Educator School Reopening Strategy Sessions

Report of the Educator School Reopening Strategy Sessions SESSIONS HELD MAY 27-JUNE 5 Kathy Burcher | Director, Government Relations and Research | June 16, 2020

Convening Strategies After Governor Ralph Northam announced his Return to School Work Group, educators demanded the opportunity to have their voices heard on any decision related to the restart of school. The Virginia Education Association (VEA) worked with Virginia Secretary of Education, Atif Qarni, to hold a series of one-hour sessions during which educators had the opportunity to offer strategies and feedback directly to the administration on school reopening.

In conversations with the Secretary, the VEA agreed to hold eight sessions, each designated for a specific subgroup of educators. These sessions were: • • • • • • • •

Pre-Kindergarten through 3rd grade educators 4th through 8th grade educators High school educators Special Education educators Custodial and Nutrition School Employees Career and Technical educators (CTE) School Transportation employees Art, Music, and PE educators

CROSS COMMONWEALTH REPRESENTATION The VEA used an on-line system for accepting contact information for educators seeking to participate. More than 1,000 respondents expressed interest in participating in one of the sessions. With the goal of having a diverse, cross-Commonwealth representation in each session, the VEA created final participant lists for each session.

Demographics Participants Sessions Pre-K through 3rd Grade Grades 4 through 8 High School Special Education Custodial and Nutrition Services Career and Technical Education Transportation Art, Music and PE Ethnicity Black Caucasian Hispanic Other/Multiple Gender Female Male

Number 187

Percentage

31 30 30 28 6 27 10 25

16.58% 16.04% 16.04% 14.97% 3.21% 14.44% 5.35% 13.37%

54 110 15 8

28.88% 58.82% 8.02% 4.28%

143 44

76.47% 23.53%

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FOCUSED QUESTIONS The Secretary of Education asked that each discussion be focused on two areas: 1. How has your role/function been impacted by schools going to distance learning?

What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider improving distance learning, if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

2. As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function? What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local school divisions?

Since time was limited, some participants were not able to fully respond to the questions.

The VEA sent a follow-up email to all participants asking for any additional input relating to the focus questions. Responses are included, in their entirety, as an appendix.

Challenges and Key Findings While each subgroup did have challenges and recommendations specific to their content or work area, overall, educators’ concerns, and recommendations broke into four areas: 1. Access to content: Internet and broadband access, access to technology, and student engagement with the content 2. Building relationships: Supporting students’ social and emotional well-being, supporting students’ learning virtually, Special Education and Early Childhood needs 3. Implementing safety standards: Local budget implication, equity of safety standards, protecting high-risk health groups (student and school staff) 4. Job security/work schedule: Budget cuts and lost positions, furloughs, and other layoffs, staffing to staggered schedules, childcare support for school employees

ACCESS TO CONTENT Educators reviewed their efforts to provide continuity of learning for their students with mixed results. Local decisions were often cited as barriers to success- lack of grading, lack of effective learning management systems, mixed messages on required instructional hours, and ineffective systems to manage “paper packets”.

Overwhelmingly, however, educators were concerned about the lack of equity of instruction across the Commonwealth. While the digital divide and lack of reliable, highspeed internet and broadband was a top issue, educators recognize that even if reliable internet is available, access to technology is another issue that complicates continuity of

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learning. Access to reliable internet but having limited or no technology at home was considered as big an issue as the digital divide.

Aside from technology access issues, educators pointed to a very low participation rate with their students. Many educators in the sessions described less than 50% participation levels with some suggesting levels closer to 10-25%. Early childhood educators (PK-3) and Special Education teachers mentioned lack of access to their students more than the other groups.

Finally, our CTE educators had many concerns about the state requirements (certifications and/or exams) for their program content. This certification is driven by national accreditation companies and there has been very little flexibility afforded to the Department of Education to waive these requirements. Often these certifications are needed for graduation or for entry into a post-secondary program.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Educators in all sessions described how difficult it was to maintain and build relationships with their students in a virtual setting. Aside from the lack of participation described above, many educators experienced a lack of student engagement even when they were present for the virtual lesson. Many factors were cited as contributing to this lack of engagement including anxiety, isolation, fear, and simply a lack of understanding of the material. Issues that can be easily identified and addressed during in-person settings, often cannot be detected in a wholly virtual environment.

Many participants in the sessions expressed real concern for students’ social and emotional well-being as they return to school. Overwhelmingly educators want to focus on rebuilding relationships with students and families before focusing on instruction.

Many concerns were raised about the need to delay testing and accreditation standards and focus first on students’ mental health.

Special Education and early childhood educators expressed the most concern about meeting the social and emotional needs of their students, but the issue was universal across all groups. Special Education and Early Childhood educators were also the most concerned about the need to provide time to bring their students back to in-person instruction early so that they can build routines and set expectations to support the unique needs of these learners.

IMPLEMENTING SAFETY STANDARDS The planning, cost, and implementation of safety standards for all students and staff were major concerns for all groups. All the participants understood the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) but, overwhelmingly, there were questions about the ability to implement the recommendations with fidelity across all division and even within divisions. Participants had many questions about the local requirements to maintain the CDC safety recommendations and how staff would be expected to meet the requirements in the workplace.

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Many divisions are preparing for budget cuts in the wake of significant lost revenues and implementing necessary safety standards will come at an enormous cost. Real concerns were expressed about divisions cutting corners or expecting educators to provide cleaning supplies, masks, and gloves for their workplace.

The CDC guidance on social distancing and limiting groups was identified as a serious challenge for our public schools. Schools, classrooms, and buses are not designed for students to be spaced six feet apart. Developmentally appropriate learning strategies, especially in the early grades, but mentioned in all sessions, include group work, interaction, and collaboration that will not be possible while maintaining safety standards.

The need to protect high-risk students and school staff came up as a challenge in all sessions. Special Education teachers expressed concerns for their vulnerable students who are often the most in-need of in-person instruction, but whose health concerns may make that risky. Educators who fall into high-risk categories (including age) are very concerned about being required to go back to in-person instruction or risk losing their jobs. While the idea of keeping high-risk school staff working from home is appreciated, there is concern about how those staff would be utilized.

JOB SECURITY/WORK SCHEDULES There is real concern among educators that thousands of positions will be eliminated in response to lost revenues and budget cuts. Without additional, significant Federal and state support, local school divisions will not be able to meet all the safety requirements and maintain current staffing levels. Not surprisingly, there was agreement across all groups that additional school staff is needed now more than ever to support mixed delivery as well as students’ social-emotional well-being, but local budgets were already stretched before this crisis. Educators are already seeing furlough and “force majeure� language (language ending contractual liability based on unforeseeable event, outside the parties control, making performance impossible) and reduced pay. They are very concerned about the staff resources to support mixed delivery and staggered schedules.

The workload associated with delivering staggered in-person and virtual instruction is another significant concern for all groups. Many participants, especially in the high school group, suggested changing seat-time or block scheduling to allow for a shorter virtual experience for students. All groups discussed the difficulty/need of providing synchronous and asynchronous instruction while also teaching in-person, but there was little agreement on strategies to make that possible.

One of the biggest issues discussed in all groups was the need to provide high-quality childcare for school employees in the event of staggered scheduling. Educators and their own children cannot be on different (staggered) schedules without a childcare option for them. While this is a challenge that must be addressed, the greater challenge is for educators who work in a different division than where their children are enrolled.

There needs to be cross-division agreements to ensure educators have access to highquality childcare no matter where they work. Costs associated with childcare is another significant issue for educators across all groups.

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Recommendations Utilize the NEA Guidance All Hands on Deck: Initial Guidance Regarding Reopening School Buildings. https://educatingthroughcrisis.org/meetingstudents-and-families-needs/guidance-for-reopening-schools-covid/ Create processes and protocols for a safe reopening of schools in partnership with educators and education support personnel. Plans should include specific steps to ensure that educators can successfully work with the students and families they serve while following health and safety protocols.

Assess every decision and plan for any unintended inequitable racial or socioeconomic impact. Only implement plans that can ensure equity.

Increase state and local investments and resources to our most vulnerable students.

Improve equitable access to reliable, high-speed broadband across the Commonwealth.

Ensure equitable access to necessary technology for all students. Create plans to support parents on the use of student technology.

Consider ways to improve student participation in virtual learning. These plans should be built in close consultation with educators, parents, and mental health personnel.

Prioritize investments in student social-emotional well-being. These investments should include increased mental health professionals including additional school counselors, social workers, and school psychologists.

Advocate for both federal and state resources to support the fiscal stress placed on local school divisions by COVID-19. All available state resources should be directed to supporting safe school reopening.

Add educators to the list of essential personnel and make high-quality but lowcost (or free) childcare available to them. Cross-division plans must be created to support educator’s whose children are enrolled in a different division.

Seek federal and state testing and accountability waivers so that educators can focus on the social and emotional well-being of their students.

Allow for increased planning time for all educators to support the need to create a mixed-delivery program of instruction. Consideration should be given to reducing “seat time” for students during virtual instruction.

Create expanded and useable guidance on mixed delivery or virtual implementation of Special Education. Advocate that the US Department of

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Education support the needs of all Special Education educators and students through the development of effective guidelines.

Consider the procurement of a state-wide learning management system to support all divisions.

Improve paid family leave policies and expanded paid sick leave for all educators.

Protect all content areas during mixed delivery. Prioritize art, music, and PE and ensure Career and Technical Education programs have the systems they need to continue to be successful. Investigate the possibility of National credential/assessment waivers for certain CTE courses.

Create long-term plans for recruiting educators to off-set the shortage that existed prior to the pandemic which will be exacerbated by educator retirements and educators leaving the profession during the crisis.

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Appendix

VEA Strategy Sessions: Additional Participant Feedback (emailed) Session 1: Pre-Kindergarten through 3rd Grade Participant comments: How has your role/function been impacted by schools/universities going to distance learning?

As we all know we did not get to supply closure to our students before they left on March 13th. This has impacted the mental health of students, parents, and teachers. I went from being a face to face teacher to a online teacher with very limited internet capacity. Instead of daily conversations with students I went to weekly conversations with parents and students.

What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

It was challenging not knowing what our role as an educator was to become. We waited 2 weeks before we received direction from the county level as to what we should do. There wasn't much that was expected of the students. We were to worry about their mental health (very valid point and glad they did). But the teacher in all of us felt that we needed to do more as we followed direction of our Superintendent. The state should provide more guidance, support, clear expectations, and professional development so that we can all learn this new method of teaching that no one was prepared for.

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function?

As a kindergarten teacher I worry about the safety of my students and being able to keep them apart from each other. Kindergarten is a year of developing social emotional skills that will carry on into their future as well as learning through play. We need realistic guidance in how to make this successful. If we are learning online we will need to develop a stronger broad band so that students and teachers can do their jobs. There are teachers that have little kids that will need daycare if we do a hybrid model of teaching. How do we support those teachers? All testing will have to be waived next year. In Kindergarten we do PALS testing that requires one on one but several days of this. There are SOLs in other grades that should not be given unless we are at 100% back in the classroom. It's extremely hard to motivated the kids and the parents to do online learning. Online learning in the primary grades lends itself to a parent being present and if they are working that becomes impossible. We need to develop protocols for if a student in a classroom is COVID

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positive, If their parent is COVID positive, and if a teacher in the classroom becomes positive or someone in their immediate family is. We also need to develop a handbook or educate the parents and teachers on online learning and what is expected such as appropriate dress and language. When we invite people into our homes we need to be careful of what is going on, said, and displayed in the background.

What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local divisions and universities?

Always keep in mind the health and safety of our families. We need to look at mental health and professional development for educators. We have to be prepared for the unexpected now. We need to develop groups in each county to meet monthly to report back to the administration on needs, wants, and what's going well. This should then be reported back to the state so that great ideas can be shared instead of everyone reinventing the wheel.

Participant comments: How has your role/function been impacted by schools/universities going to distance learning? What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

I teach first grade at title 1 school and that provides many hurdles to online learning. Many areas do not have good internet service and as already mentioned people cannot help where they live. We did provide hot spots in the county, but that does not help when there are other issues. Many cannot afford internet service or even a computer. In my class only 8 students even had an email address. That made contacting parents difficult. There is also the issue that often both parents are working. This means the child is either home alone or with a sibling. In those instances, school is not being done. If the family is lucky enough to have a computer, they often have more than 1 child and the older child gets priority for using the computer for schoolwork. My school has a very high ELL population.

Many of these parents do not speak English, so they do not understand the information they are being given, so they do not do anything. These hurdles make online learning exceedingly difficult in the lower grades. I heard of a local television station offering lessons. They had a teacher teach a lesson and then had different times for different grades. This was not advertised well, but I think this could be a way to help reach more families.

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function? What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local divisions and universities?

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I see many difficulties in the future classroom. These children are young, and it is unrealistic to expect them to stay in one room and social distance from everyone. They need to interact and play with other kids. If this is not possible then they should not be at school for a full day. My suggestions to address this are: 1.

Two half day sessions- Students arrive at school and pick up a bagged breakfast and go to their classroom. Each student has an assigned desk and chair, as well as their own supplies. They are in class for 3 hours. 2 hours for language arts and 1 hour for math. Then students pick up a bagged lunch and go home. There is an hour and a half between sessions. During this time teachers can wipe down doorknobs, light fixtures, etc. Teachers also get their lunch during this time. Then the afternoon session arrives. Students pick up a bagged lunch and go to their room for their 3 hours. When they leave, they pick up a bagged breakfast for the next day.

2. 1 half day session and students attend every other day. They will again come for 3 hours but every other day instead of daily. Teachers can use afternoons for meetings and planning.

3. Provide both online and in the classroom- Let parents who have access to internet and computer sign up for the online option. Just like in person class this is mandatory and requires attendance. Those who do not have computer access can sign up for the half day in person. Depending on how many sign up for this option will determine if it is 1 half day session or 2. High school students can do the online option easier because they don’t need adult supervision, and in my county were issued computers. This will provide more buses to address getting elementary students to and from for 2 half day sessions.

Session 2: Grades 4 through 8 Participant comments: How has your role/function been impacted by schools/universities going to distance learning?

My role as a Technology and Engineering Education Teacher has been impacted by PWCS going to distance learning in a major way. In a short amount of time (within ten days), I had to learn two new software programs. Secondly, I had to quickly develop seven units of study/review sessions for each of the three grade levels taught and make them assessable to my students on-line.

What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

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During this process, I found that finding the time between “Zoom Meetings” to complete all of the required software training needed to teach on-line. Modifying grades at a student’s request, up until the last possible minute for the third marking period was also a very trying experience.

Some strategies the state of Virginia should consider to improve distance learning for the 2020-21 school year would be to allow teachers to give less grades per marking period.

Also, students should be allowed to attend classes every other day, similar to the way it is done on college campuses. By doing so, teachers would have time to evaluate assignments and provide important feed-back. Standardizing curriculum would also be very helpful to may beginning teachers.

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function?

As the 20-21 school year begins, if we are in a face to face environment, the school day should be split in half. Fifty percent of the student population should be assigned to the morning session and fifty percent should be assigned to the afternoon session. The only challenges I foresee would be difficult for me as a middle school teacher, is that I would have to work a few additional hours per day. That issue could be easily resolved by extending the winter and spring breaks by the required number of hours/days. To avoid a teacher being exposed needlessly to the “virus”, instead of students moving from class to class, the teachers (where possible) could move from classroom to classroom. Breakfast and lunches could also be delivered to and eaten within the classroom as well. This would limit the spread of the virus. Student would move to Related Arts classes as small groups at staggered times in an effort to limit the number of students in the hallways at any given time.

What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local divisions and universities?

A number of strategies the state of Virginia should keep in mind as we work through implementing a plan to reopen schools across the state are as follows: 1.

We must keep in mind that the staggered openings of school for each group will require additional bus service and perhaps additional bus drivers. Additional buses will mean that the cost to the school will also rise due to the amount of fuel required to operate the buses at twice the normal level.

2. The cafeteria staff may also be required to prepare additional meals and waste may also increase.

3. The overall use of school supplies will also be increased because teachers will be demonstrating the same task/content area at least twice per day.

4. School administrators may have to work additional hours.

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Sports and Extra-curricula activities may have to be placed on hold until further notice from the governor. The funds saved could very well be utilized in a different way‌ such as for additional teaching supplies.

In middle school, many of the learning experiences is based on cooperative or group learning. Also, part of this age group’s normal behavior is social interaction. It will be difficult for these students to maintain social distancing when they yearn for social interaction.

Also, a comment was made in the grades 4-8 session about using IAs specifically to help.

Our IAs are under paid and we only have two per grade level. If we are to start utilizing them more, we will need to pay them more and hire more. With school budgets cut, how will that be addressed?

Participant comments: To preface my comments, I will say I teach at Prince Edward County Middle School.

Prince Edward is a rural, high poverty community. Our population is over 50% African American. We are a Title 1 school with 100% of our elementary and middle school students receiving free lunch. We have one elementary, one middle, and one high school/career tech center.

Poverty has already been discussed and the unequal education students in poverty and students of color receive. However, rural poverty looks different than urban poverty. We may not have traditional homelessness as they do in urban areas, but we may have students living with relatives with as many as five to ten people living in a hotel room or trailer. In an urban area they may be able to walk or use public transportation to get to a store or to work. In a rural area they may live far outside walking distance with no public transportation. There are few well paying job options for someone without a college education.

In the most rural areas of our county, and surrounding counties in region 8, there is not access to reliable internet, even with mobile hotspots. Even in the town of Farmville, that has two institutes of higher learning, the internet is more expensive, slower, and less reliable than in other areas. Students may have to compete with siblings for a device to use for distance learning and their internet connection may not support multiple devices being online simultaneously. They may have the option to drive to town and sit in a library or school parking lot to access the internet. But that is relying on an adult to drive them there. If that adult doesn’t have reliable transportation or money for gas, they may not be able to get to town or in our case go pick up three learning packets.

We had roughly 50% participation in completing learning packets for continuity of learning. Even contacting students via phone is challenging. Many parents have pre paid cell phones and may not have the means to refill that monthly or more often if needed to be used for internet access.

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Moving forward, our system is talking about rotating weeks with distance learning and in person learning. Transportation is an issue. We have one set of busses and a shortage of drivers. Busses have students from all three schools at the same time (ours is a campus style school system). Our busses are overcrowded as it is. Even at 50% capacity, social distancing would be impossible. In the school we will lose 50% of our in person time.

Additional time will have to be spent teaching social distancing and ending class early or starting later to make sure our students are not crowding in the halls. We will need additional support for trauma and mental health training for teachers and resources for students. If we do not start school on time in a regular model, we cannot have sol testing or those tests cannot be used for accountability. We will also need training on how to effectively teach students using distance methods.

Participant comments: How has your role/function been impacted by schools/universities going to distance learning?

As a fifth grade teacher, my role was changed dramatically with distance learning.

In Montgomery County we began instructing online March 17 using Google Classroom. Our school is departmentalized, so I was teaching 2 sections of Reading, Writing, and Spelling/Word Study before the closure and continued to teach those subjects and sections when we went to online learning.

What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

Challenges: The most challenging part of this was trying to have students participate in online learning. Of my 40 students, I had to make paper packets for 4 of them since they did not have Internet access. Of these students only 1 returned any of the paperwork. With the online learning, March 17-March 31 I had high participation but when it became apparent that we would be online for the remainder of the year and that the student grade would not be lower than the 3rd Quarter grade many students stopped completing work. In the weekly class Google Meets I ranged from 5-12 students in classes of 20 depending on the week. Participation in these INCREASED but since they were synchronous and couldn’t be accessed by all, they were nonacademic and provided socialization which the students wanted. Another challenge was planning and loading lessons online. We used screencastify, but loading based on my own technology was slow and glitchy. Students reported problems opening and downloading the files as well.

Strategies:

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Strategies that we used in Montgomery County that were successful were primarily online resources to improve engagement. Our locality already was 1:1 chromebooks for students 3-12 and the students and teachers were familiar with Google Classroom. Screencastify was an excellent resource to video my lessons and read alouds for students. It allowed for me to share my screen and do a split where I am visible as well as content on my screen. Flipgrid was a favorite of the students because they could record and view short videos responding to reading or questions that I posed. Especially with physical distance they enjoyed listening to their classmates and the responses on this were higher than typed responses. Other sites students enjoyed using for practice and assessment included Quizizz, ixl, and Kahoot. For my own teaching strategies I took photos of paper worksheets and made them the background on Google Slides and added text boxes for student response, created google docs for writing and essay questions, and made Google Forms for weekly assessments and exit slips. ReadWorks.org and CommonLit both are free sites that had a library of passages and online question banks that could be assigned to students for practice. ReadWorks is particularly useful because you can give students the read aloud option. BrainPop and Flocabulary were student favorites for video review lessons and were both on free trials during our weeks of instruction.

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function?

I think that with any opening there will be challenges. The main thing to keep in mind is the health and safety of employees, students, and their families. If we are opened with a partial schedule there are many challenges at the elementary level. ● ● ●

●

Need for ALL students and educators to wear masks all day to prevent infection Space within the building to allow for distancing ATTENDANCE--many parents may not feel comfortable sending students to school while others may send students to school who have been exposed or are ill because they view school as child care. Parents may not adhere to the schedule either due to not remembering or choosing to send the child anyway Our school is departmentalized, would it be instruction of one teacher to one class grouping of students in one place all day? If so, it would be a large change in planning as well as developmentally inappropriate for elementary to spend a day or portion of a day seated without movement, specialties, recess…

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● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Need for students to have movement and specialties (art, music, PE) Need to provide double lessons to students at home and at school each day How would students be transported to maintain social distancing and safety on the school bus?

Students infecting educators or classmates who would spread to people at home Parents may have kids on different schedules which would also impact child care Constant supervision on hygiene practices Cleaning of classrooms regularly (and by whom?)

What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local divisions and universities?

• If there is the capacity for online learning it should be allowed---our division has purchased MiFi devices for students with internet issues so all can be online for health and safety • How will busses operate? Will certain areas of each locality be A or B days?

• Online lessons for students not in school • Funding for technology upgrades • Accountability for students and families to complete work Participant comments: The first thing that comes to mind is to forgo the SOL testing again in 2020-2021. Due to the lack of consistent and meaningful instruction, having high stake testing will create more undo stress for students and teachers alike.

How has your role/function been impacted by schools/universities going to distance learning? What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

Small groups have been greatly impacted. During small groups, I look at what children are doing with their fingers to help with their reading and understanding of the manipulatives. Trying to teach over WEBX or Zoom, is difficult as students may not have the needed manipulatives in front of them (as those are usually teacher owned items). Our school district is not a one to one technology district at the elementary level. Because of this, you may have 3 students at a home sharing one device. This leads to asynchronous learning. Because of asynchronous learning, it would be highly difficult to have small group instruction with constructive and meaningful feedback to the students.

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As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function? What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local divisions and universities?

The biggest restriction that comes to mind is a staggered schedule. I see that it would be necessary, although not ideal to continuous learning at the elementary level. During our session, the idea of special education students coming daily during the school year came up. I am against this as a blanket statement. IF the parent and the IEP team deemed that it was necessary for a student to come daily that would be fine. However, the student shouldn't be getting the same material twice or lesson twice presented the same way. For example, if I am giving a lesson on cause and effect on an A day to 12 students, on a B day, I would present that same lesson. If a student has an IEP that states they are to go to school daily, then a separate lesson on cause and effect would need to be given to the student so they aren't bored or a distraction by getting the same lesson twice.

Another question that came up during our strategy session was the idea of masks. At the elementary level, I think that any child traveling throughout the school (i.e. from the bus to the class, classroom to music room etc) students should wear masks (there is always the possibility of kids running into each other etc). However, in the classroom while working at their seats 6 feet apart, I think students don't need masks on. I can see kids playing with them, losing them etc.

I know the CDC recommends that playgrounds should be sanitized between being played on. This is unrealistic and children need to be outside playing. This is important due to many factors. Upon entering the school from the playground, children should wash their hands or use hand sanitizer immediately. To ban the playground for Covid-19 when now the research is stating that it doesn't live on surfaces very long seems premature. While outside, students should wear masks while playing as they can accidentally run into each other.

Participant comments: Challenges: 1. Accountability for students (completing and turning in assignments) 2. Meeting the needs of students w/disabilities and students significant below grade level 3. Technology: do all students have access to computers and broad band internet services; if not how will that be resolved 4. Can the adults in the home support the learning of students; is 'training' needed for parents to access and implement programs on the computer. How do we support them?

5. Addressing the social & mental needs of our students

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Moving Forward: 2020-21 1.

Conduct a survey on the state & especially the LOCAL level to address the needs and fears of our parents (perhaps students as well) prior to the 'start of school' (what work or didn't work during the March closings) 2. Involving teachers in the process of restarting school-solicit our ideas and concerns 3. Be PROACTIVE, not REACTIVE as 2020-21 moves forward

Session 3: High School Participant comments: Thank you so much for selecting me to be a part of the VEA Educator Strategy Zoom Meeting - High School, on Friday, May 29th. However, I feel it is necessary not only to send you my detailed answers to the following questions that were talked about in the Meeting, but also to voice my concern for what did not happen during the Meeting. a. There were supposed to be 20 Educators on the call. That way, we had a chance to voice our opinions in a small setting, without having to use the Chat Box or have outside people on the call, that took up our one hour time limit with introductions and statements. There were 33-34 participants in the Meeting on Friday, May 29th. b. For the most part, what was discussed in the Zoom Meeting, my School System is doing well or doing okay to good, with some strategic outreach that did occur and/or continues to occur. c. Please Read My Answer To Question #2B. below. I feel in this Zoom Meeting, I was held back once again.

Question #1: A.

How has my role/function been impacted by schools going to distance learning?

• • •

• • •

As an English 12, Public Speaking and Theatre Teacher, going to distance learning impacted the way I taught the three different types of classes.

English 12 = With my School System extending the 3rd Quarter for 3 extra weeks, for a total of a 12 Week Quarter, I only had a chance to teach one more good Unit, the entire rest of the school year.

The Renaissance and William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, because we could only collect 6 Assignments for Seniors during the 4th Quarter.

Public Speaking II = My Semester Curriculum did not stop and was not impacted that much.

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•

My Students were required to videotape themselves, completing the different types of Speeches that would have been seen live in the classroom.

• “The Acceptance Speech”, “The Most Embarrassing Moment Speech”, “The Children’s Story (Kiddie Lit) Speech”, “The Original Piece Of Literature Speech”, “The Pet Peeve Speech” and “The Grab Bag Speech.”

• They could not complete “The Group Lip Sync Speech” for obvious reasons, we were all at home.

• Advanced Drama = • This is the class that was impacted the most, in some ways.

• We were in the middle of a Group Scene Unit and I had to abandon this Unit for obvious reasons, we were all at home.

• I did a review Unit pertaining to Theatre Terminology: o Actor Terminology o Dramatic Literature and the Script o Theatre Space o Theatre Personnel and the Rehearsal Process • Critique of a Musical Movie, “Singing In The Rain” Unit • Theatre Style - “The Acceptance Speech” Unit B. What did I find to be challenging?

• The Lack Of Accountability For The Students o The Teachers were not allowed to give Letter/Number Grades for the 4th Quarter. o P = Pass OR NG = No Grade = If The Students “Failed” And Did Not Complete The Assignments. o Only 6 Assignments for Seniors and Only 7 Assignments for Underclassmen. o A Teaching Schedule That Did Not Hold Students Accountable For Not Coming To Zoom Classes And Which Also Had Conflicts With Other Classes. o I Did Not Vote For The Teaching Schedule That My School Adopted And My Two Elective Classes Conflicted With AP Classes.

You Can Only Imagine Which Type Of Class Won That Battle.

• I Was Required To Email, Make Phone Calls To Students And Contact The Students By Either The Google Classroom Platform Or The Canvas Platform, Who Were Not Coming To Class And/Or Keep All Of The Students Informed About My Class. o I am a Canvas Platform Teacher and that is the Platform that I used. o What Were The Counselors And the Attendance Office Doing? o Why weren’t they consistently helping us out with contacting Students?

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* I was required to prepare Lesson Plans AND Attempt to Learn all of the New Technology that was thrown my way constantly. o Unfortunately, I could only master a few new technology lessons to incorporate into my distance learning teaching. I plan to practice more over my Summer Break. o Our TIS, IT Department, Is Absolutely Great!! o It Was Just Way Too Much Information For Me To Comprehend.

• The Lack Of Care Given To The Employees. o We Were Required To Bend Over Extremely Backwards To Be “Understanding” And “Caring” About Our Students And Their Needs. o However, Where Was The Same “Understanding" And “Caring” About The Employees And Their Needs? o This “Understanding” And “Caring” Did Not Come Until Later On In Our Time At Home.

• The Amount Of Time Each Day, I Spent Planning And Preparing, Teaching, Contacting People By Email, Phone and Canvas, Zoom Meetings, Phone Call Meetings; etc. o Enough Said!!

C. What strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning, if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

• Please Keep The Marking Periods/The Quarters, On The Same Timeline. o If Need Be, Extend The Current Marking Period/Quarter, By One Week Only. o And Then Move On To The Next Marking Period/Quarter.

• The Students Must Have Letter/Number Grades, Attendance Must Be Taken And Equitable Teaching Schedules --- Where Classes Do Not Conflict With Each Other!!

• The Lack Of Attending Classes And The Lack Of Accountability, Will Absolutely Stop, If The Students Know That They Can Fail, If They Do Not Come To Class And Complete All Of The Work For A Letter/Number Grade.

• There Needs To Be A Final Exam Week, With Final Exams Given To The Students, So That They Can Have 5 Grades For Year Long Classes And 3 Grades For Semester Classes. o Right now, it is 4 Grades for Year Long Classes and 2 Grades for Semester Classes.

Question #2: As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling.

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A.

What challenges do I anticipate in my role/function?

• I work in a high school that has the largest High School Student Population in the entire state of Virginia. o There is no way that all of these Students and Staff can come back to our King Street Campus, like this pandemic never happened. o We will have to have a staggered schedule and smaller class sizes is a must. o I Am Afraid That My Building Will Not Be Cleaned To My Satisfaction, Nor Will I Be Given PPE To Effectively Do My Job. o I Am Afraid That I Will Be Working Around People And Teaching People Who Have Not Kept Themselves, Their Clothes And Their Home Environment, As Clean As Humanly Possible, And Then Will Infect Me With The COVID-19 Virus When We Are In The Building.

B. What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local school divisions and universities?

• If School Systems and/or Universities have money and can provide all of the tools, supplies, materials and electronic equipment for its Students and Staff, which will make the School System and University pass the Equity Test, then let these School Systems and Universities function as if they were in their School Buildings.

• Do Not Hold These School Systems and Universities Back, Just Because Other School Systems and Universities Around The State, Did Not Pass Or Cannot Pass The Equity Test. o Please Help Those School Systems And Universities That Are In Need, But Let The Other School Systems And Universities Fly, If They Are Able To. • It Is Just Frustrating, Teaching Where I Am Teaching, And Being Held Back From Doing My Job By The State And/Or The School System. o Let Me Do My Job: Teach My Students, Without All Of The Unnecessary Restrictions, That The State And/Or The School System Put On Me!! o Treat Me Like A Professional, That Has Integrity!! o Treat The High School Students, Like High School Students, And Let Us Teach Them Unconditionally!! o Do Not Baby Them, So That I Do Not Have To Be A Babysitter, While They Are At Home Or When They Are In The School Building.

Participant comments:

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How has your role/function been impacted by schools going to distance learning?

What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning, if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

My role and function in essence, has not changed. I, along with my colleagues across the State have been able to sustain vibrant visual arts programs through many creative means in reaching our students. During the closure, we’ve been able to record instructional videos, design websites, and utilize other platforms to deliver our Standards of Learning content. A challenge, which I’m sure is shared among other educators, is that nothing can fully replace face to face engagement in the classroom or art studio. Distance learning can present hurdles, such as the varying degree of access to technology. However, I am certain that art teachers will continue to rise and overcome these challenges with creativity, persistence, and commitment to each student.

Suggestions to improve distance learning, if it is necessary in the 2020-2021 school year, from the state would be to continue to provide training, resources, and collaborative opportunities among educators in Virginia to feel confident in a virtual classroom. For example, the Virginia Department of Education is offering a remote learning strategy webinar on June 18th. Opportunities such as this are an invaluable opportunity to grow and connect as teachers. The Virginia Art Education has been very proactive in gathering resources and is currently in development of virtual summer PD to give art educators the time and practice needed to prepare for the fall.

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function? What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local school divisions?

According to some of the guidelines presented by the CDC, students may not be able to switch teachers, use common areas, or share supplies. While this could affect resource and elective teachers, there are many possibilities to ensure instruction in the arts. For example, students could be physically present within one classroom with one teacher, while other teachers in the building use technology to instruct remotely. Lesson content could also be adjusted without impacting the goals of instruction using only materials from home. With the right adaptations and creative methods, the role/function of art teachers can remain the same, ensuring the continuation of the subjects that have always been so pivotal in overall student success and love of school.

A strategy I believe the state should keep in mind while working with local school divisions, is to continue to advocate that the arts are needed, now more than ever, as part of any adjusted scheduling. Our students need an outlet for expression during this unprecedented change. The arts are naturally equipped to enhance social and emotional learning, while also teaching a multitude of skills and dispositions for life after graduation.

Our Virginia Art Educators are dedicated and ready to continue the same quality of

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instruction in the face of any obstacle. We humbly ask for your support and guidance to local school divisions to keep these programs intact.

During this pandemic, students and families across the state have re-discovered the value of the arts at home. They’ve painted together, sang together, built sculptures in their front yard and turned their driveways into chalk pastel masterpieces. In the face of uncertainty, they’ve found a silver lining together. The arts in our schools are the silver lining we all need right now.

As the prevailing focus moving forward is our student’s social and emotional well being, the arts provide an invaluable outlet for expression and healing through these unpredictable times. This is not only an opportunity for us all to reexamine the important place the arts have in our schools, rather, this is a call for the arts to lead the way in navigating the road ahead.

Participant comments: Before I provide specific feedback on the questions from the session, I wanted to make a point that I haven't heard addressed and that I think is crucial to consider for future distance learning. Over the past few months of distance learning, my students (all 158 of them) have been completely uncomfortable using the audio or the chat features during our class. What was once a boisterous, collaborative in-person environment has become a very quiet online class where high school students feel embarrassed and shy about participating. This has changed the very essence of my teaching. As we move forward, I think it is critical that we consider ways to make the students feel comfortable participating online or else instruction will become ineffective and boring.

How has your role/function been impacted by schools/universities going to distance learning? What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

Challenges • • •

Receiving zero feedback from students about the material being taught or their understanding of the material.

Keeping student interest online for 45 minutes.

Using technology that is antiquated and unreliable and not familiar to students.

Strategies •

Invest in a real online learning platform that will meet the students where they are (mobile, interactive, ability to access social media, etc.); also invest in training teachers AND students in not only learning the basics of the new technology, but becoming comfortable with the new technology.

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•

•

Leverage the benefits of online learning (can be done anywhere at any time, can be tailored to the individual learner, can be interactive, etc.) rather than simply using the old, in-person model on a laptop. Create a public relations campaign for students (and parents) to help make them engaged and invested in this new way of learning. We need to begin to focus on the opportunities being afforded to us and not just the challenges.

Develop Public/Private partnerships that will bring real-world speakers into the classroom to improve student interest. Also, every time I used this approach in my classroom, student learning and understanding of the topic was accelerated.

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function? What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local divisions and universities?

Challenges • • •

The sheer logistics of breaking up my 37-student class into four groups will be challenging.

Teaching the same thing over and over will make it challenging to keep the lesson fresh and my delivery enthusiastic.

Many teachers have outside of school responsibilities predicated on the typical school work day so changing that work day will be challenging if not impossible for some teachers.

Strategies •

•

•

The current 90-minute class needs to be shortened dramatically to accommodate a staggered schedule. In my experience, 90-minutes is way too long to keep students who have an attention span of 12 seconds (based on research) engaged any way.

Allow students to learn in the way that suits them best. There may be some students who are totally comfortable with online learning and may only need a face-to-face meeting once a month and there may be other students who need face-to-face instruction two out of every three days. One size does not fit all.

Maybe use all school buildings for students so that social distancing can be achieved. For example, maybe high school students go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on the other days of the week, the high school building could be used to provide enough room for elementary and middle school students to socially distance in a classroom

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Session 4: Special Education Participant comments: I served 29 students with IEPs from pre-k to fifth grade at Stonewall Jackson Elementary School (I am the only SPED teacher in my building), which is a high poverty school (>90% of our students live in poverty). When the schools closed due to COVID-19, I wrote 29 IEP amendments and prior written notices. During the entire closure, I documented 1,788 actual and attempted contacts.

One enormous positive I witnessed from teaching during COVID-19, was that when our school system focused on the standards not yet taught by March 13, we could actually provide depth of instruction. Instead of focusing on getting everything taught before SOL testing, we were able to provide numerous learning and assessing opportunities over time which created an atmosphere of safety and creativity. My students were not so afraid of being wrong, and for the first time saw mistakes as a chance to learn more. Instead of three to four questions on a test to determine proficiency, they were able to provide days of numerous examples of mastery. I would much rather my students show mastery over proficiency any day. Teachers were being treated as the true professionals they are. We were being entrusted to know when our students mastered content instead of using a high-stakes standardized test which created an environment of fear and inferiority. I was actually able to be a teacher in every sense of the word, and my students were able to experience academic depth, and even though I could only see them on my computer screen, I could see their eyes light up, and hear the happiness in their voices when we were able to have fun and not worry about testing. The best part was, they didn't even realize their work was being assessed. They were participating in discussions, helping out their fellow students, or working collaboratively on problems. It was inspiring to witness, while being heartbreaking at the same time..wondering why it took a global pandemic to get back to what teaching and learning should be.

Regarding Next Year For a number of reasons, a strategy I think should be used is a school division needs to use one learning management system: parents will not have to keep up with several programs; students will not have to keep up with various usernames and passwords; and all teachers will be using the same terminology which means they will be able to help other students and the parents in the home who may be confused.

For special education teachers, especially for those who push-in, they need to made administrators (schoology) for the classes which include their students or co-teacher (class dojo) so they are able to monitor their students' progress and analytics (logins, time spent on assignments. attempts on assignments, etc.).

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Also, with the probability of more online learning for next year, providing teachers with touch screen laptops so that when they "share" their screen in Microsoft Teams or Zoom, they can use it similarly to SMARTBoard when providing instruction.

As we look at next year, if there is staggered attendance, students with IEPs may need to come more often than their non-disabled peers. Students in self-contained classes need to attend school every day.

Virtual teaching periods need to be provided for ALL teachers - we cannot be expected to work all day (in person) and then provide online instruction after hours. Virtual teaching periods will need to be as common as planning periods, and NOT used interchangeably.

They need to be separate, and unencumbered with meetings.

If possible, parents/guardians need to be provided training in the student learning platform being used by the division so they feel more confident in helping their children.

Care needs to be taken in assignments and assessments. They need to be meaningful, not busy work. We are going to have less time with our students and we need to make every moment count.

This is going to probably be the most expensive returns to school ever -- staggered attendance, extra custodial staff (or increased overtime for them), face masks (students and staff), virtual learning, more bus routes, temperature monitoring, etc. while we are being asked to cut our budgets due to decreased revenues. What is going to be done with the approximately $27 - $32 million that did not go to Pearson for Spring SOL assessments? That money could be used for one-time expenses such as technology upgrades for schools, PPE, one-time pay for the additional employees needed for COVID19 (or for their overtime, one-time school construction needs such as proper ventilation, working windows, or enlarging the school nurse's areas, etc.

There needs to be discussion of not SOL testing for the upcoming year. If the mental and emotional health of our students truly is a top priority, then we need to fully demonstrate that by not expecting our students to go from a traumatic situation directly to a testing one. Most likely, when they return to school, they are not going to have the same teacher they left, so building trusting relationships needs to be paramount, and that takes time. If we have to focus on testing, that tells our students we don't care about their well-being and it breeds fear, in a time when they don't need anything else in which to be afraid. For a number of our students, school is their safe place, and now more than ever, that needs to be true. We need think creatively and in the best interest of our students.

Participant comments: I am concerned about the more or less negative tone of yesterday's hour-long session.

There was a lot to be said about how the distance learning format doesn't fit students with disabilities, and I agree that it may not be a fit for some students with disabilities. But those who did most of the talking seemed to be from smaller counties with extremely PAGE 24

limited resources, which are very valid concerns. I am not here to say that distance learning is the answer for students with disabilities, but I do want to beg for a more open conversation about its effectiveness.

I work with 3rd and 4th-grade students with autism, learning disabilities, and mild emotional disabilities. I have found the distance learning setting to work with a student with attention issues. With her mom's support, this student is more focused and motivated than she's been all school year. Also, I co-teach with two general education teachers, both of which have incorporated several opportunities for students to socializewhether it be through lunch bunches before office hours and reading to the students in the last 15 minutes of office hours. I also meet outside of my normal hours to read with students. I work with students beyond what is required because I know how difficult this transition is.

We chat with our students. We go beyond what is required to connect with our kids. My colleagues are continually seeking resources to help ourselves and one another to improve and to provide the best to our students. Because of this, we have found new and improved ways of delivering instruction to our kids that, I hope, will carry over into the time when we are all fully back at school.

Additionally, I believe that most sentiments are premature given that this distance learning session did not provide grades for students. Because we didn't require grades, it is natural to see motivation and overall performance wane. However, it won't be like this in the fall. So, technically, none of us knows what an all virtual learning environment with greater accountability will look like. I present to you and the powers that be that student and parent participation will look markedly different.

With this being the first and only time any of us have been here, we have to take into consideration the impact of a lack of experience and training most teachers bought to distance learning. Couple this with technology mishaps and glitches and you have teachers with great anxiety and apprehension about the many unknowns that we were ultimately the faces of to the parents and students we worked with. It was very daunting.

So, it is important to consider all of these factors, particularly the invisible factors, have a very real and tangible upon the delivery of instruction.

I support beginning the school year virtually for Fairfax County and then possibly fully opening for the spring semester. I mention my county because I realize that what's good for my county may not work for other counties. Another idea that is a bit out there is considering flexible starting options for each county, which sounds like a nightmare as I write this. But, if the Commonwealth offered 3 options to all counties and designated a task force over each option that reported to a task force that reported to the Education Secretary or Governor, it just might work; especially, if all counties are trained in the two additional options because we all know how to teach in school. So, we'd need training for

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an all virtual option and we'd need to know what a hybrid option would look like so that we can adjust.

One last thing- it's important to my colleagues and I that we are trusted to know how to pivot and provide the best instruction to our kids. We've done a great job of pivoting thus far and I believe if the Commonwealth trains us to pivot no matter how we open in the fall, we all will be equipped to approach the fall with an attitude of hopefulness and an openness to what is possible.

Participant comments (ELL educator): How has your role/function been impacted by schools going to distance learning?

What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning, if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

Role Change Co-teaching with four different teachers. Having to coordinate and co-plan with each of them. Small groups during office hours. Reaching less students due to attendance issues.

Learning a new way to teach; Learn and experiment as we go; Every week there are multiple webinars that we can watch to incorporate technology into our lessons in new and interesting ways; Fairfax County Public Schools provided us with many learning opportunities and guidance from the various departments to make this transition as easy as possible on teachers Challenges Constant technical issues (difficulty logging in, microphone problems, cameras not working), students finding new ways to disrupt class, it’s more difficult to discipline.

Keeping kids engaged, attendance Suggestions As long as distance learning is happening, consider no SOL testing For kinder and first, first week of school offer trainings to parents as to how to log on and maneuver online learning Options for teachers to choose their teaching times to fit family schedules

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Clear grading and attendance policies; Mandatory attendance to live sessions. (In ‘normal’ times, a school system can’t require attendance unless it supplies transportation. With distance learning, perhaps we should take that transportation budget and plow it into ensuring that all students have the technology they need to successfully participate in online learning.)

Access to necessary technology for all students Please do not underestimate the amount of work that we are putting in to make distance learning happen!!

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function? What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local school divisions?

Challenges Ensuring that art supplies and equipment for science experiments are effectively sanitized I've heard ‘talk’ about K-3 having face to face instruction. These are the students who are more likely to be spreading viruses because of a lack of understanding about social distancing, covering coughs and sneezes, and thorough hand washing. Be realistic about the ability for young kids to social distance and to follow rules about sanitation.

How to social distance during safety drills…..fire and tornado How will teachers of younger students be safe? Younger ones need help with tying shoes, zipping coats, opening milk cartons, etc.

If students are required to stay with one teacher the entire day, how will the teacher get breaks? (lunch and bathroom) Also, how will SPED, ESOL, and AAP students be able to meet their teachers?

Concerns about teaching multiple groups of small classes over a longer teaching day with no compensation What safety measures will be in place for teachers who work with students in the Enhanced AUT classes and ID classes, pre-school, Headstart, SPED pre-school Will ES teachers be required to teach music, PE, art, if elementary students are required to stay with the same one teacher all day?

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Will teachers be required to clean in-class bathrooms?

What accommodations are made for teachers who are in high-risk categories? (Would a vulnerability to having complications due to Covid-19 fall under the ADA and would school systems need to make special accommodations because of this?)

Would substitute teachers require special training about how to keep kids safe?

Suggestions *If the Covid-19 has not been eradicated by the start of school or a vaccine has not been produced, I do not feel safe returning to school. This should be all or nothing, not a hybrid mode. Either it’s safe to go back and be in a building with hundreds of little humans, or it isn’t. Perhaps a decision should be made early on to do distance learning so that schools can ramp up their efforts to make this successful and to reallocate funds so that kids and teachers have the technology they need. (This virus is frighteningly contagious. I know two people who have it right now and they have no idea how they contracted it. They have been social distancing and following CDC recommendations.)

Having the proper PPE provided to stay safe. Teachers will become one of the most vulnerable professions due to the number of students within a school building and potential exposure.

When considering the possibility of having staggered schedules, please be mindful that many teachers are working parents of school-aged children and this could create major conflicts in parent and child schedules Please no Saturday school. Teachers need a break!

Protocols need to be in place if a teacher comes down with the Covid-19. Will the class be required to quarantine? Will other staff members? Will teachers be forced to use all their sick leave?

I read that one suggestion to FCPS mentions SPED and ESOL teachers having faceto-face. If conditions are not safe for all to be back in the building, we should not expect ESOL/SPED to be required to go in Encourage neighboring school systems to work together to have similar plans in place; many teachers work in one school but kids go to school in the neighboring county where they live. This is especially true in Fairfax County which has such a high cost of living that many teachers live in surrounding counties which are more affordable.

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Session 6: Career and Technical Education Participant comments: We are electives. We are the classes that teach a practical application to a lot of what students learn in their core classes. We show them to use the communication tools, math skills, understanding of history to see where it can take them. Going to any online, or virtual, I believe there is a difference, will diminish the impact of our courses. Yes, I think we are all capable of creating content that is engaging and will cover what we feel is important. I believe there are students who will do their best to interact with that content but I also believe that they will not get the best of us. We all have students that will need the extra encouragement (or flat out push) to do well in our classes.

So how can we try to maximize our effectiveness with what little we will have? I don't really know.

For #1, any class with hands-on instruction, we will be horribly hampered. We count on our ability to model and guide to teach students. They do the same thing in math but sometimes, we have to use power tools, specialized software, or direct reinforcement like JROTC. We can make plans for remote learning but it will not have the same effect. Not all our students will have access to drill presses, electronics, or group drill formations.

They will not have us there to correct it immediately. I cannot imagine a Zoom meeting where you have to have all JROTC Cadets in dress uniform for inspection and trying to check to make sure that they put it on correctly. Who is holding the camera? Do they submit videos? I have been kicking around a few ideas about low-cost part kits for one of my classes and links for free software for all my classes. We can send kits and laptops home with the kids on day 1 but it will be hard to assist or troubleshoot circuits from afar.

I am imagining having to spend more than twice the effort to accomplish the same lesson remotely.

2. I would rather try to get something in place that lets us return to the classroom, even if we have to modify the classic schedule. Maybe we could adopt the college model where you attend classes only on certain days and times. That could let us stagger the total number of students in the school. It will mean more teacher time in the building and that is not possible for some of us. It also means a greater strain on the system like buses, custodial, food service, clerical. We don't have the space for social distancing in our classes or building so realistically, that's out. Maybe we will do a hybrid where half of our students are in class while the other half is at home and then they swap. 1 week in person, 1-week remote. All lessons streamed live on time, recorded and posted but only half the bodies in a room at any time. Attendance is going to be terrible. I think any return to the classroom, until a vaccine is in place and enough herd immunity is built up, will require teachers to have to put in significantly more effort to be able to teach our classes. Any plan that is devised will require more work so really, there's no escaping it.

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Participant comments (cosmetology teacher): My role as an educator has been severely impacted by this.

Trying to teach at home with my own children has been very challenging for not only me but form as well. My family's mental health/quality of life/behavioral choices has been majorly impacted. My husband is an essential employee and daycare has been closed so it's me trying to juggle it all. My children feel my frustration and then act out from that. I want to be able to raise my children to be level headed and respectable people, how can I do that if I am not feeling that myself at this point?

Giving students the "option" if they choose to work on assignments has proven not effective. Participation is not there even in an elective class that leads to free licensure.

Due to this with the already mental and physical challenges, face at home with trying to teach with my conditions with my family it causes a lack of motivation on my end. I feel what is the use if they are not participating? Why should I stress myself and my family if they are not participating? I know that is not the right outlook and have never felt that way before and do not condone that type of thought process but its reality. I think of myself as a very hands-on giving 100% to my students and I know that I have not during this and that also impacts my mental thought process. If students were held accountable for the assignments that would change the participation of students and educators.

Our class is a 3 block class and has very strict hour requirements how would staggering schedules and limiting class sizes affect our program? Would they meet the hour requirements?

If staggering schedules and class sizes are a requirement then our program would need to have theory work at home be a requirement as well.

Additional comments for questions 1 &2: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

I have found I am spending a lot more time at my computer working on schoolrelated tasks.

It is IMPORTANT for our students to continue the learning process, so giving students the OPTION to complete assignments is not a good idea.

I find it puts on the teachers who also are now home with family (kids, pets, etc) to put in the work to create meaningful assignments, and the students are not doing them.

The school district should take into consideration teachers will be stressed like students and as we work to help our students through this, I feel the expectations of teachers should be highly considered.

Make a clear and function-able plan and make sure transportation can be provided for transport students particularly programs like Cosmetology and nursing etc.

Participant comments: PAGE 30

Thank you for the chance to add additional information after the meeting. I was next to speak when we ended last week.

I had many of the same questions that were voiced but will make a few points to corroborate those mentioned. I was pleased that beginning in April in PWCS, our CTE Specialists taxed us with providing answers to 3 basic scenarios and to tell them what we would need for: 1. back to school in August, 2. back to school in August but out for a couple months when COVID spiked again, and 3. back to school but not until say - November and to tell them WHAT WE NEEDED. My main concerns at the time revolved around personal protection, PPE, in the kitchen labs. When I passed this information on to my Principal, she indicated it would be hard to supply for budgetary reasons. Her questions revolve around wondering for both Tech Ed and FACS, what the classroom will look like with shared equipment and keeping social distancing in mind. I am more fortunate having a larger than normal classroom but that is of no consequence once students are in the kitchen cooking. My feeling is we will have to increase the PPE by providing separate aprons, plastic face shields and masks at a (minimum). Plexiglass partitions do nothing in my opinion – germs are going to circulate as do Middle School Students.

My Principal and I discussed the possibility of having the students learn the concept at school with my demonstrating while they cooked at home instead. Although certain areas such as knife skills will be hard to police online. PWCS’s CTE Dept said perhaps schools provide a supply bag of items needed for the course for those on the free and reduced lunch program. Not thinking my Principal would go along with the idea – she said we could budget for it if the money weren’t coming out for the labs IN SCHOOL. To answer Mr. Qarni’s question about student’s social/emotional state – I experienced a certain degree of success this quarter because PWCS schools had us repeat curriculum as opposed to introducing new and continuing with the same 3rd quarter students instead of the new group we were to have received fourth quarter. I am very concerned about connecting with a group of new students without having first met them in person.

The unpredictability of COVID does lend anxiety about this possibility.

Reducing competencies were brought up and would have to be addressed this fall October with the VDOE - when the usual annual review takes place. We are talking about 70 competencies per grade level – those non-essential could be dropped. The first 30 competencies are Work-based competencies and would not be doable at home. Dropping about 35 would leave us with roughly 35 to convey online. Project Based Learning and Work Based Learning are the big areas of concentration right now but take on new meaning when happening outside of the classroom. PBL is perfect for home situations.

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Students with IEP’s will need to be addressed. I DID have students with disabilities participating from home. Access online to IEP’s should be considered. Currently they have been prohibited for confidentiality reasons.

In conclusion – other than the use of PPE and how that Hybrid classroom is going to look, my areas of concern stem over the certifications the High Schools have to address and the professional affiliations they are associated with such as FBLA and FCCLA. I AM thankful for the opportunity for educators in the field to be given a voice. Thank you.

VEA CTE Strategy Session Follow-Up (J. Jones – Pittsylvania)

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Concern/Issue: Following the March 13 school closures, CTE teachers in my school division were directed to cover all competencies for all CTE classes, continue grading all student work, and to document completion of assignment and mastery of the competency until the end of the school year.

Strategy: The VDOE developed the C4L Taskforce that created the Virginia Learns Anywhere (VLA) guidance document. The document outlines the need to prioritize curriculum and be realistic, including the time-on-task of in-person and/or virtual instruction. The VLA needs to be the framework of instruction for the 2020-2021 school year and labeled as such from the state. Too, there may need to be further unpacking of the document by school divisions to provide a better explanation or breakdown to educators. Since communication goes through so many channels, it would be helpful to have a communication document that gets to all educators explaining expectations of competency completion, waiver approval, etc.

Concern/Issue: As of March 13, some students and their parents took a stance to fully disengage themselves from the educational process or played cherry-picking with what they would complete. This was both from a packet/virtual platform and a passing/failing standpoint. Great concern has been expressed by students, staff, and administrators as to the lack of or disregard for learning to continue to take place, further, the need for students and parents to be responsible and accountable for themselves.

Strategy: It would beneficial to have clear objectives come directly from the VDOE to all educators, students, and parents as to the expectation of participation in the learning environment for the 2020-2021 school year. Perhaps a press conference that is aired live

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and connected to all social media accounts. Too, our local Union developed an online learning agreement. It was presented as a proposal to our division superintendent to be used this upcoming school year since no agreement/document of its kind is currently in place for our school division. We ultimately need a team approach where all individuals work together collectively to help students achieve.

Concern/Issue: In Southside Virginia, we are starved for internet access. Additionally, we are trenched in the digital divide as students and teachers do not possess the technology needed at home or at school to be as successful at virtual learning as other school divisions. The severe lack of reliable internet, tangible devices, or access to programs or software for use in career and technical education is detrimental to student instruction, particularly those who have dual enrollment classes.

Strategy: The state must be a visible and forceful conduit for improved broadband internet access across the Southside area and rural Virginia. Too, Chromebooks are great but they are not the solution to our problem. Partnering with Hewlett Packard, Dell, Microsoft and community colleges to provide laptops, office programs and software for teachers and students would bridge the gap of the digital divide and need for one-to-one devices we are currently facing for teacher preparation and student instruction.

VEA CTE Strategy Session Follow-Up (J. Jones – Pittsylvania) Page 2 of 3

Concern/Issue: Aside from not being able to provide students with equipment or other consumables, it has been challenging through virtual learning and packets to develop lessons that incorporate competencies, especially those that require students to demonstrate tasks. Using resources like iCEV has been extremely helpful. iCEV provides competency-aligned videos, demonstrations, worksheets, assessments and much more, but it comes at a cost. Teachers need instructional resources that go beyond a textbook, but if the school division cannot absorb the cost, will those costs need to be absorbed by the individual teacher so they can perform their duties?

Strategy: If additional funding cannot be granted to school divisions to cover instructional resource costs, working with companies to assist in deeper discounts or extending free trial memberships would aid teachers in developing engaging lessons and simulation activities that cover required competencies and bolster learning.

Concern/Issue: Career and technical education strives to provide a well-trained, competent and an ever-ready workforce, which helps drive our local, regional, state, national and global economies. Preparing those students for the workforce often means

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providing industry certification exams. Some of these exams are provided by national companies that may be far removed from the state, regional or local needs. If students cannot receive the hours or contact time needed, it may result in penalizing the student when it comes to the industry certification.

Strategy: To have a unified front on industry certification testing, which could include imploring companies to develop modified tests that would be administered for students starting in the spring of 2021, as, given the current issues with online and face-to-face instruction, it would not be feasible to administer current industry certification tests at the end of the semester of 2020. Too, granting waivers to the graduating class of 2021 and potentially 2022 to ensure students still have the opportunity to move forward with their education and lives without being punished for circumstances beyond their control.

Concern/Issue: By its sheer nature, career and technical education is a hands-on content area. As such, the hands-on component most often requires in-person instructor supervision for safety purposes. With numerous CTE courses utilizing various equipment, tools, and consumables for students to perform tasks, it would be beneficial for the student and the teacher to physically be in the same environment. If this was to occur, that would require a great deal of personal protective equipment and sanitation. If not, how would teachers be able to properly provide supervision if students were to perform their tasks outside of the "virtual space," and if a student was to get hurt, who would then hold the responsibility/blame?

Strategy: Guidance is needed for providing hands-on instruction that requires equipment, tools and consumables, such as chemicals is needed. Potentially these tasks should be discussed and demonstrated by the teacher/proxy, but not performed by the student unless the student is physically in the same environment as the teacher under direct supervision. Further, providing an ongoing supply of personal protective equipment for students and teachers as well as sanitation products is paramount to the health and safety of all. A reasonable amount of time should be provided to allow for thorough sanitation of materials and the environment.

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Concern/Issue: Our goal as educators is to foster learning experiences that produce a well-rounded, productive citizen who is qualified to begin the next phase of their career pathway. Unfortunately to some, career and technical education is viewed as a sub-tier in education instead as an integral component. Some believe CTE teachers should take on the role more of a teacher's assistant and not a classroom educator when the 2020-2021 school year begins as the focus should be on core academic instruction only.

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Strategy: Provide direction that all content areas matter and all educators will provide content-area instruction for students.

Concern/Issue: CTE teachers rely on daily access to the course competencies for their curriculum and instructional strategies. All CTE course competencies, industry credentialing information, career pathway information, correlations to the standards of learning, student competency records, and much more are housed on the Virginia Educational Resources System Online (VERSO) and managed by the Virginia CTE Resource Center. For over two decades this has been the repository for Virginia’s CTE curricula. All resources on this website are free to teachers and provide consistency in curriculum competencies across the state. The VERSO data system, developed in 2001, is obsolete and susceptible to a catastrophic crash which would result in loss of access to course competencies and teachers would lose access to critical instructional and curriculum information.

Strategy: Funding is needed to replace the VERSO database system which contains CTE essential competencies, industry certifications, administrative planning guide, student competency records, and a wealth of instructional information provided at no cost to CTE educators throughout Virginia. It is the only source for comprehensive information about credentials offered to Virginia students, aligned with the Profile of a Virginia Graduate.

Session 7: Transportation I am an Academic Coach in Albemarle County, volunteer tutor and also work for pupil transportation. I just wanted to Propose the idea of implementing academic coaching and its success. Coaches are not tutoring or counselors but rather work 1:1 with students to help them identify and make strategies to overcome and breakthrough obstacles. The Check and ConnectÂŽprogram that is used in Alb County is easily adaptable to off site and electronic interaction. It can be taught to volunteers (where Alb Co, pays their coaches) using various forms of electronic communication. It gives the teacher an extra pair of hands to work with struggling students (especially those that do not have iep's). It can be adapted to personal calls or various video calling apps (I have even used snail mail too).

The program trains the coach to interact with the parents for support. With so much respect for professional educators, this may be valuable tool if a teacher could identify students at risk of falling behind and have a coach jump in to help. This would easily adapt to a volunteer program and with promotion through media and PTO's, may gain support. It assists and gives workable solutions to most of the challenges mentioned here during the Zoom meeting.

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Session 8: Art, Music, PE Participant comments: First off, thank you for the opportunity to be involved with the art, music and pe session. I felt honored to be there with so many wonderful people.

Most of my questions and feedback where brought up throughout the session. My biggest was the use of materials and having to “wipe� down everything or require students to bring their own. Another is when we do start back (if in the buildings) will the arts be taken seriously and not placed on the back burner to get students caught back up in English and math as well as sped and esl.

I emailed my pe and music teachers at Marshall middle to see if there were any concerns that I may have looked over or didn’t concern. PE is worried if masks will be required while working out, the equipment and cleaning, and will students be wearing their backpacks all day to avoid contact at lockers and other areas. Music asked if we are virtual if there will be training in specific areas to help reach the children better in their discipline.

I have been a team player at school even before this happened, our subjects are always looked at us non important areas but a good outlet for students. We will make this work and hope that the state has our backs just as much as core areas. I would hate to see what has happened in a Massachusetts district start to spread and become an option for other districts/counties.

Again, I would like to thank you and the other involved for this opportunity.

Participant comments: These concerns were gathered and then organized into themes that were repeated by many specialists in Fairfax County Public Schools.

SAFETY Cleaning supplies. Who will supply them? Will we have time to utilize them built into our schedules that are already so packed?

Will flu shots be required?

How will staff and students with autoimmune and other pre-existing conditions be supported?

Emotional and physical health should remain in the forefront Workload for students (especially young students needs to be considered) Being on a cart going into classrooms still exposes the adults and students to the disease, we just become the carriers taking it from room to room.

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African-Americans have been disproportionately impacted by Covid 19. How will we place extra protections in place for them?

A lot of our materials in art can NOT be cleaned.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Will art classes be shortened to accommodate the increase number of classes?

Will we be grouping students for specials based on their homeroom or by another mix such as band and strings students coming together instead of with their homerooms?

Class size. Many specialists have small rooms or teach in trailers which does not allow for social distancing. Also in these small rooms and trailers often there is no water and it is poorly ventilated.

Some specials like PE see multiple classes at once but there is no other space in the building to hold class. How will that be handled?

Outdoor classes are possible for some specials, but what to do when inclement weather happens?

Space for additional classes are needed Additional STAFFING will be needed OUR rooms are the best learning environment for students to experience specials.

EQUITY FOR STUDENTS Workload balance for students especially our youngest students Clear expectations for student participation and assessment.

Access to needed materials Technology (laptop, wifi, software) Art supplies beyond paper pencil like markers, watercolors, modeling clay to participate in lessons that meet standards.

Access to more resources for trauma and emotional support Does aap and gifted programs segregate our students?

EQUITY FOR STAFF Workload. Many specialists see over 250 students. Some of us see over 600 students. Some specialists see 10 or more classes a day.

If we see smaller class sizes will there be more sections or class the specialists see?

How will we make this work when classes are already back to back?

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Equitable expectations Consider instructional schedules to ensure we aren’t being overladed more than we already are More Students should = more planning. Somehow this doesn’t happen at all currently. Specialists are concerned new schedule will take away planning and compound this problem.

Access to Wifi or Mifis Access to resources that support teachers to engage students instructionally Subscriptions to teaching tools, museums, online tools such as Padlet, peardeck, etc.

Will specialists be asked to teach outside their content area or made to abandon their own curriculum?

We are not certified to teach other content areas…

GRADING Thinking about elementary students, should we be grading in specials?

Currently Art, Music, and PE have an effort grade and 3-5 standards to evaluate.

Do these standards work now? Are they equitable?

Are Effort/ participation grades enough to hold students accountable?

Arts and PE support social emotional learning and development of all students.

RESOURCES/PD What are some successful models we can explore and utilize while still making instruction our own to meet student needs?

Will we be moving to a statewide platform like Schoology?

JOB SECURITY Do we have assurance that leadership values the Arts and PE as essential to a child’s education and emotional well-being and growth?

Many specialists fear losing their positions!

EXPECTATIONS AND ACCOUNTABILITY When we teach so many students who experience factors beyond their control, how do we hold students accountable for their own learning?

Access to learning Support navigating the virtual world on their own

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Access to materials How do we hold parents accountable for supporting that learning?

Are we asking too much of our elementary students in general?

Yet, we want and need students to be engaged.

Accountability is a huge issue.

Some teachers have noted that students are logging in and then walking away from their computers.

Some students don’t even log in.

It is a lot of work to teach live, record lessons, create Google Classroom lessons.

This all takes a lot of time. If we do a 50% in person, 50% virtual how will the state or county ensure there is a balance and not overload us with unreasonable expectations?

Schools’ expectations for specialists vary greatly across the county and state.

Access to specialists vary- some teachers are only asynchronous while others must do both.

Low Participation is experienced in many schools.

Is it due to the huge learning curve?

Is it because their were no grades? No access to materials?

We need a clear message that the arts and pe are important!

Can specialists group classes together so that K-2 and gr 3-6 can learn together so that there is less competing time for the screen with siblings?

Also, this allows specialists to support one another to provide more engaged learning!

WORK LIFE BALANCE Many teachers have small kids at home and are trying to balance their child’s schedule/ learning, while teaching full time.

If we have a staggered schedule, how will that support or strain families on different schedules or the same?

MISCELLANEOUS Should we offer the option of parallel distance learning to all students if they prefer virtual learning?

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Will we identify students and staff with compromised immunity in order to give them priority for distance learning if we go to a model with some students in the building and others at home?

Participant comments: EQUITY OF ACCESS. Our school system was divided into paper packets for K-2, and online work for 3-12. Teaching music online is doable, though challenging. Teaching music via paper packets felt impossible. Students need to be able to see and hear their teachers, particularly in specialty areas where parents may feel unable to help as much. For music, I think we need to be able to use video and audio materials for all grade levels. ALL STUDENTS need to be online.

SYNCHRONOUS VS ASYNCHRONOUS. Music via zoom doesn’t really work well, due to the delay. Synchronous classes are also hard for parents working at home and families who may be sharing devices.

VERY LOW PARTICIPATION. I had 50% or less most weeks for 3-5, way less for K-2 (paper).

GRADING. Grading was problematic. We need very clear, fair guidelines that provide both accountability and flexibility.

LACK OF SOCIAL CONNECTION. Students’ motivation to learn depends on building relationships with their teachers and peers. There is a social-emotional aspect to education that gets largely lost when we go online.

STUDENTS TIRED OF ZOOM. The appeal of live zoom/google meetings faded as the semester wore on. Video meetings present distinct social challenges and can be emotionally hard for students and teachers alike, who are just reminded of what they’re missing. On the other hand, they worked great for efficient faculty meetings!

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function? What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local school divisions?

PLANNING. I am concerned that we will end up needing to plan much more than usual if we have a hybrid model - will we need both an in-person lesson AND an online lesson each week? An online lesson and a paper version of it for students without access? Having to plan for all three contingencies really complicates things.

SHARING RESOURCES. Music teachers in my county were able to share videos and resources, and that was helpful. A system for sharing statewide would be great. It would need to be highly organized and searchable to be effective.

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NEED FOR CONTACT. I really worry about students in K-2 not being able to touch their friends or teachers. These are our huggers. They have an emotional and developmental need for physical touch. Students with sensory issues in particular may struggle with this.

If we had adequate testing for students and teachers, we could ease some of this worry.

SPACE FOR DISTANCING. Music and PE both require a lot of movement. We need to be sure we are teaching in spaces that can accommodate this with social distancing in place.

Going from classroom to classroom on a cart would make this tricky, as most classrooms are set up for desk learning or small groups and not for large group movement. I think we need to keep our own classrooms so that we can keep them marked and prepared for social distancing in our specific disciplines.

TEACHERS WITH THEIR OWN KIDS. A hybrid or alternating schedule puts teachers with their own children at home in a very tricky position - what do we do with our children if they are not on the same schedule we are? Can childcare be provided for teachers?

AEROSOL TRANSMISSION/SINGING. There is concern about singing in music and choir.

We need more scientific study on children’s singing (as well as chanting, humming, speaking, and shouting) before we make any drastic changes. Concerns so far have been based on adult choirs. Children generally sing more quietly, with less breath support.

EQUIPMENT SHARING. The latest from CDC is that contact spread is not as big a concern as was thought. I am comfortable with students sharing equipment if they are washing hands or sanitizing before and after, with commonly touched surfaces such as railings and tables cleaned each day.

BAND AND ORCHESTRA. There is concern about how band/orchestra teachers can begin students from day one, virtually. These courses are all new material and take intense inperson instruction at first.

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS. We begin planning our performances for the year before school even starts. What can we expect as far as performance expectations? It would be helpful to be on one page statewide.

PPE. What is being done to protect teachers? Will we be expected to provide masks/gloves/sanitizer for ourselves, out of pocket? Will the school provide these for students? What will happen for teachers/staff who do not comply with PPE requirements and put others at risk?

TESTING. Can we be tested regularly? Can students?

I do not feel safe returning to school until we can be tested for both active virus and antibodies, even without presenting symptoms.

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PERSONAL TRAVEL. How will personal teacher travel be handled? Before we closed we were told we’d need to quarantine ourselves for 14 days after traveling - we will need VERY clear guidelines on this: what leave time is to be used, how far can we go, for what purposes, etc. For example, can we take our kids to a soccer tournament in another county? Attend a funeral in a large city? Travel with family on a break?

ACCOMODATIONS. How will special ed, ESL, speech and hearing, music therapy, and other accommodations be addressed?

STUDENT TEACHERS. Will student teachers and interns be permitted? Are we expected to work with student teachers if we are online only? This was very difficult this spring.

Student teaching requirements need to be adjusted for the next year or two.

ONLINE SYSTEM. I think going to a brand new statewide electronic platform is a mistake.

Students, teachers, and parents would all need to be retrained if they’ve been using something else. This would create a lot of unnecessary stress at a time when we are already very stressed.

NEW ONLINE CURRICULUMS. I think we need to be VERY wary of adopting any sort of complete online curriculum, including Virginia K12, or Quaver and other online music programs for music teachers. We do not want to give districts an excuse to cut teachers.

TRAINING PARENTS. Training parents along with students will be important for online education. I love the idea of bringing in small cohorts of parents and kids to learn the systems together.

Participant comments: Please note: These reflect the thoughts of Music, Art, and PE teachers who are members of the Staunton Education Association.

How has your role/function been impacted by schools going to distance learning?

• • • •

•

Instead of hands on teaching, it has been finding online resources that students will use to be engaged The information is more about the skill, not the actual skill Changing the mindset from games to independent workouts Using time to collaborate for cross curricular units o (For me personally, at CCCA, this is a plus. It has allowed me time to create lessons that integrate academics. Examples: Data/Skill Mastery, Research/Community Health, Historical Civilizations/Games & Dance, Science/Anatomy, Music Patterns/Dance, as well as others) Creating activities based on Character Education that include PE concepts as opposed to teaching PE concepts that include Character Ed.

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What did you find to be challenging, and what strategies should the state consider to improve distance learning, if it is necessary for the 2020-2021 school year?

Challenges • • • • • •

Getting students to participate Not as effective when taught virtually More difficult to teach the soft skills Little guidance as to how to utilize the online learning programs Had to implement it in a short time Students using technology was not an option for SOP

Suggestions • •

•

Everyone needs access to technology and childcare, as needed Provide resources and training specific to Music, Art, and PE; applying online platforms to Specialty areas looks different than math and literacy; include effective use of online assessments Remember the importance of Music, Art, and PE to the mental, physical well being of our students; experiencing success and building relationships

As the new academic year begins, there is a possibility that restrictions will be in place, such as limited class sizes and staggered scheduling. What challenges do you anticipate in your role/function?

• • • • • •

Staggered schedule would be difficult when teaching and rehearsing with smaller class sizes as they need to be together; may impact the quality of performance If staggered: How do we reach the kids not in class and/or not able to log in virtually Safely interacting with students and materials Schools providing PPE; Having hand sanitizer and/or soap, water, and paper towels readily available/easily accessible Rethinking how to teach concepts that need close proximity while keeping students at a safe distance Scheduling needs to include time between classes to sanitize and/or replace materials; will students be able to help with the sanitizing

What strategies should the state keep in mind as it works with local school divisions?

• • • •

Some students need more help than others (some still need the basic necessities) Class sizes - how to reach all students safely and effectively Even if virtual learning is difficult to do, Music, Art, and PE teachers will make it meaningful Kids need to interact and move around

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• • •

•

•

Streamline the information available to parents for at-home learning; include Music, Art, and PE with Math and Literacy resources, not separate In SCS, the younger students do not use the same online platform as the older students Online learning could be an opportunity to teach the SOL’s that there may not be time for in a face-to-face setting such as Art History, Analyzing Music, and Energy Balance in PE. Stipulate that discretionary funds will go to the content where they are needed.

It often seems like they go to the content where they are valued, which can differ between divisions. Because of the sharing of materials, Music, Art, and PE will most likely need to purchase additional materials.

Not all divisions have a coordinator or supervisor specific to Music, Art, and PE; ensure the training is led by people with experience in these areas

Final Thought: Please keep in mind what’s going on in the world. People are turning to Music, Art, and Physical Activity to cope. When classroom teachers are not able to connect with some students, remember that those students may log in with Music, Art, and PE because of their interest and the relationships they have established with those teachers. It provides additional opportunities to engage those students.

Participant comments: Distance/Virtual Learning Challenges: •

• •

At the elementary level, our music, art, and PE teachers work with all 500-600 students in the school. In a county with spotty internet reception and many homes without internet access, it is challenging to deliver equitable education and maintain an acceptable level of class participation.

Another equity issue is ensuring that all learners have access to materials needed.

When in school students are usually able to access everything they need.

What resources are available for ensuring participation in virtual learning?

In person instruction with restrictions: •

•

The biggest challenge will be scheduling and shared equipment. PE equipment, art supplies, and musical instruments are all shared at the elementary level. What sort of cleaning and time requirements will be needed to utilize shared equipment? If we are not able to share materials, what sort of funding will be available to provide individual supplies? (Most of our supply budgets were cut in half due to reduced revenue expectations.)

If there are staggered starts/days for instruction, all parents (including teachers) will have unexpected day care expenses. Is there anything that can be done to help mitigate those costs?

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Regardless of problems raised, our music, art, and PE teachers will rise to the many challenges. We look forward to the continued guidance of the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Education Association.

Participant comments: Most of my questions and feedback where brought up throughout the session. My biggest was the use of materials and having to “wipe” down everything or require students to bring their own. Another is when we do start back (if in the buildings) will the arts be taken seriously and not placed on the back burner to get students caught back up in English and math as well as sped and esl.

I emailed my pe and music teachers at Marshall middle to see if there were any concerns that I may have looked over or didn’t concern. PE is worried if masks will be required while working out, the equipment and cleaning, and will students be wearing their backpacks all day to avoid contact at lockers and other areas. Music asked if we are virtual if there will be training in specific areas to help reach the children better in their discipline.

I have been a team player at school even before this happened, our subjects are always looked at us non important areas but a good outlet for students. We will make this work and hope that the state has our backs just as much as core areas. I would hate to see what has happened in a Massachusetts district start to spread and become an option for other districts/counties.

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