Our recent white paper examines how COVID-related school closures have led to unfinished learning across the nation and proposes solutions to help school administrators implement programs and personnel to help their students succeed moving forward.

<h3>How Administrators Can Restructure Programs to Accelerate Learning and Recover from School Shutdowns</h3>School shutdowns due to COVID have led to a unfinished learning and diminished access to essential services for students across the nation. While administrators, educators, parents, and other citizens have joined in massive community efforts to keep children and teens afloat, there is still much work to be done. Administrators now have to strategically approach how they will implement programs to help students move forward now that schools have reopened.Our latest white paper is designed to aid school leaders in those efforts. In this paper, we first touch on recent research regarding how COVID-related school shutdowns have led to unfinished learning. We then explore solutions school leaders across the nation have implemented to accelerate learning and help close gaps. We close by offering practical ideas administrators can consider for structuring programs and implementing personnel to help kids catch up.Here are a few highlights:<ul><li>Far-Reaching Effects. 55.1 million students at 124,000 U.S. schools have been impacted by closures (<a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/map-coronavirus-and-school-closures-in-2019-2020/2020/03" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EdWeek</a>). COVID-related closures have caused students to slip behind in academics, especially in math and reading (<a href="https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2020/05/Collaborative-Brief_Covid19-Slide-APR20.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NWEA</a>). Further, many students have lost ground in social-emotional learning and development (<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/312605/parents-say-covid-harming-child-mental-health.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gallup</a>), and some face exacerbation of mental health issues that otherwise would have been addressed in the school environment (<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2764730" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">JAMA</a>). While COVID closures have impacted all of the nation’s children, students belonging to disadvantaged groups have experienced even greater losses. School shutdowns have further widened the divide for these students regarding access to technology and opportunity for academic achievement (<a href="https://cmr.berkeley.edu/2020/07/covid-education/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Berkeley</a>).</li><li> </li><li>A Community Effort. While this may seem daunting, administrators and school communities aren’t giving up. They have been feverishly implementing plans to help students recoup lost time. Patterns have emerged in how to approach strategies to address the learning gaps. To tackle the challenge, some school leaders are taking steps to assess progress, focus on acceleration versus remediation, use targeted mitigation and engaging content, and work to close the digital divide.</li><li> </li><li>Partnering with Cross Country Education. One of the most difficult tests school leaders face is how to address the widespread intervention and learning acceleration needs of students.</li><li> </li><li>But you don’t have to do it alone, according to Cross Country Education Director of Partnerships and Special Education Consultant Dr. Christine Suh: “At Cross Country Education, we have provided a great deal of remote one-to-one and small group support to students throughout the pandemic. We continue to deliver these services virtually and in person as schools reopen by providing an array of skilled and passionate educational professionals, including special education teachers, paraprofessionals, substitute teachers, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, adapted PE teachers, counselors, behavioral interventionists, school nurses, and more.”</li></ul><h2>Download the White Paper</h2>To read more about what schools across the nation are doing to help students succeed and how Cross Country Education professionals can, download <a href="https://www.crosscountryeducation.com/lp-unfinished-learning?leadSource=Blog&amp;campaignCode=BLULWHITEPAPER" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Unfinished Learning: Strategies and Solutions.</a>

Strategies and Solutions for Unfinished Learning