Penn GSE In the Media

Peter Eckel and Aida Sagintayeva virtually brought together higher ed leaders from across 15 time zones to talk about a way forward.

In this interview, Jenny Zapf highlights the importance of innovative and long-term, sustainable ideas that have impact.

Sharon Wolf and an Imperial College London colleague co-authored an article about the effects of food shortages on early childhood development. “We found that children from households that were food insecure even only once during the three-year study period had lower literacy and numeracy abilities and short-term memory performance later on,” they wrote.

Krystal Strong said that the reckoning this past summer over police brutality and racial injustice, combined with Walter Wallace Jr.’s death last week, have catapulted the conversation about defunding police from radical to mainstream. Before May, she never imagined “we would be having a national conversation about defunding the police.” She added, “People are being compelled to rethink their ideas, because the things that they thought could work are clearly not.”

Sigal Ben-Porath wrote a piece about how teachers can approach the many issues that will arise around the general election in 2020, after the polls close and votes are counted, which could take days or weeks.

Krystal Strong notes that viewing videos of police violence is more likely to trigger severe responses among Black and Brown Americans and chooses not to view or share such images anymore, but said that she and other activists grapple with the question, noting that it was evident the powerful video imagery after Walter Wallace, Jr. was killed was galvanizing during the protests in West Philadelphia.

Nelson Flores said shifts in language often start with a small group of marginalized people, rather than with majority rule. “I think the relevant question for me isn’t whether people should be using the term. It’s how people who use the term Latinx are trying to differentiate themselves from people who use the term Hispanic and people who use the term Latino,” he said. “Why do they feel like those terms don’t really reflect the political identities they’re trying to articulate through the term Latinx?” 

Richard Ingersoll said it’s too early to know if the pandemic will worsen teacher shortages. “Traditionally, employees in general across industries and occupations quit at higher rates in good economic times and at lower rates in bad economic times," he said. "The reason is simple—even if someone dislikes their job, they are loath to quit if there is financial uncertainty, or if there are not other jobs available.” 

Howard Stevenson and Frances Jensen spoke about how young people view the threat of COVID-19 and the effects of police violence on their mental health.  

“The more we consider this new reality and the new rules it brings into our curriculum and pedagogy, the more grounded, humanizing, and transformational our teaching and courses will become,” Ravitch said.

Jonathan Zimmerman advocated for a program that would enlist college students and other young adults to support school-aged children with online learning and extracurricular activities in exchange for a small stipend during the pandemic.  

Howard Stevenson said Black students often are denied a sense of belonging in private school environments. When combined with experiences of racism, this can affect these students’ long-term mental health.  

Joni Finney and colleagues wrote a report calling on U.S. governors to develop a long-term higher education strategy that stimulates the economy and restructures how colleges are funded.  

Peter Eckel said the pandemic has given colleges a chance to reevaluate their summer offerings and other scheduling matters. “The pandemic has raised a lot of questions about long-held traditions about how to deliver higher education,” he said. “The academic calendar is one of them.”