Drawing on interviews with parents of public-school students in who joined learning pods for the 2020-21 school year, this paper argues that the COVID-19 pandemic may have had a narrowing effect on the worlds of children in ways that increase their socio-spatial isolation along vectors of race and class. Interviews with parents who started…

Almost everyone knows what the term "achievement gap" means, although the key to closing it remains elusive. Despite efforts spanning a decade or more, the disparity in test scores, graduation rates, and other indicators of academic success separating many students of color from many of their white and Asian peers has not been eliminated. In a…