Lingering Effects of COVID-19 in Education: A Mini-Series

The American Journal of Education Forum Editorial Board is excited to launch the Lingering Effects of COVID-19 in Education mini-series, featuring those dedicated to transforming the PK-20 and adult education system: teachers, principals, instructional coaches, activists, researchers, and community members.

The pandemic has both perpetuated and shed a stark spotlight on long-standing educational inequities for Black and Brown Americans and minoritized racial groups, low-income Americans, students with (dis)abilities, LGBTQIA+ students, international students and other historically underserved populations. In this AJE Forum Mini-Series on educational inequity, we will focus on the aftermath of the pandemic and how we might reimagine a more compassionate, equitable, and anti-racist education. 

In the coming weeks, you’ll hear from principal Laura Judy Calderon, professors Vanessa Anthony Stevens and Daniel D. Liou, Taryne Mingo and Alexis Moore, and “To and Through” Network Coaches Jennifer Ciok and Naomi Wilfred. In describing how her organization’s work transformed in the spring of 2020, Ciok explained, “We had to move away from traditional quantitative data and metrics like grades, attendance, and test scores and focus on qualitative data through surveys, empathy interviews, and focus groups. As a coach, I had to navigate supporting school teams as they built community with students they had never met in person and with educators I had met (at most) twice face to face. It was a time of survival but also a time of trying new things and reimagining what school meant beyond the four walls of a building.”

Please join us on the Forum this week as we learn from the perspectives of those who served students and communities through the challenges of this pandemic crisis and educational disruption.