Policy Outsider

In a new episode of Policy Outsider, guest Anita Murphy, district superintendent at Capital Region BOCES, discusses how school districts and BOCES are sharing resources and working together to continue supporting students through new challenges imposed by the COVID-19 crisis and planning for a variety of budget and instructional uncertainties in the coming academic year.

New York State is anticipating a $13.3 billion loss in tax revenue in the economic wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a new round of federal aid for state and local governments is being negotiated in Congress, much uncertainty still remains, and school administrators are preparing for a wide range of budget cuts. School districts that are more reliant on state aid, such as rural districts and poorer urban districts, are preparing for particularly challenging budgets.

On this episode of Policy Outsider, guest Leigh Wedenoja, senior policy analyst at the Institute, outlines existing and future challenges imposed by COVID-19 on students and the education system.

Millions of Americans are adjusting to education going suddenly and fully online. The school year will likely finish online and, without a vaccine, schooling will likely be partially or fully online next fall. In this episode, Wedenoja explores how students at all ages will be affected by the disruption to their schooling and how the disruptions of COVID-19 make it difficult to plan for the challenges students are likely to face.

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, guest Liz Farmer, a fellow at the Future of Labor Research Center, discusses how work-from-home arrangements put in place as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase work-from-home trends and alter business operations.

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, the podcast of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, guest Laura Schultz, director of fiscal analysis and senior economist at the Institute, discusses the outlook of the economy and steps federal, state, and local governments are taking to support businesses and individuals in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schultz discusses how some state governments are providing assistance to businesses by delaying tax deadlines and placing moratoriums on evictions and utility shutdowns. Local governments and organizations, like economic development councils and chambers of commerce, are supporting small businesses as they work through guidance from the federal government to receive loans through the CARES Act.

In episode 17, “Online Learning to Bridge Cultural Divides," Dr. Rhianna Rogers, associate professor at SUNY Empire State College and Ernest Boyer Presidential Fellow at the Institute, calls in via video conferencing software to illustrate how online learning can be structured to improve student engagement. Rogers explains the importance of breaking down barriers to higher education access, such as the cost of textbooks and computer programs. Rogers, who is leading the Spring 2020 Center for Law and Policy Solutions (CLPS) Internship Program, identifies her background—living abroad in multiple countries and a lifelong learner—as an influence on her teaching methods, which are focused on bridging cultural divides through active learning and engagement.

The latest episode of Policy Outsider features Dr. Leigh Wedenoja, senior policy analyst at the Rockefeller Institute. Wedenoja shares research presented at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) 2019 Fall Research Conference on the effects of teacher looping on student outcomes. Wedenoja explains the practice of teacher looping, or pairing a student with the same teacher for more than one year, and its effects on students at different grade levels and backgrounds.

The research examines all students in grades three through 11 in the state of Tennessee and found significant improvements to test scores when students were paired with a repeat teacher. They also found that, across all grade levels, having a repeat teacher reduces absences and suspensions. Wedenoja also discusses how teacher looping often occurs by accident in schools but could actually be used as an intentional classroom assignment strategy by school administrators.

On the latest episode of Policy Outsider, guests Heather Trela, director of operations and fellow at the Rockefeller Institute, and Trevor Craft, graduate research assistant, share insights from their research on the national vaping crisis. Trela and Craft discuss how the growth of vaping tobacco products in teens and the emergence of a vaping-related lung injury created what we now call the vaping crisis. The episode explores what actions local, state, and federal governments are taking to address the crisis and how their responses are complicated by unusual regulations surrounding vaping and marijuana.

Guests:

Heather Trela, director of operations & fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government

Trevor Craft, graduate research assistant at the Rockefeller Institute of Government 

On the latest episode, Brian Backstrom, director of education policy studies, shares insights from a recent Rockefeller Institute forum on effective early intervention in dyslexia. Backstrom discusses what dyslexia is, the needs of students with dyslexia and of teachers who teach them, what impacts could be in store for New York if a universal dyslexia screening program is enacted, and the experiences of other states implementing this approach.

The episode also features audio from the Institute-hosted forum that brought together dyslexia research experts Dr. Bennett Shaywitz and Dr. Sally Shaywitz, co-founders and co-directors of the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity, Dr. Jay Russell, former head of The Windward School, Tim Castanza, co-founder and executive director of Bridge Prep Charter School, and Amanda McCaleb, the literacy intervention specialist for Springfield (MO) Public Schools. Video from the forum can be found by visiting the Rockefeller Institute's Facebook page. 

This special edition of "Policy Outsider" was recorded live at a forum hosted by the Rockefeller Institute of Government and features distinguished scholar Robert J. Spitzer's presentation on gun policy. Spitzer notes that gun ownership continues to decline, and that the gun safety movement is newly invigorated, motivated, and financed. He also points out that there is substantial public support for most of the more common gun policy proposals, even among gun owners. At the same time, federal courts are proving more conservative in their rulings and agitating for broad interpretation of gun rights under the Second Amendment.

Spitzer's discussion included a PowerPoint that provides an overview of the history of guns in the United States, how the nation's relationship with guns and gun policy has evolved, current gun laws and statistics, and projections for future trends concerning firearm ownership and policy. The PowerPoint is posted on The Institute's website and can be found on the Rockefeller Institute website by visiting www.rockinst.org/outsider

On this episode of "Policy Outsider," we have Rockefeller Institute fellow Dr. Lisa Parshall to discuss the New N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act and the effect it has had on village dissolutions. The episode highlights the Institute's recent report on village dissolutions, which detailed the motivation behind New York State's push to dissolve village governments.

Parshall discusses the effect the 2010 law has had on the rate of village dissolutions and what dissolution means for village residents and neighboring communities. Parshall identifies the noneconomic reasons residents are often reluctant to dissolve their villages. Their concerns include community identity and pride, the importance of municipal buildings and symbols, festivals and community celebrations, as well as the role of local emergency services.