By Dr. Sharon H. Porter
Many governors have closed all K-12 schools for a minimum of two weeks. The closing all PK-12 schools is impacting 15-20 million students. Additionally, colleges and universities are closing their doors and some even canceling graduation ceremonies in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
So far, states closing all public schools include: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Several New York Superintendents have called for Mayor Bill de Blasio to close schools across the state of New York.
What are the implications of these closures as it relates to education? Many public school educators are concerned about state testing; Will it be canceled this year, if not, how can the missing direct instruction be accounted for in the results of those state tests?
The CEO of Zoom, Eric Yuan has given educators unlimited temporary meeting minutes if they sign up using a school address and can be verified by Zoom. Virtual Learning has become an instant hot topic in the education arena with the mandatory two week minimum closing of many schools. The only issue that seems to come up is access… All students may not necessarily have devices or access to the internet during this unexpected absence from school. Nevertheless, it is a great start. Many teachers will be using Google Classroom to reach out to students, and some will be using social media to engage students daily.
We will continue to follow the latest updates of this pandemic and its effects on education.
Dr. Sharon H. Porter (Dr. Sharon) educator, best-selling author, podcaster, and host, has 30 years experience as a principal, assistant principal, central office administrator, and classroom teacher.
She is the host of Education FIRST, a monthly livestream interview show that features educators. Dr. Sharon is the Executive Director of the Next In Line to Lead Aspiring Principal Leadership Academy (APLA). She is the President of SHP Enterprise, the umbrella entity for Perfect Time SHP LLC, The GRIND Entrepreneur Network, and SHP Media and Broadcasting. She is a contributing writer, Editor-In-Chief, Co-Founder, and owner of Vision & Purpose (V&P) LifeStyle Magazine.