The abrupt closing of college campuses this spring due to the spread of COVID-19 upended the lives of students and their families and disrupted the higher education sector. The impact of these closures and the questions of whether and how to reopen campuses this fall have been widely discussed. Less attention has been paid to the potential…

Ever since students began returning to classrooms in the late summer and fall of 2021, countless news stories have described intense staffing shortages in primary and secondary schools. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the country's K-12 educational workforce, with overworked educators retiring or leaving the profession, insufficient substitute…

During the 2020 period of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education delivery changed drastically. Using document analysis and interviews with staff and students, in this article I address how the practice of financial aid changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff reported that these changes created problems with technology and radically increased…

This report evaluates the COVID-19 situation after the release of the report, "A Blueprint for Back to School," which offered a framework for safely reopening schools in the fall. The report reflected the insights from 20 former federal officials, state school chiefs, and superintendents, many drawing on their experiences leading…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines COVID-19, focusing on going back to college safely. The following opening statements were presented: (1) Honorable Lamar Alexander, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and (2) Honorable Patty Murray, Ranking Member, a U.S. Senator from the…

In recent years and especially over the past 12 months, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest after the death of George Floyd, community colleges have been making efforts to view and rethink their missions through an equity lens. These efforts have included turning this prism toward institutional operations like student services, human…

This report presents school district leaders' views about staff turnover, hiring, and districts' financial outlooks at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Based on the survey responses of 292 district leaders from the American School District Panel (ASDP), the authors found that teacher and principal turnover had not increased substantially…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in the United States in March 2020, districts across the nation have faced the difficult task of reopening schools safely and keeping them open. It is useful to learn from the successes of districts that have used multilayered mitigation strategies to reduce the risk of in-school transmission. This brief…

School systems are currently faced with critical recovery needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders must decide how to allocate nearly $200 billion of federal funding, which has the potential to significantly impact efforts to accelerate learning and provide student well-being supports, especially for students who have been…