Teacher finds new way to study effects of pandemic on education
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OLATHE, Kan. (WDAF) — A Johnson County school teacher has found a new way to examine the effects of this pandemic on the education process.
Alisha Morris, a performing arts instructor at Olathe West High School, has formed an online database that details every coronavirus case that affects an American school. The reach of her project extends nationally, and she’s believed to be the only educator to accomplish this task.
When Morris started compiling her database of schools affected by COVID-19, she was doing it on her own. Now, Morris has 40 volunteers helping her do it.
The online database she’s put together compiles every COVID-19 case that touches a school in any way, whether it’s a parent or teacher being diagnosed, a student or a support staff member. There are thousands of them Morris and her team have written down.
“Seeing it all together in one list was what was interesting about it,” Morris said.
It’s all public information too. Morris’ project shows how many school districts started the year with only a few COVID cases, but that often times changed once students gathered again.
“The spread was faintly evident. Within a few days, there were more cases,” Morris said.
Morris said some of those districts had to shift their learning models to online classwork. She said her goal was to show how widespread this pandemic’s effects have been on educators and students.
“I actually did share this information with my board of education. They said thank you — it’s nice to see this all in one place. It’s been very helpful for us to have data to make informed decisions,” Morris said.
Vulnerability is a large piece of this puzzle. Morris said she knew the pandemic could affect people of all ages, but this proves it. As for her data, Morris said she hopes it could be used to save lives, or to keep schools running and doing it safely.
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