On the recordOctober 21, 2020
recently Hawaii public schools resumed classes for the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Faced with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, our schools had planned to combine in-person, distance, and blended learning this year. Unfortunately, a sudden increase in coronavirus cases required a shift to fully distance learning through the first quarter. Now schools are navigating distance learning as they determine how they will return to the classroom. The pandemic has made it difficult to plan, and our principals, teachers, parents, and students are doing the best they can. Many are still recovering from earlier this year, when the coronavirus closed campuses for two months--resulting in 46 fewer days in the classroom for students, who almost certainly experienced learning or instructional loss. I have heard from parents and students, and they have been effusive in their praise for educators who are making this school year work. I have also heard from educators, who have been clear in their need for more training and resources--especially when it comes to learning new strategies for providing effective distance learning and addressing instructional loss in students. Many educators are concerned about how the pandemic will disproportionately impact at-risk and marginalized students.…
