Zoom School Diaries: Caregiver Insights from Listening In on Synchronous Instruction

Continuing schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically changed the way students, families, and teachers engaged with school and academic content. Remote instructional methods utilized by schools to reach students in their homes often relied on internet-based communication tools and individualized learning platforms, and divided instructional time into two categories: synchronous and asynchronous. We consider how synchronous learning moments, defined as live interaction between the focal children and their teachers via video or phone calls, were experienced by 109 families of elementary school children across the U.S. Specifically, we examine who had access to synchronous lessons, what happened during those lessons, and what parents and other caregivers noticed given their proximity and ability to observe the lessons first hand. We discuss how the sense of connection to peers and teachers that the synchronous interactions provided was critical to engaging students with school during the transition to distance learning. © ISLS.

Reimagining Collaboration in Family-School Partnerships

Drawing on an equitable collaboration framework (Ishimaru, 2019), this study examines how teachers and families collaborated virtually to support children's' learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was part of a research practice partnership with 31 teachers and their students across 14 schools in a large urban school district in California. Case study analyses of teacher and caregiver interviews reveal four dimensions of effective family-school partnerships: 1) having the "classroom in the living room,” 2) open strengths-based communication, 3) social and emotional support, and 4) active partnership. Furthermore, family-school partnerships led to positive outcomes including greater windows into children's learning and empathy between families and teachers. This work has significant implications for how families and schools can move forward to leverage these practices to have more equitable, collaborative, and authentic family-school partnerships in distance learning and beyond. © 2022 International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS). All rights reserved.