As the COVID-19 crisis response continues, until most children are vaccinated, the need for rapid-response research will most likely continue into the 2021–22 school year. With rolling quarantines, the academic and social emotional impacts are likely to mount. And the cumulative effects are only beginning to be understood and accounted for. This knowledge management work is critical and must continue through the recovery phase of the pandemic.
American students face unprecedented academic, social-emotional and mental health needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meeting those needs will require targeted efforts and creative new approaches to instruction, staffing, social-emotional and mental health wellness, career preparation, and community and parent empowerment.
COVID-19 disrupted an already tenuous system of support for adolescents, both in and out of school. Disengagement, apathy, and failing grades were common. Lacking support and facing financial stress, many students postponed going to college last year. All this happened on top of existing inequities, which the pandemic deepened and accelerated. In the midst of these and other challenges, school system responses to the pandemic introduced new opportunities:
English language learners represent a large population in K–12 classrooms across the nation and yet states are failing to improve academic outcomes for these students, including college readiness.
Under current funding policies, school districts are unaware of which resource allocations are associated with improved student outcomes for English Learners. It is important to know which district actions, categories of funding and amounts of spending influence English Learner outcomes, specific to college-ready indicators.
Childhood obesity is a critical issue in the U.S., with Hispanic youth facing a higher prevalence than white youth by nearly 12%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Due to budget rescissions in some Arizona schools, there are fewer physical education teachers and limited academic time devoted to physical education and health.
Presently, the U.S. immigration system keeps too many from fully participating in the American experience—to the detriment of our society. Reforms that incentivize legal immigration and welcome the majority of prospective immigrants, while preventing those who would come to do us harm, can yield safer communities and a stronger economy.
The Higher Education Program welcomes excellent, innovative proposals from colleges and universities and the organizations that support them. The program encourages inquiries from institutions that are less well-resourced and/or that serve disadvantaged or marginalized communities.
Higher education program grants have several characteristics: