Ansel Oommen, a medical technologist in New York, at the beginning of the pandemic, was sometimes working alone processing hundreds of samples from all five boroughs, Westchester, and the lower Hudson Valley. After 20 nights of physical and psychological fatigue, he just knew that he had to process his circumstances through art. This would not be…

Because states typically fund districts based on student counts, districts reporting shrinking enrollment worry about shrinking dollars as well. The seemingly obvious quick fix is for states to hold districts financially harmless for some or all of their enrollment loss. But states have many factors to weigh when deciding whether or how to go down…

As did the vast majority of higher education institutions, SUNY implemented test-optional admissions policies across all campuses for students applying to enroll in Fall 2021. SUNY and its peers made this decision in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced applicants' access to SAT/ACT testing. A majority of these schools have…

The community schools strategy transforms a school into a place where educators, local community members, families, and students work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development. As partners, they organize in- and out-of-school resources, supports, and opportunities so that young people thrive. A growing number…

In spring 2021, I taught a synchronous online course in disability studies, communing with young people struggling with their present and future as educators. The students not only felt empowered to introduce themselves with their preferred pronouns, but they were also empowered to disclose their disabilities. One-third of the students identified…

The New York State School Library Systems were established in 1984 for the purpose of providing professional development, consulting about library programs and practice, coordinating cooperative collection development, facilitating interlibrary loans, and supporting regional and state-sponsored electronic resources. There are currently forty…

Community schools serve as the hubs of their communities by providing wraparound services and enrichment opportunities to students and families in need. If children lack eyeglasses, dental care, mental health counseling, school supplies, winter coats, sufficient food, or stable housing, a community school would connect students and families to…

As the country continues to transition into a new normal because of the the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that schools and educators adopt a "whole child" approach to education, incorporating teaching methods that account for the ways that children grow and learn in their relationships, identity, emotional understanding, and overall…

When the U.S. Department of Education (ED) signaled that the broad waivers for state assessments it had offered in 2019-20 would not be widely offered in 2021, it sought to balance the need for student learning data to inform pandemic recovery with the very real operational challenges states face in administering tests this year. This policy…

Greece Central School District's longstanding new teacher induction model suddenly changed when the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close abruptly in March 2020. At a time when many districts dropped their new teacher induction plans amid chaos and confusion, Greece Central School District was able to rapidly transform the way they support…

This special issues brief provides an overview of the education workforce shortage trends both nationally and in Region 2 states (Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island). The brief also highlights examples of how Region 2 states are innovating to address these shortages and provides additional considerations for strategies to address shortages in…

This article describes the experiences of Molloy College teachers in the field and alumni who joined teachers in their respective Long Island districts to transform education and provide service and leadership during COVID-19 school closures. The COVID-19 experience taught the alumni and all educators a few things about online teaching that…

This Policy Snapshot provides examples of legislation in 13 states that have proposed or enacted legislation addressing the following principles of K-12 funding models: attendance and enrollment, revenue, and equity-based initiatives. All 50 states allocate K-12 funding in different ways. Refer to this two-page reference guide, which defines and…

As citizen boards who must be nonpartisan to be effective, state boards of education are uniquely placed to help eliminate the political divides that impede decisive action to end inequities in learning. Three state boards of education and education agency staff--in Nebraska, New York, and North Carolina--committed to joining a National…

The pandemic-fueled expansion of online learning will certainly persist beyond the pandemic, and schools must ensure that the transition creates accessible, high-quality options for all students. Most recently, the surge in COVID-19 Omicron variant cases and persistent ambiguity around whether and how to close schools reinforces the fact that we…