Return to school

The topic of students, teachers and other staff going back to school in these days of COVID-19 is front and center in the educational and parenting worlds. Yet there is a third party to these decisions who is neither. The decision-makers in this case are the politicians.
I do not know the answer to any of the questions such a decision provokes. Should schools re-open? Should students and teachers go back to school? How should they treturn? What conditions should be attached? How should the school day or classroom practice be adapted? Or assessment? What alternative(s) to face-to-face schooling should be offered? Virtual? Live or synchronous? Recorded or non-synchronous? Radio or online? Mobile-based? Printed packets to be competed and returned?

These, other questions and the implications of any possible answers are very, very complex and not as simple or as black and white as any of the parties maintain. However, one important consideration is that reactionary decision-making rarely if ever leads to the best outcomes.

What is striking is the number of people in the UK and the US who preface remarks with "I think ...", "I feel ,," and "I believe ...". A national lawmaker in a five-minute interview on NPR yesterday made a number of assertions every minute of the intervoew, and each was supported and justified with "I think ..." and "I am sure .." and so on.

What is missing from these discussions is the lack of data. Other countries, systems, states and individual schools have tried and are trying a range of approaches and those experiences should be illuminating. This particular moment in time is unique in that during previous pandemics, the Black Death or the Spanish Flu or even polio, we did not have the technology or medical knowledge and approaches we have today. We can learn from others, and we can learn and adapt quickly.

Policy decisions, including re-opening schools, must be driven by data and not come from philosophical or political positions. This may be slower, but it will be safer and it will produce better outcomes for all of us.

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