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School Without Walls: Program Created by 110-Year-Old Black Church Becomes ‘Lifesaver' for Madison, WI Parents During Pandemic

Zoë Kirsch

March 01, 2021 |

The 74 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Madison, Wisconsin

School Without Walls is an offshoot of a summer learning and enrichment program that Ladson-Billings and Jones launched back in June to help 3rd- and 4th-graders confronting pandemic-related learning loss. In a time of political instability, global disruption, and a complex, virulent disease, one solution for anxious parents emerged from something simple: human relationships forged at a faith-based institution.

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200 Schools, Universal Weekly COVID Screening: How ‘Assurance Testing' Has Kept Thousands of Texas Students in Classrooms

Bekah McNeel

February 28, 2021 |

The 74 |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, Texas

Determined to keep San Antonio schools open, the newly created nonprofit Community Labs is running an assurance testing operation at a size and scale unique in the country. Used with other mitigation strategies, assurance testing actually does make schools safer, said Community Labs President Sal Webber.

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Bucking the Trend: How 2 D.C. Principals Restored Black Parents' Trust in Returning Kids to the Classroom

Taylor Swaak

February 28, 2021 |

The 74 |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Principals in the D.C. area have developed tailored approaches to rebuild trust with families who are wary of letting their children return to in-person classes amid the pandemic. These approaches include close, constant communication with parents, including handing out personal phone numbers, as well as heightened transparency regarding the measures each school is taking to keep students and teachers safe, and one-on-one tours with families.

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How Texas Teachers Are Prioritizing Basic Skills as Instruction Time Gets Crunched During the Pandemic

Bekah McNeel

January 21, 2021 |

The 74 |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, Texas

To counteract learning loss imposed by the pandemic, San Antonio teachers are focusing on the most essential skills- reading and math for kindergartners through second graders. By prioritizing a specific set of skills like phonetics and arithmetic, they anticipate students will stay on track with their grade level. “We knew we had to prioritize in order to stay on grade level.” Based on their own yearly assessments, it seems the strategy is working.

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Nashville's ‘Navigator' Tries to Keep Students in Remote Learning From Getting Lost in the System

Linda Jacobson

December 20, 2020 |

The 74 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Nashville, Tennessee

In order to keep track of students and prevent them from dropping out, the Nashville district created “Navigators.” A corps of 5,600 school employees- teachers, lunchroom workers, and bookkeepers, who track students through weekly phone and video calls. The navigators have “completed roughly 220,000 calls to parents and students since school started in August,” each with a caseload of 6 to 12 students. Their conversations have led from everything to helping students complete assignments, to buying groceries, to finding out students are homeless.

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Helping Students With Remote Learning — By Also Aiding Their Parents With Wraparound Services: How One Texas Community Center Is Helping Families Facing Impossible Choices

Bekah McNeel

September 28, 2020 |

The 74 |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, Texas

In San Antonio, the Guadalupe Community Center is providing a free “day school” for children of working-class families in the city’s poorest zip code. The center serves around 30 K-12 students where they can safely attend virtual classes. The center also provides families with “clothing, food, counseling, and help with utilities.” The center runs 40 other similar programs throughout the city.

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Texas's Missing Students: Weeks After Closures, Schools in San Antonio Still Couldn't Locate Thousands of Kids. How One Band Director Finally Tracked Down His Musicians

Bekah McNeel

June 30, 2020 |

The 74 |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

As thousands of students across the country stopped showing up to remote classes, schools scrambled to make contact. One Texas Band Director built on his relationships to localize his students. “He had relationships with students — his own and those between bandmates — forged long before the closures. When his personal connections played out, he called in reinforcements section by section, woodwinds finding woodwinds, brass finding brass.” The effort worked so well some teachers were asking him for help to localize other students.

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In the ‘Crazy, Complicated' World of Special Education, Parents Turn to One Another for Help — on the Internet

Laura McKenna

August 19, 2019 |

The 74 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Because special education services vary by district and are often confusing to understand and navigate, parents are increasingly turning to online forums and listserves to answer their questions. The groups also serve as an emotional support for parents who might otherwise feel alone.

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4.5 Million Young People Nationwide Are Not Working or in School. How Cities Are Working to Get Them Back on Track — & Avoid the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Bekah McNeel

August 13, 2019 |

The 74 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, California

There is a certain population of youth aged 16-24 that are neither in school nor working because of some derailment (oftentimes burdensome responsibilities) along the way. A national organization called Nxt Level helps people get back on track with their goals through a specialized team that helps an individual with things like getting a GED, mental health or legal resources, job training, and food programs. They even work with local businesses to give the kids a chance and hire them upon their completion of the program. Nxt Level now has centers in Baltimore, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and more.

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The Mentor: One Year, Two Teachers and a Quest in the Bronx to Empower Educators and Students to Think for Themselves

Kate Stringer

June 24, 2019 |

The 74 |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Founded in the 1990s, the New Teacher Center offers a promising mentor model for new teachers. In an effort to measure the program's effectiveness and see if it impacts teacher retention, the 74 followed two participating teachers in a high-needs school in the South Bronx for one year.

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