They are journalism advisors, volleyball coaches, mentors, authors, learners, environmental conservationists, meditation guides, literacy coaches, and equity advocates.

Their communities range from a small island in America Samoa serving multilingual, Indigenous students; a rural town in Pennsylvania; an immigrant hub in Denver; to a proud but underserved Black neighborhood in Washington D.C. 

Though the communities they serve cover a broad spectrum, 2025鈥檚 Teacher of the Year finalists recognized by the Council of Chief State School Officers are united in their commitment to children. 

Chosen from a pool of 56 local winners,they have found ways to make kids excited about school in a particularly difficult period in public education鈥檚 history. 

The finalists, all English and history educators, have designed lessons and extracurriculars for students to reflect on some of the most pressing issues today: Gun violence, substance abuse, suicide, poverty, food insecurity, health and hygiene, and the environment. 

They acknowledge the world outside school walls, involve local organizations to expand students鈥� opportunities, and prioritize building relationships with kids and their families. 

鈥淪tudents don鈥檛 care how much you know until they know how much you care,鈥� said elementary teacher Jazzmyne Townsend, Washington D.C.鈥檚 finalist. 

Utilizing family interview projects, field trips to hydroponic farms and herbal gardens, all four find ways to bring students鈥� experiences, cultures and curiosities into the classroom.  

At a time when public education is under fiscal and political threat from the Trump administration, finalists share what has nourished their careers and how they keep joy in learning: 

Mikaela Saelua 

All of 鈥檚 high school students are learning English as a second language. Their mother tongue is Samoan – poetic, full of expressive vowel sounds and unique – leaving most words without a direct English translation. 

To break up the monotony of reading and writing, she launched a song translation project. In what culminates in music videos, students learn figurative idioms, metaphors and words to capture the soul of Samoan songs. 

鈥淭he goal isn鈥檛 just to teach them English; it鈥檚 to help them appreciate and express themselves in a way that feels true to who they are,鈥� Saelua wrote in her finalist . 

Saelua encourages student expression outside the classroom as an advisor for a peer leader club, which with the help of a local nonprofit, performs skits at local elementary schools to discuss hard topics, from substance use to suicide. 

America Samoa for suicide for over 20 years. Saelua鈥檚 school in particular has lost two students in the last three years. Their teachers are learning to spot warning signs in things like journal entries. 

Saelua, a proud product of America Samoa鈥檚 public education system who returned after  a spell of homesickness in California, is the first finalist from the seven islands in the program鈥檚 history. 

鈥淚’m carrying that with me and I don’t carry it lightly,鈥� she said. 鈥溾�� it’s more than just me. It’s now me and all of American Samoa.鈥� 

Ashlie Crosson

As wildfires raged in Los Angeles earlier this year, two former students ran into 鈥檚 Pennsylvania classroom, cell phones in hand. 

The sophomores shared headlines about the Trump administration鈥檚 – exclaiming how taking away resources during a catastrophe was exactly like what they鈥檇 read in Dry by Jarrod and Neal Shusterman. 

They were curious: How was the media covering this? What would happen next? 

Dry was the only fiction text from their course Survival Stories, a half-year elective designed by Crossen for students to build media literacy and talk about what they see happening in the real world. And though they鈥檇 read it months earlier, they were making connections and eager to chat.

In Survival Stories, they鈥檇 discussed humanitarian crises through the lens of young people surviving them – such as and stories about families navigating the Dari茅n Gap. 

Survival is not new to their community, deeply impacted by the opioid epidemic. 

Crosson brings in texts that show them 鈥渨hat you鈥檙e experiencing here isn鈥檛 isolated. These are problems that exist all over the place. Your hometown is not the 鈥榩roblem.鈥欌�� 

Now in her fourteenth year teaching, she stays attuned to body language, emotional reactions, attendance. A kid鈥檚 experience in her classroom clues her into their world.  

She has also found ways for young people growing up in poverty to challenge negative associations with their area and build hope for future careers by .   

鈥淚 teach English, but I can’t really get to that content if I don’t have a rapport and understanding of my students and what their needs are,鈥� Crosson said. 鈥�… There’s no content mastery happening in American schools right now if we’re not evaluating and meeting the needs of students and families.鈥� 

Jazzmyne Townsend 

Coming from a family of teachers, wanted to carve her own path in business. 

But today the Washington, D.C. Teacher of the Year is a self described 鈥渂ig kid鈥� – eager to be on the floor, immersed in sand, Play-Doh, and paint, modeling active listening and motor skills.  

鈥淚’m willing to hold your hand and walk you through it until you are in a place where I can release you to do that independently,鈥� the special education teacher explained about her approach with her second and third graders. 

She鈥檚 the teacher that knows their families and weekend plans, who notices their haircuts and new shoes, who shows up to games that are important to them. 

Townsend launched a , a place for kids to gather twice a week to chat about their bodies, social media, healthy relationships and whatever was weighing on them. 

She makes a point, too, of sharing her experiences with kids so they can dream big. A children鈥檚 book author, she explained the process of drafting a manuscript, pairing with an illustrator and publishing. 

Her kids then became authors and illustrators themselves. Their book publishing project became a community showcase, with one student choosing the ability to manage the world鈥檚 trash, to keep the planet clean and healthy. 

鈥淚’m showing you in my actions, how we interact and how we engage,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m showing you that I’m invested in you鈥� Kids need people who are irrationally passionate about them.鈥�

Janet Renee Damon

After 25 years in the classroom, high school history teacher finds herself working at a transfer high school, a culmination of 鈥渁ll of my skills, all of my heart and all of my joy.鈥� 

She spends her days joking and encouraging introverted, empathetic 鈥渄iamond souls,鈥� kids who鈥檝e faced undue pressure who are still shining through parental death or incarceration, the trauma of immigration, homelessness, gun and gang violence and teen pregnancy. 

Over half of Damon鈥檚 students are immigrants, from Rwanda to Honduras and Iraq. All have mourned someone killed by gun violence. 

She guides students in breathing and meditation exercises, a tool for emotional regulation. They create 鈥渓ife maps,鈥� imagining how to prepare for life鈥檚 milestones, like renting an apartment. 

She explores, 鈥渉ow history has impacted your own community, your own family.鈥� After a project where students explored how the body鈥檚 DNA is impacted by generational trauma, one student told her he never used substances again. 

She and her administrators are committed: When kids don鈥檛 show, a team goes looking, conducting home visits. 

Damon also helped students鈥� bridge past and present through an ongoing podcast program. Students researched the history of mental health disparities and called attention to their high needs for support amid clinical shortages, landing on Colorado Public Radio.

Only 5% of registered psychologists nationwide speak Spanish. After their podcast went on air, a Therapists of Color collective reached out to provide care free of charge. The student podcast project led another to discover her family were survivors of the federal government鈥檚 Indian Residential Schools. A different high schooler interviewed a relative about his history with incarceration. Both said the work was 鈥渉ealing鈥� and helped them feel closer to their families and identity.

鈥淲e have to make school a place where kids want to be,鈥� Renee Damon said, 鈥渘ot just have to be.鈥�

The yawning chasm between academic achievement of Black and white D.C. students has widened since school year 2015-16, from a 54.5% deficit in reading and math standardized test scores to 60%. On this year’s citywide standardized tests, 73.5% of white students met expectations in math, but only 11.8% of Black peers did. In reading, the results were 81.7% versus a mere 23.5%.

Public education in the District is provided by both D.C. Public Schools, the traditional system, and independently run charter schools that educate nearly half of the District鈥檚 public school students. D.C.鈥檚 29-year-old public charter school legislation and 15 years of mayoral control of the school district are widely credited with higher test scores, graduation rates and college-acceptance rates in both sectors. However, both sectors operate schools that are failing the most disadvantaged students.

One solution is offered in a recent comprehensive national of charter and traditional public schools by Stanford University鈥檚 Center for Research on Education Outcomes. CREDO’s research matched five years of performance data for 1,853,000 charter students in 32 states, including the District, with a demographically identical “virtual twin” in the comparable system school.

The researchers found that, “Charter schools produce superior student gains despite enrolling a more challenging student population than their adjacent [traditional public school]. They move Black and Hispanic students and students in poverty ahead in their learning faster than if they enrolled in their local [district school].”

In D.C., the study found that, based on their academic proficiency, students attending one of the District’s public charter school networks 鈥� those with three or more campuses 鈥� received the equivalent of 50 more instructional days of math and 12 more of reading than peers in district schools. Children educated at the District鈥檚 four largest and longest-operating networks 鈥� Center City, DC Prep, Friendship and KIPP DC 鈥� did better still, averaging 83 more days of academic growth in math and 21 in reading compared with district enrollees. Together, these well-established networks educate almost one-third of DC charter school students. 

By contrast, kids learning in stand-alone charters 鈥� those with one or two campuses 鈥� performed only marginally better than district-enrolled students, adding six days of reading annually but losing six in math.  

Providing students with the equivalent of more instructional days is essential to narrowing the expanding achievement gap. Stanford found 鈥渘ationally, Black students in charter management organizations received 41 more days reading in learning and 47 more in math compared to traditional public schools.鈥� In D.C., 88% of charter school students are Black or Latino.

Charter networks in other states and cities did even better than those in the District. New York City charter network students recorded 114- and 62-day gains in math and reading, respectively, compared with students in NYC public schools. New York City鈥檚 Success Academy, serving over 20,000 students at 57 charter schools, added the equivalent of an astounding 107 extra days in reading and 260 in math.

The CREDO research makes clear that the scale and size of large charter networks provides many advantages over stand-alone schools: building a brand to better attract philanthropic funds, students and top teachers; attracting, training and sustaining strong leaders; and more effectively researching and replicating best practices.

This is particularly important because, according to a released in November by Bellwether, 鈥渇rom FY22 to FY 2025, DCPS received $7,713 more per student, per year than charter schools.鈥� That means that many charters, particularly stand-alones, struggle to match school-system teacher salaries and benefits. 

To better serve the most vulnerable students, D.C. education decision makers must find the political will to enable more underperforming and underenrolled charter and district schools to remodel or partner to improve or shutter. Vacant and underutilized school system buildings should be made available to higher-performing charter networks.  

The city’s charter board should continue to encourage high-performing stand-alone charters to replicate and successful charter networks to grow. And it should attract proven out-of-town providers to bring their educational programs to the District.

America鈥檚 public schools can be the great equalizers the nation鈥檚 most underserved students urgently need 鈥� if policymakers follow the evidence to build on what works.

Roughly a year after most students in the District returned to full in-person instruction, the picture is quite different. The latest exam results show fewer D.C. students on track for . Less than 15% of D.C. fourth graders from low-income households reached proficiency in reading on , and the gap between them and their peers nationwide nearly doubled compared with 2019.

The results highlight significant gaps between where D.C. students are today and the District鈥檚 goal of ensuring every child is prepared to achieve economic success, power and autonomy in their lives. In particular, the results confirm the need to remain focused on those students who are furthest from opportunity. D.C. leaders must urgently provide the resources, learning supports and enrichment opportunities that all students need to succeed, feel valued and pursue their personal aspirations.

Fortunately, there are some early indications of academic and social recovery in D.C.. EmpowerK12鈥檚 latest found that student growth in key grades and subjects had returned to pre-pandemic levels by spring 2022. Student well-being also significantly improved. But students furthest from opportunity experienced that growth more slowly. Those designated as at-risk in the District鈥檚 school funding formula, based largely on poverty, are an average of 15 to 18 instructional months behind, while students who are not classified as at-risk are about four to five months behind pre-pandemic national averages.

Those students who are 鈥渁t-risk鈥� for academic failure, as well as those with disabilities, and English learners, are disproportionately children of color who face pervasive, systemic racism. As the District works to recover from the short-term impacts of the pandemic, leaders must also look honestly at how, even before COVID, public schools in the nation鈥檚 capital came up short for too many students. Only by considering both the short-term, pandemic-related harms and the pre-existing policies that kept students from success can the District make progress on longstanding opportunity gaps. 

To that end, Education Forward DC, the organization I lead, recently launched an ongoing dialogue 鈥� our Better Than Before series. Since June, over 300 students, parents, educators, school leaders, policymakers and advocates have come together at three convenings for discussions led by education leaders, data experts and students themselves. A fourth and final gathering is planned for the end of April. Through these conversations, members of the District鈥檚 policy and advocacy communities are collaboratively working to understand the pandemic’s impacts on student success and how the District can build a school system that serves its students even better than it did before COVID-19.

During these discussions, we have heard directly from students and school leaders about the complex challenges they face. Students raised concerns about safety in their neighborhoods and in their schools, increased workloads, longer commutes, and teachers and peers experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges. School leaders pointed to the need to better support students鈥� non-academic needs, such as making them feel loved and supported in school, and addressing food and housing insecurity. In both cases, these factors were highlighted as major barriers to academic growth and social well-being. Future events in the series will include the release of a new snapshot of data examining students鈥� well-being after returning to in-person learning.

Taking on these numerous and complex challenges will require a clear understanding of where students are, in real time. In support of that, Education Forward DC partnered with EmpowerK12 to launch the . In addition to assessment data, the dashboard provides an at-a-glance look at key metrics to better understand how students are doing 鈥� including growth percentiles, chronic absenteeism and graduation rates. The dashboard also provides insights into the health of the District鈥檚 education system, including enrollment figures, per-student investment, and teacher and leader retention trends. The D.C. Education Recovery dashboard provides parents, educators and leaders with an accessible and comprehensible data set, regularly updated, to create a shared understanding of where D.C. as a city must collectively focus its resources, efforts, and energy across what will likely be an extended period of recovery.

It’s encouraging to see some metrics already improving. Since returning to school, students are learning again. However, there has been a troubling increase in , with 48% of students missing 10% or more days of school. Those considered at risk of academic failure have seen a 16-point increase in chronic absenteeism from before the pandemic. 

To address these persistent challenges, there is not a one-size fits all solution. The diverse needs of students require a wide range of solutions, expanded high-quality options so all students can find the best educational fit for their unique needs and accountability for the entire system when those needs are not met. 

Funding, too, is a crucial starting point. Mayor Muriel Bowser鈥檚 proposed budget for next year keeps D.C. on a path of growing local investments in education. With leaner budget times likely ahead, D.C.’s leaders must maintain their commitment to making education a priority to increase equitable funding for all District students.

Before the pandemic, the District saw how the combination of strong investments, high-quality options and accountability can be powerful forces in raising student achievement and outcomes. Now, D.C., must demonstrate that it can deliver on the promise of a truly equitable and just recovery for all students.

Some districts are offering thousands in signing bonuses, others adapt to four-day work weeks and many are easing the way for college students or other would-be teaching candidates to get quickly certified.

In 2018, the National Bureau of Labor Statistics would leave the profession annually through 2026 鈥� a number that did not take into account the pandemic鈥檚 effects on teacher retention and retirement. A 2020 revealed that almost a third nationwide would likely retire early or leave the profession because of the pandemic. Yet the bureau鈥檚 recent job data shows that actual teacher turnover levels are similar 鈥� and in some cases lower 鈥斕齮han pre-pandemic levels. The estimated outcomes from alarming polls, suggesting that teachers everywhere would imminently leave the profession, have not necessarily come to fruition.

Retirement and attrition do vary greatly by county or state 鈥� saw about 200 more teachers leave by the end August 2020 than in 2019 or 2018, while Minnesota experienced the opposite effect 鈥� and there鈥檚 still much to be understood about the full scope of how the pandemic has affected the teaching force. At the same time, we do know that fewer adults are heading into .

The lengths that some school and state leaders are going to to fill current vacancies, especially for special education and substitute teachers, does demonstrate that districts are seeing urgent staffing needs and are getting creative to meet them.

Accelerated licensure programs and alternatives for state teaching exams are popping up across the country to urgently meet students鈥� needs. Houston, for instance, had over 400 teacher openings as of mid-August; some may be filled by .

Though places like metro aren鈥檛 experiencing the same levels of staff scarcity, they are still offering a $5,000 sign-on incentive for special education teachers. Greater Atlanta鈥檚 DeKalb County Schools are also recruiting for full-time positions.

Out West, a aims to transform the educator pipeline by recruiting high school students into teacher programs, former military personnel and adjunct professors. Nevada鈥檚 Carson City Schools will public employees to fill special education vacancies, and others in California are adopting the strategy of recruiting teachers where they鈥檝e grown up, incentivizing staying in-state for higher education or pursuing teaching residencies in their home districts.

One framed staffing challenges as a human capital problem, not a financial one. To aid schools鈥� pandemic recovery, millions in unprecedented federal relief funds are on their way to states. Only a handful included teacher recruitment or retention strategies in their budget proposals; nationwide, priorities for the relief funds are expanding academic tutoring and mental health care.

And critical shortages go beyond the classroom 鈥� are , after many have retired or decided to not risk COVID-19 exposure. Up to 250 National Guard service members will drive students to school in Massachusetts, and school leaders in are encouraging their governor to consider the same. Efforts to engage the National Guard in New York were rejected by Gov. Kathy Hochul; a spokesperson for her team said school transportation was

In , where drivers are leaving en masse after the district mandated staff vaccines, some families of students with disabilities were given two days to find alternative transportation for the first day of school.

Students and families across the country are feeling the impacts of missing critical staff as the 2021-22 school year and quarantines get underway.

We鈥檝e compiled some of the special education and substitute teacher recruitment efforts currently in effect:

Special Education Teacher Recruitment

reported teacher shortages in special education in the 2020-21 school year.

鈥淲e beg, borrow and steal wherever we can to find some good quality special education teachers for our district,鈥� Jose Delfin. The schools chief spoke during a school board meeting where the district designated the labor shortage as critical, enabling the hiring of retired public employees.

And while advocates have sounded the alarm on a declining special education force for , states like have just established recruitment and retention task forces.

Click here if you cannot access the interactive version of this map.

Substitute Teacher Recruitment

Schools across the country employ between 500,000 and 600,000 subs annually, according to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics. School administrators in say substitute applications have trickled to a stop. For smaller districts in California with teachers heading into COVID-19 quarantines, declining substitute teacher pools could force school .

In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little to fill shortages, 鈥淚 urge Idahoans in a position to serve as a substitute teacher or other classroom support staff to contact your school district and get signed up. Idaho students and our communities need you.鈥�

Click here if you cannot access the interactive version of this map.

At Digital Pioneers Academy, the city鈥檚 first computer science-focused middle school, founder and principal Mashea Ashton recognized the toll the pandemic, hybrid learning and police brutality were taking on educators and the school’s predominantly Black and Latino students.

Beginning last September, through a partnership with , staff and teachers were encouraged to set personal goals, listen to their bodies and use deep breathing and meditation techniques to adapt to the stresses of the year. About half of the school鈥檚 staff also received individual, virtual coaching twice monthly.

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Each team member was paired with one class for the semester to build trust. Jacqueline Baron, one of the school’s social workers, said that having the key monthly lessons with a range of adults 鈥� beyond students鈥� usual teachers 鈥� enabled more staff-student relationships.

Each day at the academy began with a 鈥渕ood meter鈥� check-in, where students shared how they were feeling with words or colors. The meter gave teachers a moment to gauge students鈥� mental health that day and check in with specific students as needed, Baron said.

They learned and used deep breathing exercises, like stretching or counting, drawing, music and yoga to cope with stress, and talked through scenarios, like what to do to support a friend who isn鈥檛 logging into online school. Before last semester鈥檚 first math exam, they focused on managing anxiety for test taking.

鈥淭hey already possess many of the tools that they need to be successful,鈥� Baron said. 鈥淚 think that the tools just need to be unlocked and built upon in practice.鈥�

The homeroom advisory also offered time for students to talk freely about what current events might be weighing on their minds, and what it means to be a racial minority in America.

The conversations, Ashton said, encouraged scholars to 鈥渞espect their identity, respect their culture, to be proud of who we are and who they will become 鈥� but also understand that the world is changing, and that they are impacted by what’s happening around them. We want them to ask questions, we want them to be curious, we want them to be innovative, and not feel victim.鈥�

For rising eighth-grader Leila Graham, it was the first year she鈥檇 tried mindfulness exercises. She said she鈥檚 now made deep breathing a habit, something she can turn to in stressful or uncomfortable situations.

鈥淚t let me know that even though we are suffering, that they still cared about how we were affected by the pandemic,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome people don’t have the opportunity to talk about their feelings at home that they would at school.鈥�

Her mother, Lisa, said she and her daughter have always had open communication, but this year, conversations about her well-being have been different; Leila now has vocabulary to express herself more accurately.

鈥淚 just love that my daughter gets to experience this at such a young age 鈥� she doesn’t have to wait until she’s in her 30s, like me, in order to be able to get introduced to it,鈥� Lisa Graham said.

This fall, Digital Pioneers Academy will enroll over 480 students in grades 6 through 9, and 40 percent of sixth-graders have siblings in upper grades. At a time when schools face historic declines in enrollment, the school is nearing full capacity, at about 90 percent of its enrollment goal for lower grades, and with a wait list for ninth grade.

Attendance averaged around 93 percent from the 2020-21 school year, . The mindfulness model, Ashton said, was key to keeping the community together and engaged.

Staff satisfaction increased from 80 percent at the end of 2020 to 95 percent at the end of this school year, and 97 percent of staff agreed to return for 2021-22. Just 56 percent returned after the first pandemic year.

Tarneil Miller, dean of social emotional learning, told 社区黑料 that the 2020 school year was somewhat of a collective 鈥渨hole year of bad days鈥� for educators nationwide.

He said the trauma, emotion and fear of recent months needed to be acknowledged during the school day. The Jan. 6 Capitol riot, for instance, took place a few blocks away from the school.

鈥淚t’s a lot for us as adults. So you have to also think about scholars as well 鈥� they’re seeing the same thing we’re seeing,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淲hy not have this in place, to give them that space to at least feel like they’re seen, at the bare minimum. And to have something in place that gives them a moment to have both feet on the ground.鈥�

Miller has kept practicing some of the mindfulness techniques he鈥檚 learned over the last year for his own well-being, including a daily reflection on what went well, what happened and how he can be better the next day. He also visualizes clearing his head space 鈥� comparing closing iPhone apps running in the background to scenarios or situations that may overwhelm him or cause anxiety.

The school will continue monthly mindfulness lessons in advisory periods in the 2021-22 academic year, set to begin Aug. 30, with most students returning in person. Staff already reconnected with a mindfulness coach in summer professional development sessions.

Baron said that the school is also considering ways to support students in smaller groups focused on issues such as social skills, grief and loss. Washington, D.C. ‘s 7th and 8th wards, where many students live, were among the neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic. As of February, they accounted for .

Some staff sessions have supported the school鈥檚 team in managing transferred and individual trauma. Like students, the academy鈥檚 staff are encouraged to use wellness tools, like small breaks, breathing, and psychological, emotional and physical self-assessments.

鈥淭hat’s not selfish 鈥� to prioritize ourselves, too 鈥� because in order to do the work that we do, we have to make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves,鈥� Baron said.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, the economy responded to COVID-19 in a way that defied conventional wisdom. Many markers typically used to predict how severe a recession will be, and how to confront it, were completely out of whack.

Unemployment immediately shot up to levels far higher than those seen in the worst of the Great Recession of 2008. Small businesses closed at a precipitous rate, with little certainty about whether they would reopen. Many low-income workers were laid off, while others, forced to keep reporting to work despite spiking rates of viral transmission, lost child care as schools shuttered. But at the same time, stock portfolios swelled and affluent consumers flooded delivery services with orders for luxury goods to make homes that now doubled as offices ever more comfortable. For the well-off, the recession was over within weeks 鈥� if it was even felt at all.

Even small changes in the way money circulates within a city or neighborhood ripple through the local economy. This one was a shockwave. Wealthy Americans ordered fancy meal kits online and signed up for wine tastings on Zoom rather than spending at the neighborhood restaurants, nail salons, yoga studios and dry cleaners that had kept their less affluent neighbors employed.

John Friedman and Raj Chetty realized they were seeing something unusual. Co-founders of , a team at Harvard University that researches education鈥檚 potential to lift children out of poverty, they feared the pandemic had worsened already long odds.

The economists took the unprecedented step of asking credit card companies, payroll processors and other businesses that track money as it moves through the economy in real time to turn over what are essentially trade secrets. Using that information, the researchers built a nationwide online pandemic tracker capable of providing a down-to-the-day snapshot of who is spending and who is struggling, by income level, city, state and county and, in some instances, by zip code.

The data quickly revealed stunning implications on virtually every front.

In place of a typical recession鈥檚 V shape, in which people across the socioeconomic spectrum experience both the downturn and the subsequent recovery together, the economists saw a K. Affluent Americans at the top of the K bounced back right away 鈥� much more quickly than in a typical recession. Low-income families on the bottom, by contrast, were disproportionately impacted: more likely to be unemployed, quarantined in overcrowded multi-generational housing and experiencing higher rates of infection and death.

The inequities on display were not new, but for many people, the awareness of how profound and widespread they are is. Over the last year and a half, prosperous Americans who can afford iPads, reliable internet and tutors have woken up to headlines showing children forced to log into virtual classes from parking lots 鈥� or wherever they could find a Wi-Fi signal 鈥� skipping school to work at their own jobs and isolated, alone in COVID鈥檚 mental health crisis.

The Opportunity Insights tracker contains one academic dataset: student participation and progress on the math app Zearn, which one-fourth of the nation鈥檚 K-5 students have access to. Immediately after schools closed, use of the app among low-income students “completely dropped off,” notes Zearn CEO Shalinee Sharma. As they started logging on again, a yawning gap became apparent. A year into the pandemic, these students鈥� progress was behind where it should have been, while their wealthier peers were ahead 28 percent.

Because it is widely understood that economic disadvantages show up in schools, 社区黑料 saw an opportunity in Friedman and Chetty’s work. Could their data predict long-lasting effects in the classroom years after COVID-19 has passed? And were there clues as to how educators could address them?

Just as Friedman鈥檚 and Chetty鈥檚 research holds key insights as to how policymakers could target relief, we knew their economic recovery tracker offered valuable information as schools seek to help the most disadvantaged children recover.

鈥淲e already had this deep inequality in American education. And the pandemic has just made it so much worse,鈥� Friedman, a professor of economics at Brown University and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, noted in an interview with 社区黑料. 鈥淭he pandemic has taken children and set them even further back. Without some really dedicated effort to get these students caught up, what we’ve seen from broader data is that the types of educational gaps that arise in childhood can persist, they create lower college enrollment rates, lower college graduation rates, students earn less when they get out in the labor market. These things can have really large effects down the line.鈥�

Using Opportunity Insights鈥� data as a starting point, “COVID’s K-Shaped Recession and the Looming Classroom Crisis” is a series of stories probing how the pandemic鈥檚 impact on income inequality has shown up in schools in five communities 鈥� Delaware; Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; Reno, Nevada; and Colorado Springs. Each demonstrates a different aspect of how the K-shaped recession has played out in neighborhoods and schools; and several offer hints as to how educators and policymakers can help students recover lost learning and regain the opportunity to secure a prosperous future.

This article is part of a series examining COVID’s K-shaped recession and what it means for America鈥檚 schools. Read the full series here.

Disclosure: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative provide financial support to Opportunity Insights and 社区黑料.