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The topic of this article is the effect of COVID on in-person learning.
In January of 2022, across the country children missed an average of more than four days of in-person school, and a quarter of them missed a week or more.
It also talked about the fact that school closures weren’t just happening in Democratic-controlled confined cities where Covid precautions are more common. Instead, they happened all over.
Rather than close entire districts, educators have tried to limit closures — shuttering individual classrooms, quarantining small groups of students or closing some schools for a single day.
That has kept more children in school — but has also meant that families must handle more unplanned and unexpected days without school. Covid infections and quarantines are a major factor, but so are tangential issues like teacher burnout, staff shortages and student behavior.

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The hidden costs of Omicron's classroom closures.

This is the Education Briefing, a weekly update on the most important news in U.S. education. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

In January, students were still missing school as Omicron cases surged. And heating up: the battle over admissions to elite public high schools.

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A child walks home with an adult after dismissal at a Brooklyn elementary school last month. One-third of students in New York City stayed home most days in January. Credit... Sarah Blesener for The New York Times

Classrooms in the United States are mostly open for in-person learning this year. But that doesn't mean school is normal.

A new survey from The Times found that learning continued to be disrupted: In January, children around the country missed, on average, more than four days of in-person school, and a quarter of them missed a week or more.

Credit... Source: Dynata survey of 148,400 parents.

Some data organizations had collected information on the number of districts and schools that were open but had not captured the extent of the disruptions to individual students.

The Times, with the survey company Dynata, asked 148,400 parents nationwide how many days their school-aged children were home in January, when disruptions were at their peak because of the Omicron surge, winter weather and other reasons.

What we found: School closures weren't confined to the blue cities where Covid precautions are more common. Instead, they happened all over.

The leaders of three parent-teacher groups reconstructed their children's calendars for January. They demonstrate how inconsistent in-person school was last month. Credit... The New York Times

A district in Tennessee closed for two days in January when 95 staff members were out with Covid. A district in Utah has students study independently from home some Fridays to help with teachers' "exhaustion and burnout." Schools in Atlanta stayed closed after winter break to slow the spread of Omicron.

On average, children missed at least three days of in-person school in January in every state but South Dakota. The states where children missed an average of a week or more include the red states of Alaska and Kentucky, as well as the blue states of Delaware and New Mexico.

The data shows the limits of new strategies by school officials. Rather than close entire districts, educators have tried to limit closures - shuttering individual classrooms, quarantining small groups of students or closing some schools for a single day.

That has kept more children in school - but has also meant that families must handle more unplanned and unexpected days without school. Covid infections and quarantines are a major factor, but so are tangential issues like teacher burnout, staff shortages and student behavior.

As masks come off in New York City and other districts around the country, and as quarantine and isolation requirements ease, intermittent closures could become the new normal for schools.

"It's almost like building a house in an earthquake zone," Dennis Roche, the president of Burbio, a data firm that tracks districts, told us. "You want it to be a little flexible. You want to build some shock absorbers into the system."

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Va. Credit... Kenny Holston for The New York Times

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, one of the most prestigious high schools in the country, changed its admissions process to try to let in more Black and Hispanic students.

On Friday, a judge declared the policy unfair to Asian Americans, saying it left them "disproportionately deprived of a level playing field." The district, which sits just outside of Washington, in Fairfax County, Va., is considering an appeal.

The admissions criteria rules at the elite magnet school, known as T.J., did not mention race. But they eliminated a standardized testing requirement and specifically guaranteed eligibility to top students at middle schools that had sent few students to T.J. in the past.

After the rules went into effect, the percentages of Black and Hispanic students in the incoming class more than tripled, while the number of Asian American students fell to 54 percent from 73 percent, the lowest share in years.

"A means to accomplish their goal of achieving racial balance," the judge wrote, "was to decrease enrollment of the only racial group 'overrepresented' at T.J. - Asian Americans. The board employed proxies that disproportionately burden Asian American students."

Elite high schools across the country are embarking on plans to diversify their enrollments by race and income, but they are meeting with fierce pushback from many parents, including many Asian Americans.

Justin Driver, a Yale law professor, said it was "difficult to overstate the significance" of Judge Hilton's decision, calling it "the latest and boldest indication yet that conservatives wish once again to offer radical reinterpretations of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause."

New York has lifted its mask mandate in schools, starting today, letting local school officials make their own decisions.

Maryland lifted its statewide mask requirements for schools on Friday. Massachusetts's statewide mandate ended Monday.

College

Citing the invasion of Ukraine, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that it would sever ties with a Russian university that it helped to establish.

Sonny Perdue, the former governor of Georgia who served as agriculture secretary during the Trump administration, will lead Georgia's university system.

Books and curriculum politics

Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia is expected to sign a bill that will require schools to notify parents if assigned books have sexually explicit content.

A district in Missouri reversed a decision to pull Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" from school libraries, after outcry and legal threats.

And the rest ...

Teachers in Minneapolis and St. Paul are moving ahead with plans to strike on March 8 if their unions do not reach contract agreements with their districts.

The Kansas state school board suspended the state's top public school administrator after he made an offensive comment about Native Americans.

The movement for " equitable grading " is growing, as teachers and parents say grades should reflect mastery over the material, not homework, behavior or attendance.

A good read: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Supreme Court nominee, honed her skills at her high school's powerhouse debate team.

California, Oregon and Washington will drop school mask requirements on March 12.

Gov. Ned Lamont said about 85 percent to 90 percent of Connecticut's school districts had dropped mask mandates.

Vermont ruled that schools with student vaccination rates at or above 80 percent could lift masking requirements.

According to the school tracking site Burbio, more than half of major school districts no longer require masks.

Nevada's largest public school districts can now lower standards for substitute teachers to make up for staff shortages. Substitutes need only a high school diploma to teach during states of emergency.

A Ukrainian family living in the Kyiv subway. Credit... Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

Kids have access to more news streams than ever, and many are concerned about the war in Europe. Here are tips for a clear conversation about the invasion.

Take cues from your child. Curiosity is not necessarily a sign of fear. Try to answer questions calmly and accurately, and don't push information on them.

Look for signs of anxiety. Some kids may voice concerns, while others could withdraw. Look for trouble sleeping, especially because of nightmares, or a change in appetite.

Don't bombard them with news. Although it's understandable to want to keep abreast of the news, be aware that your child may be watching or listening, too. If you're worried that your child is doomscrolling on a device, encourage them to make smart media choices.

Get to the root. Respond to their questions with deeper questions. Are they worrying the war may spread to their own community? Are they thinking about what life in Ukraine may be like?

Above all, appease their concerns while also taking them seriously. Remember: It's OK to tell them if you don't know the answer.

And if your child is worried for families in Ukraine, think about things you could do to help, such as giving to charities that are providing aid. When given the opportunity to assist others, children gain a feeling of agency.
That's it for this week's briefing. If you have questions for our education reporters, please write to us using this form. We will regularly answer questions in the newsletter.
Sign up here to get the briefing by email.

Claire Cain Miller and Margot Sanger-Katz contributed to today's newsletter.

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The hidden costs of Omicron's classroom closures. This is the Education Briefing, a weekly update on the most important news in U.S. education. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. In January, students were still missing school as Omicron cases surged. And heating up: the battle over admissions to elite public high schools.

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This article is about the life of Nannie Helen Burroughs, who started her own school after she was denied opportunity because she was judged as being “too Black”.  Ms. Burroughs raised money and opened the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909. She went on to support the Civil Rights movement and push for racial equity. This is important because it showed the kind of struggle that Ms. Burroughs faced. She faced discrimination, but she used that to motivate herself and find a different path to success.

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Newsela | Denied a teaching job for being "too Black," she started her own school, and a movement

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Defying the discrimination fostered by colorism, one woman started her own school.

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This is a house where the family is celebrating Ramadan. This was interesting to me because I usually see these kinds of public decorations for Christmas or Hanukkah.

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Reflection on History Learning

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This is a picture of the hallway at ETHS when we came back for in-person learning. It freaked me out when I saw it because it felt so surreal.

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Here I am reading one of my favorite books, Mastery, that talks about how to get really good at things. I'm really being a scholar at this moment.  

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Merry Clayton's song is all about using the difficult times in your life as points of pride and not shame. That's important because we can't form community if we are trying to hide our struggles.

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Merry Clayton - Beautiful Scars (Lyric Video)

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The Kaaba is a building at the center of Islam's most important mosque. It has such a cool design and I love the way people flow around it like water. 