COVID-19 and the changing education landscape
In March 2020, when COVID-19 struck and physical classrooms closed, CLI district partners scrambled to provide distance-learning solutions for students. Having previously made initial investments in online learning for teachers, CLI quickly pivoted its 30+ years of experience to give students, teachers and districts the support they needed as quickly as possible.
COVID-19 has changed how classrooms function. It has also altered the lives of students outside of school. This is particularly true for the predominantly Black and Brown communities CLI serves. Due to systemic health and socio-economic inequities, these communities experience disproportionately higher COVID-19-related deaths and job losses. This damage continues as we enter the 2020-21 school year. With its partners, CLI is working to help teachers deliver the best literacy education possible under these circumstances.
Over the summer, in preparation for a school year in which fully in-person classrooms would likely not be an option, CLI launched a series of virtual workshops designed to help guide teachers through the difficult transition to distance learning.
With many schools offering asynchronous, hybrid or fully online classes, CLI leveraged its role as a leader in education research and implementation to give teachers a place to learn from CLI’s best practices, current research and their peers.
Through these workshops, CLI provided teachers with information on everything from fostering a caring classroom online to teaching literacy in a world where so many children are experiencing pandemic-related trauma and disconnection.
CLI will keep working with its education partners, funders and donors to ensure that teachers and students get what they need to stay on track during these challenging times. While students and teachers face many obstacles, CLI is finding new and efficient ways to ensure that children, regardless of where they live, are able to get the resources they need to become strong readers, writers and thinkers.
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