Enriching Education: Covid-19 Response Toolkit from Centre for Public Impact

 

The Centre for Public Impact recently released the DC COVID-19 Response Collaborative toolkit: how to build a peer learning network for COVID-19 response in schools. This toolkit is a step-by-step guide to building a peer learning network capable of responding to the complex challenges related to COVID-19 in schools, drawing from the success of the D.C. COVID-19 Response Collaborative (the Collaborative) which launched in December of 2021.   In light of the widespread economic, public health, and educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre for Public Impact (CPI), the District of Columbia’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), and Diana Bruce and Associates launched the Collaborative with support from The Rockefeller Foundation. The Collaborative is a peer learning network designed to help Local Education Agencies (LEAs) across Washington, D.C. share knowledge and resources about testing and responding to positive cases in schools. To date, the Collaborative has equipped 61 participants with information to minimize in-school transmissions and respond to positive cases through practices around testing, contact tracing, exclusion, dismissal, and return to school.   Given the success of the Collaborative, the organizations involved decided to release the DC COVID-19 Response Collaborative toolkit, which includes detailed guidance for schools districts across the country to create their own peer learning network, best practices from the Collaborative, and resources for users to get started.    “Given the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the peer learning network format provides the necessary space for school leaders to access critical health expertise on the virus and its spread, testing, and vaccination,” explained Dan Vogel, North America Director at the Centre for Public Impact. “In Washington D.C., Collaborative participants shared challenges and best practices in positive case response in real-time, and ultimately felt better equipped to respond to the pandemic. We believe the peer learning network format has the potential to dramatically improve public health response in schools across the country.”   “The Centre for Public Impact’s toolkit helps schools tap into one of their greatest resources: their peer community. But setting up a peer learning community is far easier said than done. Schools have been in crisis mode for over two years now, adjusting everything from operations to staffing to new curricula in all forms to keep entire communities in completely new ways. CPI’s resources now help schools jump over known hurdles and learn from each other more easily, all so that our country’s kids stay safe while studying,” said Andrew Sweet, Managing Director of the Global COVID-19 Response and Recovery at The Rockefeller Foundation. “We are proud to continue supporting the CPI in their necessary and ambitious work to scale what has worked in D.C. to the rest of the country. This work is all-important for the nation and beyond as we build on what we’ve learned from the pandemic so far and graduate beyond it.”   The toolkit can be accessed online here

###   About the Centre for Public Impact At the Centre for Public Impact, we believe in the potential of government to bring about better outcomes for people. Yet, we have found that the systems, structures, and processes of government today are often not set up to respond to the complex challenges we face as a society. That’s why we have an emerging vision to reimagine government so that it works for everyone.    A global not-for-profit organisation founded by the Boston Consulting Group, we act as a learning partner for governments, public servants, and the diverse network of changemakers who are leading the charge to reimagine government. We work with them to hold space to collectively make sense of the complex challenges we face and drive meaningful change through learning and experimentation.   The Centre for Public Impact, a BCG Foundation, is not affiliated with Public Impact, an independent education research and consulting firm dedicated to improving learning outcomes for all children in the United States.