Student Presenter(s): Phoenix Reisner
Faculty Mentor: Joerg R. Leheste, PhD MSc
School/College: Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury

The COVID-19 pandemic has left its imprint on the education system worldwide, including the field of special education. Education is a foundational social determinant of health and directly proportional to the quality of health outcomes, and thus an important subject of health policy research. Mass school closures, social distancing, and the sudden shift to remote and hybrid learning have created unique challenges, especially for the most vulnerable students with disabilities, their families, as well as teachers and other professionals. We are now at a crucial period where we must analyze the societal effects of the pandemic on special education and implement the lessons learned toward the improvement of the special education infrastructure to better assist these students and their support system. We have identified several broad areas where improvements need to be made. These include the development of technology-based solutions to increase access and participation in virtual classrooms, to improve access to mental health services for students and their caregivers, to enhance effective collaboration between all entities involved in special education, to address disparities in resource access for marginalized communities, and to enhance continual training and professional development for educators, family members and other special education professionals. Concurrent with this work, we are monitoring and analyzing efforts by the new 118th U.S. Congress towards these goals.