The COVID-19 crisis is impacting everything from how we wash our hands and buy groceries to how we educate students who are no longer sitting at desks and “doing school.”
When we get past this pandemic, we will enter a new world order — especially regarding education. COVID-19 will change the way preschool through college education is delivered and structured. We will not eliminate classrooms and teacher lectures, but we will have to think differently and harder about maximizing human talent.
To deal with complex, all-encompassing problems such as the coronavirus, we need talented and intellectually gifted people: smart and clinically sophisticated doctors, for sure, but also a wide array of supporting cast members — nurses, respiratory therapists, manufacturers who can produce masks, face shields and myriad forms of PPE. Those needs are simply the tip of the COVID-19 support chain iceberg.
■ The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission has brought together stakeholders to tackle issues ranging from historic underrepresentation to redlining and forced segregation. This group is focused on systemic solutions to systemic problems.
■ An expanding cadre of “Equity Fellows” is being trained to work in schools and community organizations.
These fellows are working with colleagues to identify disparities in student outcomes and taking action to address them.
■ A growing number of community partners — from employers to colleges to libraries — are independently and collectively focusing on ensuring equity in all of their policies and practices.