To prevent the spread of COVID-19 schools closed down. It impacts face-to-face learning due to the inadequacies involving broadband, school meals, college attendance, instructional time, accountability, and college readiness.
Broadband
hinder distance learning due to inadequate technology. For example, many small school districts in California don’t have enough training for teachers and technology to offer adequate distance learning and may not have enough money to reopen schools without serious challenges, according to a report by the Small School Districts’ Association released this week.
States are beginning to identify the actions to take, in partnership with other stakeholders, to ensure that their most vulnerable students, including students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, English learners, students with disabilities, and students experiencing homelessness, foster care, or engaged in the juvenile justice system, have equitable access to the resources they need to thrive while schools are closed and to ensure action will be taken to address lost instructional time. As of 4/6/2020, more than 9 million children lack internet access at home for online learning
Reasons for not having home internet vary. Most families surveyed by NCES reported that they simply don’t need it. These families may choose to set up home internet during this pandemic. However, 34% reported not having internet because they were unable to afford it, 4% because they did not have a home computer, and 4% because an internet connection was not available in their area. This means at least 42% of children without home internet will face barriers to connectivity.
The use of technology in schools continues to grow, with 48 percent of students reporting they use a desktop computer in the classroom. Forty-two percent use smartphones, 33 percent use interactive whiteboards, and 20 percent use tablets.
School Meals
While school closures may be necessary to slow the spread of the virus, they can adversely affect both parents, who might have to take off work to care for their child, as well as students, particularly low-income students, who rely on school meals for lunch. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced flexibilities to ensure that students receive meal service during school closures while minimizing potential exposure to the novel coronavirus. The USDA has issued waivers to exempt states from the congregate meal requirement as they develop customized strategies to respond to their population’s needs. This will allow schools to leverage their participation in one of the USDA’s summer meal programs.
As federal guidance emerges, several states and schools are developing their own solutions, adapting traditional service models to reduce disease transmission. For example, the Department of Education in South Carolina (where more than 15% of the population lives in rural areas) announced “Grab-n-Go” meal sites throughout the state that can provide up to 5 days of meals at once. Several districts in Michigan and New York are arranging meal deliveries to school bus stops or homes. The USDA has also initiated a public-private partnership in rural areas to deliver shelf-stable food packages that include food that children can prepare independently, though the program’s reach is limited. Although such approaches are innovative, it’s unclear whether they can ensure that food is distributed effectively and equitably while preventing disease transmission, and it remains to be seen which programs will prove cost-effective and sustainable for the duration of school closures.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which was signed into law on March 18 and authorizes $100 billion in relief, includes explicit provisions for nutrition assistance. The legislation allows states to request waivers for providing temporary, emergency benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to households already enrolled in the program with children who would normally receive free or reduced-price meals, up to the maximum monthly allotment of $646 for a family of four. Pilot tested in summer months — when many children lose access to school meals — this approach has reduced severe food insecurity. However, results from pilot tests are preliminary, and the program hasn’t been scaled up and may fall short of reaching many children affected by Covid-19. For example, children don’t qualify if they are served by the Child and Adult Care Food Program or if they are undocumented immigrants whose families don’t qualify for SNAP but rely on school meals.
The health effects of missed meals include fatigue and reduced immune response, which increases the risk of contracting communicable diseases. Even brief periods of food insecurity can cause long-term developmental, psychological, physical, and emotional harms. Children from low-income households, who are already at higher risk for poorer health and academic performance than children from high-income households, maybe further disadvantaged by nutrition shortfalls.
The current political situation is made more tenuous by proposed changes to SNAP that could reduce or eliminate benefits for more than 1 million households with children, such as a proposed rule to limit broad-based categorical eligibility. In addition, changes to the “public charge” rule went into effect in February 2020. These changes could now deny a path to citizenship for people who use public benefits such as SNAP, which will probably discourage documented immigrant families from obtaining access to emergency provisions, leaving them increasingly vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic. Short-term policy solutions may help address immediate issues of food insecurity resulting from loss of access to meals provided by schools or child care centers. Unfortunately, broader policies that discourage enrollment or reduce access to nutrition-assistance programs have undermined our response to Covid-19.
Accountability
On March 12, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it would consider targeted one-year waivers on assessment and accountability requirements that could be impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Waivers could relax state assessment requirements and identification of low-performing schools if schools are closed for a significant portion of the year. The ED would also consider waiving the 95% testing participation rate and measures of chronic absenteeism
On March 20, 2020, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the Department will grant a waiver to any state that is unable to assess its students due to the ongoing national emergency, providing relief from federally mandated testing requirements for this school year. Any state that receives this waiver may also receive a waiver from the requirement that this testing data be used in the statewide accountability system due to the national emergency. These waivers provide state education agencies with the flexibility to bypass assessment and accountability requirements.
College Readiness
The outbreak has also disrupted the admissions process related to testing, the next scheduled nationwide tests of both the ACT and SAT have been cancelled. The CollegeBoard which administers the SAT, cancelled the May 2 test as well as the makeup test for earlier cancellations in March, students who registered for the test will receive refunds. The ACT postponed its April 4 test date to June 13. The CollegeBoard has also announced plans to allow students to take Advanced Placement (AP) tests from home. ETS, which administers the GRE has also announced an at-home version of the exam will be available to students who wish to take the test for graduate and professional schools. Because of disruptions in testing, several schools have announced plans to remove ACT/SAT requirements for admissions and become test-optional.
Issues Affecting College Students
- Some subjects just do not transfer easily to virtual learning, making it hard for some students to continue to learn and progress.
- As over two-thirds of college students already graduate with a large amount of student debt, it could continue to pile up and force some into an even deeper hole.
- Many students who relied upon on-campus jobs to help pay their tuition are already in a difficult position as they face stresses similar to the more than 10 million people who have recently filed for unemployment.
- Those who were on campus were forced to pack their things and evacuate immediately.
- Many students who go to school far from home were unable to find a way to get home easily, which added to an already stressful situation. Some students relied on their dorms as their primary living space and had to rush to find somewhere else to live quickly. This has been especially difficult for more than one million international students, many of whom could not even get flights home because of certain travel restrictions or a lack of money. While some schools have made exceptions for those who struggled to find an alternative living situation and even offered refunds for room and board and parts of tuition, many schools have not been as generous.
- Undergraduate, graduate and professional students who incurred expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus and who are eligible to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are eligible for the Stabilization Grant. Demonstrating financial need is not required. Unfortunately, international students are not eligible to file a FAFSA and therefore are not eligible for the Stabilization Grant.The funds can only be granted to students who have eligible expenses related to the disruption of campus operations—examples include a computer purchase, an upgrade to a data/Wi-Fi plan, unexpected travel or living expenses, purchases of supplies needed to complete coursework online. Emergency funds provided are not taxable.
3 ways the coronavirus pandemic could reshape education
- The coronavirus pandemic has changed how millions around the globe are educated.
- New solutions for education could bring much-needed innovation.
- Given the digital divide, new shifts in education approaches could widen equality gaps.
Risk-control decisions have led millions of students into temporary ‘home-schooling’ situations. These changes have certainly caused a degree of inconvenience, but they have also prompted new examples of educational innovation. Although it is too early to judge how reactions to COVID-19 will affect education systems around the world, there are signs suggesting that it could have a lasting impact on the trajectory of learning innovation and digitization.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of building resilience to face various threats, from pandemic disease to extremist violence to climate insecurity, and even, yes, rapid technological change. The pandemic is also an opportunity to remind ourselves of the skills students need in this unpredictable world such as informed decision making, creative problem solving, and perhaps above all, adaptability. To ensure those skills remain a priority for all students, resilience must be built into our educational systems as well.
“Resilience must be built into our educational systems”
Sources: usafacts.org, edtechmagazine.com, The New England Journal pf Medicine, 
, Boston University
