COVID-19: Return to School
The resources and guidance listed below, from NASP, the federal government, and other agencies, offer guidance and suggestions for local education agencies and schools planning re-entry following COVID-19 closures.
NASP Resources
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NASP-ASCA School Re-Entry SEL Considerations (PDF)
Local education agencies and individual schools planning for students and staff to return following COVID-19 closures must prioritize efforts to address social and emotional learning and mental and behavioral health needs. Equally important is ensuring staff feel their physical and mental health needs are supported. … more
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School Re-Entry SEL Considerations "At a Glance" (PDF)
Local education agencies and individual schools planning for students and staff to return following COVID-19 closures must prioritize efforts to address social and emotional learning and mental and behavioral health needs. This document is an overview of the full NASP-ASCA School Re-Entry SEL Considerations … more
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Supporting Students With Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
In general, children appear to recover from COVID-19 more quickly than adults and have less severe symptoms overall; most youth will recover within a few weeks and not require special support upon return to school (Götzinger et al., 2020). However, some students who return to school may experience persistent symptoms or develop post-acute COVID-19 complications. … more
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Guidance on the Use of Grade Retention and Special Education Eligibility to Address Instructional Loss
NASP opposes the use of retention as an intervention strategy to mitigate instructional loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it urges caution regarding the assumption that special education services are an appropriate way to address COVID-19 instructional loss. … more
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Considerations for Academic Assessments and Interventions Upon the Return to School
This new resource provides considerations for determining when and how students and staff may return to school safely. … more
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Considerations for Academic Screening Upon the Return to School
This new resource highlights considerations for school psychologists regarding academic assessment upon return to school. … more
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Considerations for Reading Intervention Upon the Return to School
This new resource provides considerations for determining when and how students and staff may return to school safely. … more
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Reading Intervention Protocol: Partner Reading and Paragraph Shrinking
This handout was developed in tandem with Considerations for Reading Intervention Upon the Return to School as part of NASP’s return to school academic guidance series. … more
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Ethical Documentation of Adjustments to Standardized Evaluation Administration Procedures
This guidance statement addresses how school psychologists should document adjustments to standardized administration procedures, including those made to reduce the chance for transmission of the COVID-19 virus. … more
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Considerations for Assessment, Instruction, and Intervention of Writing Skills Upon the Return to School
The COVID-19 pandemic will likely exacerbate American students struggles with the task of writing, given that approximately 25% of instruction during the 2019–2020 academic year was substantially disrupted … more
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Considerations for Math Intervention Upon the Return to School
The loss of instruction due to COVID-19 closures and the loss of spring testing data creates a perfect storm for school psychologists who wish to meet the needs of diverse learners, including identifying and making eligible those students who are in need of special education. … more
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Class-Wide Math Intervention Protocol
Class-wide interventions tend to be standard protocol fluency-building interventions by design, which means that the skills targeted should be skills that students have been taught how to do. This intervention protocol should be used in conjunction with the NASP handout Considerations for Math Intervention Upon the Return to School. … more
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The Pandemic’s Impact on Special Education Evaluations and SLD Identification
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Returning to School Following COVID-19 Related School Closures: The COVID-19 School Adjustment Risk Matrix (C-SARM)
Returning to School Following COVID-19 Related School Closures: The COVID-19 School Adjustment Risk Matrix (C-SARM) … more
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Providing Effective Social–Emotional and Behavioral Supports After COVID-19 Closures: Universal Screening and Tier 1 Interventions
This new resource provides considerations for determining when and how students and staff may return to school safely. … more
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Tier 2 Social–Emotional Learning/Mental and Behavioral Health Interventions: Post COVID-19
Repeated or chronic stress from economic instability, increased family tensions and anxiety, loss of housing or food stability, abuse or neglect, and systemic racism and violence can cause trauma reactions. Many students and staff have experienced these risk factors and may be struggling with trauma as the school year begins. … more
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Tier 3 Mental and Behavioral Health Interventions and Special Education
As educators consider the impact of the current pandemic and related school closures on students’ social–emotional functioning, mental health, and behavior, many school psychologists will lead teams in reviewing their current continuum of services. Social–emotional learning (SEL) practices and mental and behavioral health (MBH) interventions need to be viable in both brick and mortar and distance learning settings, as well as robust enough to meet the potential for increased demand across multiple student populations. … more
Federal Government Resources
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CDC Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools
Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance for fully vaccinated people. … more
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Department of Education Return-to-School Roadmap
The Roadmap provides key resources and supports for students, parents, educators, and school communities to build excitement around returning to classrooms this school year and outlines how federal funding can support the safe and sustained return to in-person learning. … more
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Long COVID under Section 504 and the IDEA: A Resource to Support Children, Students, Educators, Schools, Service Providers, and Families
This resource is issued jointly by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights(OCR) and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to provideinformation about long COVID as a disability and about schools’2 and public agencies’responsibilities for the provision of services and reasonable modifications to children andstudents for whom long COVID is a disability. … more
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Department of Education COVID-19 Resource Center
There are several Department of Education COVID-19 resources available for states, communities, educators, and families. These resources include guidance and policies related to elementary and secondary education, special education, postsecondary education, and other aspects of lifelong learning. … more
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Center for Disease Control COVID-19 Center