FYI from BSF, 5.15.20
COVID-19: School Matters
The next installment in our study of schools and organizations solving problems for and with Boston kids and families...
This Week: Maintaining Inclusion
The Ellis Mendell is PK-5 school right on the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury line. With 270 students, the Mendell is one of the most racially diverse schools in all of Massachusetts, with 20% of students identified with learning disabilities.
The Mendell has seen dramatic academic improvement and success over the past few years, moving from the 3rd percentile, to this past year matching or passing state averages for ELA and math. This has been accomplished while supporting all of the Mendell’s learners - the school is meeting or exceeding targets when disaggregating by race, income status, etc. Families have noticed - the Mendell had one of the highest demand rates for its preK seats in all of BPS.
The Mendell has an “inclusion” model, meaning that the school has committed to ensure that students with disabilities are educated alongside their peers. This approach requires significant staff training and alignment, and modifying instructional approaches and practices.
We talked with Principal Julia Bott about the Mendell’s approach to remote learning, and applying inclusive practices in this context.
Mendell Approach
At the Mendell, we support the whole child. We lean into issues of equity every day - how that applies to race, income status, students with disabilities and more. It was our job to hold up the values of equity for our students before COVID-19, it is our job now, and it will be our job after. This is what communicated to families even this week.
We approached remote learning very much how we approach learning each day at the Mendell. We convened our instructional leadership team (ILT), the group of teachers and staff that is responsible for setting the direction and the bar for learning at the Mendell. We started meeting every week.
Our ILT does backwards planning, basing our work on the “instructional core.”
This approach requires teachers to think about what actual tasks and products we expect children to complete, and then plan what curricula and instructional approaches to get them there. So, we simply applied that same approach to remote learning.
Will we expect students to do written work and take a picture? Should we expect older students to type? What does it mean to do “a pull-out” group on a zoom call? Should we consider co-teaching sessions so that one staff member can monitor technology, student questions, and student engagement?
Here is a teacher from the Mendell explaining the content, task, product, feedback framework.
Growing Engagement
As we rolled out remote learning, we used student logins and engagement as a critical data point. If we were creating good lessons, if kids were engaged in meaningful tasks, and if students were creating high-quality work products (with feedback), they would keep coming to class. And they would tell their friends to come.
Teachers drove this. There was daily common planning, 8-9:30, so lessons were aligned by grades. Teachers were collaborative and innovative - they thought about the instructional core and how to get to it in a remote environment - they did not think about a flashy new app or software.
We were right. Engagement by grade varied - some grades hit high engagement in the first weeks, others started at 50% and slowly grew week over week. But now we are at 95%.
Maintaining Inclusion
All students deserve excellence. Students with special needs are no different.
Our model for inclusion relies on having a learning specialist that works across two classrooms. So, three adults, with interns and specialists, that own the achievement and development of 40 children.
Our students with special needs are learners like all their peers. It is our job to understand what these students need to meet the bar, and provide the modifications needed to do so. This could be due to executive functioning. Or a reading disability. Or a permanent medical condition.
We did a couple of things. First, we took advantage of the Chromebook deployment to get students with special needs the materials they needed such manipulatives, graphic organizers, Orton-Gillingham books.
Next, we did what we always do - teachers and learning specialists made accommodations based on tasks/instructions to facilitate student learning. And we made adjustments based on student engagement and work products.
For all students, but particularly our students with special needs, we tried to make things simple. This was no time to introduce new ways for students to learn or submit work. Our 3rd-5th graders were already proficient in Google Classroom, so they continued with that to create and submit their work. For our younger students, it was much more efficient for students to write with pencil and paper and submit pictures.
And we further accommodated for students with special needs. For example, for students with executive function needs, we tried to limit screen time and typing. It was better for them to just produce in the way that was best for them.
Risk Taking
Inclusion requires risk taking for students, teachers, and me. That is necessary for us to achieve equity and excellence.
Here is some student work that displays this!
Notes in the Margin
Boston School Committee met Wednesday. This included a report on remote learning. The majority of BPS students are logging in for remote work 0-1 times per week. And there are racial gaps. Survey data is coming back to assess family needs.
The Joint Education Committee held a hearing Wednesday, reviewing remote challenges across the state. An advisory group has been created to inform school reopening.
The Rennie Center released the first in a series on reopening school, “Helping Students Heal from Trauma.”
EdNavigator is launching a virtual summer camp.
Even when schools can reopen, we cannot be sure all school staff will be cleared or comfortable returning.
The second deadline to bid on a new exam school test is today. So far, there have been no takers.
One measure being considered when school reopens - big changes to the traditional high school schedule?
Chronicling the gap in remote learning between public and private schools in New York City.
Older siblings are balancing their role as student and teacher in remote learning.
A potential benefit of the 10th grade MCAS graduation requirement? Lower crime.
An op-ed connects early college and technical training to what we will be needed for economic recovery.
A college scholarship is “delivered” to a Boston high school student.
This is likely the first of many similar moves in higher ed - Pine Manor is being acquired by Boston College.