Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

  • By Matt Jones
  • 01/13/26

Key Takeaways

  • Proactive planning and community partnerships are essential. NWEA emphasizes advance preparation—through risk assessment, emergency planning, drills, and strong communication—along with close collaboration between schools and community organizations to support recovery needs beyond academics.
  • Stability and emotional well-being should come before academics after disasters. Quickly restoring daily routines helps students regain a sense of normalcy, but the playbook stresses that students’ emotional recovery and teachers’ unmet needs must take priority over academic catch-up.
  • Long-term recovery requires layered supports for learning and mental health. NWEA recommends multi-tiered systems of support—ranging from universal social-emotional services to intensive therapeutic care—paired with targeted academic interventions to address learning losses that can exceed the amount of instructional time missed.

The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release. It offers recommendations for preparation, immediate recovery efforts, and longer-term strategies for rebuilding over the course of years.

"This new playbook is the second part of our research into the impacts of extreme weather events on teaching and learning," said NWEA’s Dr. Megan Kuhfeld, Director of Growth Modeling and Analytics. "The first report we released this past summer felt unfinished without looking at what districts can do to better prepare for future disasters and how best to support students and teachers through the recovery phase and beyond. This playbook is a collection of insights drawn from lessons in resilience from districts that have faced disasters and what they did to recover."

The research brief is titled “Lessons in resilience: A playbook for recovery from natural disasters.” The six recommendations are:

  1. Prepare a plan in advance. Steps include assessing community risk, developing an Emergency Operations Plan, building communication systems, and running practices and drills.
  2. Build relationships between schools and community organizations. The brief discusses how schools serve as community hubs that can meet needs like temporary housing, trauma counseling, and disaster relief donations.
  3. After a disaster strikes, try to move students back into a daily routine as soon as possible. Predictability, stability, and familiar routines or expectations are crucial to recreating a sense of normalcy.
  4. Students’ emotional recovery—as well as teachers’ unmet needs—must take priority over academic recovery.
  5. For long-term recovery efforts, build multi-tiered supports. These include universal support services (such as staff training and social-emotional learning), targeted support services (small-group interventions), and intensive support services (connecting students with therapists or coordinating continuing care).
  6. Provide additional support for students’ academic needs. According to the brief, “missed school days due to severe weather can translate to academic losses that are two to four times greater than the missed instructional time itself.” Strategies including offering tutoring and learning from prior interruptions.

The full brief is available on the NWEA website.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • William Penn Charter School

    Richard A. Balderston OPC’69 Lower School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Richard A. Balderston OPC’69 Lower School has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Barbara Vick Western Branch has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • UCF Modernizes College of Hospitality Management

    The University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla., recently completed a major renovation effort for the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, according to a news release. The project modernized 77,600 square feet worth of academic classrooms, teaching labs, and collaborative spaces to support both students and faculty.

  • Minnesota District Starts Construction on Early Childhood Learning Center

    Sauk Rapids-Rice Public Schools in Sauk Rapids, Minn., recently announced that construction has begun on a new early childhood learning center and a new outdoor activities complex, according to a news release.