PECE Project Update 1.2021: COVID Care in K-12 Schools

Nadine Tanio and Fred Ariel Hernandez are conducting an ongoing study of K-12 school governance in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California during COVID-19 (see our their in progress here). 

Preliminary findings point to schools employing multiple approaches when utilizing and engaging remote learning technology that in turn support different models of teaching. For instance, some school administrations more explicitly prioritized social and emotional learning via technology in elementary school (kindergarten to fifth or sixth grade) than in middle or high school. There are also differences between public and independent school sites in the flexibility of adjusting approaches during the school term.

In addition, their work reveals how public schools during the pandemic are resources for the Commons that extend beyond K-12 education. For instance, many school sites in the San Gabriel Valley have become distribution centers for food insecure people. There have also been proposals to use closed public schools as sites for creating temporary shelters for the housing insecure. Many other campuses are being proposed as community COVID-19 vaccination sites.

Ariel and Nadine are inviting all PECE colleagues, regardless of geographic/national location, to contribute to this study by sharing their stories and anecdotal experiences with K-12 remote learning as teachers, parents/caregivers, students, and family during the pandemic. Please contact either Ariel (fahernandez@ucla.edu) or Nadine (ntanio@uci.edu). You can also add an annotation to their essay.