What U.S. Education Has to Learn From 2020: A Collection

For several years, following the release of the RHSU EduScholar Public Influence Rankings, Education Week Opinion has published a related series of essays that explore a pressing issue relevant to public scholarship. This year, it was clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed serious challenges to our nation’s schools.

There’s no question that educators are doing everything they can to help students manage during these extraordinarily difficult circumstances. But what has made their work—and the work of policymakers—even more challenging is the absence of research to guide it. What happens when we enter new territory that cries out for evidence-based guidance, but there is none or very little? The essays in this collection explore this very question.