Just read through the article you linked upthread, aquinas. I find a lot of points of agreement with the author. A couple of key ones:
-the value of widespread or at least representative sampling of student academic and social-emotional progress. Note the old educational assessment adage: what gets measured gets funded.
-mine the existing data on educational approaches from natural experiments across the continent. In a fairly practical example, this was in large part how the CDC in the US decided it was appropriate to reduce physical distancing in schools from six feet to three feet: the state of Massachusetts gave schools a mandate of three feet, but a recommendation of six feet; districts made different choices, but reported comparable infection data.
In another variation of the natural experiment, I happen to know that there are a number of projects out there being undertaken by major educational publishers (of course, my sources are heavily weighted toward assessment and focused interventions) making use of the academic and social-emotional circumstances of the pandemic to develop or validate new educationally-relevant tools.
