NYC plans to screen nearly 200,000 students in the early grades to uncover struggling readers. Then what?
From Chalkbeat: In a massive bid to gauge reading skills following COVID-related learning disruptions, New York City’s education department is introducing literacy screening for its nearly 200,000 children in kindergarten through second grade. This fall’s early literacy effort is part of a wider $635 million infusion, almost entirely federally funded, aimed at getting thousands of […]
This NYC counselor is helping students work through COVID-era trauma
From Chalkbeak: After Randy Bowen lost three family members to COVID-19, he knew he needed to prioritize the activities that center him, such as meditating and riding his bike, so that he could show up for his students at Community Health Academy of the Heights. Bowen, a school counselor of 14 years and a certified […]
COVID makes school lunch complicated in NYC
From Chalkbeat: Bronx mom Grisel Cardona is hopeful that her daughter’s fourth-grade class will be able to eat on the playground this year as often as possible, even if it means sitting picnic-style on the ground. She’s worried about students socializing together during a time of day that they can’t wear masks and hopes that […]
NYC teachers union, city at impasse over vaccine mandate for medical and religious exemptions
From Chalkbeat: Negotiations have stalled between New York City’s teachers union and City Hall over a vaccination mandate for school staffers, pushing union leaders to file a formal complaint with the state. The city has refused to pay teachers who have a legitimate medical or religious reason not to take the shot, according to the […]
Office hours in store for NYC students who must quarantine when their peers remain in school
From Chalkbeat: For students who must quarantine when their classmates can remain in school, their teachers must provide “office hours” instead of live instruction, education department officials announced Wednesday. “Office hours” can mean multiple things — answering a student’s questions, individual or small group tutorials, check-ins on assignments, according to education department spokesperson Sarah Casasnovas. […]
NYC to require vaccines for all education department employees
From Chalkbeat: New York City will require every education department employee to be vaccinated this school year, department officials said Monday. All 148,000 education employees will be required to receive at least one vaccine dose by Sept. 27, about two weeks after schools open to students on Sept. 13. They will also be required to […]
I am an elementary school educator, and I embrace critical race theory.
From Chalkbeat: My lessons center on my students’ lives and stories. As a new teacher in Arizona 20 years ago, I found myself in the middle of a campaign against bilingual education. Arizona voters had recently passed Proposition 203 restricting bilingual education and English as a Second Language instruction, as it was called then, following […]
NYC mandates COVID vaccines for high school athletes and their coaches
From Chalkbeat: High school athletes and coaches participating in sports considered “high risk” for contracting the coronavirus will be required to have at least one dose of the COVID vaccine by the first day of competitive play, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday. The mandate will apply to an estimated 20,000 students […]
