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Learning In The Time Of COVID-19

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Some useful resources to support learning in the time of COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, public health officials increasingly agree that “flattening the curve” of infection and illness will likely require months, rather than weeks, of social isolation. Already, 44 million of the nation’s 57 million K-12 students have been affected by school closures, and parents and educators are scrambling to ensure the essential services that schools provide—rich educational experiences, child care, and the meals, medical, and social services that many families rely on. As more and more schools close, it is essential to find ways to continue to provide learning opportunities and critical services to our students —especially those who will be hit hardest by the economic downturn that is also occurring.

This is a moment that exposes the many inequities in our society — from the broadband and computers needed for distance education to the supportive environments needed to focus on learning. For the millions of children who are homeless, food insecure, without health care, school is often the one place where they feel safe and where they are taken care of.

As these inequities are more sharply exposed in this time of crisis, this moment also holds the possibility that with purposeful action, these needs can be more fully addressed and when we return to “normal,” we will not also return to the inequitable status quo. In addition to the mobilization of federal and state government supports, a wide range of contributors are stepping forward to provide everything from free wi-fi and devices for students who lack them to meals for families and support for health and childcare.

Many states and districts are demonstrating enormous creativity in serving students as they close schools. For example, with the help of many partners, Los Angeles Unified School District opened up 60 grab-and-go meal centers, 40 child care centers, and launched a distance learning program that involves both interactive computer-based learning and a partnership with public television that includes programming in English and Spanish for every age group with lesson plans and assignments. Take-home packets of reading and writing assignments focus both on traditional content and on students’ written reflections about their experiences during this time.

South Carolina is repurposing thousands of school buses to deliver instructional materials and meals and to provide mobile, parked hot spots to locations without internet access. Miami-Dade County Public Schools has developed an instructional continuity plan that offers online materials available by grade level, including core and supplementary materials, as well as materials for students with exceptional needs. The district provides mobile devices for students to check out for home use to ensure that students can continue their learning without interruption. The district also has a support hotline for teachers, students, and parents seeking assistance with distance learning. California has organized a wealth of free on-line teaching resources for teachers by content area and grade level and will be coordinating access to digital tools for schools and students who need them.

Among these resources are many targeted to social and emotional learning as well as content learning, to English learners and to students with disabilities, to teachers who are learning new on-line pedagogies, and to parents who are learning to support their children’s education at home. They also include free access to on-line learning platforms so that educators can meet with their students and with each other to plan new lessons and approaches. Below we offer a selection of these resources that may prove useful in your efforts to support learning in the time of COVID-19.

While we must stay apart physically right now, it is heartening to see so many of us coming together in many other ways to care for each other and our students. Perhaps some of the innovations we’re developing today may lead us to new and powerful solutions in the future that can help overcome the persistent challenges of equity and access in education that we all strive to end.

Online Learning Resources for Educators

  • Free online conferencing and video platforms for teachers include:

  1. Microsoft and Google Video Conferencing 
  2. Google Hangouts (free access through July 1 to advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities to all G-Suite & G-Suite for Education customers)
  3. Free Webex Personal Account (Unlimited Usage, 100 Participants)


Online Learning Resources for Parents

  • The Barbara Bush Foundation for Literacy Educational Toolkit for At-Home Learning offers free online resources that can help children continue to build critical literacy skills while schools are closed.
  • The U.S. Department of Education’s Talk, Read, and Sing Together Every Day! Tip Sheets for Families, Caregivers and Early Learning Educators provide families, caregivers and early educators with research-based tips for talking, reading, and singing with young children every day beginning from birth.
  • NPR has created this Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring the New Coronavirus to help demystify the virus and to teach children how to protect themselves. The online version includes a print-and-fold zine version.
  • Storyline Online is produced by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television’s SAG-AFTRA Foundation as part of its children’s literacy program. The site streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White and others.
  • The New York Times is hosting and continuously updating this page on ideas for working with content from the Times and other reliable sources.

Social-Emotional Learning

  • The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning offers suggestions for educators on addressing the social and emotional needs of students. 
  • In a Learning Is Social, Emotional and Academic blog, Lorea Martinez offers parents homeschooling tips to ensure social emotional learning is a part of student learning.
  • Sanford Harmony, a Pre-K-6 research-based social emotional learning program, promotes positive peer relations among students through lessons and activities that encourage communication, collaboration, and mutual respect. These free resources can be used by parents at home to help children express feelings and solve problems together.
  • The National Association of School Psychologists has developed a set of materials for schools and districts to support for their students and community around COVID-19 and pandemics. 

Supporting Students With Exceptional Needs

  • The Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities has a wealth of resources focused on making online learning more accessible, engaging, and effective for students with disabilities.
  • Common Sense Media has curated a list of the Best Special Education Applications and Websites based on recommendations by educators who work with students with special needs. Applications support the development of academic and social-emotional skills, as well as sites to assist teachers in providing differentiated learning opportunities.
  • The Council for Exceptional Children has developed COVID-19 Information for Special Educators, including a forum for members on how to adapt IEP services during school closures and a link to a resource page developed by the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE). 
  • The New York City Department of Education offers suggested activities and strategies for families to support Diverse Learning at Home for Special Populations. Resources include links for assistive technology support, as well as specific occupational, physical, and speech therapy activities for students as young as preschool. 
  • The State Educational Technology Directors Association offers strategies and resources on its site for ensuring that online learning supports students with Individualized Education Plans.

Supporting English Learners

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