Available to download now - Two new issue discussion guides about responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 and Vaccines: How Should We Keep Communities Safe?, and School, Interrupted: How Should We Teach in a Pandemic? Each issue discussion guide topic has companion materials available that include a moderators' guide and PowerPoint slides that may be useful for online forums.

About the COVID-19 and Vaccines issue discussion guide:

As the United States slowly emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, many questions remain about what communities should do over the long run to keep people safe, get their local economies moving again, and prepare for future outbreaks.

This issue discussion guide presents three options for moving forward, each coming from a different perspective and each reflecting a different set of ideas about what should be done. Most people will find something to agree with in all three approaches, but each also has trade-offs, risks, or drawbacks that need to be taken into account and worked through.

In thinking about different ways to approach the problem, we will consider such questions as:

• How much should we change our lives to adapt to the virus?
• What responsibilities does each of us have to our neighbors?
• How should we weigh the community’s health against the need for more people to go back to work?
• How much weight do we put on reaching consensus and avoiding the controversies and divisions that may emerge?

These are not the only possible options, nor the only questions. They are starting points for weighing alternatives and reaching a sound judgment.

Note that this is a prepublication draft for testing. We would appreciate your feedback as you use this draft framework in your communities. Please visit our post-forum response survey to share your insights.

About the School, Interrupted issue discussion guide:

How should we teach all of our children now while keeping them safe?

This issue discussion guide presents three options for moving forward, each coming from a different perspective and each reflecting a different set of ideas about what should be done. Most people will find something to agree with in all three approaches, but each also has trade-offs, risks, or drawbacks that need to be taken into account and worked through.

In thinking about different approaches, we will consider these questions:

• How will these proposals affect student learning?
• How will they affect students’ social and emotional needs?
• Should we consider different approaches for younger children, low-income children, or those with learning disabilities?
• Schools provide meals, counseling, social learning, friendships, and extracurricular activities. How will these be affected?
• What kinds of resources—money, teachers, and more —do schools need in order to return to in-person learning? Do the schools have enough resources? If not, how could we provide them?
• How should we make up for the educational and other losses that all children suffered over the last year? How should we address the educational inequities that the pandemic both exposed and made worse?

These are not the only possible options nor the only questions. They are a starting point for weighing alternatives and reaching a sound judgment.

(Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash)