48 minute read
National Association for Gifted Children - 22 | National School Public Relations Association
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By Yolanda Stephen
The spotlight is on us.
When attending a musical held in your local school fine arts hall or Broadway there is something the set designer uses to communicate –light. They alter the color to magnify a mood. For example, when the character is happy, all the lights shine brightly. When something brooding is about to transpire, the lights grow dimmer and dimmer. And when they want to highlight a particular character, they remove all light particles except one that is forced focus on the main character of interest. That’s the spotlight.
The spotlight seems forever cast on school communicators. As school doors across the country consecutively open and close, depending on the pandemic rates, the spotlight is on communications. Meetings are littered with rhetoric of:
•We need to communicate that… •How are we going to get the message out… •How quickly can we get the message out… •We need a video to explain that… •Make this pretty so we can send it out…
With the continued pandemic, equity and inclusion conversations, and critical race theory drifting on and off the stage, the importance of equity in school communications is in the spotlight.
Equity travels beyond what we see before our eyes, it’s not just black, brown, and white. Similar to our communications, it must reach beyond the routine tenants of employees, students and parents. It must resonate with those who have vision impairments, those who do not have internet access at home, and those who may not even have kids in our school system. All of these individuals have a stake in the game and can be major stand-ins on our communications theatre.
Too often, school district personnel work in unintentional silos which stymie conversations that communicators depend on to provide effective outreach to the community. That’s not a good thing, because by default, the school system is a power player in communities across the country. People look to us for leadership in the community. That is why everything we do communicates and how we do it can make or break our stage presence.
Following are some tips on how to show the importance of equity in school communications:
1. Lead by listening: Stepping into a parent advisory meeting or hosting a strategic planning session can provide some insight into community expectations as it relates to communication. It can also create an avenue to share information across the table face-to-face or Zoom-to-Zoom. Make sure to invite a varied audience to the table so you can be aware of differing perspectives.
2. Acknowledge inequities exist: Not necessarily in the classroom, but in your communication efforts. Before making a swath of changes, complete an inventory of your communication messages and mediums. Like a SWOT analysis. If you recognize gaps, adjust your communication plan to close those gaps.
3. Eliminate language barriers: I know, you may be thinking if a family or student speaks a language other than the dominate language then it needs to be translated. Yes, that is important. You also need to eliminate the education-ease communicators easily slip into. Think along the lines of synchronous/ asynchronous vs. in person and on demand. Remove the jargon so the receiver of the message can feel confident in what you want them to do next.
4. Visuals are key: The average reader takes less than five seconds to decide if they are going to read more information into a communication piece. That’s brochures, websites and social media pages. A good play must have good lighting so the audience can feel the characters emotions. If they don’t like it, they leave at intermission. We want the readers to stay past intermission, so add some visual elements that draw them in. Use a variety of faces and designs. Performing musicals through our work takes practice. We use visual elements on paper and through photography, like designing a set. We generate content and share social media posts, like writing a script. Every day the curtain goes up as we create equitable, timely and honest communications. The spotlight is definitely on us. Now it’s time to sing!
Yolanda Stephen is the Director of Public Relations for Troup County School System (Ga.) and Vice President of Diversity Engagement for National School Public Relations Association. For over 15 years she has worked in communications for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, and now public education. You can find her blogging at prisking.com or combing through Linkedin or Twitter @noordinaryrose.
We’re excited to announce the launch of
As our equity work has evolved during (and now continuing through) the pandemic, more and more we’re seeing how SEL and equity are tied together. School districts are increasingly requiring every product to take student and faculty SEL needs into consideration, and companies are responding to this important need.
Hence, our new website: SELtoday.org.
Our goals are simple: • To provide a place where thought leaders and researchers in the industry have a voice—a loud one—about the critical work they’re doing in SEL to meet the needs of school districts across the country. • To continually highlight the good work of PreK-12 educators who are making SEL a key part of a holistic educational process in every subject for every student at every school, every day.
s the experts at E said, E is relevant for all students in all schools and affirms diverse cultures and backgrounds. All students bring to school their identities, strengths, values, lived experiences, and culture. SEL ... uplifts and promotes understanding of the assets of diverse individuals and communities."
You just can't have one without the other. Equity and SEL.
We will include an SEL Today section in every issue of the journal going forward, beginning on the very next page. We also hope you’d stop by and visit the new website. And, of course, if you’d like to get involved in any way, we’d love to hear from you!
Thank you, Larry & Maia
10 Questions Principals Should Ask Teachers During the Hiring Process to Prioritize Social-Emotional Learning
By Joshua Bobrow & Brandon Frame
During these challenging times in which gross racial injustice and a pandemic have contributed to our collective trauma, one thing is increasingly clear: high-quality SEL is needed inside our classrooms.
SEL articulates asset-based developmental outcomes central to advancing equity and trauma-informed work when implemented intentionally and through an anti-racist lens. Therefore, it is critical and prudent for school leaders to ensure that newly hired teachers are invested in the social-emotional skills they will need in order to grow as educators, can model it themselves, and integrate it in the classroom.
For a number of reasons, many teachers are not formally exposed to SEL (e.g. not every graduate school program for education prioritizes SEL or a teacher might be coming from a school that didn’t prioritize it)- however, teachers must at least have a willingness to learn about SEL and demonstrate the capacity to teach with SEL in mind.
Here are 10 questions that school leaders can ask potential new teachers to ensure that their community fosters resiliency and integrates SEL in all school spaces.
10. How does your pedagogical philosophy relate to our school’s belief that all learning is social and emotional?
Inquiring about a teacher’s pedagogical philosophy will let you better understand their instructional mindsets and to what extent they have integrated SEL into those mindsets.
9. How do you consistently model social and emotional skills in and out of the classroom? Provide examples in both instructional and non-instructional spaces.
By posing this question, you can gauge the degree to which a teacher sees themselves as a role model and member of the community in all school spaces.
8. How do you center relationships with students in your classroom? Provide examples.
Asking this question can help you see how a teacher prioritizes forming trusting relationships, which is the foundation of learning partnerships.
7. How do you concretely develop social-emotional skills like problem-solving and e ective collaboration through your content?
By asking this question, you are better able to gauge the likelihood that higher order thinking and interpersonal skills will be developed in a teacher’s classroom.
6. How do you view the role of social and emotional skills in your classroom?
By asking a teacher about their view of social and emotional skills and how that impacts the classroom, you’re better able to infer what their teaching and interactions will and won’t include.
5. What does social-emotional learning mean to you and your teaching?
You want to learn a teacher’s general grasp of SEL and how past experiences have shaped their understanding of the relationship between social-emotional development, teaching, and academic outcomes.
4. Equity roots more deeply in our school by developing related social-emotional skills like respecting di erence and constructive problem-solving. How do social-emotional skills serve equity in your opinion?
Equity and SEL go hand-in-hand, so you should inquire about a teacher’s familiarity with and commitment to equity and SEL, and how the two relate and show up in their classroom.
3. Take a look at the adult layers of these social-emotional indicators. What are your two strengths and which is your greatest area of development? Tell us about them.
Asking a teacher to respond to specific indicators can illuminate their ability to be
reflective and can serve to determine if a teacher’s skills will complement the team’s social-emotional areas of strength and growth.
2. How do you respond to another teacher who says it’s not their job to teach social and emotional skills through their content?
By asking this question, you can gauge a teacher’s interpersonal skills, persuasive abilities, and to what extent a teacher will be an advocate for SEL integration.
1. What is your level of comfort to give and receive feedback around social and emotional strengths and areas for growth? Please provide examples of when you’ve e ectively given and received feedback.
Feedback is essential to SEL. By asking about it, you can learn about a teacher’s ability to internalize feedback and provide supportive feedback to others around SEL.
School leaders across the country are increasingly prioritizing SEL in the interviewing process. Johanie Hernandez, Principal of the Urban Assembly Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice integrates direct SEL questioning into her interview process to ensure that potential hires have a desire to advance the social-emotional development of students and themselves. Working with the Urban Assembly SEL Team’s Resilient Scholars Program, Principal Hernandez has built a flexible school community where adults genuinely and vulnerably model SEL and harness these skills in young people. This focus has allowed for the school’s climate to flourish and for the law-themed school to advance academic outcomes.
Exploring these 10 questions with potential teacher hires (and adapting them when hiring non-instructional staff) increases your ability to hire someone who is willing to develop their social-emotional skills while implementing them in their classroom.
To advance SEL in schools, school leaders should hire staff that is open to feedback, values collaboration, sees opportunities in and beyond the classroom to nurture relationships and be part of a community, and understands that adults have to be willing to evolve alongside our students. We can’t ask our students to do what we ourselves are not willing to do.
Brandon Frame is Director of Social-Emotional Learning at the Urban Assembly. Joshua Bobrow is Deputy Director of Social-Emotional Learning at the Urban Assembly.
NAVIGATING TRAUMA IN A POST-COVID WORLD How SEL Can Help Students Cope
By Jill McVey, PhD, research scientist, ACT
WHAT IS TRAUMA?
Given the disruptions that we have all experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are becoming more aware of the effect that trauma can have on school, work, and home life. Any experience that causes intense physical or psychological stress reactions can be considered trauma. Traumatic events can be isolated, like the loss of a loved one, or things that happen over time, such as bullying or poverty. It’s important to note that while there are certain events that most of us would find to be traumatic, ultimately, it’s the person’s perceptions of the event that matter. Additionally, it is also possible for a person to experience what’s known as secondary trauma – a reaction from witnessing a traumatic event or learning about it happening to someone else.
TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICES
As we grapple as a society with systemic racism, the COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing political unrest, we need to have a way to help our students cope with these events and any other hardships they may be experiencing. Trauma-informed practices in schools provide a framework for understanding and responding to different types of trauma. Despite the perception that trauma is rare, it is estimated that at least half to two-thirds of children have experienced trauma in their lives. Past (or present) trauma can affect students by making it more likely for their fight or flight response to be activated, since experiencing trauma has an effect on the brain. This means that students may often be in a heightened state of watchfulness (“on alert”) without realizing it. In addition to reacting to things that others may not notice, students who are constantly on alert may struggle to focus on schoolwork. Trauma has been associated with difficulties in emotional regulation; difficulty forming or maintaining social relationships; and difficulties in school.
Fortunately, you do not need to know the details about a student’s trauma – or even if they have experienced it – in order to provide a foundation to help them cope. Understanding how trauma can affect students and having strategies to provide a safe and positive environment are important pieces of trauma-informed practices. As part of Mosaic™ by ACT® SEL professional development program, Powerful Educator, we focus on three main tenets of trauma-informed practice: safety, relationships, and coping skills.
SAFETY
A safe environment is one in which students can depend upon consistency, which includes a predictable schedule along with adults on whom the student can rely. A feeling of safety at school is important for all students, but additional supports may be needed for students who have experienced trauma, such as advanced warnings about transitions or changes to routines. A focus on positive student behaviors, instead of negative ones, can also help foster a sense of safety.
RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships are likewise critical to building a safe environment and helping students who have experienced trauma. Positive and supportive teacher-student relationships are important in myriad student outcomes. To name a few, strong teacher-student relationships are associated with increased student engagement, inclusion, and belonging, as well as increased attendance and achievement. For the student with trauma, strong relationships can help them feel secure and be less likely to be “on alert,” freeing up space for them to focus on learning.
COPING SKILLS
Finally, helping students develop coping skills for managing thoughts and emotions can help lay the groundwork for developing healthy behaviors in response to stress. In addition to teaching students healthy coping strategies (which can be as simple as pausing and taking a deep breath, like this song from the TV series “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” introduces), model these behaviors in the classroom. For example, naming feelings and appropriately dealing with them: “I’m feeling really frustrated that I can’t get my computer to connect to the projector! I’m going to take a deep breath, and I’ll try again a little later.” TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICES CAN HELP
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tumultuous time for all of us, and as a result, many of us are considering the role of trauma for the first time. Creating a safe environment, building positive relationships, and equipping students with skills needed to navigate uncomfortable emotions will go a long way toward a healthy learning environment for all students, regardless of their personal experiences with trauma.
For additional resources & information about trauma-informed practices, please visit our website or register to view a recording of our webinar.
How to Motivate Students Who Act Like They Don’t Care
Nobody is Born Unmotivated
By Dr. Allen N. Mendler
Parents of toddlers know something is very wrong developmentally if they aren’t constantly chasing their tiny explorer all over the house, erecting barriers along the way to try and keep their little learner safe. It is the rare child who isn’t filled with enthusiasm when that first day of kindergarten arrives. Yet little by little, the excitement wanes until more than half of all students in grades 5-12 are reportedly either not engaged or actively disengaged in school. Since it is natural for humans to want to learn and explore and if school is a place that facilitates learning and exploration, why do many students develop a negative attitude during their school careers, with some getting so disillusioned that they seem to not care at all? What happens to change the eager kindergartner into a cynical and disengaged teen? Can this downward spiral be prevented or reversed?
Post-Pandemic Challenges & Strategies
Poor student motivation and dealing with behavior problems has been at or near the top of classroom concerns expressed by educators throughout my forty plus year career. Since the desire to explore is intrinsically motivating, the challenge we face as educators is to identify and eliminate as many of the obstacles as we can that get in the way.
By far and away unfulfilled basic needs are at the core of virtually all behavior problems. Physical needs for food, shelter and safety are obvious. Psychological needs for attention, connection, competence, control and joy also seek fulfillment. When any of these needs are unsatisfied, some students act out; some become depressed or filled with anxiety; some give up.
Given the increase in child visits to emergency rooms during the pandemic for mental health issues, there is likely to be a corresponding uptick in challenging behaviors as students return to school. Literally overnight kids lost contact with their teachers, friends, playgrounds, celebrations, after-school activities and grandparents. Some had no respite from witnessing or experiencing some form of abuse. Several teachers expressed concerns about many virtual learners who either irregularly attended class or completely stopped coming.
Addressing our students’ heightened social-emotional needs, must be the top priority. As well, there are three other issues we explore that are often triggers for student
disengagement followed by a few suggested strategies for addressing each.
Social Emotional Factors
Some students shut down to school because they feel disconnected and see being unproductive as a pathway towards acceptance. Others are focused on more basic needs like having a roof over their heads, getting enough to eat and/or feeling safe at home or in the neighborhood. Unless school becomes a welcome distraction from these concerns or provides support to cope with these out-of-school issues, there may be too little mental energy available to handle the challenges of school. Our kids need courageous teachers who are unafraid of making themselves vulnerable by genuinely sharing their thoughts and feelings and listening to those of their students.
SUGGESTIONS:
1. Emphasize relationship. Kids withdraw when they think nobody cares. For at least the first few weeks, make it a priority to discover your students’ interests, ideas and concerns. Have lunch with small groups a few times each week. Start the week by inviting students to share weekend highlights and disappointments. Share things about yourself.
3. Get and stay personally connected without taking offensive behavior personally. You might expect students with a short fuse to have an
even shorter one for a while. Rather than being quick to go to a consequence when there is inappropriate behavior, think first about connecting with the student. For example, “Wow, using those words tells me you are very frustrated and upset. I really want to understand what’s going on. I’ll be right here after class and we will figure this out.” It is best to follow up later with the student privately to explore in more depth and to possibly discuss consequences if needed.
Lack of Perceived Success
Some students find learning difficult and may resist working to hide feelings of inadequacy. Many students with an, ‘I don’t care’ exterior are actually afraid to care because they don’t believe they can succeed. Since they fear being viewed as “stupid” by their peers or the teacher, they instead either act either “bad” or “indifferent.” Others lack confidence that they will not be able to sustain success so they may stop trying. Students who lagged behind before the pandemic are likely to be even further behind and may resort even more frequently to these forms of coping. Post-pandemic may be a good time for a re-set of what it means to be successful.
SUGGESTIONS:
1.Make it really hard for kids to fail: Build an “APPPP” for success (Appear (show up) –Prepare (be ready with attitude and supplies) –Practice (work at getting better at learning)Persist (Keep at it or ask for help) – Progress –(demonstrate steady growth).
2.Refrain from comparing students to each other and rather focus on defining success as improvement within each individual. When it comes to school achievement, “getting better at” should be the primary standard by which we judge rather than “being as good as or better than” other students or predetermined criteria. Consider presenting two grades: one for achieving mastery at grade level and another that reports individual progress. Have a daily or weekly class ‘honor roll’ that recognizes effort and improvement. Call it ‘on-a-roll.
3.Let students know they can always choose to show progress and improve their grades by using any of the 3R’s (Redo-Retake-Revise)(3).
Boredom/Lack of Interest & Enthusiasm
Students may become bored if they see little connection between school and life. In later grades, it is not unusual for many to ask, “When will we ever use this”? In actuality most of what we teach will never be used by most students and quickly forgotten after the test.
SUGGESTIONS:
1.Triggering curiosity and interest can motivate even the most unmotivated students. Blend real-world events that students are experiencing or are aware of with academic curricula. Don’t fear bringing real world issues of the day (the pandemic; lack of civility) into the classroom (i.e. ‘Let’s talk about how the pandemic has made life harder or easier?”; “Which pandemic do you think was worse and why: COVID-19 or the 1918 flu?” Topics that generate news and grab students’ attention are disasters, food, money and sports.
2.Connect video games and song lyrics to lessons whenever possible. A creative middle
school math teacher dramatically increased attendance by starting each virtual class playing the ‘fortnite’ video game and tied components of the game into her lessons.
3. Throughout lessons, use language to arouse student interest. For example:
“I love this topic because . . .”
Need to Feel in Control
Some students are quietly oppositional by acting unmotivated. These are often kids who do well enough on tests but won’t ever do their homework. Since they know that parents and teachers get very frustrated when they put forth little effort, they may use this strategy to feel empowered.
SUGGESTIONS
1. Involve students in classroom decisions such as developing rules and consequences. Look for opportunities to put them in charge (i.e. by helping others; having a high status classroom job).
2. Own the problem. For example, “I know I hassle you a lot about not doing your work and I’ll probably keep doing that because I respect you too much to expect anything less than your best. I want to be a good teacher for you and when you don’t produce it makes it impossible for me to know if I am. If you get all four of these problems done, that would be awesome but I can live with any two of the four. Your choice. ”
3. Patience and a changed mind-set can be really helpful. For example, re-define ‘stubborn’ to ‘strong-willed. Change is like a roller coaster ride. Every climb to the top leads to a drop. So buckle up and never give up!
Allen Mendler, Ph.D. is an educator and school psychologist who has extensive experience working with children of all ages in regular education and special education settings. Dr. Mendler has given many workshops and seminars to professionals and parents, and is highly acclaimed as a motivational speaker and trainer for numerous educational organizations on topics pertaining to challenging students. He is the author or co-author of many publications including ASCD's iconic Discipline with Dignity, and both editions of the best seller Motivating Students Who Don’t Care.
A slightly different version of this article appeared on the SOLUTION TREE website and is adapted from content in the second edition of Motivating Students Who Don’t Care.
The pandemic has catalyzed a rethinking of how we do school, and some of the possibilities bring opportunities the most out of a school day. cation and related services, an online therapy solution is a key piece for solving the complex puzzle—and many are embracing it.
Designing for Today’s Workforce
“Our skepticism for using an online platform to serve students quickly turned into appreciation,” said Ellen Biller, director of special education for Page County Public Schools in Virginia.
Looking ahead, the needs will be bigger, bility. Here are the three predictions on the future of special education:
Diversifying Services
According to a 2020 RAND Corp study, two in 10 districts have already adopted or are considering a virtual school model. Others are embracing hybrid learning. Among various reasons, district leaders cite growing demand—and for good reason. Deborah Daugherty, lead speech-language pathologist (SLP) in Chatham County Schools, described some students who student who has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) stood out. “He was always very resistant to working together in class,” she said. “When we started working this year with PresenceLearning, he was able to attend. He
likes being on the computer, so talking to me through the computer and using headphones at home really broke down those hurdles.” Schools will need to diversify their service delivery model in order to meet students where they are—which includes meeting each individual’s needs and putting in place a sustainable and nimble solution for school days that One of the key learnings during the pandemic was in how technology brings solution, some members of the schoolbased team no longer need to travel from home to school or from school to school. Instead they can spend more time working with students. “Teletherapy can help to ensure that clinicians are “He was always very spending their time resistant to working together in class,” she in clinically-directed activities, which is really the best use of said. “When we started the district’s budget,” working this year with said Kristim Martinez, PresenceLearning, he was M.A., CCC-SLP, clinical director, SLP & OT, able to attend. He likes PresenceLearning. being on the computer, so talking to me through Remote work can also be a solution for the computer and using mitigating personnel headphones at home shortages, which have really broke down those hurdles.” long plagued special education programs. “We’ve always leaving our rural area to work in the metropolitan parts of the state,” said Mike Lowers, executive director of the Central Kansas Coop in Education. “But having the PresenceLearning therapy platform has allowed us to retain those clinicians by converting them to remote employees.“
Integrating Technology Support into the Classroom
The online modality can be integrated seamlessly into the classroom, and that matters. Today’s children are digital learners, and technology can open up personalized experiences with shown there is stigma associated with “pulling” students for therapy sessions.
But the type of technology matters. Maine School Administrative District 75 found that a simple video conferencing tool was not enough.
“There is a huge variety of interactive games and tools on the PresenceLearning platform, all of which keep the students eager to participate in therapy,” said Karen Totman, a schoolbased speech-language pathologist (SLP) for the district.
ploying technology to bridge public/ private partnerships. With evaluations and equitable services conducted online, a public school team can meet their requirements to support private school students in their district.
“Innovation is happening in special education,” said Kate Eberle Walker, CEO of PresenceLearning. “We’ve talked to a lot of school leaders, and many of them are adding technology into their services with equity and access in mind. Schools have seen clearly how an online therapy solution can personalize
Learn More
If your school district is considering adding online services into your school model, schedule a free consultation today.
Ohio’s Educational Service Center Network Helps Re-Imagine Education In the Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic
By Joan Wade
When the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools almost overnight, educators everywhere had practically no time to prepare for the requisite operational and instructional changes that followed. Most schools had little experience with virtual instruction and many had limited technology and infrastructure to deliver high quality education remotely.
Despite the challenges, educators in Ohio pivoted quickly with the support of the state education agency and regional partners like Educational Service Centers (ESCs) and Information Technology Centers (ITCs). Ohio’s ESCs realized that responding to the pandemic presented a rare opportunity to re-imagine and reshape education for the future. They also recognized the effort could not take place in a vacuum.
As such, in spring of 2020, the Ohio ESC Association (OESCA) membership launched a statewide project, the Reframing Education Initiative, which was a direct response to the pandemic, and in support of the work of the state’s High School Redesign Taskforce and the statewide strategic plan for education, Each Child, Our Future. Education professionals from 31 of the state’s 51 ESCs collaborated to create a decision-making framework to support districts as they considered best practices that have emerged as a result of school closures, had authentic conversations about instructional expectations, and made plans to reframe and rethink the delivery of high-quality educational opportunities for all students and schools in the 2020- 2021 school year and beyond.
The intent of the “Reframing Education Initiative” is to support Ohio school districts in planning to meet the needs of all students in a multifaceted and multilayered manner and connect them to evidence-based resources and best practices.
“The time is right for Ohio to begin reframing its education model so that learning can become the constant and time and place can become the variables,” said Craig Burford, executive director of the Ohio Educational Service Center Association (OESCA).
The result was a website that contained a wealth of resources and guidelines to help districts prepare their individual plans for moving forward. The framework contained guiding questions and information about gathering data, creating a team, and areas to consider including instructional resources and expectations, non-building based learning opportunities, the needs of exceptional and at-risk students, the delivery of remote and blended instruction, technology needs, communication planning, professional learning for educators, climate and culture and the mental health of students and staff.
The initiative also created resources and a
planning template to help districts develop a Remote Learning Plan that was required to be submitted to state officials last summer before the start of the 2020-21 school year. In February of 2021, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine asked state districts and schools to work with their communities to assess and address the needs of students whose learning may have been lost or disrupted by the pandemic. Specifically, he asked districts and schools to develop plans that address learning recovery and extended learning opportunities. Such plans could include options including but not limited to extending the current school year, beginning the new year early, extending the school day or instituting summer programs, tutoring, remote options, and other remedial or supplemental activities. As part of the Reframing Education Initiative, OESCA responded to the Governor’s request by developing resources and a planning tool that districts could use to develop their extended learning plans and continue instructional planning going forward.
Ultimately, the Reframing Education initiative has served as the foundation for OESCA and its membership to engage in a collaborative, co-design process with the state education agency and other implementation partners in several state-wide initiatives including the Remote Learning Alliance and RemotEDx, which seek to help districts establish and maintain their virtual instruction programs.
Educational Service Centers have also partnered with the Ohio Department of Education on a number of other initiatives to address the continuing needs of districts as they address the impact of the pandemic during the 2021-22 school year and beyond including prevention education, family and community engagement liaisons and more. “The Reframing Education Initiative may have been born out of the need to quickly respond to COVID-19 related challenges, but the groundwork was already laid by our state education agency, state board of education and the work of the High School Redesign Task Force,” stated Burford. “Ultimately, the key to its success and sustainability, however, will be a commitment to a collaborative, co-designed approach and our ability to leverage the existing networks of experienced education professionals at ESCs, ITCs and other regional support organizations.”
Dr. Joan Wade is the Executive Director for the Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA). Dr. Wade also led CESA 6 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for 15 years. She was elected and served as a State Representative in the Wisconsin State Legislature from 1998 – 2001. Prior experiences include Distance Learning Director, Technology Coordinator, Library Media Specialist and Elementary Teacher in Wisconsin.
The Role of Foundational Reading in Academic Success
Long before students begin their formal education, they are learners. The home is their first classroom, and as families support their cognitive, motor, and socialemotional skill development, the first building blocks are being laid that prepare each child to take their place as a student in our nation’s schools.
Unfortunately, not all students begin with the same strong foundation. Many students start kindergarten far behind their peers in various areas, and some are significantly behind in acquired vocabulary and reading readiness. The inequities that have long been known have recently come into greater focus as our nation has been forced to pivot quickly to “distance learning” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unknown how long schools will be closed or if there will be additional closures in the upcoming school year due to the pandemic, but we do know that the 2019–2020 academic year continued amid COVID-19. When learning went home, and educators tried their best to continue the business of education remotely, some of our most vulnerable populations were at risk of dropping even further behind. Golinkoff et al. refers to this as the “COVID-19 slump” (2020). During these closures, it has been widely reported that many parents are challenged to support or encourage their children’s continued engagement in academics. These barriers include the lack of technology to connect remotely to what is being taught (Huffman, 2020), language barriers of parents that prevented successful family participation (Garcia Cano & Thompson, 2020), and the lack of resources for students who need accommodations or modifications to allow them to learn at their own pace and in their own way (Leone & Cullotta, 2020).
Studies have shown that students who fall behind and fail to read on grade level by third grade are at a greater risk of academic failure than their peers. “Academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skill at the end of third grade. A person who is not at least a moderately skilled reader by that time is unlikely to graduate from high school” (National Reading Panel, 2000).
Excerpted from “Accelerating Literacy Growth with Digital and Print Resources: Implementing Rosen LevelUp”
Rethinking Changes in Policy & Restorative Justice Programs & Practices
By Howie Kno , Ph.D.
For decades, school discipline, classroom management, and student behavior has been a dominant national concern for educators—a concern similarly expressed by students and parents, community organizations and leaders, and state departments of education and the U.S. Department of Education.
And while positive school and classroom climates and students’ effective social, emotional, and behavioral interactions strongly correlate with academic engagement and achievement (and fewer school or classroom discipline problems), many educators still haven’t fully embraced the fact that:
Prevention is the key, but multi-tiered services, supports, and interventions must still be available for non-responsive students with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges; Students need to be directly and explicitly taught (like academic skills) the interpersonal, social problem-solving, con ict prevention and resolution, and emotional control, communication, and coping (i.e., social, emotional, and behavioral self-management) skills—from preschool through high school—that they need to be successful; and
Schools are not effectively teaching these skills to all students in an integrated, scaffolded way and, instead, many are using policies and unvalidated programs not scientifically-proven, field-tested practices to address school discipline and student behavior.
Compounding the school discipline landscape is the fact that, for decades, students of color and/or with disabilities are disproportionately referred to their school principal’s office for
disciplinary infractions, and they are similarly disproportionately suspended, referred by and to law enforcement, put in alternative school programs, and expelled. Critically, many of these students’ original behavioral offenses are minor disruptions like “disrespect,” “defiance,” “talking back,” and “refusal to comply”—disruptions that result in student-teacher conferences for White students, but office discipline referrals for students of color and/or with disabilities.
To address this disproportionality, many states and districts have made policy changes, while others have advocated school-wide programs. These “fixes,” however, have often been implemented without field-testing them across different student ages, grade levels, geographic settings, and economic and racial demographics (Gordon, 2018; Knoff, 2018; U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2018; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2019).
Changes in Policy do not Change the Presence of Disproportionality
In the first area of disproportionality “remediation,” many states (e.g., California, Maryland), urban districts (e.g., Minneapolis, Dallas), and individual schools have passed policies whereby students at specific age levels cannot be suspended for minor disruptions. While this has decreased office discipline referrals overall, this has not decreased disproportionality, and it has increased teachers’ dissatisfaction with their district/school discipline systems (Knoff, 2018, 2019a).
More compelling is the fact that these policy changes have inherently discouraged schools from identifying the root causes of the disproportionate office referrals that persist. Hence, many students are not receiving the services, supports, strategies, or interventions they need to eliminate their challenging behavior when it continues. Moreover, teachers and other school personnel are not receiving the training, classroom management consultation, or coaching they need when their disproportionate office referrals of students of color and/or with disabilities are due to implicit bias, lack of multicultural- and disability-sensitive skills, or outright prejudice.
Critically, relative to the students, there are many different reasons why they present with social, emotional, or behaviorally challenges in a school or classroom. To decrease, eliminate, or treat these challenges, different reasons must be connected to the right services, supports, or interventions.
Some of the primary reasons include that some students:
Have biological, physiological, biochemical, neurological, or other physically- or medically-related conditions or factors that are unknown, undiagnosed, untreated, or unaccounted for.
Do not have positive relationships with teachers and/or peers in the school, and/or the school or classroom climate is so negative (or negative for them) that it is toxic.
Are either academically frustrated (thus, for example, they emotionally act out, become anxious, or withdraw) or academically unsuccessful (thus, they are behaviorally motivated to escape further failure and frustration).
Have not learned how to demonstrate and apply effective interpersonal, social
problem-solving, conflict prevention and resolution, and/or emotional control, communication, or coping skills to specific (school-based or home-based) situations in their lives.
Do not have the skills or motivation to work with peers—for example, in the cooperative or project-based learning groups that are more prevalent in today’s classrooms.
Do not have access to consistent, meaningful incentives (to motivate appropriate behavior) or consequences (to discourage future inappropriate behavior).
Are not held accountable for appropriate behavior by, for example, requiring them (a) to apologize for and correct the results of their inappropriate behavior; and (b) role play, practice, or demonstrate the appropriate behavior that they should have done originally.
Are responding to inconsistency—across people, settings, situations, or other circumstances.
For example, when teachers’ classroom management is inconsistent, some students will manipulate different situations to see how much they can "get away with."
Or, when peers reinforce inappropriate student behavior while the adults are reinforcing appropriate behavior, students often will behave inappropriately because they value the peer attention more than the teacher/adult attention.
Are experiencing extenuating, traumatic, or crisis-related circumstances outside of school, and they need emotional support (sometimes including mental health) to cope with these situations and be more successful at school. Once again, it’s not all about the students. Some inappropriate office referrals occur, for example, when teachers (a) do not have effective classroom management skills; (b) at the same grade or instructional levels do not use consistent classroom management approaches; (c) are demonstrating implicit bias, insensitivity, or outright prejudice; or (d) are not held accountable by their principals or supervisors for appropriate professional and pedagogical behavior.
Restorative Justice Programs & Practices: The Research Just Doesn’t Add Up
In the second area of disproportionality remediation, many districts and schools have adopted an assortment of school-wide discipline programs—often advocated by the U.S. Department of Education and/or Justice (and their federally-funded National Technical Assistance Centers), state departments of education, or as reported in the popular education press. None of them (e.g., PBIS or SEL) has had any significant, objective, sustained, or demonstrable effect on disproportionality.
This includes Restorative Justice, which uses inclusive, equity-responsive messaging to encourage its adoption, even as it has also engendered a cottage industry of “knock-off” companies, consultants, and capitalizing entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, many districts have invested significant amounts of time, staff, resources, and money to implement Restorative Justice programs, and yet they often do not review their research and sustained outcomes and, hence, their (low) probability of long-term success. And well-intended in their desire to decrease
disproportionate discipline referrals and actions, the implementation of ineffective approaches simply wastes resources, delays more effective strategies, and gives staff the impression that the task at-hand may be out-of-reach.
Below are three areas that summarize the current Restorative Justice “state of affairs.” The “spoiler alert” is that Restorative Justice programs have not objectively and empirically proven their utility, and they should not be considered—much less adopted—by districts and schools across the country.
No Consensus on What a Restorative Justice Program Is or Consists Of
The WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center has published an ongoing comprehensive review of the Restorative Justice research. In the Overview of its most-recent version, its authors (Fronius, et al., 2019) state:
Restorative justice (RJ) is a broad term that encompasses a growing social movement to institutionalize non-punitive, relationship- centered approaches for avoiding and addressing harm, responding to violations of legal and human rights, and collaboratively solving problems. RJ has been used extensively both as a means to divert people from traditional justice systems and as a program for convicted offenders already supervised by the adult or juvenile justice system.
In the school setting, RJ often serves as an alternative to traditional discipline, particularly exclusionary disciplinary actions such as suspension or expulsion. RJ proponents often turn to restorative practices out of concern that exclusionary disciplinary actions may be associated with harmful consequences for children (e.g., Losen, 2014). More recently, it has also been embraced as a preventative intervention for building an interconnected school community and healthy school climate in which punishable transgressions are less common (e.g., Brown, 2017).
Within school settings, RJ encompasses many different program types. An RJ program can involve the whole school, including universal training of staff and students in RJ principles, or it can be used as an add-on to existing discipline approaches and philosophies. It also has been combined with other non-punitive discipline approaches, such as Social and Emotional Learning and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
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Howie Knoff, PhD, NCSP, is an international consultant, speaker, and author specializing in school improvement and strategic planning, social-emotional learning and social skills training, multi-tiered systems of support, and interventions with behaviorally challenging students. He is a practitioner who has also been a university professor (22 years), and State Department of Education federal grant director (13 years).
Curriculum that honors all learners
Expanding Walls & Increasing Equity iLearnNH’s Vision for the Future
By Becca Van Horn
In September 2020, as schools were scrambling to figure out how to safely help students learn, a new team called i earn H was meeting one another for the first time in urham, ew Hampshire.
n eclectic mix of teachers, technologists, program managers, and professional development enthusiasts, the team had one common mission to provide a free learning management system to ew Hampshire schools that would support the work of teachers and ensure e uity and learning continuity for students.
We knew it wouldn’t be easy, says Rachel opko, i earn H’s Educational echnologist. I was teaching sophomore English in a itle I school when the world shut down, so I experienced first-hand how hard it was to move classes online, figure out how to teach over oom, and manage student anxiety all while uggling a toddler. he last thing I needed was a new tool, but over the course of the last year I ve seen how ed tech can make things like grading and feedback easier and help me better personalize learning for my students.
Rachel and the rest of the i earn H team were up for the challenge.
ocated at the niversity of ew Hampshire H and grant funded by the ew Hampshire epartment of Education H E , i earn H took a three-pronged approach to carrying out its mission provide free ed tech tools to ew Hampshire schools, offer the training and support needed to ensure effective implementation and adoption, and build a community of educators to support one another along the way.
he tools include the anvas earning anagement ystem, altura ideo haring, and oom ideo onferencing. anvas provides a single hub for teachers to organize and manage student learning, oom facilitates live and recorded classroom material, and
Kaltura allows teachers to safely create and share media. Together, the three tools provide a one-stop-shop for schools to organize course learning, manage student data, and communicate consistently with teachers, students, and parents.
“We really can’t overstate the value of a learning management system,” says Andrew Kelley, iLearnNH’s Director. “An LMS allows teachers to extend the in-person classroom while helping navigate interruptions like snow days and absences. It helps teachers deliver personalized instruction, students manage their learning, and parents and guardians track student progress. The possibilities are really endless.”
The benefits go beyond the K-12 environment as well. Because the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) also uses Canvas, Kaltura, and Zoom, students who stay in-state would have a leg-up in the transition to college. And if enough K-12 schools adopted Canvas in New Hampshire, students would be able to take courses outside of their regions and districts. “A student in Berlin could take French from a teacher in Portsmouth, and a teacher in Portsmouth could use French lessons created by a teacher in Henniker. It would open doors for both teachers and students,” Kelley says.
Now iLearnNH is adding another free tool to help support student learning: Discovery Education. While Canvas, Zoom, and Kaltura work together to provide a single platform that extends the in-person classroom, Discovery Education provides a rich repository of content that teachers can pull directly into Canvas. Curious students can search Discovery Education for anything from videos on shark attacks to lessons on preparing steak, and teachers can find the professional support, inspiration, and content needed to expand their lessons and continue personalizing learning. Together, the iLearnNH suite of tools provide a safe, secure digital environment for students to learn and for teachers to create engaging lessons while tracking student progress.
“I used Discovery Ed for a year as a teacher before the pandemic, and it was incredible,” Sopko says. “We are just so excited by how these four tools can work together to help schools reimagine the classroom. iLearnNH formed during the pandemic, but the power of ed tech reaches far beyond COVID-19, and we’re committed to showing how.”
As another year begins and schools again face the decision of how to help students learn safely, iLearnNH is continuing its mission to combine the strength of online learning with the power of an in-person classroom. Eventually students will return to brick-and-mortar schools full time, but that doesn’t mean that they will be able to transition to a world without learning management systems and ed tech tools—or that they should.
For more information on iLearnNH, please check out the website or write info@ilearnnh.org. Follow iLearnNH on Facebook and Instagram.
Rebecca Van Horn is a writer and instructional designer living in Seacoast, New Hampshire. She brings more than 10 years of experience in education-based nonprofit and public sector teaching, instructional design, and communications. She is delighted to support New Hampshire K-12 educators as the Learning Designer for iLearnNH.
Schools & Libraries Should Seek ECF Remote Learning Support
By John Harrington, CEO Funds for Learning
K-12 schools and public libraries are urged to apply for ECF now. The ECF filing window opened June 29 and will close August 13, 2021. The program will provide 100% reimbursement for Wi-Fi hotspots and laptop computers for students, staff, and library patrons who lack home Internet connectivity. There is $7.1 billion available, and the initial filing period will pay for goods and services delivered July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022. This is a historic event, that opens up the possibility to close the homework gap and improve digital equity for all. It will take everyone’s participation to make that a reality.
A strange dichotomy exists related to internet connectivity. We all seem to struggle with it, but the nature of the struggle is very different for certain groups. Many of us (i.e., most anyone reading this article) struggle with the need to disconnect, or “unplug,” from the internet. We talk about getting away from our devices and how important it is to take a break from being online… But, for most of us, being online too much is not a problem in the traditional sense of the word. It is a problem like having too much ice cream is a problem. It is not healthy, but it is not really a problem in and of itself.
However, there is a real problem that plagues millions of Americans: a lack of sufficient internet access. Many people struggle to get online. They lack the basic connections and devices necessary to fully participate in our modern world. They cannot access online resources, and thus, miss out on the benefits enjoyed by all of us who do have access. This is sometimes referred to as “digital equity.” In the land of opportunity, does everyone have the same digital potential? Sadly, for millions of people, the answer is ‘no’.
Over the past year, we have all witnessed this phenomenon play out in our communities, particularly in our K-12 schools and libraries. Millions could stay connected and plugged in, but there were others who could not.
Recently, the Federal Communications Commission took steps to close this gap by establishing the rules for the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF). This is welcome relief to help millions of K-12 students, teachers, and library patrons get online when they are at home and not at school or the library.
After a year of input by education leaders across the country, the funding is now available. The guidelines were released in May and the filing window opened June 29th. It is not up to you. The success of this program relies on schools and libraries planning and preparing their funding applications. With the filing window is 45 days in the middle of the summer, so it isn’t ideal. It is incumbent on school boards, superintendents, librarians, and other leaders to move swiftly. This is a one-time opportunity to bridge the Homework Gap for the next year, and it is critical for those who lack connectivity that the rest of us step up and do all that we can to help.
Now is the time to support our schools and libraries as they help connect our communities. More information about the Emergency Connectivity Fund is available here.
