Skip to footer

Learning From Lockdown

Brian Stauffer/special contributor

The closing of schools across the United States has been problematic for many students, families, and teachers. But in some places, educators are making things work, and even finding ideas that could outlast the pandemic and transform American schooling for the better. In this reporting collaborative, the Education Labs at AL.com, The Dallas Morning News, The Fresno Bee, and The Seattle Times partnered with The Christian Science Monitor, The Hechinger Report, and Solutions Journalism Network to produce this series of solutions-oriented stories.

Monitor stories
Focus

The pandemic’s remote learning legacy: A lot worth keeping

Cover Story

The tutoring revolution: How it could transform education

Meet the students who say remote learning works just fine

Focus

‘Somebody cares’: How schools are helping with student well-being

Collaboration partners
AL.com

As teacher morale hit bottom, these Alabama districts looked for ways to ease workload

Last summer, Alabama schools were asked to provide in-person and remote options for learning, effectively doubling the teaching responsibilities for the same amount of staff. At least two Alabama school districts segmented their teachers, who were given the option to either teach remote students or in-person students. Not both. Districts say the decision has had positive impacts on teacher morale. (Photo credit: Talladega County Schools)
The Hechinger Report

Schooling has changed forever. Here’s what will stay when things go back to normal

Some of the most exciting education solutions forced by the pandemic have very little to do with giving every student a device. In many districts, educators are reconsidering old norms about schedules and thinking about how to incorporate more community-based learning. And they’re placing greater weight on the emotional well-being of all members of a school community. (Photo credit: Peggy Barmore for The Hechinger Report)
The Hechinger Report

Trying to improve remote learning? A refugee camp offers some surprising lessons

A program that helps students at a refugee camp in northern Iraq become digitally literate has a few lessons to teach to U.S. schools about remote learning. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Charlie Grosso/Hello Future)
The Seattle Times

How a diverse school district is using a strategy usually reserved for ‘gifted’ students to boost everyone

Educators in a diverse suburban district south of Seattle have turned to a strategy called “acceleration” to leapfrog students ahead and avoid learning loss. The focus: Keep students progressing to more advanced lessons. Catch them up as needed. Don’t dwell on what was missed. (Photo credit: Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times)
The Seattle Times

To serve kids in the pandemic, a tribe and a Washington school district create a unique learning space

At the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s learning center, tucked in the tribe’s reservation on the Olympic Peninsula, students get support with online schoolwork and relief from long days spent at home. (Photo credit: Amanda Snyder/The Seattle Times)
The Dallas Morning News

Learning from Lockdown: What a Texas school district can teach others about virtual education

When campuses suddenly began shutting down last March, school administrators scrambled to figure out how they could educate Texas’ 5.4 million students without seeing them in person. There weren’t many examples of high-performing virtual campuses, but iUniversity Prep, one of the state’s only virtual schools operated by a traditional district, stood out. (Photo credit: The Dallas Morning News)