Below are some of the most recent op-eds and articles written by Public Impact. To read more, searchable by topic, visit our resource database.
Engagement, Demographics, Academic, Economics—School Needs Index a New Way to Gauge Success in Serving Students With the Greatest Challenges
By Bryan Hassel and Greg Lippman; published in The 74. A version of this essay originally appeared on the FutureEd blog. We have heard a great deal over the course of the pandemic about learning loss. But while the negative impact of COVID-19 on students of all kinds is becoming increasingly…
Tracking fall reopening plans for all North Carolina districts: New database from EdNC and Public Impact
By Beth Clifford, David Gilmore, Cole Smith, Preston Faulk and Molly Osborne; first published on EdNC. Since the COVID-19 pandemic upended life as we knew it in March, North Carolina school districts have had to rethink how they deliver education. After transitioning online in the spring, districts could choose between a hybrid model with limited face-to-face instruction…
Cost-Effective Ways to Rethink School Staffing
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published in Education Week. Even before COVID-19 sent students and educators home, teachers’ jobs had grown increasingly complex. Rightful demands for standards matching those of other nations—and for equitable opportunities allowing students to meet or exceed those standards—swelled over recent decades. With…
Will Learning Pods Be Only for the Rich?
By Bryan Hassel and Sharon Kebschull Barrett; first published in Education Week. To exhausted or worried parents deciding whether to send their children into school buildings this fall, “pandemic pods” may look like an appealing way out. Keeping their boys and girls at home learning alone may be better for…
States: It’s not too late to guide districts on teaching and learning
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published by CRPE, August 4, 2020 One striking finding of the CRPE and Public Impact review of state reopening plans is what’s not there: the primary purpose of schools, teaching and learning. During COVID-19, states are giving districts only minimal guidance and…
North Carolina district responses to COVID-19: An updated database from EdNC and Public Impact
By Molly Osborne, Jessica Struhs, Troy Smith and Beth Clifford; first published on EdNC. In March 2020, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) released “District Responses to COVID-19,” an online database tracking how some of the nation’s largest public school districts have shifted instruction, student support, and organizational operations in response to COVID-19 school closures….
Exploring statewide trends and equity gaps in North Carolina districts’ responses to COVID-19
By Jessica Struhs, Troy Smith, Beth Clifford, Preston Faulk and Cole Smith; first published on EdNC. This data summary analyzes trends in the NC District Responses to COVID-19 School Closures database completed on June 5, 2020, which is an update of the database first published on April 23, 2020. In developing the database, researchers first searched for districts’…
High-growth learning potential during COVID-19: Where North Carolina stands
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published by Education NC, April 24, 2020 As Public Impact’s co-presidents, we’re pleased to have our organization collaborate with EdNC on the 1.0 version of the NC District Response to COVID-19 School Closures Database, based on CRPE’s national database. What do the data tell…
Putting Data In Its Place How Strong Teaching Teams Use Data To Achieve Student Growth
By Sharon Kebschull Barrett; first published in EducationNC. Can deep dives into large flows of student learning data actually lower teacher stress? Successful multi-classroom leaders, who lead small teaching teams in data analysis, say yes. When schools focus on small teams led by highly successful teachers, they help address the concerns…
The Killer App for Digital Learning at Scale: Human Connection
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published in Education NC. Digital learning has gotten a bad rap, in some cases reasonably so, especially for the lack of results with disadvantaged learners. Meanwhile, alarms are sounding about the rise of online screen time co-timed with surges in anxiety, depression, suicide and insomnia among…