As New York City public schools prepare to welcome back students next week, Green Bronx Machine founder, urban farmer and educator Stephen Ritz recently shared his thoughts about the return to the classroom in these unprecedented times in a new blog published on New 12 The Bronx’s web site.
Tag: Schools
Most New Jerseyans Support Fully Reopening Public Schools in Fall, Requiring Vaccinations for Healthcare Workers, Rutgers Poll Shows
As vaccination rates increase and prospects of normal life return more than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, New Jerseyans differ on various aspects of this “new normal” and how comfortable they feel, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.
Study: More multilingual and mental health staff needed to offset trauma experienced by refugees, displaced students and their teachers
The University at Buffalo study examined whether United States educational policies and practices helped or hindered school staff in supporting the needs of students who are refugees or displaced for reasons such as natural disasters.

Study Finds Americans Eat Food of Mostly Poor Nutritional Quality – Except at School
A study of U.S. dietary trends over 16 years finds food consumed from typical sources, such as restaurants, grocery stores, schools, and work, is mostly of poor nutritional quality, with the exception of food from schools. Disparities in dietary quality by race, ethnicity, and income persist.
Schools reduce inequality, defying the conventional wisdom
The teachers and schools serving our disadvantaged children are doing much better than we think they are, according to the author of the new book “How Schools Really Matter.”

Scientists study how to reduce airborne spread of COVID-19 virus particles
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are studying how airborne particles like COVID-19 move through the air and to identify effective countermeasures that reduce particulate exposures.

U.S. schools receive a C in whole child development in reimagined Nation’s Report Card
If the Nation’s Report Card, an annual report formerly known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), was reimagined to include physical and emotional health in addition to academics, the United States would receive a C average, says University at Buffalo educational policy expert Jaekyung Lee.
NYC takes ‘significant, systemic steps’ toward desegregation of schools
Today, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced major changes to the way the city’s middle and high schools admit their students. Those changes include eliminating all admissions screens for middle schools for at least one year; eliminating a…

App Developed at Rensselaer Can Help Guide COVID-19 Management on Any Campus
Leaders at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute relied on a powerful algorithm, COVID Back-to-School – now freely available to the public – to determine that twice-weekly testing of all students would be the optimal regimen for keeping the infection rate on campus safely below 1% for any two-week period.
Study: Remote learning adds pressure for teachers who work second shift as mothers
The transition to remote learning coupled with an unequal distribution of second-shift responsibilities has placed teachers who are also mothers under immense stress, according to new University at Buffalo research.
New tool tracks COVID-19 cases within NY school district boundaries
Cornell University has launched the NYS School District COVID-19 Tracker, an interactive, web-based mapping application that combines multiple sources of data on COVID-19, demographics and related topics by new York school district.
Rutgers Pediatrician Discusses How to Keep Children Safe at School
Rutgers pediatrician discusses how to keep children safe at school during the pandemic as more school districts face COVID-19 outbreaks and some are forced to stop in-person classes.

When can kids return to sports after COVID-19? Doctors weigh in
Pediatric cardiologists are offering important advice on if and when it is safe for children and teens to return to playing sports after recovering from COVID-19.
School spending cuts? Citizens prefer teachers and administrators to take the hit during economic crises
With schools around the world looking into various cost-cutting measures in the midst of the COVID-10 pandemic, new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York reveals that citizens prefer teachers and administrative staff to be at the frontline of school spending cuts during times of economic crisis.
Sociologists Available to Discuss Schools Reopening During a Pandemic
As school districts grapple with how to plan for the start of the 2020 school year, parents, teachers, and administrators are divided on the best approach. Sociologists study education, families, inequality, access, and a number of other issues related to schools reopening.

Commentary in Pediatrics: Children Don’t Transmit Covid-19, Schools Should Reopen in Fall
Based on one new and three recent studies, the authors of this commentary in Pediatrics conclude that children rarely transmit Covid-19, either among themselves or to adults. The authors recommend that schools reopen in the fall, since staying home can adversely affects children’s development.
NYC school reopening plan puts vulnerable Black, Latinx students at risk
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that public schools will not fully reopen for the upcoming school year. New York City students will return to school on a limited basis with only one to three days a…
Caution urged for reopening schools to prevent spread of COVID-19 crisis
Irvine, Calif., June 15, 2020 — With fast-approaching preparations required for a new school year with no consensus plan yet in place, a team of clinicians, scientists and educators – including a University of California, Irvine pediatrician – stress the need for caution when re-opening America’s schools and advocate for large-scale viral testing in children, contract tracing and other actions to avoid compounding the COVID-19 crisis.

Persistent inequitable exposure to air pollution in Salt Lake County schools
Salt Lake County, Utah’s air pollution is at times the worst in the United States. Underserved neighborhoods—and their schools—experience the highest concentrations. A new study utilized nearly 200 PM 2.5 sensors through the Air Quality and U network and revealed persistent social inequalities in Salt Lake County schools.

Keep schools closed. They’re ‘dangerous breeding grounds’ for coronavirus
In a call with governors this week, President Trump suggested states should seriously consider reopening their public schools before the end of the academic year, even though many have already said it would be unsafe for students to return to…
Don’t forget our kids. OT researchers urge extra support for home schooling vulnerable children
As Australia’s teachers strive to shift education online, parents everywhere are bracing for change, but no more so than parents of children with additional needs such as autism, who fear their kids may be left behind in the race to adjust.

Understanding How COVID-19 Affects Children Vital to Slowing Pandemic, Doctors Say
Though COVID-19 so far appears to be largely sparing children, researchers are cautioning that it is critical to understand how the virus affects kids to model the pandemic accurately, limit the disease’s spread and ensure the youngest patients get the care they need.

Faculty Q&A: H. Luke Shaefer on how the coronavirus outbreak highlights inequities in health care, employment systems
FACULTY Q&ALuke ShaeferAs the coronavirus continues to spread, University of Michigan poverty scholar H. Luke Shaefer discusses how the pandemic will impact hourly workers and families with low incomes. Shaefer, faculty director of Poverty Solutions U-M, is a professor of social work and public policy.What are the implications of the coronavirus pandemic for low-income families?As there are more and more closures, those who don’t have paid time off and only get paid when they clock in are going to run into the most financial trouble.
Coronavirus K-12 closures impact safety, stability for vulnerable NYC students
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the first NYC public school closures on Thursday, adding to the over 1,000 K-12 schools across the country that are closing or moving to online education to help control the spread of…

New Survey: Nine in 10 U.S. Adults Support Local Government Investments in Infrastructure Improvements to Promote Economic Activity in their Communities
More than nine in 10 adults from every major demographic group want their local government to invest in infrastructure improvements that promote economic activity in their community, according to a newly released National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) poll.

New study advocates a positive approach to school safety
Policy responses to school shootings have not prevented them from happening more frequently, but restorative justice has the potential to avert bad behavior and school shootings, finds a new study from Washington University in St. Louis.The study, “Disparate Impacts: Balancing the Need for Safe Schools With Racial Equity in Discipline,” published in the journal Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, finds that crisis prevention policies enacted following school shootings tend to exacerbate racial and ethnic discipline disparities in several different ways.