though he won’t receive a high school diploma, Jacob will graduate this spring with a certificate of completion. He also talks, engages and learns in a classroom alongside his peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All kids learn,” she said. “They just don’t all learn at the same pace, the same way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This story about \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/HGvSCG69GouB0WxytKlr2O?domain=hechingerreport.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>special education services\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> was produced by \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/LthZCJ6PLruB1pG4tGnrpx?domain=hechingerreport.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>The Hechinger Report\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/vH_VCKr6MvTDB8gAs3eBve?domain=us2.list-manage.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>Hechinger’s newsletter\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The pandemic and recession are further straining a special education system that has long struggled to effectively serve students with disabilities. Chronic shortfalls in federal funding have burdened local education agencies and families, and — in the most extreme cases — denied children access to quality special education services. But some families and their advocates are hopeful that the coronavirus crisis could prompt systemic change.",
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"description": "The pandemic and recession are further straining a special education system that has long struggled to effectively serve students with disabilities. Chronic shortfalls in federal funding have burdened local education agencies and families, and — in the most extreme cases — denied children access to quality special education services. But some families and their advocates are hopeful that the coronavirus crisis could prompt systemic change.",
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"headline": "Some Families Hope Pandemic Can Spur Change in Special Education",
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"subhead": "Special education was imperfect before the coronavirus crisis. As districts contend with the fallout from slapdash online classes for kids with disabilities, will the pandemic prompt a reckoning?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about special education services was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cem>The Hechinger Report\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=66c306eebb323868c3ce353c1&id=d3ee4c3e04\">\u003cem>Hechinger’s newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Single mom Nicole Vaughn has spent the better part of her adult life advocating for her five adopted children with disabilities. But when schools shuttered for the coronavirus last spring, Vaughn gained a slew of new responsibilities, like helping her kids access virtual classrooms and coordinating the special education services they receive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to send emails to the speech and language provider saying, ‘Hey, they haven’t seen you, I haven’t seen you. What’s going on?’ ” said Vaughn, who lives in the Detroit metropolitan area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once those services resumed, Vaughn said sessions were shorter than the time mandated by her children’s individualized education programs. Known as IEPs, these plans are meant to ensure that students with disabilities receive specialized instruction and services tailored to their needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaughn decided to let it go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s to the point now you have to pick and choose your battles,” she said. “Because other than that, I’m calling and texting everybody, every day, about something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_57072\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1452px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-57072\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1452\" height=\"1936\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5.jpg 1452w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-160x213.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-5-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1452px) 100vw, 1452px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though they’re in different grades, each member of the Vaughn family gathers around the table for their respective online classes. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Nicole Vaughn )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Simultaneous crises of a pandemic and recession are further straining a special education system that has long struggled to effectively serve students with disabilities. Chronic shortfalls in federal funding have burdened local education agencies and families, and — in the most extreme cases — denied these children access to quality education. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), today, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp\">more than 7 million children, or 14 percent of public school students\u003c/a>\u003cu>, \u003c/u>are entitled to special services and accommodations to help them learn. But in the legislation’s almost 50-year history, the federal government has never fulfilled its promise to pay 40 percent of the average cost of educating students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special education teachers, meanwhile, tend to be among the least-experienced educators, and states often have trouble filling those positions. In Vaughn’s state of Michigan, over 40 percent of teacher vacancies last year were in special education, according to a Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Teacher-Shortage-Survey-Results.pdf\">survey\u003c/a> with responses from roughly half the state’s school districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The consequences are evident in the data: \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/high-schools-fail-provide-legally-required-education-students-disabilities/\">Graduation rates\u003c/a> for young people with disabilities often fall far below those of other students, and without the right support, children in special education are also much more likely to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncld.org/research/state-of-learning-disabilities/supporting-academic-success#ch3challenge3\">repeat grades\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncld.org/research/state-of-learning-disabilities/social-emotional-and-behavioral-challenges#ch4challenge2\">twice as likely to be suspended\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These students in particular are getting the short end of the stick, and they have been for some time,” said Elena Silva, director of the pre-K-12 education policy program at the think tank New America and the mother of a child with a physical disability. “The schools, the staff — they know it. You talk to anybody at a school or staff about the need, and whether they have what they need to meet the needs of these kids. And they’ll tell you, they don’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some families and their advocates are hopeful that the pandemic could prompt a reckoning and systemic change. During distance learning, educators have needed to get creative to reach all their students, leading to new ways of collaborating with parents and approaches to instruction that education experts say could be integrated into how schools operate going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think anyone’s going to say that what we were doing worked or was equitable,” said Meghan Whittaker, the director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities. “And this gives us a chance to rethink that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaughn’s advocacy on behalf of her kids came to a temporary standstill this spring, when she was hospitalized with the coronavirus. In late March, her symptoms worsened quickly and doctors put her on a ventilator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaughn feared how her absence would affect her children’s education. “I cannot leave them,” she remembered thinking before slipping into a coma. “Nobody is going to go to bat for my kids the way I go to bat for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After waking up five days later, she wasted no time trying to help her kids adapt to their new normal, which included online classes. Before she could even speak again, she wrote messages on a whiteboard that a nurse read over the phone to her children and sister, who was filling in as their guardian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not unusual for parents of students with disabilities to take an outsize role in their children’s education. Special education can be a confusing and impenetrable system, and parents often have to become experts in state and federal laws to ensure their kids receive appropriate support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Parents are co-equal members of an IEP team,” said Julie Causton, chief executive of Inclusive Schooling, an education consultancy, and a former professor of special education at Syracuse University. But not all families have the time or means to take on that responsibility, so the goal must be to “make sure kids get what they need without relying on the family structure,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_57073\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1152px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-57073\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1152\" height=\"1438\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8.jpg 1152w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8-800x999.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8-1020x1273.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8-160x200.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-8-768x959.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicole Vaughn adopted five children with disabilities who qualify for special services and accommodations in Michigan public schools. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Nicole Vaughn )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A graduate of Detroit Public Schools and the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree, Vaughn adopted a newborn named Daniel in 2001 and, later, his biological younger brother, Jacob. When Daniel’s preschool teachers said he was often restless and impulsive, and Jacob missed typical milestones for walking and talking, both boys were assessed for disabilities. Together, they were diagnosed with autism, ADHD and cognitive impairment, and Vaughn was told Jacob might never be able to live independently. Vaughn recalls feeling like the special education professionals were speaking in code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All these educational terms and these acronyms — it was just all new to me, and it was also very intimidating,” said Vaughn. “I would come home after we had one of these meetings or sessions, and I’m Googling, I’m researching, and it’s overwhelming.” In time, Vaughn decided to get a master’s degree in special education to make sense of the system. She also adopted three more children: a daughter and twins with speech and language delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with her training, Vaughn ran into problems as she tried to help her kids. The school district in which her elder children were previously enrolled, Dearborn Heights School District 7, graduates special education students with regular diplomas at a rate of 73 percent, well below the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/PartBC_IndicatorDescriptions_550415_7.pdf\">target rate\u003c/a> of 80 percent, according to the state’s most recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.michigan.gov/documents/cepi/Public_Reporting_File_Masked_Part_B_Member_District_3-19-20_ADA_685172_7.xlsx\">special education public report\u003c/a>. The district and surrounding area also have trouble with staffing: As of mid-November, there were around \u003ca href=\"https://www.applitrack.com/resa/OnlineApp/default.aspx?Category=Center+Based+and+Special+Education+Services\">40 special education job vacancies\u003c/a> in Wayne County, where Dearborn Heights is located, and about \u003ca href=\"https://4.files.edl.io/f7a9/05/08/19/221423-fa291483-ca10-44f4-b94b-6c93b5d2f28b.pdf\">13 percent of all teachers and 32 percent of principals and school leaders\u003c/a> in the district lacked prior experience in these roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Jacob was in third grade, Vaughn said she was informed that his speech and language and occupational therapies were ending. “ ‘He’s pretty much plateaued; he’s reached his maximum level of performance,’ ” Vaughn said the IEP team told her. “ ‘We don’t want him just lingering in the services. We have other children.’ ” On another occasion, a social worker referred to Jacob as “she” in his behavior plan, Vaughn said. She confronted the principal for reusing another child’s program. “It’s called an individualized education plan!” she recalled saying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Vaughn works as a counselor for Detroit Public Schools and said she sympathizes with overburdened school staff. “It keeps going back to time and money, which it seems like school districts never have enough of,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vaughn was not alone in her struggles to get her children services this year. Last spring, during remote learning, just 20 percent of students with disabilities received the services to which they were entitled, and 39 percent received no support at all, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://parentstogetheraction.org/2020/05/27/parentstogether-survey-reveals-remote-learning-is-failing-our-most-vulnerable-students/\">survey\u003c/a> by ParentsTogether Action, a parent-led advocacy group. And an American Institutes for Research \u003ca href=\"https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/COVID-Survey-Spotlight-on-Students-with-Disabilities-FINAL-Oct-2020.pdf\">survey\u003c/a> found that nearly three-quarters of 744 school districts reported it was more or substantially more difficult to provide appropriate accommodations for their students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a student that has a learning, attention or behavioral disability, being at home — without teachers, without educators, without one-on-one support, being on screens — is almost an impossible way for them to learn well,” said Silva of New America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some families have grown so discouraged with special education during the pandemic that they have opted out of the school system altogether, at least for now. In March, LaTonya Davis, an education consultant in Houston, decided to pull her 10-year-old son with autism out of his KIPP public charter school and home-school him for the duration of the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I'm solely responsible for making sure I make the best choices for him,” she said of her decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis, a single mother, developed a daily schedule of activities tailored to her son’s needs, known as a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/treatments-approaches/therapies/sensory-diet-treatment-what-you-need-to-know\">sensory diet\u003c/a>,” which she’d tried unsuccessfully to have his teachers adopt in the past. She said she hopes that giving her son one-on-one attention will help him get a quality education even during school closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_57074\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 908px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-57074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"908\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9.png 908w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9-800x471.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9-160x94.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-9-768x453.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 908px) 100vw, 908px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaTonya Davis, who is homeschooling for the duration of the pandemic, created a virtual classroom for her 10-year-old son with autism. \u003ccite>(LaTonya Davis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But few parents have the expertise to support their kids around the clock like Davis, which could put students in special education, who are already among the most vulnerable, further behind. Indeed, special education experts have already sounded the alarm about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/it-feels-a-little-hopeless-parents-of-kids-with-disabilities-worry-coronavirus-quarantine-will-mean-regression/\">academic regression and loss of life skills\u003c/a> during school closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizing the unique obstacles that students with disabilities face in remote learning, several of the country’s biggest school districts, including Los Angeles County and Baltimore City, have prioritized bringing back at least some special education students to school buildings before their peers. But doing so has proved very difficult. Seattle Public Schools, which approved a school-reopening plan prioritizing kids with disabilities in August, made \u003ca href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/only-1-seattle-public-schools-student-is-receiving-special-education-services-in-person-right-now/#:~:text=Ishisaka-,Only%201%20Seattle%20Public%20Schools%20student%20is%20receiving%20special,services%20in%20person%20right%20now&text=Education%20Lab%20is%20a%20Seattle,persistent%20challenges%20in%20public%20education.&text=Other%20districts%20are%20usi\">headlines\u003c/a> in October because just one student was receiving in-person services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet, for schools continuing to teach remotely, resources are getting harder to come by. In California’s Hawthorne School District, special education teacher Albert Morales teaches transitional kindergarten (an extra year of instruction before kindergarten) through first grade. Classes will be online until at least the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, Morales has struggled to get the tools he needs to support his students. The district distributed Chromebooks at the start of the school year, but several of his young students with disabilities couldn’t use the mouse and keyboard. And though the school is swapping out the devices for iPads, which are more accessible to kids with disabilities, there weren’t enough for all students, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morales added that education companies made a few services that worked for his students free this spring, but that’s no longer the case. “All these great resources are out there,” he said. “But teachers have to pay out of pockets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special education teachers aren’t meant to carry the financial burden. However, the federal government reimburses just 15 percent of the additional costs for educating students with disabilities — far short of the 40 percent promised under IDEA — according to the \u003ca href=\"https://ncld.org/news/policy-and-advocacy/idea-full-funding-why-should-congress-invest-in-special-education/\">National Center for Learning Disabilities\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a budget crisis won’t help close funding gaps: “They’re not going to have as much money, and they’re going to need to do twice as much,” said Silva of New America. “What do you do for your most vulnerable, when you have to do so much more and you have half the money?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s just a very real problem,” she said. “I don’t think we can innovate out of that problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bills introduced in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/4100/text\">Senate\u003c/a> this summer and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/8523/text\">House\u003c/a> in October would provide more than $12 billion for students with disabilities, but both have stalled. Special education advocates, however, are hopeful that President-elect Joe Biden, whose wife, Jill, is an educator, could make good on \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-is-america-finally-getting-woke-to-its-largest-minority-group/\">a promise he made\u003c/a> to fully fund IDEA within 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without additional financial help, some public schools could be forced to make do with even fewer experienced staff serving kids with disabilities. Shortages of special education teachers are a national problem, with 48 states and D.C. reporting difficulty hiring and retaining staff, according to a 2016 report from the \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/A_Coming_Crisis_in_Teaching_REPORT.pdf\">Learning Policy Institute\u003c/a>\u003cu>,\u003c/u> the most recent data available. The problem is most severe in districts predominantly serving students of color and from low-income backgrounds, where schools are already \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Restart_Reinvent_Schools_COVID_REPORT.pdf\">more likely\u003c/a> to be staffed by a transient group of untrained teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nationally, special education has the highest proportion of unlicensed teachers, even though many districts waive certain typical teacher licensure requirements for those positions, according to Roddy Theobald, a researcher at the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. Throughout the pandemic, many states have waived even more requirements, said Dan Goldhaber, director of the center. That could ultimately cause harm to students if it means they are being instructed primarily by teachers who lack the skills to serve them, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, paraprofessional positions, an hourly role supporting students with disabilities, are \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2020/08/districts_layoff_thousands_of_.html\">on the chopping block\u003c/a> in districts around the country. Some experts worry that special education teacher positions could be next. The first teachers to be laid off are typically the least-experienced, which could disproportionately affect special education teachers, who tend to be younger on account of the profession’s high attrition rates, said Goldhaber.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Budget cuts haven’t hit Hawthorne’s special education staff yet, but the pandemic has deepened staffing issues in Morales’ district nonetheless. In 2018, nearly \u003ca href=\"https://gettingdowntofacts.com/sites/default/files/2018-09/GDTFII_Report_Darling-Hammond.pdf\">eight in 10\u003c/a> California schools had openings for special education teachers, and \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/interactive-map-understanding-teacher-shortages-california\">more than two-thirds\u003c/a> of Hawthorne’s new hires had not met all of California’s teacher certification requirements, according to the Learning Policy Institute. This September, a deficit of teachers trained to support students with disabilities meant that when a special education colleague was absent, Morales had to teach an online class twice the size of his usual group, which he said made high-quality instruction impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_57077\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-57077\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-768x512.png 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/12/Cayla-Bamberger-Bamberger-special-ed-in-crisis-4-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Albert Morales, a transitional kindergarten through first grade special education teacher, tries to plan lessons that are both engaging and accessible for his students. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Albert Morales)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And that’s in California, which has done more than many states to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. At a time of widespread budget cuts, it is boosting support for special education: Its \u003ca href=\"http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2020-21/pdf/Enacted/GovernorsBudget/6000.pdf\">2020-21 budget\u003c/a> allocates an additional $550 million to special education and $100 million for students requiring specialized services, and sets aside $15 million to recruit and train special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the special education system under strain, many weary parents and teachers share a common mantra: a hope that things will get back to normal soon. However, advocates say that “normal” isn’t good enough when public school wasn’t designed to support every child in the first place; instead, what’s needed is systemic change that goes further to improve schools for all children, especially the most vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do we take what we’re doing in this moment and use this chance to prioritize equity and put marginalized students first, so that building our system back, they are at the center of it, rather than at the margins?” said Whittaker of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fueled by pandemic-driven necessity, some districts have found ways for parents and educators to collaborate more closely to support kids with disabilities. This spring, many states implemented what are often called “individualized distance learning plans,” which spell out more clearly than IEPs do how schools and families should work together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The importance of parent-teacher cooperation is outlined in IDEA, yet “we don’t do it well at all,” said Silva of New America. “This is an opportunity to connect home and school in a way that we’ve always promised and never been able to achieve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And though IEPs have long pledged individualized instruction, distance learning often makes it a requisite. “It acknowledged that students have lives outside of school with very real stressors and responsibilities,” said Causton of Inclusive Schooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, teachers across the country have been forced to find ways to reach their students in a manner suited to their needs: by recording videos for children who missed synchronous lessons, sending worksheets home with kids who lacked internet access and adjusting deadlines to fit students’ schedules. Causton wants to see schools continue this creative, flexible approach with all students going forward. Not only will children with disabilities benefit, she said, “but so will everyone else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of that goal involves rethinking special education so that disability doesn’t suggest a deficit in a student’s ability to learn, but rather a set of individualized needs that schools must meet — not unlike a student without internet access’s need for a hard-copy alternative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We for too long sorted and separated human beings based on disability,” said Causton. “This is the moment where we need to look at all the structures that have created such inequitable outcomes for kids,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of measuring how ready a student is to fit into our system, we can measure how ready our system is to support all students together,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the kind of change Nicole Vaughn hopes to see. At a meeting this fall to discuss her son Jacob’s IEP, a social worker told her for the sixth consecutive year that the boy, now a high school senior, doesn’t answer open-ended questions, she said. This time, Vaughn had had enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I said, ‘Please don’t say it anymore, because it’s the equivalent of saying a person that’s in a wheelchair cannot run a marathon,’ ” said Vaughn. “ ‘I don’t want to hear any more about what he can’t do. Let’s talk about what Jacob can do.’ ” Though he won’t receive a high school diploma, Jacob will graduate this spring with a certificate of completion. He also talks, engages and learns in a classroom alongside his peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All kids learn,” she said. “They just don’t all learn at the same pace, the same way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This story about \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/HGvSCG69GouB0WxytKlr2O?domain=hechingerreport.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>special education services\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> was produced by \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/LthZCJ6PLruB1pG4tGnrpx?domain=hechingerreport.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>The Hechinger Report\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/vH_VCKr6MvTDB8gAs3eBve?domain=us2.list-manage.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>Hechinger’s newsletter\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "5 Things We've Learned About Virtual School During the Pandemic",
"title": "5 Things We've Learned About Virtual School During the Pandemic",
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"content": "\u003cp>Deborah Rosenthal starts her virtual kindergarten class on Zoom every morning with a song — today, it's the Spanish version of \"If You're Happy and You Know It.\" Her students clap along. There's a greeting from the class mascot (a dragon), yoga, meditation and then some practice with letter sounds: \"Oso, oso, O, O, O.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenthal teaches Spanish immersion in a public school in San Francisco's Mission District. Most of the families are low-income, and many are now affected by job losses related to COVID-19. She has taught kindergarten for 15 years, and she loves how \"hands-on,\" \"tactile\" and \"cozy\" it is to work with 5-year-olds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this year, she's spending 10 or 12 hours a day on, basically, her own home production of \u003cem>Mister Rogers' Neighborhood en Español. \u003c/em>\"It's a very two-dimensional experience,\" she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Few people would tell you that online kindergarten was a good idea, or frankly even possible. That was before 2020. The number has fluctuated as cases rise across the country, but throughout this fall pandemic semester, between 40% and 60% of students have been enrolled in districts that offer only remote learning, according to a tracker maintained by the company Burbio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even in hybrid districts, some students have been learning remotely, either part or full time. In short, online learning is the reality for a majority of students this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are still starved for data on what this all means. The earliest \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/01/938048852/some-good-news-student-reading-gains-are-steady-while-math-slows-down\">standardized test \u003c/a>scores coming out show modest learning loss for students in math, but there are worries that the most at-risk students are not being tested at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For this story I talked to educators in six states, from California to South Carolina. For the most part they say things have improved since the spring. But they are close to burnout, with only a patchwork of support. They say the heart of the job right now is getting students connected with school and keeping them that way — both technologically and even more importantly, emotionally. Here are five lessons learned so far:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>1. The digital divide is still big and complex. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Eight months after schools first shut down, how many students still can't sign on? We don't really know, and that's a problem, says Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. \"We've not done a really great job in aggregating the data as to how many kids are still disconnected,\" she adds. \"It's very disappointing as well as concerning.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Education Association \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/resource-library/digital-divide-and-homework-gap-your-state\">recently reported,\u003c/a> based on pre-pandemic census data, that one quarter of households with children ages 5 to 17 lacked either high-speed Wi-Fi, a computer or both. For households near the poverty line, the number was closer to half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That figure may have gotten better. Many districts have scrambled to distribute their classroom laptops to families, to buy portable hot spots, and call on private and corporate donations. But there are still gaps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Partly, that's because there hasn't been any pandemic federal stimulus aid to public schools since April. State revenue is down, too. For example, Richard Carranza, chancellor of New York City public schools, said last month that 60,000 of the district's 1.1 million students are still missing devices — about 5.5%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee at Brookings is working on a book about the digital divide, and she says it's multidimensional. There's housing: Lose your home and you lose your broadband connection. There are backlogs of items such as Chromebooks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there's infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That rural Internet divide is real. I mean it's a real problem right now in America,\" says Caroline Weathers, who teaches in a small town in South Carolina. Her district gave out hot spots, but in some places they didn't work because there wasn't cell service from the major carriers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the digital divide is about more than equipment. Rosenthal's school in San Francisco, Buena Vista Horace Mann, is a community school, meaning there are wraparound services, including lots of help with technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite all that, she didn't make contact with one of her students until 2 1/2 months into the school year. That's so even though her mother had come to school to pick up a laptop and hot spot. \"The little girl was going to a babysitter that was not literate,\" Rosenthal says. \"And so nobody could help this child get onto a computer.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another of her students has a single mother who works cleaning hotel rooms; the girl goes along and often joins the class from her mother's smartphone. Because of barriers such as these, although attendance on her daily Zooms is high, Rosenthal says no more than a fourth of her students have been accessing the written assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>2. Relationships are everything when it comes to keeping kids engaged remotely. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Successful schools are using every adult on the team and every form of communication possible. Theresa Rouse is the superintendent of Joliet Public Schools District 86 in Illinois, where a majority of the students are low-income and either Latino or Black. She says their focus has been on relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district spent the first three weeks of the school year focusing just on social and emotional learning. Educators communicate expectations to parents and teachers by email, calls, texts, over social media, YouTube videos and podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Rouse says, any adult at a school — from teachers, to the assistant principal, to a school counselor or social worker — might drop in during video class to show they care: \"If they're seeing a student that looks distressed, they pull them aside into a breakout room, have a conversation.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In South Carolina, Weathers usually teaches science at St. George Middle School. This year she created a new role for herself, helping families — sometimes with an app that parents can download to track kids' grades, or with strategies to build kids' executive function skills so they can succeed in remote learning. She says she'd like to continue the role going forward, making parents more active partners in their kids' education and taking learning out into the community as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We could take this as a learning moment,\" Weathers says. \"Now we have the parents' attention. So maybe now is the time to really reach out and say, 'This is what we need you to do on your end, and we'll take care of this on our end.' And in 10 years, we might see something entirely different in education in the country if we did that.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>3. Digital teaching can be good, even great with the right support for teachers. But that's far from the norm. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Districts such as Weathers' and Rouse's are working with the Digital Learning Collaborative, a nonprofit that is dedicated to best practices in digital learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rouse, in Joliet, calls its training \"pretty fabulous\" and essential to her district's transition from teaching mainly through paper packets in the spring to full-on remote using Google Classroom this fall. The training \"was more intense than [teachers] expected it would be, but that's OK because teaching online is more intense than people anticipate as well.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another organization, Cadence, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/07/25/895329194/national-summer-school-initiative-aims-to-improve-online-teaching\">is also trying\u003c/a> to improve digital teaching at scale. It pairs \"mentor teachers\" with \"partner teachers\" to deliver a standardized curriculum in reading, math and science. The teaching is a high-intensity blend of video lessons, active classroom instruction with breakout sessions, and software-based practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olyvia Kozicki teaches fifth grade at Augustine Prep, a nondenominational private school in Milwaukee, and is a Cadence partner teacher for English language arts. She says she's overjoyed at the quality and quantity of work her students are producing. It's not only more than she expected from online teaching, \"it's more just in general.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twice a week, she meets with other Cadence teachers from around the country who are also teaching the exact same material on the same timetable. She says that makes it the most practical and actionable professional education she's ever had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"When we switched to virtual, it was very overwhelming, and it seemed like such a daunting task,\" she says. And now \"I am so happy with what the kids have been able to do.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Justin Reich says Kozicki's experience is unusual for teachers this year. Reich is an expert on educational technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author of the new book \u003cem>Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can't Transform Education. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says that across the country this fall, \"I've heard very little evidence of innovation.\" Even moves that might seem relatively simple, such as adopting a free, online university-level course for use by high school students, aren't happening often. Mostly, he adds, districts are trying to re-create classroom teaching routines online with varying levels of success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I don't think it's getting better because there are major approaches that people have figured out or there's a model that's sort of spreading around,\" he says. Nor is there a lot of leadership or direction on improving online learning coming from the federal Department of Education or anyone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Reich says, what improvement there has been since spring comes mainly from teachers such as Rosenthal — putting in long hours and learning as they go. \"It's just kind of folks sanding down one little rough edge at a time.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>4. Hybrid models are extremely challenging. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At last count, according to Burbio, 17.5% of districts were offering school in person just a few days a week, with students learning from home the rest of the time. The purpose was to maintain social distancing by reducing class sizes, but the model has created confusion and constant interruptions. Many students are struggling to adjust to classroom routines when they may attend only five days out of three weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on available staffing, teachers, meanwhile, may be yelling through a mask and face shield to be heard by students over Zoom. Jennifer Echols is the director of online and personalized learning for Mesa Public Schools, the largest school district in Arizona. She calls this model \"one of the biggest challenges\" in remote learning right now. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has called for this \"hybrid\" model to be phased out. \"Hybrid doesn't work,\" Weingarten says flatly. \"You can't livestream and teach in person at the same time.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>5. Some kids are not learning much online. They'll be playing catch-up in years to come. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are some anecdotes of children who are thriving with remote learning. \"There's [approximately] 10% of people for whom it works better,\" Reich says. And for these students, \"this is actually a better version of school.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe they had school anxiety, he explains, or were victims of bullying or discrimination, or have sensory issues and enjoy having more control over their learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But districts including Houston, St. Paul, Minn., and Fairfax County, Va., have reported historically high failure rates this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Echols, in Arizona, says both attendance and engagement in online learning is suffering. \"Some kids have had difficulty just paying attention and keeping themselves focused.\" In other cases, she adds, \"we have families where parents are working, and there's not the appropriate supervision for young learners, or children that need to be babysitting siblings during the school day.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What keeps Rosenthal up at night are the kids she just can't reach. Every year, she says, out of a class of 20 or 21, there are five or six students who show up unprepared for kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They're struggling, but at least they're with me all day long. And so I can support them six or seven hours a day.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, she sees most of her students learning and growing despite all the obstacles. But those five or six who started out behind aren't getting much of anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=5+Things+We%27ve+Learned+About+Virtual+School+In+2020&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Deborah Rosenthal starts her virtual kindergarten class on Zoom every morning with a song — today, it's the Spanish version of \"If You're Happy and You Know It.\" Her students clap along. There's a greeting from the class mascot (a dragon), yoga, meditation and then some practice with letter sounds: \"Oso, oso, O, O, O.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenthal teaches Spanish immersion in a public school in San Francisco's Mission District. Most of the families are low-income, and many are now affected by job losses related to COVID-19. She has taught kindergarten for 15 years, and she loves how \"hands-on,\" \"tactile\" and \"cozy\" it is to work with 5-year-olds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this year, she's spending 10 or 12 hours a day on, basically, her own home production of \u003cem>Mister Rogers' Neighborhood en Español. \u003c/em>\"It's a very two-dimensional experience,\" she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Few people would tell you that online kindergarten was a good idea, or frankly even possible. That was before 2020. The number has fluctuated as cases rise across the country, but throughout this fall pandemic semester, between 40% and 60% of students have been enrolled in districts that offer only remote learning, according to a tracker maintained by the company Burbio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even in hybrid districts, some students have been learning remotely, either part or full time. In short, online learning is the reality for a majority of students this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are still starved for data on what this all means. The earliest \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/01/938048852/some-good-news-student-reading-gains-are-steady-while-math-slows-down\">standardized test \u003c/a>scores coming out show modest learning loss for students in math, but there are worries that the most at-risk students are not being tested at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For this story I talked to educators in six states, from California to South Carolina. For the most part they say things have improved since the spring. But they are close to burnout, with only a patchwork of support. They say the heart of the job right now is getting students connected with school and keeping them that way — both technologically and even more importantly, emotionally. Here are five lessons learned so far:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>1. The digital divide is still big and complex. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Eight months after schools first shut down, how many students still can't sign on? We don't really know, and that's a problem, says Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. \"We've not done a really great job in aggregating the data as to how many kids are still disconnected,\" she adds. \"It's very disappointing as well as concerning.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Education Association \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/resource-library/digital-divide-and-homework-gap-your-state\">recently reported,\u003c/a> based on pre-pandemic census data, that one quarter of households with children ages 5 to 17 lacked either high-speed Wi-Fi, a computer or both. For households near the poverty line, the number was closer to half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That figure may have gotten better. Many districts have scrambled to distribute their classroom laptops to families, to buy portable hot spots, and call on private and corporate donations. But there are still gaps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Partly, that's because there hasn't been any pandemic federal stimulus aid to public schools since April. State revenue is down, too. For example, Richard Carranza, chancellor of New York City public schools, said last month that 60,000 of the district's 1.1 million students are still missing devices — about 5.5%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee at Brookings is working on a book about the digital divide, and she says it's multidimensional. There's housing: Lose your home and you lose your broadband connection. There are backlogs of items such as Chromebooks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there's infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That rural Internet divide is real. I mean it's a real problem right now in America,\" says Caroline Weathers, who teaches in a small town in South Carolina. Her district gave out hot spots, but in some places they didn't work because there wasn't cell service from the major carriers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the digital divide is about more than equipment. Rosenthal's school in San Francisco, Buena Vista Horace Mann, is a community school, meaning there are wraparound services, including lots of help with technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite all that, she didn't make contact with one of her students until 2 1/2 months into the school year. That's so even though her mother had come to school to pick up a laptop and hot spot. \"The little girl was going to a babysitter that was not literate,\" Rosenthal says. \"And so nobody could help this child get onto a computer.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another of her students has a single mother who works cleaning hotel rooms; the girl goes along and often joins the class from her mother's smartphone. Because of barriers such as these, although attendance on her daily Zooms is high, Rosenthal says no more than a fourth of her students have been accessing the written assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>2. Relationships are everything when it comes to keeping kids engaged remotely. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Successful schools are using every adult on the team and every form of communication possible. Theresa Rouse is the superintendent of Joliet Public Schools District 86 in Illinois, where a majority of the students are low-income and either Latino or Black. She says their focus has been on relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district spent the first three weeks of the school year focusing just on social and emotional learning. Educators communicate expectations to parents and teachers by email, calls, texts, over social media, YouTube videos and podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Rouse says, any adult at a school — from teachers, to the assistant principal, to a school counselor or social worker — might drop in during video class to show they care: \"If they're seeing a student that looks distressed, they pull them aside into a breakout room, have a conversation.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In South Carolina, Weathers usually teaches science at St. George Middle School. This year she created a new role for herself, helping families — sometimes with an app that parents can download to track kids' grades, or with strategies to build kids' executive function skills so they can succeed in remote learning. She says she'd like to continue the role going forward, making parents more active partners in their kids' education and taking learning out into the community as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We could take this as a learning moment,\" Weathers says. \"Now we have the parents' attention. So maybe now is the time to really reach out and say, 'This is what we need you to do on your end, and we'll take care of this on our end.' And in 10 years, we might see something entirely different in education in the country if we did that.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>3. Digital teaching can be good, even great with the right support for teachers. But that's far from the norm. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Districts such as Weathers' and Rouse's are working with the Digital Learning Collaborative, a nonprofit that is dedicated to best practices in digital learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rouse, in Joliet, calls its training \"pretty fabulous\" and essential to her district's transition from teaching mainly through paper packets in the spring to full-on remote using Google Classroom this fall. The training \"was more intense than [teachers] expected it would be, but that's OK because teaching online is more intense than people anticipate as well.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another organization, Cadence, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/07/25/895329194/national-summer-school-initiative-aims-to-improve-online-teaching\">is also trying\u003c/a> to improve digital teaching at scale. It pairs \"mentor teachers\" with \"partner teachers\" to deliver a standardized curriculum in reading, math and science. The teaching is a high-intensity blend of video lessons, active classroom instruction with breakout sessions, and software-based practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olyvia Kozicki teaches fifth grade at Augustine Prep, a nondenominational private school in Milwaukee, and is a Cadence partner teacher for English language arts. She says she's overjoyed at the quality and quantity of work her students are producing. It's not only more than she expected from online teaching, \"it's more just in general.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twice a week, she meets with other Cadence teachers from around the country who are also teaching the exact same material on the same timetable. She says that makes it the most practical and actionable professional education she's ever had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"When we switched to virtual, it was very overwhelming, and it seemed like such a daunting task,\" she says. And now \"I am so happy with what the kids have been able to do.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Justin Reich says Kozicki's experience is unusual for teachers this year. Reich is an expert on educational technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author of the new book \u003cem>Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can't Transform Education. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says that across the country this fall, \"I've heard very little evidence of innovation.\" Even moves that might seem relatively simple, such as adopting a free, online university-level course for use by high school students, aren't happening often. Mostly, he adds, districts are trying to re-create classroom teaching routines online with varying levels of success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I don't think it's getting better because there are major approaches that people have figured out or there's a model that's sort of spreading around,\" he says. Nor is there a lot of leadership or direction on improving online learning coming from the federal Department of Education or anyone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Reich says, what improvement there has been since spring comes mainly from teachers such as Rosenthal — putting in long hours and learning as they go. \"It's just kind of folks sanding down one little rough edge at a time.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>4. Hybrid models are extremely challenging. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At last count, according to Burbio, 17.5% of districts were offering school in person just a few days a week, with students learning from home the rest of the time. The purpose was to maintain social distancing by reducing class sizes, but the model has created confusion and constant interruptions. Many students are struggling to adjust to classroom routines when they may attend only five days out of three weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on available staffing, teachers, meanwhile, may be yelling through a mask and face shield to be heard by students over Zoom. Jennifer Echols is the director of online and personalized learning for Mesa Public Schools, the largest school district in Arizona. She calls this model \"one of the biggest challenges\" in remote learning right now. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has called for this \"hybrid\" model to be phased out. \"Hybrid doesn't work,\" Weingarten says flatly. \"You can't livestream and teach in person at the same time.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>5. Some kids are not learning much online. They'll be playing catch-up in years to come. \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are some anecdotes of children who are thriving with remote learning. \"There's [approximately] 10% of people for whom it works better,\" Reich says. And for these students, \"this is actually a better version of school.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe they had school anxiety, he explains, or were victims of bullying or discrimination, or have sensory issues and enjoy having more control over their learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But districts including Houston, St. Paul, Minn., and Fairfax County, Va., have reported historically high failure rates this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Echols, in Arizona, says both attendance and engagement in online learning is suffering. \"Some kids have had difficulty just paying attention and keeping themselves focused.\" In other cases, she adds, \"we have families where parents are working, and there's not the appropriate supervision for young learners, or children that need to be babysitting siblings during the school day.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What keeps Rosenthal up at night are the kids she just can't reach. Every year, she says, out of a class of 20 or 21, there are five or six students who show up unprepared for kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They're struggling, but at least they're with me all day long. And so I can support them six or seven hours a day.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, she sees most of her students learning and growing despite all the obstacles. But those five or six who started out behind aren't getting much of anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=5+Things+We%27ve+Learned+About+Virtual+School+In+2020&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A sweeping \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2020/11/Collaborative-brief-Learning-during-COVID-19.NOV2020.pdf\">new review\u003c/a> of national test data suggests the pandemic-driven jump to online learning has had little impact on children's reading growth and has only somewhat slowed gains in math. That positive news comes from the testing nonprofit NWEA and covers nearly 4.4 million U.S. students in grades three through eight. But the report also includes a worrying caveat: Many of the nation's most vulnerable students are missing from the data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Preliminary fall data suggests that, on average, students are faring better than we had feared,\" says Beth Tarasawa, head of research at NWEA, in a news release accompanying the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"While there's some good news here, we want to stress that not all students are represented in the data, especially from our most marginalized communities.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until now, estimates of learning loss have been just that — estimates or projections, based on the kind of academic backsliding schools see after a long summer. This report offers the clearest picture yet of the impact that the past eight months of disruption have had on student learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The MAP Growth test\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The data at the heart of NWEA's report come from what's known to teachers and children alike as the MAP Growth test — a check-in assessment used to measure kids' math and reading skills that's generally given three times a year, in fall, winter and spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While millions of students took these MAP tests in the winter of 2020, few took them again in the spring as schools raced (and many struggled) to provide learning online. But this fall, nearly 4.4 million children did take the test, either from home or back in a classroom. And the results give researchers a vital new data point: a measure of where students are \u003cem>right now.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarasawa and her research team studied the data a few different ways. First, they compared students' performance this fall — in, say, third-grade reading — with the performance of a \u003cem>different\u003c/em> group of students who took third-grade reading in the fall of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarasawa tells NPR that with this method of comparison, the results in reading were \"relatively optimistic\" because \"kids on average are performing similarly to how [other children] did pre-pandemic.\" In math, the current pandemic class of students performed about 5 to 10 percentile points lower than the pre-pandemic comparison group — what Tarasawa describes as a \"moderate\" drop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to comparing two different groups of students, researchers also studied students' individual growth over time, looking at where they were when they took the MAP test in the winter of 2020 and comparing it with where they are now, in the fall of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We saw, on average, students showed growth in both math and reading across the grade levels in almost all grades,\" says Tarasawa. \"Most students made some learning gains in both reading and math since COVID started.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In short, students kept learning when schools shifted online; they just didn't learn quite as much in math as they likely would have if there had never been a pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mitigating the learning loss that \u003cem>is\u003c/em> happening will still require patience and a thoughtful approach, says Aaliyah Samuel, NWEA's executive vice president of government affairs and partnerships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Addressing the unfinished learning is going to be a matter of time. We really need to be thinking about the supports and interventions for kids over at least a two- or three-year runway.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on the depth of learning lost, school districts could consider a range of options, including extending the school year or even enlisting a volunteer tutoring corps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Roughly a quarter of students missing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \"good\" news (and the not-so-good news) in this report also comes with an important and worrying red flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an effort to be sure their 4.4 million-student sample, albeit large, was also representative of America's classrooms, NWEA researchers dug into the demographics of this new data set and compared it with the earlier fall 2019 test data — a sample of nearly 5.2 million children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What they found, Tarasawa says, is that roughly a quarter of students were missing — meaning they didn't take the MAP test this fall — and that these children are \"more likely to be black and brown, more likely to be from high-poverty schools and more likely to have lower performance in the first place.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers cite a host of possible reasons these students weren't able to take the latest test, including a lack of technology or Internet access at home as well as the possibility that some children have disengaged from school more broadly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is screaming that we have to be very cautious,\" says Tarasawa, about interpreting the relatively optimistic results in reading and even math as evidence that the kids are all right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's just like any time you get a new puzzle,\" Samuel says. \"The first thing you do is ... you start to look for the corners because those are usually the easiest to put together first.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's where we're at now, she explains: building the edges of the puzzle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=New+Report+Offers+Clearest+Picture+Yet+Of+Pandemic+Impact+On+Student+Learning+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A sweeping \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2020/11/Collaborative-brief-Learning-during-COVID-19.NOV2020.pdf\">new review\u003c/a> of national test data suggests the pandemic-driven jump to online learning has had little impact on children's reading growth and has only somewhat slowed gains in math. That positive news comes from the testing nonprofit NWEA and covers nearly 4.4 million U.S. students in grades three through eight. But the report also includes a worrying caveat: Many of the nation's most vulnerable students are missing from the data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Preliminary fall data suggests that, on average, students are faring better than we had feared,\" says Beth Tarasawa, head of research at NWEA, in a news release accompanying the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"While there's some good news here, we want to stress that not all students are represented in the data, especially from our most marginalized communities.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until now, estimates of learning loss have been just that — estimates or projections, based on the kind of academic backsliding schools see after a long summer. This report offers the clearest picture yet of the impact that the past eight months of disruption have had on student learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The MAP Growth test\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The data at the heart of NWEA's report come from what's known to teachers and children alike as the MAP Growth test — a check-in assessment used to measure kids' math and reading skills that's generally given three times a year, in fall, winter and spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While millions of students took these MAP tests in the winter of 2020, few took them again in the spring as schools raced (and many struggled) to provide learning online. But this fall, nearly 4.4 million children did take the test, either from home or back in a classroom. And the results give researchers a vital new data point: a measure of where students are \u003cem>right now.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarasawa and her research team studied the data a few different ways. First, they compared students' performance this fall — in, say, third-grade reading — with the performance of a \u003cem>different\u003c/em> group of students who took third-grade reading in the fall of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarasawa tells NPR that with this method of comparison, the results in reading were \"relatively optimistic\" because \"kids on average are performing similarly to how [other children] did pre-pandemic.\" In math, the current pandemic class of students performed about 5 to 10 percentile points lower than the pre-pandemic comparison group — what Tarasawa describes as a \"moderate\" drop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to comparing two different groups of students, researchers also studied students' individual growth over time, looking at where they were when they took the MAP test in the winter of 2020 and comparing it with where they are now, in the fall of 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We saw, on average, students showed growth in both math and reading across the grade levels in almost all grades,\" says Tarasawa. \"Most students made some learning gains in both reading and math since COVID started.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In short, students kept learning when schools shifted online; they just didn't learn quite as much in math as they likely would have if there had never been a pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mitigating the learning loss that \u003cem>is\u003c/em> happening will still require patience and a thoughtful approach, says Aaliyah Samuel, NWEA's executive vice president of government affairs and partnerships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Addressing the unfinished learning is going to be a matter of time. We really need to be thinking about the supports and interventions for kids over at least a two- or three-year runway.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on the depth of learning lost, school districts could consider a range of options, including extending the school year or even enlisting a volunteer tutoring corps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Roughly a quarter of students missing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \"good\" news (and the not-so-good news) in this report also comes with an important and worrying red flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an effort to be sure their 4.4 million-student sample, albeit large, was also representative of America's classrooms, NWEA researchers dug into the demographics of this new data set and compared it with the earlier fall 2019 test data — a sample of nearly 5.2 million children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What they found, Tarasawa says, is that roughly a quarter of students were missing — meaning they didn't take the MAP test this fall — and that these children are \"more likely to be black and brown, more likely to be from high-poverty schools and more likely to have lower performance in the first place.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers cite a host of possible reasons these students weren't able to take the latest test, including a lack of technology or Internet access at home as well as the possibility that some children have disengaged from school more broadly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is screaming that we have to be very cautious,\" says Tarasawa, about interpreting the relatively optimistic results in reading and even math as evidence that the kids are all right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's just like any time you get a new puzzle,\" Samuel says. \"The first thing you do is ... you start to look for the corners because those are usually the easiest to put together first.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's where we're at now, she explains: building the edges of the puzzle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=New+Report+Offers+Clearest+Picture+Yet+Of+Pandemic+Impact+On+Student+Learning+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open",
"title": "Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open",
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"content": "\u003cp>Mahua Barve lives in Frankfurt, Germany, with her husband, a son in first grade and twin daughters in kindergarten. All three children are currently attending school full time and in person. That's despite a coronavirus surge that has led Germany to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/international-news-virus-outbreak-angela-merkel-germany-a071c4750cbee07a586640c297032bd1\">shut down\u003c/a> restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms, tattoo parlors and brothels (which are legal in the country) for November. Schools were allowed to remain open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the resurgence of the virus, Barve says, her children's school's careful safety strategies give her confidence. Each \"pod\" of kids goes to recess at 10 minute intervals, for example, so they don't mix in the hallways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"When I see all the parents who are coming to pick up and drop off, they're wearing masks. The teachers are always wearing masks. They're doing their best to minimize risk. And as soon as something is detected, they are quarantining.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barve says everyone is doing their part: \"It's a little bit of choppy water, but if people are swimming in their own lanes, there's less likelihood of a disturbance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across Europe, schools and child care centers are staying open even as much of the continent \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/30/822491838/coronavirus-world-map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-outbreak\">reports rising coronavirus cases\u003c/a>, and even as many \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/germany-announces-four-week-shutdown-coronavirus-cases-spike-n1245121\">businesses and gathering places\u003c/a> are \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/italy-coronavirus-restrictions-early-curfews-cafes-restaurants-covid19-pandemic-2020-10-25/\">shut or restricted\u003c/a>. Countries such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54716993\">France\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/11/02/930398019/britains-boris-johnson-no-alternative-to-strict-new-coronavirus-lockdown\">United Kingdom\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/international-news-virus-outbreak-angela-merkel-germany-a071c4750cbee07a586640c297032bd1\">Germany\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/italy-coronavirus-restrictions-early-curfews-cafes-restaurants-covid19-pandemic-2020-10-25/\">Italy\u003c/a> appear to be following the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated\">emerging evidence\u003c/a> that schools have not been major centers of transmission of the virus, especially for young children. And experts say these nations are also demonstrating a commitment to avoiding the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911117577/the-pandemic-has-researchers-worried-about-teen-suicide\">worst\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/07/920320592/an-impossible-choice-for-homeless-parents-a-job-or-their-childs-education\">impacts\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/908442609/children-are-going-hungry-why-schools-are-struggling-to-feed-students\">of the pandemic \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/21/902141314/for-students-with-disabilities-schools-say-they-have-to-do-better-in-the-fall\">on children\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. has taken a different approach. As new cases climb \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/#id933023659\">above 100,000 per day\u003c/a>, there are very few places in the U.S. where classrooms have remained full even as restaurants and bars are empty. In cities such as Boston and Washington, D.C., schools are remote, but indoor dining is allowed. This week, Detroit announced it was \u003ca href=\"https://www.detroitk12.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=4585&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=41744&PageID=1\">closing its schools\u003c/a> through January, while indoor dining and bars there remain \u003ca href=\"https://detroit.eater.com/2020/10/15/21517506/michigan-restaurant-bar-covid-19-rules-mdhhs-miosha-pandemic-safety\">open at 50% capacity\u003c/a>. Meanwhile, in states like Florida and Texas, schools — along with most businesses — have stayed open, even \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/01/816707182/map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-the-u-s\">with very high and rising case rates\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andreas Schleicher has a global view on education from his position in Paris overseeing the PISA international assessment program at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He says that while schools in Europe were initially closed out of an abundance of caution, \"Research has shown that if you put social distancing protocols in place, school is actually quite a safe environment, certainly safer than having children running around outside school.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, he says that in Europe, \"I do think people have understood fairly quickly how much damage the school closures have done, particularly to disadvantaged learners.\" He says the science especially favors opening elementary schools, with young children both less likely to spread the disease and less able to benefit from remote learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randa Grob-Zakhary of the group Insights for Education \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated\">recently analyzed \u003c/a>school reopening patterns across the world. When it comes to European countries, she says for the most part, \"They have ... localized closures based on numbers of cases.\" For example, at Barve's children's school in Germany, sometimes just a single \"pod\" of about 20 children and teachers will be sent home to quarantine because of a case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johannes Huebner, the head of the pediatric infectious disease department at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Hospital in Munich, recently told \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/11/06/932214981/schools-in-germany-remain-open-amid-a-new-lockdown\">NPR correspondent Rob Schmitz\u003c/a> that scientific studies have not detected high rates of transmission in schools. \"Most of the infections are brought into the schools by adults, by teachers, and then spread among kids. But most of the time, it's only single cases. It's two, three kids, five maybe that get positive.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grob-Zakhary says, \"I think five, six months ago there was a view that we don't know what the heck we're dealing with and we better keep our kids safe no matter what. And now there's a view that, yes, it's dangerous, but we know so much more about how to handle it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even where schools are open, it doesn't mean everyone feels safe. In the U.K., teachers unions have \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/nov/05/nearly-half-teachers-england-worried-about-covid-safety-schools\">raised safety concerns\u003c/a>. And in Switzerland, one of the \u003ca href=\"https://globalepidemics.org/key-metrics-for-covid-suppression/\">worst coronavirus hot spots in Europe\u003c/a>, parent Anindita Basu Sempere is keeping her 6-year-old son home from school. It worries her that local health authorities don't require children under 12 to wear a mask. She is seeking a doctor's authorization to keep her son out of school as long as the current surge continues. She says her son is sad to be away from his friends, but he's told her \"it feels weird to not change what we're doing when everything else is changing.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President-elect Joe Biden has called school closures \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/04/909337949/biden-calls-school-reopening-a-national-emergency\">a national emergency\u003c/a>.\" Some members of his newly appointed \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-2020-election-results/2020/11/09/933002962/president-elect-biden-names-13-experts-to-covid-19-transition-advisory-board\">COVID-19 task force\u003c/a> — including former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm and oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel — have spoken \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/11/10/933423976/what-a-biden-presidency-could-mean-for-education\">cautiously in favor\u003c/a> of reopening schools, but only with proper mitigation measures in place such as testing, contact tracing, social distancing and masking, which not all schools or locations have the resources to do currently. Murthy and Emanuel have written that schools should be open only where the virus is controlled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other American observers are adamant that the United States ought to make a different calculation of the societywide impact of school closures, even when virus spread is high. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital and editor of the journal \u003cem>JAMA Pediatrics\u003c/em>, has just published \u003ca href=\"http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.28786?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=111220\">a paper\u003c/a> that estimates 5.53 million years of life could be lost as a result of school closures in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The calculation is based on research showing that missing months of school \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/research/chronic-absenteeism-an-old-problem-in-search-of-new-answers/\">lowers a child's chances\u003c/a> of graduating from high school. Lower educational attainment, in turn, is well established to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4435622/\">lower life expectancy\u003c/a> because people with less education are more likely \u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/37/3/615/742307\">to smoke\u003c/a>, more likely \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191025075838.htm\">to drink heavily\u003c/a>, more likely \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091743583710042\">to suffer from heart disease\u003c/a>, and more likely \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/05/art5full.pdf\">to perform more hazardous work\u003c/a>, among other reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"When you frame it in terms of school versus lives, it becomes a no-brainer,\" says Christakis. \"And everybody says, 'Well, we can't send kids to school if it's going to cost lives.' But in fact, not sending kids to school also costs lives.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lala Tanmoy Das, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Memorial Sloan Kettering, is familiar with the kind of modeling Christakis used, and calls the paper \"fairly robust.\" But Das also points out that the virus is more dangerous for Black children, Latino children and those with preexisting conditions, and that we don't know enough about its long-term effects on children or adults to capture the full impacts on health. He also notes that many school districts in the U.S. have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/10/23/926815076/americas-school-funding-crisis-budget-cuts-rising-costs-and-no-help-in-sight\">faced budget cuts\u003c/a> that make it hard to do mitigation measures, like regular disinfection, or put proper social distancing protocols in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Das agrees with Christakis that schools shouldn't be closed preferentially over other restrictions, particularly for younger children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"In New York somehow restaurants and bars are open but we're talking about closing schools. That just doesn't make a lot of sense.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Lessons+From+Europe%2C+Where+Cases+Are+Rising+But+Schools+Are+Open&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Mahua Barve lives in Frankfurt, Germany, with her husband, a son in first grade and twin daughters in kindergarten. All three children are currently attending school full time and in person. That's despite a coronavirus surge that has led Germany to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/international-news-virus-outbreak-angela-merkel-germany-a071c4750cbee07a586640c297032bd1\">shut down\u003c/a> restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms, tattoo parlors and brothels (which are legal in the country) for November. Schools were allowed to remain open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the resurgence of the virus, Barve says, her children's school's careful safety strategies give her confidence. Each \"pod\" of kids goes to recess at 10 minute intervals, for example, so they don't mix in the hallways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"When I see all the parents who are coming to pick up and drop off, they're wearing masks. The teachers are always wearing masks. They're doing their best to minimize risk. And as soon as something is detected, they are quarantining.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barve says everyone is doing their part: \"It's a little bit of choppy water, but if people are swimming in their own lanes, there's less likelihood of a disturbance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across Europe, schools and child care centers are staying open even as much of the continent \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/30/822491838/coronavirus-world-map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-outbreak\">reports rising coronavirus cases\u003c/a>, and even as many \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/germany-announces-four-week-shutdown-coronavirus-cases-spike-n1245121\">businesses and gathering places\u003c/a> are \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/italy-coronavirus-restrictions-early-curfews-cafes-restaurants-covid19-pandemic-2020-10-25/\">shut or restricted\u003c/a>. Countries such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54716993\">France\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/11/02/930398019/britains-boris-johnson-no-alternative-to-strict-new-coronavirus-lockdown\">United Kingdom\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/international-news-virus-outbreak-angela-merkel-germany-a071c4750cbee07a586640c297032bd1\">Germany\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/italy-coronavirus-restrictions-early-curfews-cafes-restaurants-covid19-pandemic-2020-10-25/\">Italy\u003c/a> appear to be following the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated\">emerging evidence\u003c/a> that schools have not been major centers of transmission of the virus, especially for young children. And experts say these nations are also demonstrating a commitment to avoiding the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911117577/the-pandemic-has-researchers-worried-about-teen-suicide\">worst\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/07/920320592/an-impossible-choice-for-homeless-parents-a-job-or-their-childs-education\">impacts\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/908442609/children-are-going-hungry-why-schools-are-struggling-to-feed-students\">of the pandemic \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/21/902141314/for-students-with-disabilities-schools-say-they-have-to-do-better-in-the-fall\">on children\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. has taken a different approach. As new cases climb \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/#id933023659\">above 100,000 per day\u003c/a>, there are very few places in the U.S. where classrooms have remained full even as restaurants and bars are empty. In cities such as Boston and Washington, D.C., schools are remote, but indoor dining is allowed. This week, Detroit announced it was \u003ca href=\"https://www.detroitk12.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=4585&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=41744&PageID=1\">closing its schools\u003c/a> through January, while indoor dining and bars there remain \u003ca href=\"https://detroit.eater.com/2020/10/15/21517506/michigan-restaurant-bar-covid-19-rules-mdhhs-miosha-pandemic-safety\">open at 50% capacity\u003c/a>. Meanwhile, in states like Florida and Texas, schools — along with most businesses — have stayed open, even \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/01/816707182/map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-the-u-s\">with very high and rising case rates\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andreas Schleicher has a global view on education from his position in Paris overseeing the PISA international assessment program at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He says that while schools in Europe were initially closed out of an abundance of caution, \"Research has shown that if you put social distancing protocols in place, school is actually quite a safe environment, certainly safer than having children running around outside school.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, he says that in Europe, \"I do think people have understood fairly quickly how much damage the school closures have done, particularly to disadvantaged learners.\" He says the science especially favors opening elementary schools, with young children both less likely to spread the disease and less able to benefit from remote learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randa Grob-Zakhary of the group Insights for Education \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated\">recently analyzed \u003c/a>school reopening patterns across the world. When it comes to European countries, she says for the most part, \"They have ... localized closures based on numbers of cases.\" For example, at Barve's children's school in Germany, sometimes just a single \"pod\" of about 20 children and teachers will be sent home to quarantine because of a case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johannes Huebner, the head of the pediatric infectious disease department at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Hospital in Munich, recently told \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/11/06/932214981/schools-in-germany-remain-open-amid-a-new-lockdown\">NPR correspondent Rob Schmitz\u003c/a> that scientific studies have not detected high rates of transmission in schools. \"Most of the infections are brought into the schools by adults, by teachers, and then spread among kids. But most of the time, it's only single cases. It's two, three kids, five maybe that get positive.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grob-Zakhary says, \"I think five, six months ago there was a view that we don't know what the heck we're dealing with and we better keep our kids safe no matter what. And now there's a view that, yes, it's dangerous, but we know so much more about how to handle it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even where schools are open, it doesn't mean everyone feels safe. In the U.K., teachers unions have \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/nov/05/nearly-half-teachers-england-worried-about-covid-safety-schools\">raised safety concerns\u003c/a>. And in Switzerland, one of the \u003ca href=\"https://globalepidemics.org/key-metrics-for-covid-suppression/\">worst coronavirus hot spots in Europe\u003c/a>, parent Anindita Basu Sempere is keeping her 6-year-old son home from school. It worries her that local health authorities don't require children under 12 to wear a mask. She is seeking a doctor's authorization to keep her son out of school as long as the current surge continues. She says her son is sad to be away from his friends, but he's told her \"it feels weird to not change what we're doing when everything else is changing.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President-elect Joe Biden has called school closures \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/04/909337949/biden-calls-school-reopening-a-national-emergency\">a national emergency\u003c/a>.\" Some members of his newly appointed \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-2020-election-results/2020/11/09/933002962/president-elect-biden-names-13-experts-to-covid-19-transition-advisory-board\">COVID-19 task force\u003c/a> — including former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm and oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel — have spoken \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/11/10/933423976/what-a-biden-presidency-could-mean-for-education\">cautiously in favor\u003c/a> of reopening schools, but only with proper mitigation measures in place such as testing, contact tracing, social distancing and masking, which not all schools or locations have the resources to do currently. Murthy and Emanuel have written that schools should be open only where the virus is controlled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other American observers are adamant that the United States ought to make a different calculation of the societywide impact of school closures, even when virus spread is high. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital and editor of the journal \u003cem>JAMA Pediatrics\u003c/em>, has just published \u003ca href=\"http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.28786?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=111220\">a paper\u003c/a> that estimates 5.53 million years of life could be lost as a result of school closures in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The calculation is based on research showing that missing months of school \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/research/chronic-absenteeism-an-old-problem-in-search-of-new-answers/\">lowers a child's chances\u003c/a> of graduating from high school. Lower educational attainment, in turn, is well established to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4435622/\">lower life expectancy\u003c/a> because people with less education are more likely \u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/37/3/615/742307\">to smoke\u003c/a>, more likely \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191025075838.htm\">to drink heavily\u003c/a>, more likely \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091743583710042\">to suffer from heart disease\u003c/a>, and more likely \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/05/art5full.pdf\">to perform more hazardous work\u003c/a>, among other reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"When you frame it in terms of school versus lives, it becomes a no-brainer,\" says Christakis. \"And everybody says, 'Well, we can't send kids to school if it's going to cost lives.' But in fact, not sending kids to school also costs lives.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lala Tanmoy Das, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Memorial Sloan Kettering, is familiar with the kind of modeling Christakis used, and calls the paper \"fairly robust.\" But Das also points out that the virus is more dangerous for Black children, Latino children and those with preexisting conditions, and that we don't know enough about its long-term effects on children or adults to capture the full impacts on health. He also notes that many school districts in the U.S. have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/10/23/926815076/americas-school-funding-crisis-budget-cuts-rising-costs-and-no-help-in-sight\">faced budget cuts\u003c/a> that make it hard to do mitigation measures, like regular disinfection, or put proper social distancing protocols in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Das agrees with Christakis that schools shouldn't be closed preferentially over other restrictions, particularly for younger children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"In New York somehow restaurants and bars are open but we're talking about closing schools. That just doesn't make a lot of sense.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Lessons+From+Europe%2C+Where+Cases+Are+Rising+But+Schools+Are+Open&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "'I Come Up Short Every Day': Couples Under Strain As Pandemic Upends Life At Home",
"title": "'I Come Up Short Every Day': Couples Under Strain As Pandemic Upends Life At Home",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Like many married and working couples first confronting the pandemic, Bianca Flokstra and Victor Udoewa tried to go on with their lives as normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flokstra continued to work full time while taking care of their kids, ages 4 and 2. She also handled most of the housework, with her husband helping from time to time. It didn't work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Those first couple of months were really hard,\" Flokstra says. \"There was ... a lot of fighting. A lot of tears.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic has upended many aspects of domestic life, and that has brought new attention to one of the most enduring disparities between men and women — the wide difference in handling housework and child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's what Marianne Cooper, a sociologist at the Stanford VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab, calls one of society's most \"stubborn\" divides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The traditional gender division of labor is very durable,\" Cooper says. \"Even the most egalitarian-thinking couples, after having children, find themselves in a much more traditional division of labor than they ever would have intended.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cooper, who has studied the issue extensively, says that divide, which is rooted in history and perpetuated by persistent societal norms, has endured even as women have joined the workforce in larger numbers over the decades, making record gains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet even as more families become dual-income households, women still do 30% more of the housework and 40% more of the child care, Cooper says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disparity in work done at home is now having a serious economic impact as entire families are forced home with schools closed and no child care options available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 2.2 million women have left the workforce this year, far more than the 1.4 million men who have left as a result of the pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/bls/news-release/empsit.htm#2020\">according to\u003c/a> the monthly U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proportionally, more women were employed in sectors that were hit hard by the pandemic, including hospitality and retail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Cooper, as well as many economists, says the burden placed on working moms during the pandemic is another key variable forcing many women out of the workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some couples have adapted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flokstra, for example, says she had little choice. She desperately needed sleep after exhausting days at a new job in international aid while also taking care of all of her other responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She started sending the kids to her husband, unprompted. Then, she started drafting to-do lists — activities she and her husband would split day to day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-56960\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/11/spotfinish-ab6d7b658b1f8734d535840812709c893efa96e4-e1605253130229.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, her husband is more involved than ever. Udoewa sweeps floors twice a day, does the dishes and takes care of the kids for half the day, among other things. He cooks dinners as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But getting there wasn't easy. It wasn't that Udoewa wasn't willing to help; he was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flokstra says she had become so used to doing household chores that she found it hard to delegate — and trust — her own husband to do the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That hesitancy is surprisingly common among women, according to Cooper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's a complicated mix of \"mother's guilt\" as well as societal expectations on couples, where men are still seen as the breadwinners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The end result is that oftentimes we have a division of labor [at home] that looks a lot more like the 1950s or 1960s than 2020,\" Cooper says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's an issue familiar to Flokstra, who says her own mother was a \"stay-at-home mom.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flokstra is now pregnant with their third child. And despite Udoewa's more equitable help, she can't help but feel guilt at times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I'm always battling that guilt, that mom guilt of should I be with my children more?\" she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, she's happy. She credits her husband with stepping up, but she also credits herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That was also me,\" Flokstra added. \"It was me forcing myself to say, 'Hey, I don't have to do everything.' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not every couple with children can make it work. And oftentimes it's the mothers who give up the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A survey by Moody's Analytics and data intelligence company Morning Consult \u003ca href=\"https://www.moodysanalytics.com/-/media/article/2020/economic-challenges-for-parents-during-covid19.pdf\">published last month\u003c/a> showed that women are more than twice as likely as their male partners to reduce their working hours because of child care responsibilities. Women are also more likely to quit their jobs or turn down a career opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Even after we look at households where the female contributes more to the household income than males, we still see females are reducing their hours more than males,\" says John Leer, an economist at Morning Consult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Raul Carrillo and Laura Uribarri aren't that couple. Both have high-powered jobs and neither can dial back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He runs a law firm with 13 employees. She is the assistant dean at the University of Texas in El Paso. Their hours are long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the pandemic hit and schools shut down, their kids, 11 and 6, were forced to stay home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carrillo had to continue to go to work, but he offered to stay at home some days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uribarri declined, deciding it would be easier for her to do the bulk of the household chores because she had done it for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"To me, it seemed like more work to help him learn the onboarding piece of it,\" she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, Carrillo did step up. He has been picking up some housework. He cooks breakfast for the kids. He takes them out when he gets back home so his wife can have a little time for herself and catch a break. But he constantly feels like he's not doing enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I feel like I come up short every day,\" he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as Carrillo thinks about the future, he can sense the fragility of his family's situation and wonders how long they can continue in the same manner if the pandemic stretches well into next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Uribarri, she's trying to make it work as best as she can. She does have a piece of advice for husbands. It's not sweeping the floors or setting up the Zoom calls for the kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I would tell husbands out there — maybe every morning when you get up — ask your wife, is there one thing I could help you with today?\" she says. \"That's it. Is there one thing that would make your life a little bit better?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27I+Come+Up+Short+Every+Day%27%3A+Couples+Under+Strain+As+Pandemic+Upends+Life+At+Home&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Like many married and working couples first confronting the pandemic, Bianca Flokstra and Victor Udoewa tried to go on with their lives as normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flokstra continued to work full time while taking care of their kids, ages 4 and 2. She also handled most of the housework, with her husband helping from time to time. It didn't work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Those first couple of months were really hard,\" Flokstra says. \"There was ... a lot of fighting. A lot of tears.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic has upended many aspects of domestic life, and that has brought new attention to one of the most enduring disparities between men and women — the wide difference in handling housework and child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's what Marianne Cooper, a sociologist at the Stanford VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab, calls one of society's most \"stubborn\" divides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The traditional gender division of labor is very durable,\" Cooper says. \"Even the most egalitarian-thinking couples, after having children, find themselves in a much more traditional division of labor than they ever would have intended.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cooper, who has studied the issue extensively, says that divide, which is rooted in history and perpetuated by persistent societal norms, has endured even as women have joined the workforce in larger numbers over the decades, making record gains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet even as more families become dual-income households, women still do 30% more of the housework and 40% more of the child care, Cooper says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disparity in work done at home is now having a serious economic impact as entire families are forced home with schools closed and no child care options available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 2.2 million women have left the workforce this year, far more than the 1.4 million men who have left as a result of the pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/bls/news-release/empsit.htm#2020\">according to\u003c/a> the monthly U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proportionally, more women were employed in sectors that were hit hard by the pandemic, including hospitality and retail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Cooper, as well as many economists, says the burden placed on working moms during the pandemic is another key variable forcing many women out of the workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some couples have adapted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flokstra, for example, says she had little choice. She desperately needed sleep after exhausting days at a new job in international aid while also taking care of all of her other responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She started sending the kids to her husband, unprompted. Then, she started drafting to-do lists — activities she and her husband would split day to day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-56960\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/11/spotfinish-ab6d7b658b1f8734d535840812709c893efa96e4-e1605253130229.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, her husband is more involved than ever. Udoewa sweeps floors twice a day, does the dishes and takes care of the kids for half the day, among other things. He cooks dinners as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But getting there wasn't easy. It wasn't that Udoewa wasn't willing to help; he was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flokstra says she had become so used to doing household chores that she found it hard to delegate — and trust — her own husband to do the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That hesitancy is surprisingly common among women, according to Cooper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's a complicated mix of \"mother's guilt\" as well as societal expectations on couples, where men are still seen as the breadwinners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The end result is that oftentimes we have a division of labor [at home] that looks a lot more like the 1950s or 1960s than 2020,\" Cooper says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's an issue familiar to Flokstra, who says her own mother was a \"stay-at-home mom.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flokstra is now pregnant with their third child. And despite Udoewa's more equitable help, she can't help but feel guilt at times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I'm always battling that guilt, that mom guilt of should I be with my children more?\" she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, she's happy. She credits her husband with stepping up, but she also credits herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That was also me,\" Flokstra added. \"It was me forcing myself to say, 'Hey, I don't have to do everything.' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not every couple with children can make it work. And oftentimes it's the mothers who give up the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A survey by Moody's Analytics and data intelligence company Morning Consult \u003ca href=\"https://www.moodysanalytics.com/-/media/article/2020/economic-challenges-for-parents-during-covid19.pdf\">published last month\u003c/a> showed that women are more than twice as likely as their male partners to reduce their working hours because of child care responsibilities. Women are also more likely to quit their jobs or turn down a career opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Even after we look at households where the female contributes more to the household income than males, we still see females are reducing their hours more than males,\" says John Leer, an economist at Morning Consult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Raul Carrillo and Laura Uribarri aren't that couple. Both have high-powered jobs and neither can dial back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He runs a law firm with 13 employees. She is the assistant dean at the University of Texas in El Paso. Their hours are long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the pandemic hit and schools shut down, their kids, 11 and 6, were forced to stay home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carrillo had to continue to go to work, but he offered to stay at home some days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uribarri declined, deciding it would be easier for her to do the bulk of the household chores because she had done it for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"To me, it seemed like more work to help him learn the onboarding piece of it,\" she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, Carrillo did step up. He has been picking up some housework. He cooks breakfast for the kids. He takes them out when he gets back home so his wife can have a little time for herself and catch a break. But he constantly feels like he's not doing enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I feel like I come up short every day,\" he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as Carrillo thinks about the future, he can sense the fragility of his family's situation and wonders how long they can continue in the same manner if the pandemic stretches well into next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Uribarri, she's trying to make it work as best as she can. She does have a piece of advice for husbands. It's not sweeping the floors or setting up the Zoom calls for the kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I would tell husbands out there — maybe every morning when you get up — ask your wife, is there one thing I could help you with today?\" she says. \"That's it. Is there one thing that would make your life a little bit better?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27I+Come+Up+Short+Every+Day%27%3A+Couples+Under+Strain+As+Pandemic+Upends+Life+At+Home&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "What A Biden Presidency Could Mean For Education",
"title": "What A Biden Presidency Could Mean For Education",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>With the eyes of the country upon him, Joe Biden shouted out education during his speech Saturday in Wilmington, Del: \"For American educators, this is a great day for you all. You're going to have one of your own in the White House.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the president-elect was talking about his wife, Jill Biden, an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College. She continued her teaching career during Biden's two terms as vice president, and in a break with precedent, intends to continue doing so as first lady.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which raises the question as the transition planning moves forward: How has this perspective shaped the president-elect's education agenda? And how much of that agenda can Joe Biden hope to achieve, with the massive challenges of the coronavirus and the economic recession, and with Democratic control of the Senate in doubt?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here's our overview of his policy priorities for K-12 and higher education:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Reopening schools safely \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like so much in the country, experts say, the president's education agenda must start by confronting the threat of the coronavirus. As of Nov. 9, according to one \u003ca href=\"https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/\">national\u003c/a> estimate, 63% of U.S. students were enrolled in districts that offered some in-person learning at least a few days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even within those districts, many or most students are staying home to avoid the virus. And education experts still forecast huge amounts of \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/10/6/21504195/covid-schools-learning-loss-projections-nwea-credo\">learning loss\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/05/14/855641420/with-school-buildings-closed-children-s-mental-health-is-suffering\">negative social and emotional impacts\u003c/a>, especially for younger students, those with special needs and lower-income students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question of whether, and when, to reopen schools became a political debate over the summer when President Trump called \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/07/07/888161294/the-trump-administration-pushes-to-reopen-schools-in-the-fall\">forcefully for reopening\u003c/a> without providing additional funding through Congress. Biden, by contrast, has publicly noted the estimate by the School Superintendents Association and the Association of Educational Service Agencies that K-12 education needs at least $200 billion in emergency funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week the president-elect named a COVID-19 task force, composed of doctors and public health experts. Some members have spoken cautiously in favor of reopening schools, but only with proper safety measures in place — and the resources to do it right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the co-chair of the new task force, wrote on \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/vivek_murthy/status/1304432709029240833\">Twitter in September: \u003c/a> \"3 keys to open schools: low community prevalence of virus (critical), safety precautions (eg reduced class sizes, universal masking), and resources for implementation.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, another task force member, co-authored an op-ed in \u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em> in July that outlined \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/opinion/coronavirus-schools-reopen.html\">safe school reopening guidelines\u003c/a>. \"We all want schools to open, even as we recognize the risks attached,\" the piece noted. But it also reinforced the idea, \"Being safe is not free.\" In other words, following measures such as social distancing and smaller class sizes takes additional funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes hiring teachers and substitutes to keep schools staffed. Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, told NPR that by the union's estimates almost 1 million educators have been laid off since the passage of the initial coronavirus relief package in the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aside from funding, experts told NPR they expect a Biden Department of Education to do more to help schools operate through the pandemic. Scott Sargrad at the left-leaning Center for American Progress said, \"I think you'll certainly hear from the Education Department more of an effort to actually provide guidance to school districts on ... how to ensure that, if you're considering reopening, that they can do that safely, how to improve their remote learning strategies.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The urgency of the pandemic — and a closely divided Senate, with control awaiting the outcome of two Georgia runoffs in January — also means that a coronavirus relief package could end up being this administration's most significant intervention in public schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael J. Petrilli of the conservative-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute pointed to the Obama-era Race to the Top initiative as a potential model. In 2009, tasked with crafting a giant economic rescue package amid the financial crisis, the Obama administration created a funding competition for states. Race to the Top influenced the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, high-stakes evaluations for teachers, data systems for schools and other innovations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time, Petrilli said, \"I think the Biden folks are likely to be looking very carefully at what goes into this relief bill and try to get [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell and other Republicans to go along with as much as they can, to get some of their larger agenda.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Teacher pay and respect\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Education Department controls only around 10% of the dollars spent on K-12 public education in this country. A lot of that comes through the $16 billion Title I program, which goes to schools serving the most high-poverty students. The \u003ca href=\"https://joebiden.com/education/#\">Biden campaign pledged\u003c/a> to triple that funding and, first off, direct states to use it preferentially to bump up teacher pay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epi.org/publication/teacher-pay-penalty-dips-but-persists-in-2019-public-school-teachers-earn-about-20-less-in-weekly-wages-than-nonteacher-college-graduates/\">Teachers consistently make\u003c/a> about 20% less than other professionals with the same amount of education — a number that has risen slightly in the wake of teacher walkouts\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/25/602859780/teacher-walkouts-a-state-by-state-guide\"> in many states\u003c/a> in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's a lot of money, and the fate of Biden's Title I proposal is unknown, as is whether the federal government will be successful in telling cash-strapped states how to allocate that money if they do pass it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, one of the biggest ways in which the incoming administration will signal its support for educators is through the naming of an education secretary. \"It is a teacher. A teacher. Promise,\" Biden told the NEA, the nation's largest teachers union,\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/05/politics/joe-biden-appoint-teacher-education-secretary/index.html\"> back in July 2019. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It seems like something we would take for granted, that the secretary of education would be an educator,\" the NEA's Pringle said. \"But no, it is something we have to say out loud.\" And she added, \"It brings a smile to my face to say it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, that doesn't necessarily mean a K-12 teacher. \"The most politically savvy thing for them to do,\" the Fordham Institute's Petrilli said, \"is to pick somebody from the world of higher education who can get around some of the complications with their reform wing versus the union wing within the [Democratic Party].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Education Department wields a much bigger budgetary impact on higher education, through student aid, than it does with K-12. So, having someone in charge who's an expert in higher ed — for example the president of a historically black college or a community college — makes a lot of sense, Petrilli said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Rights and equity\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The education secretary commands a bully pulpit, particularly on issues of discrimination, segregation and bias through the Office for Civil Rights. During her controversial tenure, the current secretary, Betsy DeVos, made headlines for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/02/12/585181704/the-education-department-says-it-wont-act-on-transgender-student-bathroom-access\">rolling back\u003c/a> rights for students who are transgender, and for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/12/18/675556455/devos-to-rescind-obama-era-guidance-on-school-discipline?fbclid=IwAR1Vp_5qDgG09fzy9MYr5EHhRYGifSHZqJSJM9_U5QV3no2G4BBen-2KTzE\">guidance on\u003c/a> racially discriminatory discipline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pringle said her union will be looking to Biden's Education Department to be a partner: \"On racial justice. Social justice. The work we still have to do for women and girls ... the rights of our LGBTQ students.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sargrad of the Center for American Progress agreed: \"I think we'll see a real effort to actually enforce our nation's civil rights laws, and rebuild the Office for Civil Rights and make sure that they are investigating complaints, that they're pursuing cases, that they're taking their role as enforcing civil rights laws seriously.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Early childhood education\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The president-elect has promised a broad expansion of K-12 to include 3- and 4-year-olds in the form of \"high-quality, universal\" prekindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Publicly funded preschool has been gaining momentum in the states over the past two decades. Tulsa, Okla., adopted an influential and high-quality program in 2001, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/12/12/568378251/does-preschool-pay-off-tulsa-says-yes\">promising long-term results\u003c/a>. Washington, D.C., and New York City have programs, too, and Multnomah County, Ore., where Portland is located, just \u003ca href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2020/11/04/preschool-for-all-multnomah-county-pass-fail-result/\">passed a preschool initiative\u003c/a> of its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic has driven\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/28/928253674/stuck-at-home-moms-the-pandemics-devastating-toll-on-women\"> hundreds of thousands of mothers\u003c/a> out of the workforce, highlighting the conflict between the needs of small children and the demands of the economy. At the Democratic National Convention this summer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts delivered a remote address from an early childhood classroom, stressing the message that child care is \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2020/8/20/21376792/elizabeth-warren-dnc-convention-child-care-biden\">infrastructure for families\u003c/a>.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, like tripling Title I and increasing teachers' pay, any major expansion of pre-K is going to be expensive, likely requiring both states and the federal government to chip in. Pringle said she'll be looking for action from agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, and the Department of Labor as well as the Education Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Higher ed \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For higher education, Biden released an expensive and ambitious \u003ca href=\"https://joebiden.com/beyondhs/#\">plan during the campaign\u003c/a> that included free public colleges, loan forgiveness and more money for low-income students to pay for college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Broadly, the federal government's approach to higher education seems almost certain to be less confrontational. In both rhetoric and policy, the Trump administration was openly hostile to colleges, viewing them as liberal, elite institutions that were out of touch with the rest of the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Across most of public and private nonprofit higher ed, there is a sigh of relief,\" said Robert Kelchen, \u003ca href=\"https://www.shu.edu/profiles/robertkelchen.cfm\">a professor of higher education at Seton Hall University.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This will be an administration that cares about the challenges that students are facing, that knows that the cost of college is a significant problem and needs to be addressed both on the front end and the back end,\" said Antoinette Flores, \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/person/flores-antoinette/\">director of postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other experts, though, are less certain how far the Biden administration might go to fight for progressive policy proposals, some of which were borrowed from Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders for the campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"These plans, they look nothing like what [Biden] advocated in 2008, or really nothing like what he's advocated for most of his career,\" said Jason Delisle of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.aei.org/profile/jason-delisle/\">American Enterprise Institute,\u003c/a> a right-leaning think tank. \"We should take him at his word. But you look at what he's proposed on higher ed in the past, and you just sort of have to say, 'Do you really believe your own stuff here? How hard is he going to fight for this?' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, there is the potential of a Republican-controlled Senate, which will pose a challenge for progressive legislation and funding increases. The administration will most likely rely on other ways to make policy changes: through executive orders and regulations from the Department of Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>More money \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As with K-12 schools, the biggest priority for higher ed is getting through the pandemic. Just 40% of colleges are operating fully or primarily in person this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The finances are very bad across the board right now,\" Kelchen said. \"[Colleges] have laid off staff members, they've laid off faculty, they've cut majors in programs. They're doing everything they can to preserve their money so they can get through the length of the pandemic, and quite a few colleges are starting to run out of money because this has gone on so long.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Council on Education, a group representing college presidents, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/Statement-by-ACE-President-Ted-Mitchell-on-the-Election-of-Joe-Biden-and-Kamala-Harris.aspx\">asking for $120 billion to support higher ed\u003c/a>. A relief package will be a major priority for the Biden administration if the Trump administration and Congress can't do something in the meantime.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Student loans\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There was a lot of talk during the campaign, especially from Democratic candidates Warren and Sanders, about forgiving some — or all — of the nation's $1.5 trillion in student debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress and the Trump administration opened the door in March when they issued a moratorium on student loan payments because of the pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-fighting-spread-covid-19-providing-assistance-renters-homeowners/\">which Trump later extended through Dec. 31\u003c/a>. Higher education groups have \u003ca href=\"https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Letter-NASFAA-TICAS-ACE-Borrower-Relief-110220.pdf\">asked DeVos to extend that suspension of payments until September 2021\u003c/a>. \"I expect the Biden administration to support that plan,\" Kelchen wrote in an op-ed in \u003cem>The Chronicle of Higher Education\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic may be good cover for loan forgiveness — Biden has proposed a number of changes to paying back loans, including canceling $10,000 in debt for students who work in national or community service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it's unclear exactly how the administration would go about doing that in a more permanent way. Warren has noted that the education secretary \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/14/796329598/cancelling-student-debt-is-easier-than-it-sounds\">does have the power to cancel loans\u003c/a> via an obscure and rarely used provision \u003ca href=\"https://greatdemocracyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/HerrineStudentDebtJubilee_FINAL.pdf\">in a 1958 law\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Would Biden's secretary of education use that authority to enact his loan-forgiveness plans? I don't know,\" Delisle said. \"Politically speaking, the question is, how far can you take it? Trump has pushed the envelope, in terms of power, and so for Democrats, it's really, how much can you get away with?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Immigration\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration has tightened restrictions on immigration, which often directly affect higher education, notably in a roller coaster two weeks this summer when the administration tried \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/06/trump-international-students-ice-online-classes-349937\">to ban international students\u003c/a> from coming to the U.S. if their classes were held online due to the pandemic. It's possible the Biden administration will focus on immigration ahead of any policies specific to higher education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Higher education is, in general, very supportive of making it easier for international students to come to, and stay in, the U.S.,\" Kelchen said. \"International enrollment went down substantially this fall, part of it due to the pandemic and part of it due to changes in immigration policy. And that's a big revenue loss.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Biden administration could also push to make protections for DREAMers, young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, permanent, and to create a path to American citizenship. \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/06/19/compilation-statements-presidents-and-higher-ed-associations-supreme-courts-daca\">That policy has been encouraged \u003c/a>by high education leaders and groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Walking back DeVos' policies\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Additional policies the Biden administration may strengthen or revive that were dismantled or weakened under Trump include \"borrower defense to repayment,\" a policy that allows for the cancellation of debt when students have been misled or defrauded by their colleges and the \"gainful-employment\" rule, a policy that targets programs where debt is high in relation to income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another focus point: Title IX , which governs how colleges handle sexual assault and sexual harassment. As vice president, Biden helped craft federal guidelines around students' reports of assault — he personally unveiled \u003ca href=\"https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-a-20-page-letter-changed-the-way-higher-education-handles-sexual-assault/?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in\">the now famous \"Dear Colleague\" letter\u003c/a> that outlined how colleges should handle reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under DeVos, the rule was changed — strengthening protections for accused students and employees. Advocates for victims' rights said that made it harder for people to report offenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think [Biden] will continue prioritizing addressing sexual harassment and safe school climates for students,\" said Shiwali Patel of the National Women's Law Center, an organization challenging DeVos' Title IX changes in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>For-profit colleges\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration has been friendly with the for-profit sector, but that is set to change under a Biden administration. As the attorney general of California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-corinthian-colleges-judgment-false-advertising-20160323-story.html\">Vice President-elect Kamala Harris prosecuted Corinthian Colleges\u003c/a>, a large chain of for-profit colleges that defrauded students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Harris' track record prosecuting for-profits and her awareness of the depths of the abuses is really important,\" said Flores of the Center for American Progress. \"I think that will inform the response in the regulations that come out of this administration.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While several large for-profit companies were shut down under the Obama administration, the pandemic may usher in new growth to the sector, she noted. \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/11/02/the-alarming-rise-in-for-profit-college-enrollment/#:~:text=A%20recent%20report%20by%20the,in%20public%20community%20college%20enrollment.\">Already this fall, enrollment is up at for-profit colleges\u003c/a>, while all other types of colleges have seen declines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+A+Biden+Presidency+Could+Mean+For+Education&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With the eyes of the country upon him, Joe Biden shouted out education during his speech Saturday in Wilmington, Del: \"For American educators, this is a great day for you all. You're going to have one of your own in the White House.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the president-elect was talking about his wife, Jill Biden, an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College. She continued her teaching career during Biden's two terms as vice president, and in a break with precedent, intends to continue doing so as first lady.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which raises the question as the transition planning moves forward: How has this perspective shaped the president-elect's education agenda? And how much of that agenda can Joe Biden hope to achieve, with the massive challenges of the coronavirus and the economic recession, and with Democratic control of the Senate in doubt?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here's our overview of his policy priorities for K-12 and higher education:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Reopening schools safely \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like so much in the country, experts say, the president's education agenda must start by confronting the threat of the coronavirus. As of Nov. 9, according to one \u003ca href=\"https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/\">national\u003c/a> estimate, 63% of U.S. students were enrolled in districts that offered some in-person learning at least a few days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even within those districts, many or most students are staying home to avoid the virus. And education experts still forecast huge amounts of \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/10/6/21504195/covid-schools-learning-loss-projections-nwea-credo\">learning loss\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/05/14/855641420/with-school-buildings-closed-children-s-mental-health-is-suffering\">negative social and emotional impacts\u003c/a>, especially for younger students, those with special needs and lower-income students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question of whether, and when, to reopen schools became a political debate over the summer when President Trump called \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/07/07/888161294/the-trump-administration-pushes-to-reopen-schools-in-the-fall\">forcefully for reopening\u003c/a> without providing additional funding through Congress. Biden, by contrast, has publicly noted the estimate by the School Superintendents Association and the Association of Educational Service Agencies that K-12 education needs at least $200 billion in emergency funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week the president-elect named a COVID-19 task force, composed of doctors and public health experts. Some members have spoken cautiously in favor of reopening schools, but only with proper safety measures in place — and the resources to do it right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the co-chair of the new task force, wrote on \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/vivek_murthy/status/1304432709029240833\">Twitter in September: \u003c/a> \"3 keys to open schools: low community prevalence of virus (critical), safety precautions (eg reduced class sizes, universal masking), and resources for implementation.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, another task force member, co-authored an op-ed in \u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em> in July that outlined \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/opinion/coronavirus-schools-reopen.html\">safe school reopening guidelines\u003c/a>. \"We all want schools to open, even as we recognize the risks attached,\" the piece noted. But it also reinforced the idea, \"Being safe is not free.\" In other words, following measures such as social distancing and smaller class sizes takes additional funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes hiring teachers and substitutes to keep schools staffed. Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, told NPR that by the union's estimates almost 1 million educators have been laid off since the passage of the initial coronavirus relief package in the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aside from funding, experts told NPR they expect a Biden Department of Education to do more to help schools operate through the pandemic. Scott Sargrad at the left-leaning Center for American Progress said, \"I think you'll certainly hear from the Education Department more of an effort to actually provide guidance to school districts on ... how to ensure that, if you're considering reopening, that they can do that safely, how to improve their remote learning strategies.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The urgency of the pandemic — and a closely divided Senate, with control awaiting the outcome of two Georgia runoffs in January — also means that a coronavirus relief package could end up being this administration's most significant intervention in public schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael J. Petrilli of the conservative-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute pointed to the Obama-era Race to the Top initiative as a potential model. In 2009, tasked with crafting a giant economic rescue package amid the financial crisis, the Obama administration created a funding competition for states. Race to the Top influenced the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, high-stakes evaluations for teachers, data systems for schools and other innovations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time, Petrilli said, \"I think the Biden folks are likely to be looking very carefully at what goes into this relief bill and try to get [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell and other Republicans to go along with as much as they can, to get some of their larger agenda.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Teacher pay and respect\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Education Department controls only around 10% of the dollars spent on K-12 public education in this country. A lot of that comes through the $16 billion Title I program, which goes to schools serving the most high-poverty students. The \u003ca href=\"https://joebiden.com/education/#\">Biden campaign pledged\u003c/a> to triple that funding and, first off, direct states to use it preferentially to bump up teacher pay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epi.org/publication/teacher-pay-penalty-dips-but-persists-in-2019-public-school-teachers-earn-about-20-less-in-weekly-wages-than-nonteacher-college-graduates/\">Teachers consistently make\u003c/a> about 20% less than other professionals with the same amount of education — a number that has risen slightly in the wake of teacher walkouts\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/25/602859780/teacher-walkouts-a-state-by-state-guide\"> in many states\u003c/a> in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's a lot of money, and the fate of Biden's Title I proposal is unknown, as is whether the federal government will be successful in telling cash-strapped states how to allocate that money if they do pass it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, one of the biggest ways in which the incoming administration will signal its support for educators is through the naming of an education secretary. \"It is a teacher. A teacher. Promise,\" Biden told the NEA, the nation's largest teachers union,\u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/05/politics/joe-biden-appoint-teacher-education-secretary/index.html\"> back in July 2019. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It seems like something we would take for granted, that the secretary of education would be an educator,\" the NEA's Pringle said. \"But no, it is something we have to say out loud.\" And she added, \"It brings a smile to my face to say it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, that doesn't necessarily mean a K-12 teacher. \"The most politically savvy thing for them to do,\" the Fordham Institute's Petrilli said, \"is to pick somebody from the world of higher education who can get around some of the complications with their reform wing versus the union wing within the [Democratic Party].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Education Department wields a much bigger budgetary impact on higher education, through student aid, than it does with K-12. So, having someone in charge who's an expert in higher ed — for example the president of a historically black college or a community college — makes a lot of sense, Petrilli said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Rights and equity\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The education secretary commands a bully pulpit, particularly on issues of discrimination, segregation and bias through the Office for Civil Rights. During her controversial tenure, the current secretary, Betsy DeVos, made headlines for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/02/12/585181704/the-education-department-says-it-wont-act-on-transgender-student-bathroom-access\">rolling back\u003c/a> rights for students who are transgender, and for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/12/18/675556455/devos-to-rescind-obama-era-guidance-on-school-discipline?fbclid=IwAR1Vp_5qDgG09fzy9MYr5EHhRYGifSHZqJSJM9_U5QV3no2G4BBen-2KTzE\">guidance on\u003c/a> racially discriminatory discipline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pringle said her union will be looking to Biden's Education Department to be a partner: \"On racial justice. Social justice. The work we still have to do for women and girls ... the rights of our LGBTQ students.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sargrad of the Center for American Progress agreed: \"I think we'll see a real effort to actually enforce our nation's civil rights laws, and rebuild the Office for Civil Rights and make sure that they are investigating complaints, that they're pursuing cases, that they're taking their role as enforcing civil rights laws seriously.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Early childhood education\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The president-elect has promised a broad expansion of K-12 to include 3- and 4-year-olds in the form of \"high-quality, universal\" prekindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Publicly funded preschool has been gaining momentum in the states over the past two decades. Tulsa, Okla., adopted an influential and high-quality program in 2001, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/12/12/568378251/does-preschool-pay-off-tulsa-says-yes\">promising long-term results\u003c/a>. Washington, D.C., and New York City have programs, too, and Multnomah County, Ore., where Portland is located, just \u003ca href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2020/11/04/preschool-for-all-multnomah-county-pass-fail-result/\">passed a preschool initiative\u003c/a> of its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic has driven\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/28/928253674/stuck-at-home-moms-the-pandemics-devastating-toll-on-women\"> hundreds of thousands of mothers\u003c/a> out of the workforce, highlighting the conflict between the needs of small children and the demands of the economy. At the Democratic National Convention this summer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts delivered a remote address from an early childhood classroom, stressing the message that child care is \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2020/8/20/21376792/elizabeth-warren-dnc-convention-child-care-biden\">infrastructure for families\u003c/a>.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, like tripling Title I and increasing teachers' pay, any major expansion of pre-K is going to be expensive, likely requiring both states and the federal government to chip in. Pringle said she'll be looking for action from agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, and the Department of Labor as well as the Education Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Higher ed \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For higher education, Biden released an expensive and ambitious \u003ca href=\"https://joebiden.com/beyondhs/#\">plan during the campaign\u003c/a> that included free public colleges, loan forgiveness and more money for low-income students to pay for college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Broadly, the federal government's approach to higher education seems almost certain to be less confrontational. In both rhetoric and policy, the Trump administration was openly hostile to colleges, viewing them as liberal, elite institutions that were out of touch with the rest of the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Across most of public and private nonprofit higher ed, there is a sigh of relief,\" said Robert Kelchen, \u003ca href=\"https://www.shu.edu/profiles/robertkelchen.cfm\">a professor of higher education at Seton Hall University.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This will be an administration that cares about the challenges that students are facing, that knows that the cost of college is a significant problem and needs to be addressed both on the front end and the back end,\" said Antoinette Flores, \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/person/flores-antoinette/\">director of postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other experts, though, are less certain how far the Biden administration might go to fight for progressive policy proposals, some of which were borrowed from Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders for the campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"These plans, they look nothing like what [Biden] advocated in 2008, or really nothing like what he's advocated for most of his career,\" said Jason Delisle of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.aei.org/profile/jason-delisle/\">American Enterprise Institute,\u003c/a> a right-leaning think tank. \"We should take him at his word. But you look at what he's proposed on higher ed in the past, and you just sort of have to say, 'Do you really believe your own stuff here? How hard is he going to fight for this?' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, there is the potential of a Republican-controlled Senate, which will pose a challenge for progressive legislation and funding increases. The administration will most likely rely on other ways to make policy changes: through executive orders and regulations from the Department of Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>More money \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As with K-12 schools, the biggest priority for higher ed is getting through the pandemic. Just 40% of colleges are operating fully or primarily in person this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The finances are very bad across the board right now,\" Kelchen said. \"[Colleges] have laid off staff members, they've laid off faculty, they've cut majors in programs. They're doing everything they can to preserve their money so they can get through the length of the pandemic, and quite a few colleges are starting to run out of money because this has gone on so long.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Council on Education, a group representing college presidents, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/Statement-by-ACE-President-Ted-Mitchell-on-the-Election-of-Joe-Biden-and-Kamala-Harris.aspx\">asking for $120 billion to support higher ed\u003c/a>. A relief package will be a major priority for the Biden administration if the Trump administration and Congress can't do something in the meantime.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Student loans\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There was a lot of talk during the campaign, especially from Democratic candidates Warren and Sanders, about forgiving some — or all — of the nation's $1.5 trillion in student debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress and the Trump administration opened the door in March when they issued a moratorium on student loan payments because of the pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-fighting-spread-covid-19-providing-assistance-renters-homeowners/\">which Trump later extended through Dec. 31\u003c/a>. Higher education groups have \u003ca href=\"https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Letter-NASFAA-TICAS-ACE-Borrower-Relief-110220.pdf\">asked DeVos to extend that suspension of payments until September 2021\u003c/a>. \"I expect the Biden administration to support that plan,\" Kelchen wrote in an op-ed in \u003cem>The Chronicle of Higher Education\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic may be good cover for loan forgiveness — Biden has proposed a number of changes to paying back loans, including canceling $10,000 in debt for students who work in national or community service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it's unclear exactly how the administration would go about doing that in a more permanent way. Warren has noted that the education secretary \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/14/796329598/cancelling-student-debt-is-easier-than-it-sounds\">does have the power to cancel loans\u003c/a> via an obscure and rarely used provision \u003ca href=\"https://greatdemocracyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/HerrineStudentDebtJubilee_FINAL.pdf\">in a 1958 law\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Would Biden's secretary of education use that authority to enact his loan-forgiveness plans? I don't know,\" Delisle said. \"Politically speaking, the question is, how far can you take it? Trump has pushed the envelope, in terms of power, and so for Democrats, it's really, how much can you get away with?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Immigration\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration has tightened restrictions on immigration, which often directly affect higher education, notably in a roller coaster two weeks this summer when the administration tried \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/06/trump-international-students-ice-online-classes-349937\">to ban international students\u003c/a> from coming to the U.S. if their classes were held online due to the pandemic. It's possible the Biden administration will focus on immigration ahead of any policies specific to higher education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Higher education is, in general, very supportive of making it easier for international students to come to, and stay in, the U.S.,\" Kelchen said. \"International enrollment went down substantially this fall, part of it due to the pandemic and part of it due to changes in immigration policy. And that's a big revenue loss.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Biden administration could also push to make protections for DREAMers, young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, permanent, and to create a path to American citizenship. \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/06/19/compilation-statements-presidents-and-higher-ed-associations-supreme-courts-daca\">That policy has been encouraged \u003c/a>by high education leaders and groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Walking back DeVos' policies\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Additional policies the Biden administration may strengthen or revive that were dismantled or weakened under Trump include \"borrower defense to repayment,\" a policy that allows for the cancellation of debt when students have been misled or defrauded by their colleges and the \"gainful-employment\" rule, a policy that targets programs where debt is high in relation to income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another focus point: Title IX , which governs how colleges handle sexual assault and sexual harassment. As vice president, Biden helped craft federal guidelines around students' reports of assault — he personally unveiled \u003ca href=\"https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-a-20-page-letter-changed-the-way-higher-education-handles-sexual-assault/?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in\">the now famous \"Dear Colleague\" letter\u003c/a> that outlined how colleges should handle reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under DeVos, the rule was changed — strengthening protections for accused students and employees. Advocates for victims' rights said that made it harder for people to report offenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think [Biden] will continue prioritizing addressing sexual harassment and safe school climates for students,\" said Shiwali Patel of the National Women's Law Center, an organization challenging DeVos' Title IX changes in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>For-profit colleges\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration has been friendly with the for-profit sector, but that is set to change under a Biden administration. As the attorney general of California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-corinthian-colleges-judgment-false-advertising-20160323-story.html\">Vice President-elect Kamala Harris prosecuted Corinthian Colleges\u003c/a>, a large chain of for-profit colleges that defrauded students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Harris' track record prosecuting for-profits and her awareness of the depths of the abuses is really important,\" said Flores of the Center for American Progress. \"I think that will inform the response in the regulations that come out of this administration.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While several large for-profit companies were shut down under the Obama administration, the pandemic may usher in new growth to the sector, she noted. \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/11/02/the-alarming-rise-in-for-profit-college-enrollment/#:~:text=A%20recent%20report%20by%20the,in%20public%20community%20college%20enrollment.\">Already this fall, enrollment is up at for-profit colleges\u003c/a>, while all other types of colleges have seen declines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+A+Biden+Presidency+Could+Mean+For+Education&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "What Kindergarten Struggles Could Mean for a Child’s Later Years",
"title": "What Kindergarten Struggles Could Mean for a Child’s Later Years",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about online kindergarten was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, 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>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Jennifer Holley began the year teaching nine 5-year-olds in person and 14 online. Her first online kindergarten class was a bit of a mess, she said. Only three children were correctly logged in, while her email and the school’s phone were flooded with requests for technical help from the frantic parents and grandparents of the other kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One child was talking away and answering my questions,” Holley said. “The only problem was I couldn’t hear him. It’s very frustrating. I don’t think all of these children are going to get what they need and that frightens me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents are equally overwhelmed, according to email interviews with more than two dozen kindergarten families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She can't do anything independently,” said Suzanne Parker Miller, 40, of her 5-year-old daughter, Salem. “Not reading yet or knowing how to use a computer or mouse or knowing how to use a keyboard — everything takes longer and requires my help. It has been difficult to manage and — five weeks in — still feels unsustainable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miller, who is a pastor and children’s advocate in Raleigh, North Carolina, said \u003ca href=\"https://goodfaithmedia.org/no-playing-politics-with-our-kids-health/\">her family was straining\u003c/a> under the intensity of what she had looked forward to as a seminal year in her child’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I find the grief about the lost semester of school to virtual learning (the social interactions and experiences I can't replicate at home) comes in waves and at unexpected times,” Miller said in her email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kindergarten is designed for young children, who learn best by doing. And while pre-literacy and math skills are covered, building block towers, playing make-believe and mastering the playground equipment are also key elements of this critical grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to pit one grade against another,” said Laura Bornfreund, the director of early and elementary education policy at New America, a progressive think tank. “But the foundational knowledge, the skills to be able to learn and do well in school later are so important. Kindergarten matters a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56888\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56888\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Sadie-Kenzler-scaled-e1603781315997.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“As a mom and teacher, I have also been realizing more than ever how BIG schools are in kid's lives for childcare, food, mental health care, safety, and so much more.” Sadie Kenzler, whose daughter is attending virtual kindergarten. Portland, Oregon. \u003ccite>(Sadie Kenzler)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Approximately \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_203.10.asp\">3.7 million 5-year-olds\u003c/a> were expected to enroll in kindergarten this fall. In pandemic times, most of them — \u003ca href=\"https://info.burbio.com/press/\">62 percent by one estimate\u003c/a> — were slated to start the school year sitting at home in front of a computer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked what 5-year-olds stand to lose if their entire kindergarten experience is moved online, Bornfreund was concise: “All of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And children who already have the least stand to lose the most. Research has shown that \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/sending-your-boy-to-preschool-is-great-for-your-grandson-new-research-shows/\">high-quality early education benefits children\u003c/a>, especially children from low-income families, through to their adulthood. A strong start can improve academic achievement, financial independence, even heart health. For the most vulnerable students, missing kindergarten could become a permanent handicap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As consensus grows that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/16/924396576/what-health-data-says-about-safely-reopening-schools\">schools are not the superspreaders\u003c/a> of the virus they were initially feared to be, many districts are working to bring their youngest students back to school. However, students of color were the least likely to return to school in person this fall. A September \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/9/11/21431146/hispanic-and-black-students-more-likely-than-white-students-to-start-the-school-year-online\">survey of 677 school districts\u003c/a> found that 79 percent of Hispanic students, 75 percent of Black students and 51 percent of white students wouldn’t have the option of in-person learning in September, according the survey by the news service AP and Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization focused on education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Schools district plans are changing so rapidly that it is impossible to pin down concrete numbers that can be counted on for the whole year, so snapshots like those provided by surveys offer the best information we have at the moment.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If missing kindergarten “could happen equitably it doesn’t seem like a tragedy to me, but the fact is that kids’ experiences are just going to be incredibly unequal,” said Mimi Engel, an associate professor of education at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies how children learn in kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nobody is prepared for this, Engel said, including teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We already have something that’s ‘good online kindergarten’ called Sesame Street,” said Engel. “That’s quality programming originally targeted to low-income kids. You’d want something as engaging as that. And to expect a teacher to create that is unreasonable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What life looks like for 5-year-olds this year will vary immensely depending on where they live, who they live with and whether their schools are offering instruction online or in person. What is certain is that many, if not most, of this year’s kindergartners will enter first grade knowing less than they would have learned in a typical year. And the variation between what different kids know will have grown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t just ignore going into first grade that kids didn’t have kindergarten,” said Bornfreund. “Without the recognition that this year was just a loss, that’s going to be to the detriment of kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56890\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56890\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Kisha-Young-2-e1603781348934.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kariyana Young, 6, attends school virtually from her bedroom in Port Orchard, Washington. \u003ccite>(Kisha Young )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In West Virginia, kindergarten teacher Holley said she feels better about the experience of her in-person students. By early October, two of her online kindergarten students were attending in person and she expected more to follow. Nationally, more than a third of children (about 38 percent) were attending school in person either a few days a week or every day at the start of the school year. Anecdotally, it’s going better than expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kids are handling it remarkably well,” Holley said of her students, two thirds of whom come from families living in poverty. “I think a lot of us thought, ‘Oh the kids will never wear masks.’ They are doing just fine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holley said the staff at Rupert Elementary School in Crawley, West Virginia, where she teaches, has pulled together and she’s never felt more supported. She thinks they are doing everything they can to keep in-person learning safe. That doesn’t mean she isn’t terrified sometimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My biggest fear is that a child will get the virus, transmit it to their caregiver and then the caregiver will die and the child will have no one,” she said. “Children need to be in school; it’s the most important thing. And it’s a pandemic. This is not going to be a normal year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Safety concerns plague parents too. And yet, of the many families interviewed for this story, those with kids in school were the happiest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vivian Olsen, 5, goes to school four days a week in Eagle, Colorado. She thinks of her masks “like an accessory,” said her mom, Robin Olsen, 47, who works remotely for a Dallas-based investment firm. More importantly to Olsen, Vivian comes home each day proclaiming it to have been “the best day of my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are so grateful for our teachers and educators for showing up EVERY day for our children,” said Olsen by email. “Most of them are parents too — it must be a lot to juggle and I am humbled by their courage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adding to the juggling act, some districts are frequently switching schedules. In State College, Pennsylvania, parents are getting a notice each Friday about whether they will have in-person school or virtual school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was the first time in almost six months I received a solid block of time to work that was quiet and without interruptions or distractions,” said Tiffany Mathews, 44, of her twins’ first week of kindergarten in State College. Then the Covid-19 infection rate in the area jumped and school moved online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their teacher is great and very helpful,” said Mathews, who works as a program coordinator for science education outreach at Penn State. “However, trying to work with kindergarteners going to school at home is chaotic and productivity for my work has hit a wall (again). Not sure how this is going to be sustainable for nine months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56886\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56886\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“I know my daughter deserves better than a six-hour day on Zoom with 25 other children. I know her teacher deserves better. And I feel powerless to help make it better. I feel defeated.” Nicol Russell on her daughter Makena’s experience with virtual kindergarten. Phoenix, Arizona. \u003ccite>( Nicol Russell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For many teachers and parents, however, the risks of in-person school simply feel too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Callahan of Redmond, Oregon has taught kindergarten for 25 years. Her husband’s fragile health made her think she might have to quit her job this fall if teaching in person was her only option. He’s had two recent surgeries and she didn’t feel safe going into a classroom every day and then possibly bringing the virus home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, she volunteered to be her district’s kindergarten teacher for the students who opted to go online all year. Her 42 students come from all eight district elementary schools, she said, representing both the high- and low-income areas of her small city in central Oregon. Their families have chosen the online option, often because of health conditions in their own homes, and signed a contract designating an adult who will supervise learning at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said it’s a relief to feel that none of the adults involved expect perfection from each other. “They have asked for grace as well as said they would provide grace on my part,” she said of the parents, grandparents, older siblings and babysitters she’ll be working with all year long. “It was comforting to find out that they wanted that flexibility as well as being willing to provide it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Callahan has come up with dozens of ways to make online kindergarten work. Kids show they can identify letters by finding them on the keyboard and typing them into the chat box. Callahan leads “brain breaks” mid-lesson so kids stand up and move for a minute. To get to know their classmates, she has kids run to find certain items in their house and then hold them up in front of the camera. There’s crazy hat day, guest speaker day, pet show-and-tell day. She’s hooked her document camera up to her video feed so that kids can see her writing, and a colleague created digital versions of their social-emotional teaching materials. She introduced estimation by explaining to kids that she now keeps chickens — a pandemic hobby — and asks them to estimate the number of eggs in a basket she holds up for them. She hopes to take any student who wants to come on a socially-distanced snowshoe adventure this winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Callahan said that to preserve her optimism she had to stop paying attention to negative comments about online kindergarten, which can seem ubiquitous on her social media. “We didn’t choose this,” she said. “And we have to find a way to make it work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many public school families have already given up trying to make it work and are simply opting out. Firm national figures are not yet available, but\u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/rapid-ec-project\"> a research team based at the University of Oregon\u003c/a> estimates that as many as 600,000 fewer children than expected have enrolled in public kindergarten this fall. If that’s accurate, it would be about a 17 percent decline in kindergarten enrollment. According to the surveys the team conducted, nearly half (47 percent) of parents reported that they could not manage having their child in kindergarten along with their other responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend is widespread. In Los Angeles, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-09-01/lausd-kingergarten-enrollment-drop-online-learning?_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true\">6,000 fewer kindergarteners showed up for school\u003c/a> this fall, a 14 percent drop from fall 2019. \u003ca href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/washington-state-kindergarten-enrollment-drops-14-amid-pandemic-where-are-the-children/\">Washington state saw a 14 percent drop\u003c/a> in kindergarten enrollment as well. In Philadelphia, \u003ca href=\"https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2020/9/15/21439026/principal-leader-says-hite-is-pausing-mass-teacher-transfer-based-on-enrollment\">kindergarten enrollment was down 25 percent\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelle Blanchet, 35, a teacher training consultant and mom to a kindergartner and a first grader, has decided to homeschool her kids, at least until the family moves to Switzerland in February. Though they currently live in Leesburg, Virginia, Blanchet’s husband and children are Swiss. The Blanchets had already planned to move, but “the political climate and mismanagement of the pandemic have definitely created more of a sense of urgency,” Blanchet said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Blanchet said she picks a theme each week and makes the lessons age-appropriate so that both of her children are learning at their current levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I think it takes me a fraction of the time it would to sit with my children and do distance learning (and I think hands on learning is much higher quality),” Blanchet said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56885\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56885\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Juan-Vazquez-e1603781440929.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron Vazquez, 5, in his “classroom” on his first day of virtual kindergarten in Ft. Worth, Texas. \u003ccite>(Juan Vazquez )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some parents who would have used the public schools have enrolled their children in private schools or decided to pay special child care centers to supervise their kids using online public school programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teddy Brown, 5, lives a five-minute walk from his local elementary school in Columbia, South Carolina. His parents bought the house precisely because of that short walk, said his mom, Jessica Brown. And yet, this year Teddy started kindergarten at his Catholic parish’s private school. Brown, an economics professor at the University of South Carolina, knows her family is lucky to be able to afford this option. She also thinks it didn’t have to be this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel a bit abandoned and betrayed by the public schools,” Brown said in an email. “If it’s safe for daycares to be open and caring for 4- and 5-year-olds, then I think they could have at least tried to open kindergarten. Instead, they’re treating it like an all or nothing decision. Either the entire school system is open or it’s closed. We need to do better for our youngest kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It remains to be seen whether families like the Browns will return to public schools when they reopen, whenever that may be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56884\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56884\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498.jpeg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“We were lucky to get the last spot in our parish’s kindergarten class and to be able to afford it. There are lots of families who don’t have that option.” Jessica Brown on her son Teddy’s experience attending school in person. Columbia, South Carolina. \u003ccite>(Jessica Brown)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And when schools do reopen, this missed year will have to be accounted for, said kindergarten expert Bornfreund. Indeed, first grade teachers should be prepared to start their 2021 school year in more of a kindergarten mindset, she said. She wants to see districts bring kids to school next summer, if it’s safe, to stem learning loss. And she hopes educators use the moment to step back and think deeply about what makes kindergarten so important and then focus on that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, she said, offering social-emotional support to young children and their families is going to be paramount for the 2020-21 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Understanding where they are will help the academic learning,” Bornfreund said. “This is just an especially challenging time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite it all, there are some moments worth savoring, said Esther Berg, 46, whose youngest is enrolled in online kindergarten in Springfield, Virginia. Sometimes, during class, her son will reach over and grab her hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56882\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1080px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg.png 1080w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-800x1422.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-1020x1813.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-160x284.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-768x1365.png 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-864x1536.png 864w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Sometimes during class, he’ll reach over and grab my hand.” Esther Berg on her son Julian’s experience with virtual kindergarten. Springfield, Virginia. \u003ccite>(Esther Berg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Being able to stay with him and see him throughout the day has been bittersweet for me,” said Berg, who works in communications. “I’m thrilled to be there when he laughs and enjoys different parts of his day, but feel like I’m intruding on a part of his life that should be exclusively his. It’s hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can also get weird. In Boise, Idaho, Elizabeth Lion, 5, opened her phys ed class link recently only to find a YouTube video of someone twerking, a booty-shaking dance move, instead of playing soccer. “My younger boys do the PE classes with my kindergartner and they were confused about why they had to ‘do stuff with their butt,’” said Elizabeth’s mom, Kate Lion, 37.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The link, posted by accident, was deleted by school staff as soon as Lion, a stay-at-home parent, alerted them to the error. Overall, she said that to the extent she could drop the idea of Elizabeth getting a “normal” kindergarten year, online school was going pretty well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to realize that my expectations are not hers,” Lion said. “She doesn't know what she is missing so she doesn't miss it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: The story has been updated to correctly state Suzanne Parker Miller's last name, which is Miller.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about online kindergarten was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, 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>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about online kindergarten was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, 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>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Jennifer Holley began the year teaching nine 5-year-olds in person and 14 online. Her first online kindergarten class was a bit of a mess, she said. Only three children were correctly logged in, while her email and the school’s phone were flooded with requests for technical help from the frantic parents and grandparents of the other kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One child was talking away and answering my questions,” Holley said. “The only problem was I couldn’t hear him. It’s very frustrating. I don’t think all of these children are going to get what they need and that frightens me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents are equally overwhelmed, according to email interviews with more than two dozen kindergarten families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She can't do anything independently,” said Suzanne Parker Miller, 40, of her 5-year-old daughter, Salem. “Not reading yet or knowing how to use a computer or mouse or knowing how to use a keyboard — everything takes longer and requires my help. It has been difficult to manage and — five weeks in — still feels unsustainable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miller, who is a pastor and children’s advocate in Raleigh, North Carolina, said \u003ca href=\"https://goodfaithmedia.org/no-playing-politics-with-our-kids-health/\">her family was straining\u003c/a> under the intensity of what she had looked forward to as a seminal year in her child’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I find the grief about the lost semester of school to virtual learning (the social interactions and experiences I can't replicate at home) comes in waves and at unexpected times,” Miller said in her email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kindergarten is designed for young children, who learn best by doing. And while pre-literacy and math skills are covered, building block towers, playing make-believe and mastering the playground equipment are also key elements of this critical grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to pit one grade against another,” said Laura Bornfreund, the director of early and elementary education policy at New America, a progressive think tank. “But the foundational knowledge, the skills to be able to learn and do well in school later are so important. Kindergarten matters a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56888\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56888\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Sadie-Kenzler-scaled-e1603781315997.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“As a mom and teacher, I have also been realizing more than ever how BIG schools are in kid's lives for childcare, food, mental health care, safety, and so much more.” Sadie Kenzler, whose daughter is attending virtual kindergarten. Portland, Oregon. \u003ccite>(Sadie Kenzler)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Approximately \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_203.10.asp\">3.7 million 5-year-olds\u003c/a> were expected to enroll in kindergarten this fall. In pandemic times, most of them — \u003ca href=\"https://info.burbio.com/press/\">62 percent by one estimate\u003c/a> — were slated to start the school year sitting at home in front of a computer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked what 5-year-olds stand to lose if their entire kindergarten experience is moved online, Bornfreund was concise: “All of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And children who already have the least stand to lose the most. Research has shown that \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/sending-your-boy-to-preschool-is-great-for-your-grandson-new-research-shows/\">high-quality early education benefits children\u003c/a>, especially children from low-income families, through to their adulthood. A strong start can improve academic achievement, financial independence, even heart health. For the most vulnerable students, missing kindergarten could become a permanent handicap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As consensus grows that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/16/924396576/what-health-data-says-about-safely-reopening-schools\">schools are not the superspreaders\u003c/a> of the virus they were initially feared to be, many districts are working to bring their youngest students back to school. However, students of color were the least likely to return to school in person this fall. A September \u003ca href=\"https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/9/11/21431146/hispanic-and-black-students-more-likely-than-white-students-to-start-the-school-year-online\">survey of 677 school districts\u003c/a> found that 79 percent of Hispanic students, 75 percent of Black students and 51 percent of white students wouldn’t have the option of in-person learning in September, according the survey by the news service AP and Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization focused on education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Schools district plans are changing so rapidly that it is impossible to pin down concrete numbers that can be counted on for the whole year, so snapshots like those provided by surveys offer the best information we have at the moment.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If missing kindergarten “could happen equitably it doesn’t seem like a tragedy to me, but the fact is that kids’ experiences are just going to be incredibly unequal,” said Mimi Engel, an associate professor of education at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies how children learn in kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nobody is prepared for this, Engel said, including teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We already have something that’s ‘good online kindergarten’ called Sesame Street,” said Engel. “That’s quality programming originally targeted to low-income kids. You’d want something as engaging as that. And to expect a teacher to create that is unreasonable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What life looks like for 5-year-olds this year will vary immensely depending on where they live, who they live with and whether their schools are offering instruction online or in person. What is certain is that many, if not most, of this year’s kindergartners will enter first grade knowing less than they would have learned in a typical year. And the variation between what different kids know will have grown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t just ignore going into first grade that kids didn’t have kindergarten,” said Bornfreund. “Without the recognition that this year was just a loss, that’s going to be to the detriment of kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56890\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56890\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Kisha-Young-2-e1603781348934.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kariyana Young, 6, attends school virtually from her bedroom in Port Orchard, Washington. \u003ccite>(Kisha Young )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In West Virginia, kindergarten teacher Holley said she feels better about the experience of her in-person students. By early October, two of her online kindergarten students were attending in person and she expected more to follow. Nationally, more than a third of children (about 38 percent) were attending school in person either a few days a week or every day at the start of the school year. Anecdotally, it’s going better than expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kids are handling it remarkably well,” Holley said of her students, two thirds of whom come from families living in poverty. “I think a lot of us thought, ‘Oh the kids will never wear masks.’ They are doing just fine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holley said the staff at Rupert Elementary School in Crawley, West Virginia, where she teaches, has pulled together and she’s never felt more supported. She thinks they are doing everything they can to keep in-person learning safe. That doesn’t mean she isn’t terrified sometimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My biggest fear is that a child will get the virus, transmit it to their caregiver and then the caregiver will die and the child will have no one,” she said. “Children need to be in school; it’s the most important thing. And it’s a pandemic. This is not going to be a normal year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Safety concerns plague parents too. And yet, of the many families interviewed for this story, those with kids in school were the happiest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vivian Olsen, 5, goes to school four days a week in Eagle, Colorado. She thinks of her masks “like an accessory,” said her mom, Robin Olsen, 47, who works remotely for a Dallas-based investment firm. More importantly to Olsen, Vivian comes home each day proclaiming it to have been “the best day of my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are so grateful for our teachers and educators for showing up EVERY day for our children,” said Olsen by email. “Most of them are parents too — it must be a lot to juggle and I am humbled by their courage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adding to the juggling act, some districts are frequently switching schedules. In State College, Pennsylvania, parents are getting a notice each Friday about whether they will have in-person school or virtual school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was the first time in almost six months I received a solid block of time to work that was quiet and without interruptions or distractions,” said Tiffany Mathews, 44, of her twins’ first week of kindergarten in State College. Then the Covid-19 infection rate in the area jumped and school moved online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their teacher is great and very helpful,” said Mathews, who works as a program coordinator for science education outreach at Penn State. “However, trying to work with kindergarteners going to school at home is chaotic and productivity for my work has hit a wall (again). Not sure how this is going to be sustainable for nine months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56886\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56886\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Nicol-Russell-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“I know my daughter deserves better than a six-hour day on Zoom with 25 other children. I know her teacher deserves better. And I feel powerless to help make it better. I feel defeated.” Nicol Russell on her daughter Makena’s experience with virtual kindergarten. Phoenix, Arizona. \u003ccite>( Nicol Russell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For many teachers and parents, however, the risks of in-person school simply feel too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Callahan of Redmond, Oregon has taught kindergarten for 25 years. Her husband’s fragile health made her think she might have to quit her job this fall if teaching in person was her only option. He’s had two recent surgeries and she didn’t feel safe going into a classroom every day and then possibly bringing the virus home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, she volunteered to be her district’s kindergarten teacher for the students who opted to go online all year. Her 42 students come from all eight district elementary schools, she said, representing both the high- and low-income areas of her small city in central Oregon. Their families have chosen the online option, often because of health conditions in their own homes, and signed a contract designating an adult who will supervise learning at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said it’s a relief to feel that none of the adults involved expect perfection from each other. “They have asked for grace as well as said they would provide grace on my part,” she said of the parents, grandparents, older siblings and babysitters she’ll be working with all year long. “It was comforting to find out that they wanted that flexibility as well as being willing to provide it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Callahan has come up with dozens of ways to make online kindergarten work. Kids show they can identify letters by finding them on the keyboard and typing them into the chat box. Callahan leads “brain breaks” mid-lesson so kids stand up and move for a minute. To get to know their classmates, she has kids run to find certain items in their house and then hold them up in front of the camera. There’s crazy hat day, guest speaker day, pet show-and-tell day. She’s hooked her document camera up to her video feed so that kids can see her writing, and a colleague created digital versions of their social-emotional teaching materials. She introduced estimation by explaining to kids that she now keeps chickens — a pandemic hobby — and asks them to estimate the number of eggs in a basket she holds up for them. She hopes to take any student who wants to come on a socially-distanced snowshoe adventure this winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Callahan said that to preserve her optimism she had to stop paying attention to negative comments about online kindergarten, which can seem ubiquitous on her social media. “We didn’t choose this,” she said. “And we have to find a way to make it work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many public school families have already given up trying to make it work and are simply opting out. Firm national figures are not yet available, but\u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/rapid-ec-project\"> a research team based at the University of Oregon\u003c/a> estimates that as many as 600,000 fewer children than expected have enrolled in public kindergarten this fall. If that’s accurate, it would be about a 17 percent decline in kindergarten enrollment. According to the surveys the team conducted, nearly half (47 percent) of parents reported that they could not manage having their child in kindergarten along with their other responsibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend is widespread. In Los Angeles, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-09-01/lausd-kingergarten-enrollment-drop-online-learning?_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true\">6,000 fewer kindergarteners showed up for school\u003c/a> this fall, a 14 percent drop from fall 2019. \u003ca href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/washington-state-kindergarten-enrollment-drops-14-amid-pandemic-where-are-the-children/\">Washington state saw a 14 percent drop\u003c/a> in kindergarten enrollment as well. In Philadelphia, \u003ca href=\"https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2020/9/15/21439026/principal-leader-says-hite-is-pausing-mass-teacher-transfer-based-on-enrollment\">kindergarten enrollment was down 25 percent\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelle Blanchet, 35, a teacher training consultant and mom to a kindergartner and a first grader, has decided to homeschool her kids, at least until the family moves to Switzerland in February. Though they currently live in Leesburg, Virginia, Blanchet’s husband and children are Swiss. The Blanchets had already planned to move, but “the political climate and mismanagement of the pandemic have definitely created more of a sense of urgency,” Blanchet said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Blanchet said she picks a theme each week and makes the lessons age-appropriate so that both of her children are learning at their current levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I think it takes me a fraction of the time it would to sit with my children and do distance learning (and I think hands on learning is much higher quality),” Blanchet said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56885\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56885\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Juan-Vazquez-e1603781440929.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron Vazquez, 5, in his “classroom” on his first day of virtual kindergarten in Ft. Worth, Texas. \u003ccite>(Juan Vazquez )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some parents who would have used the public schools have enrolled their children in private schools or decided to pay special child care centers to supervise their kids using online public school programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teddy Brown, 5, lives a five-minute walk from his local elementary school in Columbia, South Carolina. His parents bought the house precisely because of that short walk, said his mom, Jessica Brown. And yet, this year Teddy started kindergarten at his Catholic parish’s private school. Brown, an economics professor at the University of South Carolina, knows her family is lucky to be able to afford this option. She also thinks it didn’t have to be this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel a bit abandoned and betrayed by the public schools,” Brown said in an email. “If it’s safe for daycares to be open and caring for 4- and 5-year-olds, then I think they could have at least tried to open kindergarten. Instead, they’re treating it like an all or nothing decision. Either the entire school system is open or it’s closed. We need to do better for our youngest kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It remains to be seen whether families like the Browns will return to public schools when they reopen, whenever that may be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56884\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56884\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498.jpeg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Jessica-Hedrich-Brown-scaled-e1603781255498-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“We were lucky to get the last spot in our parish’s kindergarten class and to be able to afford it. There are lots of families who don’t have that option.” Jessica Brown on her son Teddy’s experience attending school in person. Columbia, South Carolina. \u003ccite>(Jessica Brown)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And when schools do reopen, this missed year will have to be accounted for, said kindergarten expert Bornfreund. Indeed, first grade teachers should be prepared to start their 2021 school year in more of a kindergarten mindset, she said. She wants to see districts bring kids to school next summer, if it’s safe, to stem learning loss. And she hopes educators use the moment to step back and think deeply about what makes kindergarten so important and then focus on that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, she said, offering social-emotional support to young children and their families is going to be paramount for the 2020-21 school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Understanding where they are will help the academic learning,” Bornfreund said. “This is just an especially challenging time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite it all, there are some moments worth savoring, said Esther Berg, 46, whose youngest is enrolled in online kindergarten in Springfield, Virginia. Sometimes, during class, her son will reach over and grab her hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56882\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1080px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg.png 1080w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-800x1422.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-1020x1813.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-160x284.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-768x1365.png 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Lillian-Mongeau-Kindergarten-Esther-Rege-Berg-864x1536.png 864w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Sometimes during class, he’ll reach over and grab my hand.” Esther Berg on her son Julian’s experience with virtual kindergarten. Springfield, Virginia. \u003ccite>(Esther Berg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Being able to stay with him and see him throughout the day has been bittersweet for me,” said Berg, who works in communications. “I’m thrilled to be there when he laughs and enjoys different parts of his day, but feel like I’m intruding on a part of his life that should be exclusively his. It’s hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can also get weird. In Boise, Idaho, Elizabeth Lion, 5, opened her phys ed class link recently only to find a YouTube video of someone twerking, a booty-shaking dance move, instead of playing soccer. “My younger boys do the PE classes with my kindergartner and they were confused about why they had to ‘do stuff with their butt,’” said Elizabeth’s mom, Kate Lion, 37.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The link, posted by accident, was deleted by school staff as soon as Lion, a stay-at-home parent, alerted them to the error. Overall, she said that to the extent she could drop the idea of Elizabeth getting a “normal” kindergarten year, online school was going pretty well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to realize that my expectations are not hers,” Lion said. “She doesn't know what she is missing so she doesn't miss it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: The story has been updated to correctly state Suzanne Parker Miller's last name, which is Miller.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about online kindergarten was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, 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>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "How Teachers are Leaning on Each Other to Stay Resilient During COVID-19",
"title": "How Teachers are Leaning on Each Other to Stay Resilient During COVID-19",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the first time in her decade of teaching, Coral Zayas is eating lunch every day. It may sound small, but for her, it’s a major victory. “I don't normally eat three meals a day, because I'm usually working and don't even think about it,” Zayas said in September. In addition to her new lunch routine, Zayas, who teaches STEM and social studies at a public school in Leander, Texas, has set a regular time when she turns off her computer at night. “I'm working really hard to put what is in my brain of what balance looks like into reality,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Balanced” is not a word that many educators would use to describe how they feel in 2020. Even before \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/coronavirus\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">COVID-19\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, recent studies found that 93% of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098300717732066\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">elementary school teachers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and 94% of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022440519300937\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">middle school teachers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> experience high stress. Add to that a pandemic, upheaval in job duties and ongoing social unrest, and you’ve got plenty to worry mental health professionals. “We were in crisis a year ago, and now the house is on fire,” said Michelle Kinder, a licensed professional counselor and co-author of \"\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wiley.com/en-us/WHOLE:+What+Teachers+Need+to+Help+Students+Thrive-p-9781119651031\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">WHOLE: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\"\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With that backdrop, how has Zayas managed to prioritize her well being more than any other time in her career? In large part, she attributes it to the support and connection she’s found with other educators. She is part of a group of Texas teachers that formed as a short-term response to school closings last spring and who are now leaning on each other to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/resilience\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">stay resilient\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as the pandemic persists.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Filling the gas tank\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In March, Zayas volunteered to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56068/how-teachers-want-emergency-distance-learning-improved\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">facilitate a teacher support group\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> organized by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://teachplus.org/TX\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teach Plus Texas\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an organization that trains teachers for policy leadership and advocacy. The support group met twice weekly in the spring. When summer arrived, some members wanted to keep it going. They decided to read \"\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.onwardthebook.com/about-onward/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\"\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by Elena Aguilar together.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The book follows a June to May calendar and includes an accompanying workbook. Each month Zayas and up to seven other teachers meet via Zoom to discuss key takeaways from the last chapter, share what’s going on in their classrooms, and reflect on what they need from themselves or others to be well. That last part is an important part of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/social-emotional-learning\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">mental health\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, according to Kinder, who has worked with educators in individual counseling and at large-scale trainings she led as executive director of the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://momentousinstitute.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Momentous Institute\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kinder often encourages clients to do a “gas tank audit.” It involves identifying five things that fill you up and considering how often those things show up in your life. Taking time to fill the gas tank \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52281/secondary-traumatic-stress-for-educators-understanding-and-mitigating-the-effects\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">can be hard for teachers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, she said. “Generally as a rule they're so wired to care for others, to pour themselves into their craft and their profession in a way that can very easily result in depletion. Especially if the system they're in isn't healthy and looking out for them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s a familiar story for Ruqayyah Adisa, a member of the Teach Plus group with Zayas. Adisa is a business manager and former librarian at a public charter school in Houston. “I'm always the one listening and giving the advice,” she said during the group’s September meeting. “But then when I'm not having a good day or I need a shoulder to cry on or something like that, I just feel like not all the time do I have someone there for me.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Getting and giving mutual support is what draws the members together. Veronica Rivera, a bilingual primary school teacher in San Antonio, said the group’s gatherings and the readings have grounded her and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56773/how-to-manage-feelings-of-uncertainty-about-the-future\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">reduced her anxiety\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In September she told the group she was grieving the death of her dog but couldn’t skip their call: “I look forward to this. That's why I was like, I'm going. I'm showing up to this meeting, tear-stained face and all.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the weeks between meetings, the educators stay connected via Slack. They post motivational quotes and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.edutopia.org/article/simple-powerful-class-opening-activity\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">share frustrations or bright spots\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from the day, which they refer to as “whines and shines.” They act as accountability buddies for self-care practices by swapping links to yoga videos or celebrating when someone meditates several days in a row.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s made a huge difference. Just knowing that I feel like my community ... is much, much stronger. It's not just professional relationships. It's like we're building friendships that are going to be sticking together,” said Zayas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Community care\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Self-care has its limits, though. On a recent \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://padlet.com/sheathescholar/ananonymousteacher\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">padlet board\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> created by teacher \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/sheathescholar\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">shea martin\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, anonymous teachers described the crushing stress they’re experiencing this year, and many expressed frustration at administrators’ promotion of self-care without real changes to make that possible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/sheathescholar/status/1312203368341798912\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teacher workloads have long been “out of touch with reality,” said Rivera. Before the coronavirus outbreak, she and others in the group were advocating for policy changes to improve that. Now the pandemic has thrown a wrench in things. With little hope for greater state or federal investments, the teachers are forging their own path forward. In that way, their group is creating a grassroots form of what Kinder called “community care,” which offers individuals an emotional safety net and the sense of power in reciprocating care.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The group may not be able to fix large-scale problems, but with so much out of teachers’ control, Rivera said building her own resilience is one area where she can exercise agency: “Our monthly meetings make me feel and know that I’m not alone in all of this. Each session I leave with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56650/were-all-new-this-year-how-advice-for-rookie-teachers-can-help-everyone-during-virtual-learning\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">new ideas\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to focus on caring for myself, my family and my students, too. I feel inspired and motivated to continue on when honestly, sometimes I don’t know if it’s worth it to me, especially now.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Teachers in one group are supporting one another through regular check-ins while discussing books that help guide their mental health throughout the school year. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the first time in her decade of teaching, Coral Zayas is eating lunch every day. It may sound small, but for her, it’s a major victory. “I don't normally eat three meals a day, because I'm usually working and don't even think about it,” Zayas said in September. In addition to her new lunch routine, Zayas, who teaches STEM and social studies at a public school in Leander, Texas, has set a regular time when she turns off her computer at night. “I'm working really hard to put what is in my brain of what balance looks like into reality,” she said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Balanced” is not a word that many educators would use to describe how they feel in 2020. Even before \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/coronavirus\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">COVID-19\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, recent studies found that 93% of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098300717732066\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">elementary school teachers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and 94% of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022440519300937\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">middle school teachers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> experience high stress. Add to that a pandemic, upheaval in job duties and ongoing social unrest, and you’ve got plenty to worry mental health professionals. “We were in crisis a year ago, and now the house is on fire,” said Michelle Kinder, a licensed professional counselor and co-author of \"\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wiley.com/en-us/WHOLE:+What+Teachers+Need+to+Help+Students+Thrive-p-9781119651031\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">WHOLE: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\"\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With that backdrop, how has Zayas managed to prioritize her well being more than any other time in her career? In large part, she attributes it to the support and connection she’s found with other educators. She is part of a group of Texas teachers that formed as a short-term response to school closings last spring and who are now leaning on each other to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/resilience\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">stay resilient\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as the pandemic persists.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Filling the gas tank\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In March, Zayas volunteered to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56068/how-teachers-want-emergency-distance-learning-improved\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">facilitate a teacher support group\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> organized by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://teachplus.org/TX\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teach Plus Texas\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an organization that trains teachers for policy leadership and advocacy. The support group met twice weekly in the spring. When summer arrived, some members wanted to keep it going. They decided to read \"\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.onwardthebook.com/about-onward/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\"\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by Elena Aguilar together.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The book follows a June to May calendar and includes an accompanying workbook. Each month Zayas and up to seven other teachers meet via Zoom to discuss key takeaways from the last chapter, share what’s going on in their classrooms, and reflect on what they need from themselves or others to be well. That last part is an important part of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/social-emotional-learning\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">mental health\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, according to Kinder, who has worked with educators in individual counseling and at large-scale trainings she led as executive director of the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://momentousinstitute.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Momentous Institute\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\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\">Kinder often encourages clients to do a “gas tank audit.” It involves identifying five things that fill you up and considering how often those things show up in your life. Taking time to fill the gas tank \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52281/secondary-traumatic-stress-for-educators-understanding-and-mitigating-the-effects\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">can be hard for teachers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, she said. “Generally as a rule they're so wired to care for others, to pour themselves into their craft and their profession in a way that can very easily result in depletion. Especially if the system they're in isn't healthy and looking out for them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s a familiar story for Ruqayyah Adisa, a member of the Teach Plus group with Zayas. Adisa is a business manager and former librarian at a public charter school in Houston. “I'm always the one listening and giving the advice,” she said during the group’s September meeting. “But then when I'm not having a good day or I need a shoulder to cry on or something like that, I just feel like not all the time do I have someone there for me.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Getting and giving mutual support is what draws the members together. Veronica Rivera, a bilingual primary school teacher in San Antonio, said the group’s gatherings and the readings have grounded her and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56773/how-to-manage-feelings-of-uncertainty-about-the-future\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">reduced her anxiety\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In September she told the group she was grieving the death of her dog but couldn’t skip their call: “I look forward to this. That's why I was like, I'm going. I'm showing up to this meeting, tear-stained face and all.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the weeks between meetings, the educators stay connected via Slack. They post motivational quotes and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.edutopia.org/article/simple-powerful-class-opening-activity\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">share frustrations or bright spots\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from the day, which they refer to as “whines and shines.” They act as accountability buddies for self-care practices by swapping links to yoga videos or celebrating when someone meditates several days in a row.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s made a huge difference. Just knowing that I feel like my community ... is much, much stronger. It's not just professional relationships. It's like we're building friendships that are going to be sticking together,” said Zayas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Community care\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Self-care has its limits, though. On a recent \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://padlet.com/sheathescholar/ananonymousteacher\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">padlet board\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> created by teacher \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/sheathescholar\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">shea martin\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, anonymous teachers described the crushing stress they’re experiencing this year, and many expressed frustration at administrators’ promotion of self-care without real changes to make that possible.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teacher workloads have long been “out of touch with reality,” said Rivera. Before the coronavirus outbreak, she and others in the group were advocating for policy changes to improve that. Now the pandemic has thrown a wrench in things. With little hope for greater state or federal investments, the teachers are forging their own path forward. In that way, their group is creating a grassroots form of what Kinder called “community care,” which offers individuals an emotional safety net and the sense of power in reciprocating care.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The group may not be able to fix large-scale problems, but with so much out of teachers’ control, Rivera said building her own resilience is one area where she can exercise agency: “Our monthly meetings make me feel and know that I’m not alone in all of this. Each session I leave with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56650/were-all-new-this-year-how-advice-for-rookie-teachers-can-help-everyone-during-virtual-learning\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">new ideas\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to focus on caring for myself, my family and my students, too. I feel inspired and motivated to continue on when honestly, sometimes I don’t know if it’s worth it to me, especially now.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Being A Mom Is Tough. Being A Mom In A Pandemic Is Even Tougher",
"title": "Being A Mom Is Tough. Being A Mom In A Pandemic Is Even Tougher",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>When I was growing up, I marveled at how my single mother was able to come home after a long day of work, make dinner, iron our school uniforms and help me and my sister with our homework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can't imagine how she would have managed during this pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What would she have done if she was laid off from her job at the airport? Would she be able to figure out — or afford — virtual school? How would she keep us safe from the virus?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around the world, mothers have been struggling with these very challenges during the pandemic. We spoke to three mothers who shared how they've been faring: a mom of two in Jordan, expecting her third child and missing the in-person support from family; a dairy farmer with four teenage children — and 165 cows — to look after; and a single mom helping her son, who is on the autism spectrum, find joy in spite of coronavirus restrictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read their stories, check out our special report on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/10/09/918815890/portraits-of-resilience-how-19-women-around-the-globe-face-the-pandemic\">19 women facing the coronavirus crisis\u003c/a> — then find out how to nominate a woman to be profiled at the bottom of the story. —\u003cstrong>\u003cem> Malaka Gharib \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56826\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56826\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nienke Pastoor (40), surrounded by some of her cows, on the 336 acre dairy farm she runs with her husband, Jaap, outside the village of Middelstum, The Netherlands, 2020.\u003cbr>Julia Gunther for NPR \u003ccite>(Julia Gunther for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Calm And Juggling On A Dairy Farm\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The cows rode around the milking carousel, a circular platform lined with 30 individual holding pens that slowly turn clockwise. In each pen, a black and white Holstein or brown and white Montbéliarde waited to be milked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the pit below the carousel, 40-year-old Nienke Pastoor stood at udder-height, attaching the milk-extracting pump to each cow as it passed her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastoor, her husband Jaap and Henk, an employee, need just 90 minutes to milk all 165 of the farm's dairy cows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastoor and her husband co-manage a 336-acre dairy farm. One of her many responsibilities is to help run the daily milking operation. She's also the mother of four teenage children; she cooks and cleans; and she manages the farm's books. She regularly gives tours to schoolchildren from the nearby city of Groningen, taking them around the farm and letting them milk the cows by hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56829\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-56829 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"1503\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85-800x1093.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85-1020x1394.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85-160x219.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85-768x1049.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pastoor stands in her cow shed with her oldest son, Thomas, left, and her husband, Jaap. Thomas, 17, is studying farming and plans on taking over the family farm. When schools were shut due to the lockdown, Pastoor made sure her kids kept up with their schoolwork. \u003ccite>(Julia Gunther for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For a while Pastoor cherished the sudden quiet and freedom that COVID-19 brought to the \"Other World\": the name given to the remote farming district in the far north of the Netherlands where the Pastoor family have been dairy farmers for 75 years. \"We established a strange new family rhythm during the lockdown,\" she said on a blustery blue-skied afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only set routines were the morning and afternoon milking of the cows, and the e-lessons of her children: Thomas, 17, Daniel, 15, and twins Emma and Paulien, 13, who like many students in the Netherlands switched to remote learning in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There was less pressure,\" she said. \"No music lessons or sports games to drive the children to. And because the weather was so nice, life definitely felt a little more relaxed.\" The only visitors to the farm during the lockdown, which lasted from March 15 till June 2, were the truck drivers who came by three times a week to pick up 3,079 gallons of milk, and the vet who visited every two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the pandemic also added new tasks to Pastoor's farm routine. She suddenly had to help the children with their schoolwork. \"I made sure they were sitting at their laptops when they were supposed to be. I told them, 'We all have responsibilities in life. I have to do things. And so do you. You make sure the thing you are doing is done on time.' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The children didn't mind the sudden shift to learning at home. They were able to sleep longer in the mornings as they didn't have to bike to school. The only frustration was the frequent technical glitches — no sound, the teacher's screen not working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastoor was so busy she couldn't do the books for a month. Work kept piling up on the long wooden kitchen table where she normally sits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"In the end, I had to tell [Jaap and the children] to get out of the kitchen so I could have some time for myself.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It was difficult being a mother and a farm manager,\" she said, reflecting on lockdown life. \"Everyone expected me to successfully juggle everything.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But dealing with all these responsibilities didn't concern Pastoor. What truly worried her was how she would cope if her husband were to get COVID-19 and succumb to the virus — and she'd be left to manage the farm on her own. \"The pandemic really brought that home.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56830\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56830\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pastoor feeds hay to some of her 165 cows after they've been milked.\u003cbr>Julia Gunther for NPR \u003ccite>(Julia Gunther for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So Pastoor spent as much time as she could learning how to operate the farm's tractors, feeders and other heavy machinery — usually her husband's domain. \"I also told him to write everything down on paper,\" she said. \"Just in case.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc around the world, life is slowly returning to normal on the Pastoor farm. The children are back at school, the price of milk is stabilizing after dropping dramatically during the lockdown due to a decrease in demand. Last week, Pastoor oversaw the birth of five new calves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Nature has a rhythm that dictates life on the farm,\" she reflected. Pandemic or not, cows need to be milked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Photos by Julia Gunther. Text by Nick Schönfeld\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56827\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56827\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Barrera helps her son Niko, 10, with math homework after a day of virtual learning at their home in Eau Claire, Wis. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A Single Mom, Her Son And 'Kindness Rocks'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It was Niko's idea to drop the decorated rocks in the schoolyard. Jessica Barrera, Niko's mother, said it gave him a sense of connection to the school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Since he can't be there [in person] at least the rocks could be there from him,\" Barrera said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rocks are a tradition Barrera started when she realized she needed new ways to get outside with her son. The 40-year-old single mother was laid off from her job at an airport shuttle service in Eau Claire, Wis., in March. Niko finished the last few months of fourth grade virtually. Their list of reasons to leave the house was dwindling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She read about \"kindness rocks\" online — stones decorated with art or inspiring messages and left conspicuously around a community for strangers to find. It sounded like a fun thing to do with Niko; they could go for walks and leave the rocks around town. Their first one had a simple message: \"Be kind.\" They left it in a park at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56828\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56828\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"721\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85-800x524.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85-1020x669.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85-160x105.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85-768x503.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barrera and her son, Niko, place rocks painted with hopeful messages at his school and other places in their community. They hope the rocks will brighten someone's day. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Niko is not a morning person. He typically starts his day with a granola bar and orange juice in a coffee mug (always a coffee mug). When he used to go to school, Barrera would sometimes take him to the Kwik Trip gas station, get herself a coffee and get him a hot chocolate in a to-go cup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"He'd go sit with the teachers — they had their little coffees and he had his Kwik Trip hot chocolate. They were just sitting there talking, like he's like a grown-up,\" Barrera remembered with a chuckle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"He's an old soul in an 11-year-old body.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now Niko, who is on the autism spectrum, is one of the millions of kids learning remotely. After breakfast, Barrera helps Niko connect to his classroom on the iPad the school district sent home. When this school year started, the district gave parents the option for virtual learning or a hybrid model with kids in the classroom twice a week. Barrera chose the virtual option because Niko did well with it in the spring, plus Barrera has a rare blood condition that puts her at high risk for serious complications from the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Niko doesn't love it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56831\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56831\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"735\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Niko sits at the virtual learning workspace that Barrera set up in his bedroom. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"He was like, 'This virtual learning is for the birds,' \" Barrera said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera applied for unemployment benefits for the airport shuttle job but was initially denied regular and federal pandemic benefits by the state unemployment agency because of rules that bar regular aid to laid-off workers who also receive federal disability assistance. (The state subsequently granted her pandemic benefits.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She started working again in June, before she was really comfortable with the idea. After a few months working in the marketing department of a home improvement chain, she found more meaningful work as a job coach for adults with special needs, three days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Sept. 21, the day of the interview, Barrera was home to help Niko count on his fingers to solve math problems as his school day wound to a close. By 2:30 p.m. class was done, and they walked their kindness rocks up to Niko's school. They decorated some with an image of the school's mascot — a panther.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kids learning in-person were lined up outside, waiting to go home. Barrera saw the school's longtime counselor and explained the rocks. He liked the idea and offered to arrange a scavenger hunt of the rocks for the other students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera knows it has been a tough start to fifth grade for Niko. He misses being around the other students. But she tries to reassure him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's a crappy situation all around,\" Barrera said, \"but it's temporary. It's going to get better.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Photos by Lauren Justice. Text by Bram Sable-Smith\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56832\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56832\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"734\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sawsan al-Ramemi with sons Zain, left, and Omer at home in Amman. She is expecting her third child. \u003ccite>(Nadia Bseiso for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Expecting A Baby In Isolation\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sawsan al-Ramemi, 32, is due to have a baby girl in November. But unlike her previous two pregnancies, which she recalls as happy events, this one fills the Jordanian mother with worry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She got pregnant in March just as the pandemic hit Jordan. Ramemi said she wasn't concerned at first because of the low number of cases in the country, which in March imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. But in September, infections climbed dramatically to a high of almost 2,000 a day in a population of about 10 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I've started being afraid as I'm visiting the hospital for pregnancy follow-up,\" said the former electrical engineer. \"I take precautions like wearing gloves and a mask, but I am still afraid when I'm in a taxi going to the hospital.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she has a long list of other concerns. Her husband, also an engineer, is working in the United States and is unable to travel home for the delivery. With such high coronavirus rates in the U.S., she worries about her husband contracting it there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While her own extended family would normally help her through the pregnancy, because of social distancing measures she has been left without that help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"My family supports me,\" she said. \"But now that support is mostly through phone calls.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramemi, dressed in a polka-dot top and leggings with her hair covered with a dusty rose-pink hijab, adjusted the Velcro on the plastic sandals of her 18-month-old son, Zain, as she talked. She thinks about what she will do when the baby is born. She has resolved to keep the infant isolated – a difficult prospect in the effusive Arab culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56833\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56833\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ramemi attends to her father. She moved in with her parents because her husband is working abroad. \u003ccite>(Nadia Bseiso for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"Usually people come to see the baby and they bring gifts,\" she said. \"Suppose they are infected? How can I let them kiss her?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramemi said she is lucky to have a ground-floor apartment with a garden and pavement for Zain and her 5-year-old son, Omer, to run around in. These days, because of the pandemic, they rarely venture beyond the garden with its fig and olive trees and high stone walls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Now I don't feel comfortable taking my children to visit public parks and gardens. They are young and I am afraid if they get the virus, they might transmit it to my family,\" she said. When she does see relatives, it's for very brief visits. She worries in particular about her elderly mother, who has cancer\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\"Because of that I really limit my movement outside the house.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramemi said neither her physician nor the clinic she goes to provided information about the effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy, so she scoured the internet. While the Centers for Disease Control says pregnant women \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/special-populations/pregnancy-data-on-covid-19/what-cdc-is-doing.html\">might be at an increased risk\u003c/a> for severe illness from COVID-19, she said the studies she has read have reassured her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"2020 is full of surprises,\" she said, laughing. \"I wish that I hadn't gotten pregnant during these times.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she said, she thanks God.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Photos by Nadia Bseiso. Text by Shereen Nanish and Jane Arraf\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Nominate A Woman\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We'd like to tell more stories about women's lives in the pandemic.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Is there a woman in your community who has overcome great challenges in their personal lives? Or is helping others with their challenges? Send an email to \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"mailto:goatsandsoda@npr.org\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>goatsandsoda@npr.org\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cem>with your nomination, with \"Women's Stories\" in the subject line. We may feature them in a future story on NPR.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Being+A+Mom+Is+Tough.+Being+A+Mom+In+A+Pandemic+Is+Even+Tougher&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When I was growing up, I marveled at how my single mother was able to come home after a long day of work, make dinner, iron our school uniforms and help me and my sister with our homework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can't imagine how she would have managed during this pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What would she have done if she was laid off from her job at the airport? Would she be able to figure out — or afford — virtual school? How would she keep us safe from the virus?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around the world, mothers have been struggling with these very challenges during the pandemic. We spoke to three mothers who shared how they've been faring: a mom of two in Jordan, expecting her third child and missing the in-person support from family; a dairy farmer with four teenage children — and 165 cows — to look after; and a single mom helping her son, who is on the autism spectrum, find joy in spite of coronavirus restrictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read their stories, check out our special report on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/10/09/918815890/portraits-of-resilience-how-19-women-around-the-globe-face-the-pandemic\">19 women facing the coronavirus crisis\u003c/a> — then find out how to nominate a woman to be profiled at the bottom of the story. —\u003cstrong>\u003cem> Malaka Gharib \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56826\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56826\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-5_custom-a140ced9d1cef16f09306a3bb5a61041a697604d-s1100-c85-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nienke Pastoor (40), surrounded by some of her cows, on the 336 acre dairy farm she runs with her husband, Jaap, outside the village of Middelstum, The Netherlands, 2020.\u003cbr>Julia Gunther for NPR \u003ccite>(Julia Gunther for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Calm And Juggling On A Dairy Farm\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The cows rode around the milking carousel, a circular platform lined with 30 individual holding pens that slowly turn clockwise. In each pen, a black and white Holstein or brown and white Montbéliarde waited to be milked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the pit below the carousel, 40-year-old Nienke Pastoor stood at udder-height, attaching the milk-extracting pump to each cow as it passed her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastoor, her husband Jaap and Henk, an employee, need just 90 minutes to milk all 165 of the farm's dairy cows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastoor and her husband co-manage a 336-acre dairy farm. One of her many responsibilities is to help run the daily milking operation. She's also the mother of four teenage children; she cooks and cleans; and she manages the farm's books. She regularly gives tours to schoolchildren from the nearby city of Groningen, taking them around the farm and letting them milk the cows by hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56829\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-56829 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"1503\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85-800x1093.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85-1020x1394.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85-160x219.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-13_custom-27eb23350d46b82f34f3a4e09ea164229d44730a-s1100-c85-768x1049.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pastoor stands in her cow shed with her oldest son, Thomas, left, and her husband, Jaap. Thomas, 17, is studying farming and plans on taking over the family farm. When schools were shut due to the lockdown, Pastoor made sure her kids kept up with their schoolwork. \u003ccite>(Julia Gunther for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For a while Pastoor cherished the sudden quiet and freedom that COVID-19 brought to the \"Other World\": the name given to the remote farming district in the far north of the Netherlands where the Pastoor family have been dairy farmers for 75 years. \"We established a strange new family rhythm during the lockdown,\" she said on a blustery blue-skied afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only set routines were the morning and afternoon milking of the cows, and the e-lessons of her children: Thomas, 17, Daniel, 15, and twins Emma and Paulien, 13, who like many students in the Netherlands switched to remote learning in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There was less pressure,\" she said. \"No music lessons or sports games to drive the children to. And because the weather was so nice, life definitely felt a little more relaxed.\" The only visitors to the farm during the lockdown, which lasted from March 15 till June 2, were the truck drivers who came by three times a week to pick up 3,079 gallons of milk, and the vet who visited every two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the pandemic also added new tasks to Pastoor's farm routine. She suddenly had to help the children with their schoolwork. \"I made sure they were sitting at their laptops when they were supposed to be. I told them, 'We all have responsibilities in life. I have to do things. And so do you. You make sure the thing you are doing is done on time.' \"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The children didn't mind the sudden shift to learning at home. They were able to sleep longer in the mornings as they didn't have to bike to school. The only frustration was the frequent technical glitches — no sound, the teacher's screen not working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastoor was so busy she couldn't do the books for a month. Work kept piling up on the long wooden kitchen table where she normally sits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"In the end, I had to tell [Jaap and the children] to get out of the kitchen so I could have some time for myself.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It was difficult being a mother and a farm manager,\" she said, reflecting on lockdown life. \"Everyone expected me to successfully juggle everything.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But dealing with all these responsibilities didn't concern Pastoor. What truly worried her was how she would cope if her husband were to get COVID-19 and succumb to the virus — and she'd be left to manage the farm on her own. \"The pandemic really brought that home.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56830\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56830\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-14_custom-47d41395c1060cfdc4d5cbdb4c962fb99499fb88-s1100-c85-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pastoor feeds hay to some of her 165 cows after they've been milked.\u003cbr>Julia Gunther for NPR \u003ccite>(Julia Gunther for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So Pastoor spent as much time as she could learning how to operate the farm's tractors, feeders and other heavy machinery — usually her husband's domain. \"I also told him to write everything down on paper,\" she said. \"Just in case.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc around the world, life is slowly returning to normal on the Pastoor farm. The children are back at school, the price of milk is stabilizing after dropping dramatically during the lockdown due to a decrease in demand. Last week, Pastoor oversaw the birth of five new calves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Nature has a rhythm that dictates life on the farm,\" she reflected. Pandemic or not, cows need to be milked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Photos by Julia Gunther. Text by Nick Schönfeld\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56827\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56827\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-7_custom-8a62f8a62c468c44b52c5420d4d69e0862162428-s1100-c85-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Barrera helps her son Niko, 10, with math homework after a day of virtual learning at their home in Eau Claire, Wis. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A Single Mom, Her Son And 'Kindness Rocks'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It was Niko's idea to drop the decorated rocks in the schoolyard. Jessica Barrera, Niko's mother, said it gave him a sense of connection to the school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Since he can't be there [in person] at least the rocks could be there from him,\" Barrera said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rocks are a tradition Barrera started when she realized she needed new ways to get outside with her son. The 40-year-old single mother was laid off from her job at an airport shuttle service in Eau Claire, Wis., in March. Niko finished the last few months of fourth grade virtually. Their list of reasons to leave the house was dwindling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She read about \"kindness rocks\" online — stones decorated with art or inspiring messages and left conspicuously around a community for strangers to find. It sounded like a fun thing to do with Niko; they could go for walks and leave the rocks around town. Their first one had a simple message: \"Be kind.\" They left it in a park at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56828\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56828\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"721\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85-800x524.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85-1020x669.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85-160x105.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womensproject-8_custom-97798a979b60958c7543eba0773e97b70b002c64-s1100-c85-768x503.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barrera and her son, Niko, place rocks painted with hopeful messages at his school and other places in their community. They hope the rocks will brighten someone's day. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Niko is not a morning person. He typically starts his day with a granola bar and orange juice in a coffee mug (always a coffee mug). When he used to go to school, Barrera would sometimes take him to the Kwik Trip gas station, get herself a coffee and get him a hot chocolate in a to-go cup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"He'd go sit with the teachers — they had their little coffees and he had his Kwik Trip hot chocolate. They were just sitting there talking, like he's like a grown-up,\" Barrera remembered with a chuckle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"He's an old soul in an 11-year-old body.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now Niko, who is on the autism spectrum, is one of the millions of kids learning remotely. After breakfast, Barrera helps Niko connect to his classroom on the iPad the school district sent home. When this school year started, the district gave parents the option for virtual learning or a hybrid model with kids in the classroom twice a week. Barrera chose the virtual option because Niko did well with it in the spring, plus Barrera has a rare blood condition that puts her at high risk for serious complications from the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Niko doesn't love it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56831\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56831\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"735\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85-800x535.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-23_custom-7559191d88e351a6fd7483d52784a12bd9c45952-s1100-c85-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Niko sits at the virtual learning workspace that Barrera set up in his bedroom. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"He was like, 'This virtual learning is for the birds,' \" Barrera said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera applied for unemployment benefits for the airport shuttle job but was initially denied regular and federal pandemic benefits by the state unemployment agency because of rules that bar regular aid to laid-off workers who also receive federal disability assistance. (The state subsequently granted her pandemic benefits.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She started working again in June, before she was really comfortable with the idea. After a few months working in the marketing department of a home improvement chain, she found more meaningful work as a job coach for adults with special needs, three days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Sept. 21, the day of the interview, Barrera was home to help Niko count on his fingers to solve math problems as his school day wound to a close. By 2:30 p.m. class was done, and they walked their kindness rocks up to Niko's school. They decorated some with an image of the school's mascot — a panther.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kids learning in-person were lined up outside, waiting to go home. Barrera saw the school's longtime counselor and explained the rocks. He liked the idea and offered to arrange a scavenger hunt of the rocks for the other students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera knows it has been a tough start to fifth grade for Niko. He misses being around the other students. But she tries to reassure him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's a crappy situation all around,\" Barrera said, \"but it's temporary. It's going to get better.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Photos by Lauren Justice. Text by Bram Sable-Smith\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56832\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56832\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"734\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-30_custom-ad279c7a9380145817a22ed1d3b6d440df1bcd45-s1100-c85-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sawsan al-Ramemi with sons Zain, left, and Omer at home in Amman. She is expecting her third child. \u003ccite>(Nadia Bseiso for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Expecting A Baby In Isolation\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sawsan al-Ramemi, 32, is due to have a baby girl in November. But unlike her previous two pregnancies, which she recalls as happy events, this one fills the Jordanian mother with worry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She got pregnant in March just as the pandemic hit Jordan. Ramemi said she wasn't concerned at first because of the low number of cases in the country, which in March imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. But in September, infections climbed dramatically to a high of almost 2,000 a day in a population of about 10 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I've started being afraid as I'm visiting the hospital for pregnancy follow-up,\" said the former electrical engineer. \"I take precautions like wearing gloves and a mask, but I am still afraid when I'm in a taxi going to the hospital.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she has a long list of other concerns. Her husband, also an engineer, is working in the United States and is unable to travel home for the delivery. With such high coronavirus rates in the U.S., she worries about her husband contracting it there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While her own extended family would normally help her through the pregnancy, because of social distancing measures she has been left without that help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"My family supports me,\" she said. \"But now that support is mostly through phone calls.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramemi, dressed in a polka-dot top and leggings with her hair covered with a dusty rose-pink hijab, adjusted the Velcro on the plastic sandals of her 18-month-old son, Zain, as she talked. She thinks about what she will do when the baby is born. She has resolved to keep the infant isolated – a difficult prospect in the effusive Arab culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_56833\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-56833\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85.jpg 1100w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/womxnsprojectfinal-31_custom-d712a71232516e377d312e8a5ae60c7fce948c27-s1100-c85-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ramemi attends to her father. She moved in with her parents because her husband is working abroad. \u003ccite>(Nadia Bseiso for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"Usually people come to see the baby and they bring gifts,\" she said. \"Suppose they are infected? How can I let them kiss her?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramemi said she is lucky to have a ground-floor apartment with a garden and pavement for Zain and her 5-year-old son, Omer, to run around in. These days, because of the pandemic, they rarely venture beyond the garden with its fig and olive trees and high stone walls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Now I don't feel comfortable taking my children to visit public parks and gardens. They are young and I am afraid if they get the virus, they might transmit it to my family,\" she said. When she does see relatives, it's for very brief visits. She worries in particular about her elderly mother, who has cancer\u003cstrong>. \u003c/strong>\"Because of that I really limit my movement outside the house.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramemi said neither her physician nor the clinic she goes to provided information about the effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy, so she scoured the internet. While the Centers for Disease Control says pregnant women \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/special-populations/pregnancy-data-on-covid-19/what-cdc-is-doing.html\">might be at an increased risk\u003c/a> for severe illness from COVID-19, she said the studies she has read have reassured her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"2020 is full of surprises,\" she said, laughing. \"I wish that I hadn't gotten pregnant during these times.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she said, she thanks God.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Photos by Nadia Bseiso. Text by Shereen Nanish and Jane Arraf\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Nominate A Woman\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We'd like to tell more stories about women's lives in the pandemic.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Is there a woman in your community who has overcome great challenges in their personal lives? Or is helping others with their challenges? Send an email to \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"mailto:goatsandsoda@npr.org\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>goatsandsoda@npr.org\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cem>with your nomination, with \"Women's Stories\" in the subject line. We may feature them in a future story on NPR.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Being+A+Mom+Is+Tough.+Being+A+Mom+In+A+Pandemic+Is+Even+Tougher&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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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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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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"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": "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.",
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"possible": {
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"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.",
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"radiolab": {
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},
"rightnowish": {
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"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
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