1. We’re leading with the punchline a bit in today’s clips, but our own Aaron Churchill has got an op-ed in the Dispatch today and we should definitely have that in the top spot for clips! In it, he argues for extended time for this year’s seniors to remain in school—perhaps even an entire additional school year—to make sure that they have mastered what they need to know and are truly ready to move on to the next step in their lives…  (Columbus Dispatch, 4/27/20)
   
   

2. …you know: instead of being given their diplomas out of a misguided sense of compassion on behalf of educators during a chaotic time. (Toledo Blade, 4/26/20)
    
3. As we have noted here, true online education does not seem to be within the wheelhouse of many schools and districts across Ohio. Certainly the speed of the required transition has something to do with it, but I personally think that many districts didn’t really embrace data technology and internet-delivered content all that much to start with. Have you seen your resident district’s website recently? You get a glimpse of what I’m suggesting in this piece, which lauds a Dayton tech firm for helping lots of schools “transition” to online education. But their definition of “education” seems to hew mostly to document compliance. Which sounds about right. (Dayton Daily News, 4/25/20) The digital divide is also a legitimate source of difficulty in schools transitioning to true online learning. The number of students without high speed Wi-Fi and without the needed devices at home is not only well known, it’s also very old news. Research has pointed out this divide across the country since at least the time when the Blue Man Group was flogging Intel Pentium 3 processing chips on TV. Despite years of this foreknowledge; despite two months of rapid, practical on-the-ground efforts; and despite the hundreds of thousands of tax dollars and charitable donations thrown at the obvious-as-the-nose-on-your-face gaps; the Ohio Education Association says it still ain’t enough. “We’ll need time to assess the needs of all students…” including those lacking technology among a litany of other stuff “…and work together to support them in the best way possible.” (Columbus Dispatch, 4/25/20) This piece from the Dayton Daily News asks two questions in its headline. The second one is “What will school look like in August?”. We’ll get to that in a second. But the lead question is more germane for this clip: “Are kids learning right now?” The short answer is no, for all of the reasons enumerated in the foregoing discussion – both said by the spokespeople out loud and via my own interpretation thereof. But the main reason for me to clip this is to ask—and answer—a rhetorical question of my own: Why didn’t anyone ask—or care—about that question back in January when the answer was also a resounding “no”? Also of interest in this piece: The similarities between Dayton and Oakwood City Schools in the way they would “typically” get their not-on-track-to-graduate seniors across the line. Hint: it involves the same for-profit company which, surprise surprise, provides home Wi-Fi, a computer, and a coach to each student. Almost like they knew what to do long before now. (Dayton Daily News, 4/26/20)
    
4. Before we get to discussion of next school year, let’s look at what remains of this one. There are numerous outlets reporting on the Ohio Department of Education’s guidance to districts to hold virtual graduations as close as possible to the originally planned date, rather than postponing dates into July in hopes of holding a live in-person event. Something about having to keep shifting dates or something. Only this coverage, from tiny Galion, Ohio, includes the phrase “the sooner the better” in relation to those ceremonies. Odd (Galion Inquirer, 4/27/20) Why is that odd? Because ODE has also issued what is termed “strongly worded guidance” that stops Yellow Springs City Schools and others from shortening their school year, in opposition to YS’s stated plan from last week to lop two weeks off. Guess ODE really wants schools to stick to their regular schedule. “I assumed that parents and families by mid-May might have reached capacity for remote learning,” said the YS supe (perhaps a little mopily, do I detect?) in a letter reversing the plan. (Yellow Springs News, 4/25/20)
    
5. So, about next school year in Ohio. The superintendent in Gallipolis City Schools, whose district was said by a (non-teacher) parent to have been unprepared for distance learning, was spitballing about next year and he posited the idea that the kids who most needed in-person teaching (students on IEPs and students without internet or proper devices) would be the only ones actually in classes come August due to the need for continued social distancing. (ABC6, Columbus, 4/25/20) The folks who run tiny Wellington Exempted Village Schools envision “a mix” of online and in-class learning, but the only kids who are singled out as really needing in-class learning are those studying specific areas at the local vocational school. (Elyria Chronicle, 4/24/20) Finally, the superintendent of Olmstead Falls City Schools isn’t making predictions so much as he is predicting that there will still be a lot of moving parts to consider well into next school year. But it does seem like this year’s work—and grading—will be continuing into next school year. At least, I think that’s what he’s saying here: “You’ll have kids with really high grades, but won’t have an understanding as far as how they’ve achieved. So we’re going to have data as students go into next school year based on their completion. That will be the grade.” (Cleveland.com, 4/27/20)

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Over the last several weeks, educators accomplished the mammoth task of setting up remote learning for the remainder of the COVID-19 pandemic. As time passes, school on Zoom will become the new normal. It is important in this in-between moment to bring our attention to something we probably have not thought enough about lately. We are rightly concerned now with viral contagion, but we should also be concerned about how contagious, as teachers, our unhealthy habits of self-care can be for our students.

Mission-driven educators do not tend to prioritize physical or social-emotional health. We choose this work because we see an emergency—structural inequality, the opportunity gap, insufficient schools for all children—and we sign up expecting to make significant personal sacrifices. For many of us, this sacrifice is a badge of honor, and taking time for self-care seems selfish. Some of us are so stuck in the hamster wheel of the work that we can’t figure out how to prioritize our needs.

We ignore self-care at our students’, and our own, expense when times are normal. We absolutely cannot afford to do that in the current moment. What we need to understand is that deprioritizing self-care is contagious. This is because emotions are contagious. We have what scientists call mirror neurons that react to the emotions of those around us. These neurons make us feel and even behave in parallel with others in our space. And the emotions of the person with the most power in the room are significantly more contagious than those of others.

These findings show what most of us already know: that schools create chain reactions of emotions, from leaders to teachers to students. Leaders create an emotional space that impacts teachers, who then create similar spaces for their students. So if adults experiencing chronic stress, then so will their students. If a teacher does not prioritize effective self-care to manage their stress, then their students will be less likely to do so. This phenomenon is just as true in virtual classrooms as it is in person. Consider the impact of our stress and how we cope on our student’s ability to make it through the pandemic, financial crisis, and social isolation.

We must conclude that we need to interrupt our unhealthy patterns and model effective self-care if we’re going to serve our students well—especially right now. If we do not, our stress will magnify their stress and our disregard for self-care will impact their ability to care for themselves.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) theory provides a road map for how we can shift mindsets and behaviors about self-care. Here are four steps to build new awareness and strategies for yourself and your students.

1. Access your power source. As an educator, you have likely lost touch with some values, habits, people, and hobbies that recharge your batteries. Take some time to remember what these energy sources are and commit to bringing the most important ones back into your life. You have a unique opportunity, with the interruption of our old structures and habits of work, to experiment. And you will need them more in this unprecedented moment of challenge. Do some reflection and makes some commitments.


2. Identify how you hold yourself back from practicing self-care and determine how you will manage your internal obstacles. Our own emotions (guilt, fear, self-judgement) and self-limiting stories (about selfishness, what other people are doing, what will happen if we don’t respond to email) hold us back. We cannot control our emotions, but we can manage our internal narratives and our behaviors in response to them. Identify the pattern of emotions, internal narratives and resulting behaviors that keep you from investing in your self-care. Once you have built new awareness, come up with some internal strategies to help you choose new stories and behaviors. This essay should give you a mantra to start with: My commitment to or disregard for self-care will infect my students!


3. Consider where your students are and where you want them to be. You cannot make good decisions about social-emotional support unless you can answer these questions. Find out where your student are emotionally and what they need from you by creating space during your time with them to ask how they are doing. Listen at an emotional level to what they are experiencing that makes them happy and feel grounded and connected, and what they are experiencing that makes them sad, afraid, angry, bored, and lonely.


4. Engage emotionally. What would it look like for you to connect with your students at a human, emotional level to model self-care and help them build new strategies? Get creative! Keep in mind that your greatest teaching tool is you. Make your productive emotional contagion explicit by sharing your own challenges and self-care strategies with students. Create space for students to share challenges and self-care strategies with each other. Build structures for these strategies to live in your Zoom calls and at home for your students. Model setting and following through with self-care goals and support students to do the same.

Our students will inevitably miss out on important academic growth during this time of remote learning, and we need to do what we can to minimize that. But this academic challenge pales in comparison to the emotional hardship many of our students will experience in the months to come. If we don’t effectively model self-care, we will not meet our students’ most urgent needs through this crisis. If we intentionally practice the self-care we need, we will be much more likely to support our students with theirs. Whatever we do, it will be contagious.

In the last few weeks, schools have rightfully been focused on student nutrition, health, and the transition to distance learning. But flying under the radar—and of increasing importance to schools’ ability to serve students well—are teacher policy issues. How has the pandemic affected current and aspiring teachers, and what are states and local districts doing to respond?

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has been collecting, analyzing, and comparing teacher policies since 2007, so it should come as no surprise that they’ve been gathering data on how COVID-19 closures are impacting educators. In two recent blog posts, Nicole Gerber and Patricia Saenz-Armstrong share information on teacher work policies, student teaching, and initial licensure in the age of coronavirus. Their findings are summarized here.

First up, teacher contracts. Gerber and NCTQ staff analyzed existing agreements on teacher work expectations, pay, and leave in forty-one large districts across the nation to determine if and how they addressed these issues in the event of emergency school closures. Only six had policies that addressed work expectations for teachers, such as not requiring them to report during emergencies or requesting that they volunteer for additional duties. Eight had policies which affirmed that teachers would continue to be paid, and only one district—Anchorage—had a policy that allowed teachers to work remotely. Only two districts, Broward County (FL) and Wichita, had policies in place to grant additional leave to teachers during local, state, or national emergencies.

The majority of teacher work policies are determined through collective bargaining. Thirty-three districts from the sample collectively bargain, but Orange County (FL) is the only district with a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that requires the district and union to establish new policies in the wake of an emergency closure. Another four districts have CBAs that require districts to consult or negotiate with unions prior to making emergency-related school calendar changes. As of NCTQ’s publication date, seven districts had entered into formal agreements with their teachers’ unions, two were in the process of bargaining, and another five were informally cooperating with their unions to address work policies during the pandemic.

To determine how districts are addressing the day-to-day work of teachers, NCTQ reviewed memorandums of understanding, online communication to teachers, and distance learning transition plans. Thirty-six districts have officially stated that their teachers will be paid during the emergency closures. The vast majority of districts in the sample have set clear work expectations, such as requiring educators to plan lessons and communicate regularly with students. Determining how to grade student work during distance learning appears to be one of the most controversial decisions. As of NCTQ’s publication date, sixteen districts announced that teachers in some grades would still evaluate student work. The exact details of grading policies vary. Minneapolis and Newark, for example, have said that teachers should maintain regular expectations. But Los Angeles, San Diego, and the District of Columbia have opted to implement “no penalty” grading, which means completed work during the shutdown can only be used to increase a student’s grade.

Current teachers aren’t the only ones affected by COVID-19 school closures. Prospective teachers, many of whom were in the process of completing student teaching and earning their initial licensure when schools suddenly closed, are also struggling to adjust. Unlike teacher work policies, which are mostly determined at the district level, licensure decisions are made at the state level.

Saenz-Armstrong identified two broad approaches that states are taking in response to student teaching. The first is to make student teaching experiences more flexible and accept non-traditional instruction, such as distance learning, as clinical experience. This approach is being used in California, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York. The second is to waive length requirements. States like Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and Vermont are asking student teaching supervisors to assess teacher candidates based on information they already have. Other states, such as Virginia and Ohio, have adopted a modified version of the second approach and are allowing teacher preparation programs to apply for discretion in waiving certain student teaching requirements.

As for the certification exams and performance-based assessments needed to obtain initial licensure, some testing vendors are working on making it possible for candidates to take their exams at home. States, meanwhile, are taking two approaches to licensing. The first is to waive exam requirements and allow candidates to apply for licenses at the discretion of their preparation programs. Mississippi, for example, has suspended licensing criteria for a year and a half and is permitting teacher candidates who have not passed certification exams to apply for a five-year standard license. The second approach is to allow candidates who have completed most of their licensure requirements to obtain a one-year emergency license. This approach is being used in Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, and Washington.

In the coming weeks, districts and states will continue to adopt and implement policies regarding teacher work expectations, pay, and licensure. Interested parties would be wise to keep an eye on NCTQ’s blog for more analysis.

Sources: Nicole Gerber, “How are school districts adapting teacher work policies for emergency closures?” NCTQ (April 2020); and Patricia Saenz-Armstrong, “Student teaching and initial licensure in the times of coronavirus,” NCTQ (April 2020).

New reports

The National Charter School Resource Center recently published two reports from the pre-pandemic world. The first is an emerging trends report on charter school facilities across the country. The second is a case study on the replication of an independent, “mom and pop” charter, looking at the New York City Charter High School for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Industries as it prepared to open a second site in 2019-2020.

Also from the pre-pandemic world

U.S. News and World Report released its annual list of best high schools in the country and once again a number of charter schools are flying high. Check out this rendering of the list, which ranks only charters. You can see four schools in the top twenty overall, including schools in Arizona, Arkansas, and Indiana. Huge kudos to all.

Helping to ease the current emergency

With distance learning the order of the day across Ohio and the country, students without electronic device are at a distinct disadvantage. A generous donation from two individuals provided vitally-need tablet computers for students attending Heir Force Community School in Lima.

We're not crying, you’re crying

One of the more prevalent stories of the pandemic is the loss of the end of the school year for graduating seniors. Sports, concerts, the prom, and especially graduation ceremonies themselves. Districts and charter schools across the state are working to honor their graduates as much as possible with pandemic protocols in place. The leader of Dohn Community School in Cincinnati began this week hand-delivering diplomas house-to-house in mask and gloves. Graduating seniors at Toledo School for the Arts were surprised with brightly-colored yard signs this week, provided by the school and planted by the principal. At KIPP Columbus, the Class of 2020 is the very first to graduate from the school and teachers decorated their cars and paraded through their seniors’ neighborhoods to celebrate their accomplishments.

Looking toward the post-pandemic world

At its recent Zoom-based board meeting, Columbus City Schools approved the sale of two shuttered buildings to charter operators—one each to United Schools Network and ACCEL Schools. Congratulations!

DON’T FORGET: NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS WEEK IS COMING UP MAY 10-16!

1. We get a two-fer out of Columbus City Schools’ most recent Zoom-based board meeting. In a nod to the post-pandemic world, we learn that the district has agreed to sell two of its many shuttered buildings to charter school operators – namely, United Schools Network and ACCEL Schools. Nice! But, still mired in the current emergency, the board took most of its time to discuss—and then vote to adopt—a pass/incomplete system for the fourth quarter grading period. It is interesting to note that kids are still working to improve their third quarter grades, the last ten days of which fell at the start of the building closure order, although time is running out for that. It is not clear whether that work also follows the pass/incomplete framework. It is also interesting to note that students will have a full six months (until September 15, well into the following school year) to complete fourth quarter work. Crazy times. (Columbus Dispatch, 4/22/20) A two-fer in Dayton also. This week’s Zoom-based board meeting included details on demolition of two closed buildings and the sale of another. No charter schools were involved in either of those decisions. The second big item is put forward as a contract cancellation, but it’s more than that…as you will see in Item 5, below. (Dayton Daily News, 4/22/20)
   
   

2. But we’ll stick with pandemic-related news for a moment. With the hope for a return to in-class instruction this year now dashed, Yellow Springs Exempted Village Schools will be calling it a year two weeks earlier than previously scheduled…just as soon as they hit the state mandated hours of instruction. (Yellow Springs News, 4/22/20) Not to be outdone, Revere Local Schools will be lopping off three weeks from their previously-calendared year. (Akron Beacon Journal, 4/23/20)
    
3. Perhaps those schools should not be blamed for trying to get out of the distance learning game as soon as possible. I gather that it’s not for everyone. This mom from Gallipolis (who is not, by the way, a teacher) says her district was not ready for the online learning pivot. (ABC6, Columbus, 4/22/20) Speaking of parents, editors at the Dispatch seem to want to place most of the onus for success or failure of this “unpredictable” school year squarely at their feet. (Columbus Dispatch, 4/23/20)
    
4. Meanwhile, a 16-year-old sophomore at Lorain High School has hacked the code on the state’s ‘rona website and tweaked it to make it more user friendly for folks who can only access it via mobile devices. (You know who he means.) It’s either the coolest thing I’ve heard this week or the mildest episode of Mr. Robot ever. (Elyria Chronicle, 4/23/20)
    
5. Now let’s zip back to Dayton and a story that has nothing to do with any pandemic. Well, not with a virus-related pandemic anyway. The board voted 5-0 (with two abstentions) to eliminate the Males of Color program, aimed at supporting African American boys in the district, to dismiss all its staff, and to reject the remainder of the grant funding they were awarded to fund it. The explanation for the move is a bit muddy, as is the promised replacement effort. (Dayton Daily News, 4/22/20)
    
6. Here’s a great story of a charter school helping to honor its graduates. The principal of Toledo School for the Arts surprised the Class of 2020 with colorful yard signs paid for by the school and planted by the principal in each of their yards. (Toledo Blade, 4/22/20) Meanwhile, one of the last remaining drive-in movie theaters in the state has offered to host drive-in graduations for any school looking to hold a ceremony with pandemic protocols in place. And popcorn delivered to your car! (ABC News 4, Cincinnati, 4/23/20)
    
7. We began today with a nod to the post-pandemic education landscape and we will end with another one. And this one likely has some larger resonances for that world. Struthers City Schools in Mahoning County is extending its deadline for open enrollment for next school year. That’s right, anyone who would rather send their child to Struthers schools instead of, say, Youngstown, Canfield, Poland, Lowellville, Youngstown, or other nearby districts can do so well into August. Seems like a big deal to me. (WKBN-TV, Youngstown, 4/24/20)

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COVID-19 has delivered countless challenges for essential workers, from nurses and doctors risking their lives due to shortages of PPE to grocery clerks maintaining calm amid hordes of panicked shoppers.

For educators, running a newly virtual classroom when students and staff are experiencing unspeakable loss and illness among their family and loved ones is impossibly difficult. It is particularly challenging to meet the needs of students with disabilities, given the absence of familiar routine. Yet in these challenging times, it’s critical that we pay heightened attention to serving the most vulnerable among us.

As founding members of the Educating All Learners Alliance, we have seen firsthand how schools across the country are identifying (and inventing) practical ways to educate students with disabilities and ensure that their civil rights are upheld. This alliance of national organizations has joined together to spotlight the ingenuity of educators and curate tools, case studies, and best practices for serving students with disabilities online.

Here are some of the stories that have inspired us.

At Paramount Schools of Excellence in Indianapolis, teachers immediately reached out to each student’s family to understand if they had tech resources and if an adult was available to help the students learn during the day. Educators used this information to tailor their plans to meet individual needs. CEO Tommy Riddick said the school is planning for the long term. “We are acting as if this isn’t going to go away, so we keep our head in the game to make sure we are setting up for long-term success,” he said.

Every day, Paramount’s special education team checks in with each student with disabilities to ensure they have the tools and support they need and that their student plan is fulfilled. Since parents are also taking a more active role in their children’s education, the school is working to provide specific support to them.

Kingsman Academy Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., is in touch with all families and students every day. The school, which serves students at high risk of dropping out, plays a broad role in not only educating students but also supporting their families’ basic needs. As the financial impacts of the pandemic have grown, the school has begun providing food, technological resources, and other essentials to families—even making personal deliveries via Uber. “When you think of Maslow and basic needs, the internet isn’t on there,” said Executive Director Shannon Hodge. “But in this day and age, it actually is. While resources exist out there, we didn’t want our families to have to jump through hoops.”

Within days of the lockdown, the school bought Chromebooks and wireless hotspot devices and prepared backpacks of supplies to ensure every student could access the learning environment. Thanks to this investment of time and funding, Kingsman teachers have been able to achieve quality communications that they initially feared would be lost when the school closed its doors.

Teachers know school closures are particularly hard on students’ social-emotional learning—and that they must work with parents to provide additional support. At Crestwood Elementary in downtown Las Vegas, Juliana Urtubey co-teaches an inclusive class that includes instruction on mindfulness and how to cultivate a growth mindset. In the past, the school taught those skills through a series of lessons at the start of the year, as well as via ongoing one-on-one coaching to help students process emotions. Students were encouraged to visit a designated “calming corner” to use techniques like deep breathing and recharging.

Under COVID-19, these skills are more relevant than ever, so Urtubey brought these lessons back to the center, reserving twenty minutes each day for breathing exercises, reteaching lessons, group discussions, and individual journaling. “Growth mindset supports students to be mindful of how they are feeling and how others may be feeling,” Urtubey explained. “This is critical in building global responsibility. I want to build a bridge for this by discussing small ways we can all lend a hand during this crisis.”

Service providers have also pivoted quickly to continue their students’ education in a virtual environment. In Massachusetts, speech-language pathology master’s student Nicole Amato and professor Alyssa Boucher shared how they transitioned a one-on-one lesson for a kindergartener with autism and language challenges to a Zoom setting. Using online tools and digital imagery instead of the props she used in the clinic, Amato found that the new teletherapy plan supported her student’s progress almost as well as the lessons she provided in the clinic.

All teachers and parents can heed the advice of those who work with diverse learners. Megan Gross, a long-time special education teacher and inclusion specialist at Del Norte High School in San Diego who works with EALA partner Teacher2Teacher, reminds us that we are all “getting inundated with information right now” and that it’s important to streamline information and let families know what to expect. Kristin Wright, the Director of the Special Education Division at the California Department of Education, reminds us, “during closure, teachers are balancing new challenges and are looking for vetted, practical solutions that make a difference for their students.”

It’s too soon to make proclamations of success, but it’s clear that educators and practitioners are identifying creative ways to keep students with disabilities engaged and learning. There’s nothing easy about a pandemic, but we cannot use this crisis as an excuse to abandon our most complex learners. The effects of COVID-19 are unlikely to end anytime soon, and these creative solutions to distance education for complex learners prove there is no need to ration lifeboats. Educators and parents—alongside efforts list EALA---can rise to this challenge and continue to educate all learners.

I used to leave my phone at the front of the classroom in case of emergencies at home. Of course, I didn’t advertise its place there, but also of course, the students found it and would snag it during community time. They couldn’t access the contents—a teacher knows to keep everything locked down—but they could access the camera, and they would snap whole reels of pictures. At first I stopped them, but as the year went on, our relationships deepened, and I stopped resisting.

Why? Well, one night, my kindergartner son opened my phone and scrolled through, and he found all those pictures. “Who’s this?” he asked. “That’s Lariah,” I said. “Brandon. Dylan. Sofia. Comfort.” And so on. He wanted to know all about them, and so I told him how goofy and smart and kind they are, and we talked about my classroom and my life as a teacher, about middle school and growing up. So the pictures became a bridge to join the twin joys of my classroom and my home. They allowed my son a glimpse of the life of a “grown up” student and made real for him the far-future prospect of teenagerdom. His murky sense of his father’s day clarified, and so it clarified for me, too, my relationship with these students, my identity as a teacher.

In a quiet moment of these distance learning days, I scrolled through the pictures, overcome with new gratitude for their existence, gilded though they are in a peculiar aura now. We’ve been out of the classroom for a month—only a month—and the pictures already seem a transmission from a distant era, a past that won’t be recovered. The ache of having been ripped from a space that I had grown to love pulsed with each pictured flicked past, each captured moment impossibly gone; and yet, paradoxically, they drew me in closer than ever before. The simple humanity of my job rushed back in.

These moments of humanization amidst the turmoil of our current moment can’t be overstated. To be sure, I have much to celebrate as a teacher at Blackstone Valley Prep (BVP). Over this month, I have felt intense pride at my school’s approach to the challenges of distance learning, one shot through with consistent love and meticulous rationality. During a professional development session only days before Rhode Island transitioned from traditional schooling, our CEO outlined plans for that eventuality, and while the planning seemed thoughtful and cohesive, I’m sure I was not the only one with doubts about a meaningful experience for our students.

Such doubts were unfounded. From the top down, BVP’s commitment has been awe-inspiring. We enjoy a bevy of resources, virtual and real. We’ve provided books and technology to those in need. We rolled out a comprehensive digital curriculum with no gap, and we’ve been given the means to supplement core lessons with myriad programs. We’ve received training and support. Due to this scaffolding, we boast incredible engagement from our students, no small feat right now, but that scaffolding speaks half the story.

During a recent Zoom staff meeting, teachers chimed in with their success so far in distance learning. I considered all of the work done by colleagues, by the students, by our families, and I could have mentioned any of it, but a greater truth towered over all of that. I thought of those pictures again. Dylan and Brandon, arms slung over each other’s shoulders. Sofia wagging her finger at me, my eyebrows raised, a slight smile. Marcus, Daniel, and Nataly tossing a ball, chatting, and laughing. I thought of the many ways we had all become human to each other in the few short months we spent together, how simple it was to capture the ease with which we bonded and grew together. I thought at last about my son, about the morning he stumbled into frame during my Zoom office hours and offered a shy hello to faces he’d only seen before in still, and the chorus of hellos he received in return. And so I thought of the surprising vibrancy of my distance learning experience, and I know my experience is one among many similar at our school.

Distance learning requires us to be humans in an inhuman situation. We can’t simply provide lessons and assessments; we have to bridge this digital gap and carry some sense of humor and goodwill and community through the cold wiring. If we’ve succeeded in even a modicum of that task, we owe that to the success in the months prior when we created something special. A school family. A community that could rely on itself, that could flourish even in isolation.

Every day, I receive work from students who manage to learn in the midst of trying environments. Students who don’t have their own room, their own computer, students anxious for themselves and their families. And it’s good, thoughtful work, but it wouldn’t be possible without the other stuff I receive. The phone calls from students who just want to connect. The TikTok videos poking gentle fun at ELA teachers. Groups texts where my students and I hash out which dress a student should buy. That’s the human stuff. That’s stuff education is meant to nurture, and it’s here in full bloom.

We’ll remember these days in coming years, the isolation, the struggle for a new normal. In many ways, of course, these memories will be traumatic. But I think our school has done something special for our community, the foundation for which was laid way back in August when we prepared for all this, unaware we were doing so. We made each other human to each other. We found reasons to laugh and share and love. And as the world fights to balance itself, the most crucial gift of the BVP family is that we, in so many ways, are still as right as we ever were.

Editor’s note: This essay was first published by Project Forever Free.

The world has changed. Our understanding of what matters most is evolving to meet new realities. This is as true in education as anywhere.

Since “school as usual” isn’t an option, how can we chart a course forward, particularly for our youngest learners in kindergarten and first and second grades? How can we continue to cultivate the critical foundation for a lifetime of learning?

We are both former elementary teachers, and it’s clear that what we would do in our physical classrooms (with access to books, instructional materials...and students!) isn’t realistic right now. We are watching and listening to the teachers and students we know—including our own young children and those of friends and colleagues. No one’s experience is the same, and it’s become evident that some sense of clear priorities would be helpful. We believe these priorities must stay grounded in the high academic expectations we hold for all students and acknowledge that learning is happening very differently for each student.

Prioritize essentials for early learners

In the past few weeks, we’ve been approached by fellow parents and colleagues asking us what we think K–2 learning should look like right now. There isn’t a “right” answer, but below we offer our best advice of where learning time and attention should be focused in early grades—in whatever mode of instruction is possible.

In Mathematics:

• Focus on the most essential mathematical ideas for each grade. For young learners, create opportunities to strengthen their concepts and skills in addition and subtraction and their understanding of the place value system.
  • Kindergartners can use toys, cereal, or pieces of mail to count up to 20, solve addition and subtraction word problems within 10, and investigate the numbers 11–19, seeing them as 10 1’s and additional 1’s.
  • First graders can use household objects and drawings to add within 100, solve addition and subtraction word problems within 20, and extend their counting up to 120 starting from any number.
  • Second graders can spend time investigating the place value of numbers within 1,000, read and write numbers, name the number of 1’s, 10’s, and 100’s in each, and compare them using place value understanding. They can also solve addition and subtraction word problems within 100 and measure items around the house.
  • Early learners can also focus on practicing their addition and subtraction facts. In kindergarten, they can add and subtract within 5. In grade one, they can add and subtract within 10. And in grade two, they can add and subtract within 100 and knowing single digit sums from memory.
  • Strengthening fluencies can be done with games, fluency routines, flashcards, and a slew of online activities, such as those found on Zearn or Khan Academy. Whether students are practicing their facts, playing games with family, or working on math facts will pay off when they return to the classroom.
• Prioritize quality over quantity. Within the topics that matter most, students can investigate just a few, rich math problems to work on each day. Check out Illustrative Mathematics for free, high-quality problems for K–2 students. Encourage students to capture their thinking on each problem. They may display it in words or pictures, discuss it with someone in their home, or record themselves using different platforms.


• Talk about math. Pose math problems that encourage students to share their mathematical thinking and that engage them in conversation around questions like: How else might you show that? What are you noticing? What do those numbers represent? What are some other strategies you might try? (For more ideas, see this post on “Putting Math Ideas Into Practice.”)


• Excite students about the math all around them. Whether students are playing games, building blocks, writing with chalk, or helping in the kitchen, there are times throughout the day young learners can experience mathematics as a way to make sense of the world and practice their skills. For example, students can compare the number of windows in their home or building to the number of doors and tell which is larger or count the number of shoelace holes in their sneakers. A younger student can use subtraction to determine how many toys they have if they give a certain number to a sibling or to count the remaining minutes they have for screen time. These are ways to continue to nurture, encourage, and elevate young learners’ sense of themselves as mathematical thinkers.

In English language arts and literacy:

• Reinforce foundational reading skills as you are able. Teaching students the foundations of reading is technical stuff. It is not realistic for most parents and other caregivers to have that specialized skillset, nor is it possible for our earliest learners to teach themselves through independent work. So what can happen? Now is the time to reinforce what students have learned about sounds, letters, and words.
  • Try some games and activities from this list of free practice resources (sorted into those that need teacher/adult support and those that can be done independently by students) that can help ensure our youngest students continue to build upon the foundation they’ve started. For example, talk like a robot by breaking words into syllables, play rhyming games like I Spy (“I spy something that rhymes with hair!”), or practice writing words containing the patterns students have learned.
  • Read and reread texts to build confidence and fluency. Consider choosing one text to practice over the week, culminating in a performance for the family.
  • Another easy, research-based way to promote children’s reading prowess: Turn on the closed captions on TV shows and videos. Students listening to the words and seeing them flashed up on the screen is a way to model fluent reading and connect spoken language to print.
• Read aloud twenty minutes a day. Public and school libraries are closed, so getting your hands on new books to read aloud to kids may be a challenge. But we can think creatively about how to still provide students with opportunities to expand their vocabulary and knowledge through exposure to texts they can’t yet read themselves. Don’t feel limited to traditional children’s picture books. Try reading aloud older siblings’ books, a newspaper, or a magazine. If digital devices are available, there are lots of opportunities to access recorded read-alouds (made available so that students can watch them on a schedule that works for their families) or texts online that can be read to younger students by parents or other caregivers. Sources of free texts include CommonLit and Newsela, or for stories read aloud, try Storyline Online and finding books that interest your students on YouTube.


• Learn a lot, about a lot…and write about it, too! The more we know, the better readers we become. And sources of knowledge are everywhere! Storytelling, reading aloud, sharing experiences, dramatic play, cooking, making music, observing in the neighborhood, and exploring history and science websites and videos built for kids are just a few of the ways to learn about the world and each other. What interests your kids or students? What do they want to know more about? The things that top our children’s lists: the history of Legos, Megan Rapinoe, macaroni penguins, and smokejumpers. Whatever your topic selection, research tells us an effective approach to building knowledge and vocabulary is to engage with several texts and media resources (e.g., photographs, charts, and videos) on a single topic. This approach immerses all learners in a volume of reading about science, social studies, and other high-interest topics. Students can write and draw (or dictate their ideas so a caregiver can support with writing) about what they know and what they’ve learned. Showcasing this knowledge can take any form: illustrations, letters, journals, stories, posters, or simply sentences on the page. Knowledge building that takes place through any medium—reading, writing, viewing, talking, doing—will help students when they return to school.

Listen to students and families, and adapt

To prioritize this essential learning and meet the varying needs of students and their families, we first need to understand who we’re serving. This has always been true, but now more than ever if we are to make instructional decisions equitably. The stories we’re hearing offer important windows and information to make decisions. A kindergarten teacher from Baltimore calls students’ homes once a week to check in. She learned that one parent now works a night shift, so she and her children sleep during “school hours.” A parent from New York is an essential employee and works 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., taking the only mobile device with internet access with her to work. In a rural district in North Carolina, teachers learned that tablets won’t function in remote mountainous areas because it is impossible for some communities to get a signal. A first grade teacher in California is learning a new translation service to keep ongoing communication with families, as most of them speak Spanish and she is monolingual. And the stories continue.

The instructional resources, digital platforms, and even the times that students learn vary dramatically, not only from district to district or school to school, but within one teacher’s class. Conditions continue to change. But we do know that flexibility, creativity, and empathy—and above all else, knowing what our students and their families are facing—are key to meeting varied and evolving instructional needs equitably.

While some schools and districts may be able to continue student learning with their existing curricula and even engage in synchronous learning time with teachers, others have not yet begun, and may never. Even when technology or connectivity is not an issue, school days do not directly convert to an online environment—particularly for younger learners—and priorities have to be set.

These are challenging times that call for flexibility and communication beyond anything else. The more we’ve listened, the more we’ve heard the variety of circumstances that exist from home to home, from students, parents, and educators themselves. The current situation shines a spotlight on this need in new ways. Despite the challenges, we have a significant opportunity as we continue to make decisions and recommendations about what school looks like. We—as educators, policymakers, and parents—can listen to families and students, recognize the assets they bring and the specific needs they may have, and adjust accordingly and frequently. We can simplify, eliminating as much clutter as possible. And we can radically prioritize the content that matters most, ensuring that our efforts have the greatest impact possible for the youngest students we serve.

In the face of a public health crisis, Ohioans have risen to the occasion. While images of heroic deeds by health care workers and grocery store employees come immediately to mind, there’s no shortage of positive stories from the education community as well. Many are the heart-warming tales of creative efforts to provide meals to students who might otherwise go hungry, complicated logistical plans to distribute computers and learning materials, and public and private action to increase high-speed internet access. Truly, there is much to be proud of.

Yet, if we look closely, there are also worrying signs.

All around the state, high-poverty schools have faced a daunting challenge trying to get both digital devices and internet access into students’ homes. In a story on Cleveland.com, district CEO Eric Gordon estimated that 25,000 of Cleveland’s 38,000 students lack devices. The situation is similar in Toledo and Columbus, where thousands of students lack internet access. Districts were forced to dip into their own coffers to buy internet hot spots, boost their schools’ Wi-Fi signals, and send Wi-Fi-equipped buses into neighborhoods. Despite these stopgap efforts, a stark digital divide remains.

Whether students are connected electronically or not, engagement is a critical component of effective education. In Cincinnati, after a few weeks of distance learning, the district still hasn’t connected at all with 5,000 of its 36,000 students. Nearby, Mt. Healthy faced similar challenges, with one elementary school reporting that only 25 percent of students had completed any work, while another of its schools reported a better but still troubling 45 percent.

Even where students have internet access and are signing in regularly, significant changes in district policies are likely having an impact on student learning. Examples include districts declaring that remote learning can help your grade but not hurt it, moving to a pass/fail grading framework for the fourth quarter, and making official that students aren’t expected to “complete all of the curriculum.” These efforts seem to be affecting some students’ motivation. As one junior at Walnut Hills High School put it, “I think a lot of people quit school, basically.” She indicated that at least some of her peers have lost the motivation to complete assignments because they aren’t being graded.

These anecdotes paint a worrisome picture of learning during the pandemic. But unfortunately, little data exist about what is and isn’t happening in Ohio schools. State policymakers could change that by requiring districts and charter schools to provide more information to the public about their efforts and how they are going. Reporting information on remote learning will help us move beyond anecdotes, identify education gaps, improve equity, provide an incentive for schools and districts to continue to improve services, and give everyone an opportunity to learn from the experiences of others.

A good place to start might be to borrow from Delaware. It’s requiring each district to submit a simple remote learning plan to its department of education—so simple that most components can be answered via yes-or-no questions. The plans are public, and DelawareCAN has compiled them for easy review and comparison. This is something Ohio can and should do immediately.

Remote learning plans are a good start, but they only reflect what schools intend to do. Ohio should also ask for information about how things are actually going. Here are some examples—a few borrowed from my colleague Checker Finn—of questions that the state should consider asking of districts and charter schools to help gain a better understanding as to how distance learning is working.

Let’s start with the key information that must be gathered to understand what’s actually happening in this time of remote learning. What percentage of students have been in contact with teachers? What percentage of students have direct communication with teachers at least weekly? What percentage of students have devices with internet access? These are core questions as we figure out the impact that distance learning is having on student achievement. The access question is especially important as policymakers discuss future priorities around the technology needs of K–12 schools and statewide broadband availability.

Given that the state could be forced to offer remote learning opportunities again this fall, there are additional questions, a little harder to answer, worth considering. What percentage of students are engaging in class work on a daily basis? What percentage of classes are being taught in real time? For classes that aren’t taught live, what percentage of classes have recorded lessons available? Being able to identify the districts that have successfully been able to adopt these types of distance-learning strategies creates learning opportunities for other districts.

Finally, if we really want to benefit from our forced statewide distance learning experiment, we’d be smart to survey parents and teachers. Miamisburg has already done something similar, partnering with Panorama Education to administer a community survey. This might be the hardest data to gather (especially parent responses), but if we don’t listen to this epidemic’s front-line educators (parents and teachers) on what worked and what didn’t, then we’ll have missed a tremendous opportunity. Their feedback can give us important information if we’re thrown into distance learning again and give us ideas on how to improve education generally.

One thing we do know right now: 2019–20 is not a normal school year. As such, Ohio has smartly paused traditional accountability via state assessments and report cards this year. But as Brian Gill, senior fellow at Mathematica and director of REL Mid-Atlantic, wrote in Education Next, “High-stakes testing is not the only tool in the accountability toolbox.” He argues compellingly that transparency “even without consequences” can play an important role in improving teaching and learning.

We’re all hopeful that, as our state gradually reopens for business and returns to some semblance of normalcy, we don’t encounter any setbacks. But we know it’s a possibility. If we fail as a state to get a handle on what distance learning has meant for our students, then we’ll have truly failed to learn our lessons. And it’s our students who will bear that cost.

Teachers, parents, and students might be interested in a free educational resource related to the hit Broadway musical "Hamilton." As the website explains:

EduHam at Home was created in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak that forced school closures throughout the country. It is an extension of the Hamilton Education Program (EduHam), which has served more than 200,000 students across the country since 2016. Through EduHam, students study primary source documents from the Founding Era, learn how Lin-Manuel Miranda used such documents to create the musical Hamilton, and finally create their own original performance pieces based on the same material.

EduHam at Home provides a family version of EduHam that can be accomplished outside of a school setting. It will continue to be available through August 2020.

Read more about it here.