STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As schools across the country shut down to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), moving to remote learning, a new report states that schools should extend the next school year to make up for lost learning time.

Researchers at Michigan State University created a comprehensive report analyzing state responses to school closures and remote learning.

According to the report, which is a collaboration between Michigan State University’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) and the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR), students may be less prepared to advance to the next grade. The school building closures have also strained school planning, financing and student testing capabilities.

The report suggests that states extend the 2020-2021 school year and/or lengthen school days to allow students to catch up on lost learning time.

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“State and local policymakers will need to act quickly to help mitigate the academic consequences of the pandemic and extended periods out of school,” said Katharine Strunk, EPIC faculty director and professor of education policy, in a news release. “Everyone is working as fast as they can, and while every state faces different constraints and opportunities, it is always better to put our heads together to come up with the best solutions for our kids.”

At the start of the next school year, states and school districts should revise tests to assess student progress and identify different learning levels. Those tests should be used to help educators provide targeted assistance to students, and not used for accountability purposes.

To help those students at different learning levels, there should be an investment in professional development programs to help teachers and staff. With the possibility that school closures can occur next school year due to the coronavirus, states should also consider resources for school districts to improve distance learning instruction.

The report compiled information about what each state is doing to implement distance learning models while schools are closed due to the coronavirus.

At the time of the report, which was published Wednesday, at least 29 states required districts to implement distance learning, and no state had distributed internet-enabled devices to all students. More than 30 states provided guidance on special education, but most left it up to districts to comply with requirements for equal access.

“States are facing unprecedented challenges educating students in the midst of a public health crisis, but they can learn from each other,” said Matt Grossmann, IPPSR director and associate professor of political science. “We hope to provide actionable information to facilitate decisions despite the need for quick action.”

NYC SCHOOLS CLOSED

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Saturday he will keep all New York City public schools closed for the rest of the school year, but Cuomo said he has jurisdiction over such a move and hasn’t reached that decision yet. Just two hours after de Blasio made the announcement that schools would remain closed on Saturday, Cuomo said that that wasn’t the case.

However, on Sunday, de Blasio continued to defend his decision to keep schools closed.

“We explained obviously why that was the right thing to do in terms of health and safety, [and] why it was the right thing to do in terms of recognizing what would be possible academically with only a few weeks in person,” the mayor said during a press conference on Sunday. "But we had a reason in making that decision to know that we could keep supporting our kids, and we laid out a five-point plan of the ways that we’re going to support our kids, our parents, [and] prepare for this phase and beyond.”

Cuomo said during a separate press conference Sunday that there must be a regional coordinated plan between New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York localities to make a decision about when schools would reopen.

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