Recovering from COVID
And What America Can Learn from How Germany Teaches about the Holocaust
Today’s newsletter discusses 6 topics:
· New books coming out about COVID’s impact on our students and schools;
· Lessons from Germany for America’s teaching of race and racism;
· Why community colleges should focus more on careers;
· Why “offline” digital learning is critical to support children worldwide;
· Sal Khan’s new full-time virtual school in partnership with Arizona State University;
· And a remembrance of Jonathan Haber, who died far too early last week.
Will the kids be OK?
It’s a question many of us are asking as the third academic year impacted by the pandemic draws to a close.
To help answer the question, new books are on the horizon.
NPR education reporter (and my college classmate) Anya Kamenetz has a new book out this summer called The Stolen Year: How COVID Changed Children’s Lives, and Where We Go Now. Although the book is about K–12 education, Anya joined me and Jeff Selingo on Future U. to talk about how COVID-era children will fare as they leave high school behind, and what will the ripple effect be on colleges and universities over the next decade-plus.
Anya was an ideal person to write this book for many reasons, not the least of which being that she had previously reported on the impact of Katrina on schools in her home state of Louisiana. As she told us on the podcast, college enrollment among New Orleans students still hadn’t rebounded to pre-Katrina levels as of 2020. And in New Orleans, unlike with COVID, many of the students were quickly re-enrolled in schools after the hurricane.
That’s a sobering thought, but Anya shared advice for what colleges should do from which we can all benefit. You can hear it here, on the latest episode of Future U.
As many of you know, my upcoming book, From Reopen to Reinvent, also seeks to help schools rebound from the current moment by reinventing themselves to better meet the needs of all students. I joined a radio show, The Great Voice in Michigan, to talk about the book, which you can listen to here.
For those who pre-order the book, I’m offering a limited-time special.
If you’re interested in having me speak to a group (virtually or in-person), get in touch, as I’m discounting my usual speaker fees for those who make larger pre-order purchases. You can pre-order the book from Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, or from Indiebound. And thank you.
Never Forget: Lessons America Can Learn From Germany
While in Germany, my Class Disrupted podcast cohost Diane Tavenner explored how Germany remembers and teaches children about the Holocaust so that it does not repeat its past.
In our latest episode, Diane shared what she learned. We then reflected on how the way Germany approaches this conversation could offer a new starting point to help America move past its polarizing conversations about teaching race and racism.
Toward the end of the episode, I share a story about my father and lessons of forgiveness in response to a question Diane asked me.
After World War II, my dad was the first American Jew in high school to go live in Germany as a part of a study abroad program for the American Field Service. The year was 1966, and he lived with a German family. To this day he considers them his German family. He speaks fondly about his time with his German brother and the sibling-like teasing that they shared. It’s not just that time heals, but that time with concerted actions to never forget and never repeat allows us to find forgiveness.
The whole episode is worth your time. You can listen to it here.
Why Community Colleges Should Focus More on Careers
I’ve written many times about the lackluster results of community colleges on average.
My latest column in the New York Sun, “Why Community Colleges Should Focus More on Careers,” shares former Yale University President and Coursera CEO Richard Levin’s view that it’s time to give up the “myth that community colleges are a gateway to four-year colleges” and instead have them focus exclusively on preparing students for careers.
His ideal model? Singapore’s vocational education system, which is linked closely with industry and has “state of the art equipment in virtually every trade and profession” and gets placement rates into jobs of “93 to 95 percent” compared to the current success rate of community colleges, which is well “below 50 percent.”
You can read the whole piece here.
Why ‘Offline’ Digital Learning Is Critical To Impact Children Worldwide
As thousands of educators, entrepreneurs, and investors gathered at the recent ASU+GSV Summit, the premier event for innovation around human development, a growing number recognized both the need and opportunity for educational innovation in low-income countries, particularly for the over 250 million children who lack access to schools.
In my latest piece for Forbes, I write about how many of the solutions proffered still focus on Internet-based solutions. Glaringly missing from the landscape are adaptive, digital learning solutions that are offline.
While we work to increase universal access to the Internet, the edtech ecosystem cannot ignore the hundreds of millions of children currently without connectivity but who are eager to learn. Read my whole piece here.
The Khan World School
Khan Academy and ASU Prep Digital, Arizona State University’s online learning offering for high schoolers, announced a new partnership to launch the Khan World School, a virtual school for high schoolers.
Sal Khan and Amy McGrath joined me to talk about the partnership and share details about the school, as well as answer audience questions. I find their vision inspirational—and the conversation left me excited for the advances to come in education.
You can watch the conversation here. Paid subscribers of this newsletter will also receive access to the transcript.
Remembering Jonathan Haber
Finally, I end this newsletter on a somber note. A friend, neighbor, and wonderful educator, Jonathan Haber, passed away last week unexpectedly. I shared some reflections on his life and contributions to education in a small piece for EdSurge, which you can read here.
As always, thank you for reading, writing, listening—and thinking critically.