How educators can build equity in an online learning era

The equity problems that plague K-12 education under normal conditions have only been worsened by the shift to online learning during coronavirus school closures, experts say.

Superintendents and other K-12 have to start planning now to build resource equity because some students will have suffered significant learning loss when the 2020-21 school year starts—whether that’s in-person or online, says Jonathan Travers, who leads the consulting practice area at Education Resource Strategies (ERS).

“If there ever was a case where equality is not equity, this virus is it,” Travers says. “The summer learning loss that has been documented over and over will be significantly amplified. Some families are going to be able to mitigate that during the months of closure, but others less so.”

ERS and The Education Trust teamed up earlier this year to create the Alliance for Resource Equity to bring advocates and educators together to promote data, research and other strategies that make K-12 education more equitable.

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