The Current Impact on K-12 Education

by Kay Twelve - March 13, 2020

What Exactly Is Coronavirus (COVID-19)?

COVID-19 is a disease caused by the new coronavirus that emerged in December of 2019. This new virus appears to be spreading from person to person, but it's unclear how contagious it is. The symptoms include coughing, fever, and shortness of breath that can range from mild to severe.

How To Prevent Getting Coronavirus

Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). There is, however, ways to stay proactive against the globally spreading virus that has impacted over 100,000 people internationally. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are two main ways that we can help protect ourselves from becoming infected.

1. Wash Your Hands

Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds at minimum. If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer. Make sure to cover the entire surface of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.

2. Avoid Close Contact

Avoid close contact with people who are sick, even if there is a chance they only have a minor cold. Put distance between yourself and other people if COVID-19 is spreading in an area near you!

The Impact on K-12 Education

The outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States is causing many K-12 schools to shut down indefinitely. This is obviously going to put a big stress into doing more online learning. And, when we see schools that are going to be inclosed for whether it's weeks or months, it's going to create a new type of culture that online learning is going to have to figure out. While this may seem to be short-term effects of the coronavirus, we dive into potential shifts that may be coming as a result of the outbreak.

Will We See Student Enrollment Decline Next Year?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are over 130,000 public and private schools in the United States. But, could the exposure to online learning for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year cause this number to go down?

With the exposure to online learning, many students and parents could become fond of the online learning option. At first, we may see some backlash, but eventually we are going to see an acceleration of improvement with the increased number of students enrolled during this time. This can cause many students to permanently switch to this alternative which will reduce the number of students enrolled in schools across the country.

Will Adults Be More Inclined To Work From Home?

Another potential shift that could come into play is more stay-at-home jobs for parents. With a shift to online learning, there will be more of a demand for parents to be the "tutor" for their kids. Kevin Stoller, author of Creating Better Learning Environments and host of the podcast Better Learning, explains this when he says "What does a day look like now for everyone? Are we even looking at traditional normal business hours or school hours? Or is there just a big shift in our society that can happen?"

To learn more about the impact of Coronavirus on K-12 education, check into our podcast that dives into many interesting insights from the outbreak.

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