COVID-19 Impact Report Archives

RedefinED Atlanta works to help Atlanta Public Schools through the pandemic

May 6, 2021 No Comments

RedefinEd Atlanta has been working to improve Atlanta’s public school education since 2016, and when the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, the folks at RedefinEd Atlanta knew that they could help students that were affected.

“In response to COVID-19, RedefinEd Atlanta doubled down its efforts to provide resources to parents and communities with students attending Atlanta’s public schools, as well as to individual schools in the district,” said Adah Pittman-Delancey, the vice president of impact and external relations at RedefinEd Atlanta.

In the summer of 2020, RedefinEd Atlanta was able to give funds to two parent-led organizations, Atlanta Thrive and the Latino Association for Parents of Public Schools, to launch a $100,000 relief effort to support parents and caregivers of Atlanta Public Schools students experiencing hardship due to the pandemic.

“Atlanta Public Schools has one of the largest racial achievement gaps in the country,” said Pittman-Delancey. “Creating access to a great public education can provide Black and brown students living in under-resourced communities with the opportunity to realize their full potential and pursue their passions, changing the trajectory of their lives. We know that systemic racial inequities, which the pandemic exacerbated and exposed, are significant barriers to a thriving Atlanta.”

Also in the summer of 2020 RedefinEd Atlanta and Learn4Life commissioned a new study quantifying the impact of school closures on metro Atlanta student proficiency. The report estimated the potential student learning loss that eight metro Atlanta public school districts would likely encounter when they returned to school in the fall. In October, it launched the RedefinED Innovation Fund: Pandemic Education & Restart , giving nearly $170,000 in grants to 10 nonprofits and 14 Atlanta schools to address immediate education-related needs created by the pandemic.

Who’s helping?

RedefinEd Atlanta

Services: RedefinEd Atlanta works towards the vision of transforming Atlanta into a place where every student in every community receives a great public school education. To do this they engage with other nonprofits and raise funds to aid the community.

If you are involved in or know of an organization working to bring relief to the Atlanta community during the coronavirus pandemic OR you are with an organization with supplies that you don’t know where to donate, please email us at Shannon.n.Dominy@gmail.com.

Where to donate: Visit redefinEDatlanta.org/donate/.

Summer School or Summer Break?

May 2, 2021 No Comments

In webinars and Zoom panels about the pandemic’s toll on learning, education experts talk about the need for summer remediation to shore up academic skills compromised by school closings and remote classes.

Yet, many parents are having a different conversation, saying both they and their children are exhausted after a school year like no other. They want their kids sprung from screens, workbooks and math problems so they can visit grandparents, splash in neighborhood pools and ride their bikes.

Scores from national school test reveal pandemic’s effect

December 1, 2020 No Comments

Teachers and students will have extra homework after the pandemic ends, as new findings show growth in math scores has fallen since last school year.

Most Georgia students haven’t taken a state-standardized test since 2019, and most will not take another until the spring, if then.

Without those scores on the Milestones tests, it’s unclear how big a toll COVID-19 has had on learning. However, new national scores from an alternative test used by more than 300 Georgia schools show reading more or less intact but math suffering, with the worst performance at the elementary school level.

How have students fared in the coronavirus pandemic? New data sheds some light.

October 16, 2020 No Comments

When the coronavirus pandemic disrupted school for millions of students last spring, studies projected alarming rates of learning loss as schools shifted to remote instruction, particularly for vulnerable students.

Complicating matters is that this shift poses challenges in accurately assessing student progress and participation. But as more data emerges, one thing continues to be clear, experts say — the pandemic is amplifying inequities between students.

Inequality Gap Among Atlanta Students May Grow Due To COVID-19 Pandemic, Experts Say

August 26, 2020 No Comments

Educational experts in metro Atlanta are concerned about the long-term effects the extended absence from classrooms will have on students.

The Atlanta Public School system opted to start digitally on Monday for the first nine weeks of the school year due to safety concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, meaning more than seven months will have passed by the time students return to classrooms this October.

That long of a break, educational experts told GPB News, may further exacerbate the inequality gap between Black and Latino students and their white peers. The experts said they understand the need for safety precautions for students, teachers and staff, but they said the impact of being away is of extreme concern.

“The longer it goes, the less you will remember,” said Ed Chang, the executive director of redefinED atlanta, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of all students through high-quality education.

Pandemic Leads To Learning Loss For Metro Students, Study Finds

August 4, 2020 No Comments

Typically around this time of year, students, parents and teachers prepare for “back to school.”

But this year isn’t the same.

Many school systems across metro Atlanta have moved to push back the start of their school year — or return virtually. This comes after metro students lost nine weeks of regular instruction in the 2019-2020 academic year.

And many have expressed concerns about the long-term effects this could have on students.

Now, a new study sheds light, specifically, on COVID-19’s impact on student achievement in the metro Atlanta area.

Bridging the Digital Divide: COVID-19 Keeps Learning Virtual as the New Year Begins

July 28, 2020 No Comments

In the interest of student and faculty safety during the unrelenting COVID-19 pandemic, Atlanta Public School (APS) students will be learning virtually for, potentially, the first nine weeks of the new school year. To bridge the digital divide, new Superintendent Lisa Herring estimates needing 6,000 to 10,000 devices for students by day one on Aug. 24.

Study Predicts Learning Will Suffer as a Result of Virtual Education

July 21, 2020 No Comments

A new study says some metro-Atlanta children will not be able to keep up as a result of a shift to online educating.

OPINION, Kyle Wingfield: Education Not Left Behind in Georgia Budget Crunch

July 2, 2020 No Comments

An opinion piece from Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, citing the Quantifying the Impact of COVID-19 School Closures on Metro Atlanta Student Proficiency report commissioned by redefinED and Learn4Life Metro Atlanta.

redefinED atlanta Provided $100k to Two Atlanta Parent Groups for COVID Relief Fund

June 30, 2020 No Comments

redefinED atlanta, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that every student in Atlanta has the opportunity to attend a high-quality public school, announced that it recently awarded a $100,000 grant to two parent groups, The Atlanta Thrive and the Latino Association for Parents in Public Schools (LAPPS), in order to create a COVID-19 relief fund that assisted metro-Atlanta families struggling with housing, food insecurity, and other basic needs during the pandemic.

“Many of Atlanta’s families faced food and housing challenges even before this health crisis,” said Ed Chang, executive director of redefinED atlanta. “COVID-19 has further exacerbated these inequities while amplifying other stressors, potentially causing increased childhood trauma that will affect the ability of their children’s future learning.”

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