TeleNGAGE: Enhancing Collaboration between Families and Schools

Findings in the literature strongly support the importance of family engagement in education. However, effective partnerships between families and schools are rare, especially in ethnically diverse communities where families may lack efficacy or face structural challenges for engagement. Additionally, educator perspectives toward engagement are often framed by White, middle-class paradigms. Educators often fail to acknowledge structural challenges faced by low-income families or the cultural contributions low-income and/or minoritized families can bring. To facilitate engagement between families and schools, a new ECHO® line, TeleNGAGE, was developed at Oklahoma State University, Educational Leadership program. ECHO®, traditionally used in the field of medicine, has utility for professional development for educators because it offers a platform for case-based learning where real problems are addressed in real-time. Additionally, didactic presentations provide professional development for collaborative learning. Through the lens of Communities of Practice (CoP), this qualitative case study explores how relationships between families and schools changed as a result of participation in TeleNGAGE. Tenets of CoP, negotiated meaning, mutual engagement, and a shared repertoire, support a collaborative approach to addressing complex problems. Findings suggest that a CoP has emerged through TeleNGAGE and has resulted in changes in perspectives across families and educational leaders about "what it means to be engaged," enhanced family efficacy for engagement, and changes in engagement practice as family voice has expanded through sharing of concerns/perspectives. These findings have important implications for equitable engagement in a convenient, cost-free environment where educators and families can communicate and develop mutually supportive understandings and practices.

Families' perception of children's academic performance during the COVID-19 lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many countries to impose a strict lockdown policy on citizens during a prolonged period of time, which led to changes in lifestyle habits. This unprecedented situation has given rise to numerous studies aimed at determining the effects of the changes brought about by this widespread lockdown. One of the important changes was the digitisation of education and, therefore, teaching, which caused a forced and abrupt immersion in distance learning. In this study, a quantitative methodology based on an ex post facto research design was used with the aim of analysing the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the academic performance of schoolchildren (aged 3-12 years). A total of 529 parents completed an ad hoc questionnaire on the impact of COVID-19 on their children's education in Spain. The results produced a robust model based on structural equations that explain 39.7% of the variance in academic performance at home. The family-school relationship was the variable with the greatest explanatory weight ( beta = .505;p < .05). In conclusion, the benefits derived from a strong relationship between families and schools, evidenced by the creation of cooperation and communication links, facilitate the management of shared educational challenges such as on-line education in times of crises. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) La situacion generada por el obligado confinamiento a la sociedad por la COVID-19 ha llevado, en muchos paises, a cambios en los habitos de vida que han generado numerosos estudios para conocer los efectos de esta nueva situacion social. Un importante cambio fue la digitalizacion del trabajo y, por ende, de la ensenanza, provocando la inmersion forzada en una educacion escolar a distancia de una manera abrupta. Se realizo un estudio empleando metodologia cuantitativa y basado en un diseno ex post facto, con el objetivo de analizar el impacto que ha tenido el confinamiento por COVID-19 en el desempeno de los escolares (de 3 a 12 anos de edad). Un total de 529 participantes completaron el cuestionario CIEN (Cuestionario sobre el Impacto Educativo en la Infancia) sobre impacto educativo de la COVID-19 en sus hijas e hijos escolarizados en Espana. Los resultados arrojaron un modelo robusto basado en ecuaciones estructurales que explico el 39,7% de la varianza en el desempeno escolar en casa, siendo la relacion familia-escuela, la variable que revelo mayor peso explicativo ( beta = .505;p < .05). En conclusion, los beneficios derivados de una relacion entre la familia y la escuela, patente en el establecimiento de lazos de comunicacion y cooperacion, facilitan el afrontamiento de retos educativos compartidos tales como la educacion a distancia en tiempos de COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Using DEC-Recommended Practices to Support Virtual Classrooms and Remote Learning

The global pandemic has meant that some schools are back in session with new and changing rules, and others are providing remote learning. The U.S. Department of Education has addressed specialized instruction through remote learning for children with disabilities, including addressing misconceptions about service delivery for children with disabilities making clear that school districts and early intervention programs are mandated to continue providing meaningful educational opportunities for children with disabilities (United States Department of Education, 2020). Children with disabilities have a right to services that address their IEP goals during the pandemic, and teachers are being asked to be innovative and flexible and work with families to create equitable learning opportunities to support children's interactions with each other. During this unusual and difficult time, many families do not have access to email to answer questionnaires, limited capacity to answer phone calls, unreliable or no access to the internet, or no or inadequate devices to support instructional platforms. District and school leaders need to support teachers in identifying and addressing these challenges to provide equitable access to learning opportunities. In this article, the authors provide strategies for quality virtual instruction with an emphasis on family engagement.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Remote Learning

For rural locations, the use of remote learning may provide schools the opportunity to meet student needs without requiring students to travel long distances to access services. It is critical that teachers of students with disabilities understand how to support learning and know how to use the accommodations, modifications, and assistive technologies listed in student Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in online classrooms. Students with language disabilities sometimes require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems to effectively communicate. This article provides teachers with practical tips of teaching students to use AAC online and supporting its continued use in the virtual classroom.

Parental Perceptions of Their Preschool and Elementary School Children with Respect to Teacher-Family Relations and Teaching Methods during the First COVID-19 Lockdown

The goal of this study was to learn about parental perceptions of their preschool and elementary school children with respect to relations with the teachers and various aspects of distance learning used during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Israel. Research was carried out in the summer of 2020 among 602 parents, comprising a representative sample of parents of children in preschool, grades 1-2, and grades 3-6 of the Jewish population of Israel. Participants completed a questionnaire designed for this study that sought to measure attitudes towards aspects of distance learning (e.g., Zoom lessons) and how the teachers related to the children and parents. Findings indicate that the child's age had an impact on how the parent perceives the activities of the children and the teachers with respect to several forms of distance learning imposed by the pandemic. At all ages, parental interpretation of the impact of the pandemic on teacher-family relations was found to contribute to the explained variance regarding parental evaluation of the children's and teachers' activities as well as the variance in attitudes about distance learning (both online and asynchronous). Also, parents of every age cohort reported that they were more involved in their children's distance learning than in encouraging the children to reach out to their friends -- the parents of third through sixth graders were even less involved than parents of the younger children.

What Happened When COVID-19 Shut Down In-Person Higher Education? Parents Speak Out

This study was designed to understand the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the family's role in their students' college experiences. Specifically, the authors examined parents' attitudes towards institutions' COVID-19 decision-making, parents' perceptions of communication quality between families and institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the short-term impact of the pandemic on students' education and personal well-being in addition to family well-being.

Muddy Waters: Effective School-to-Family Communication during Uncertain Times

Communication and relationship-building are vitally important to creating a school environment where everyone--families, staff, and students--feels like they truly belong. Having a plan and a process for communication can help support relationships with families when facing unpredicted events or uncertain times, leading to the entire school community feeling significant and valued and, most important, able to focus on supporting the children.

Assistant Principals Reconsider "Normal" Following COVID-19

When COVID-19 changed schooling in Illinois from face-to-face teaching and learning to remote teaching and learning, the transformation was sudden and swift. While there may have been premonitions and feelings of urgency about the effects of the novel coronavirus, there was little time to plan for the change that would take place and little information to understand how this change would be implemented and monitored over the next several months. There was no gaining buy-in from faculty, parents, and students for the abrupt change. There was no professional development to prepare for the dramatic changes in delivery of instruction. There was no preparation to overcome the resistance that frequently accompanies organizational change. How this change was handled is of significance for the way schools move forward. What did they manage well? What did they learn from the changes? And how does dramatic change affect how schools move forward?

The Collaborative Model for Teaching o-SEL: Preparing Educators to Design Online Environments for Social-Emotional Learning

In this study, we sought to develop a model to provide educators with training and resources to effectively support and guide social-emotional learning (SEL) in PK-12 online environments, which we refer to as o-SEL. We utilized five national sets of standards and competencies to guide the development of six online modules for educators to gain skills, knowledge, and resources to help students learn SEL-related skills. Qualitative methods and analysis were employed to examine our research question. We utilized design thinking as a strategy for developing o-SEL professional learning. Five SEL experts were identified and invited to participate in a brief survey to determine areas of focus and then we conducted two one-hour focus groups. The focus group discussion was transcribed, coded, and analyzed to determine emergent themes related to areas of SEL needs in online learning environments. Based on our findings, we identified six elements (i.e., Empower, Engage, Motivate, Include, Collaborate, Extend) for educators to foster inclusive o-SEL environments for PK-12 learners that we describe as the Collaborative Model for Teaching o-SEL. We discuss the positive impact that o-SEL instruction can have on student learning outcomes, while also designing inclusive and culturally relevant support structures. This study calls for further investigation regarding teacher application of the o-SEL model and impact of o-SEL on student learning.

Tuition-Free College in the Context of COVID-19: TN Reconnect Adult Student Narratives

Utilizing narrative inquiry and thematic analysis, this study followed up with adult students who initially participated in a qualitative project, Understanding How Students Reconnect: A Longitudinal Study (Collom et al., 2021). Five participants shared their experiences as adult students during COVID-19, which included their experiences shifting to virtual learning and the broader effects of the pandemic on their lives. Our findings indicated that while students coped with the transition to virtual learning, the overall perceived quality of education dropped and forced students to make difficult family and employment decisions. Overall, the study illuminated the barriers that exist for adult students who have faced unexpected life-events and demonstrated the need for institutions to build supports for adult students beyond tuition-free college. Our findings highlight the need for supports above tuition for Tennessee Reconnect students. While Tennessee Reconnect has substantially increased adult student enrollment in the state, increased support is essential to realize the full benefits of the policy.

Knowledge and informarion sharing: educational, technological, and household challenges in pandemic times

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching has had emergency changes in its format, moving from the face-to-face classroom to the virtual classroom. Given this situation, one of the methods adopted in schools was the use of digital technologies to share information and knowledge to promote emergency remote teaching. The problem of this article aimed to analyze the use of technological tools for sharing information and knowledge between teachers, students and parents/guardians, in times of a pandemic, in order to facilitate the promotion of emergency remote teaching. The research is characterized by an applied nature, with descriptive objectives and characterized by quantitative approaches, with data collection. The results obtained in the case study show that the use of technological tools to share information (with families) and knowledge (with students) enabled greater participation and commitment of those responsible for the students, in a home environment, since access to content for study, pedagogical guidelines for parents and greater access to teachers, corroborated to mitigate the distance caused by the pandemic. As a continuation of this research, we point out the possible advances of new tools that can be implemented by the researched educational institution.

State and Education Policies in the Context of the Coronavirus Pandemic

Due to the present context which is marked by the pandemic, the education system was forced to become more adaptable to digital environments. Teachers, students, homework and the various educational resources that were used, along with the way in which communication was done, became essential tools in the educational process. The new social context brought with itself significant changes both in the management of school and classrooms. The same thing can be said about scheduling and the manner in which one can effectively carry out activities, knowing that each child and family has their own peculiarities. The family and the school need pragmatic and dynamic solutions for the new school year, adapted to local realities, with full compliance with the regulations established by the Ministry of Health. Under these conditions, the absence of a real and coherent plan regarding education during the pandemic risks condemning a significant number of students to an uncertain future.

FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIP IN TIMES OF COVID-19: DISCUSSING EVERYDAY ISSUES

The family-school relationship is, in general, a one-way street, in which the actors do not dialogue to build paths in partnership for a liberating education. The object of study of this work is the family-school relationship in the period of COVID-19, considering the social changes arising from the closing of schools. This research aimed to evaluate the impact of this closure on society, from the point of view of the family-school relationship. Exploratory research was designed using two instruments: document analysis of state deliberations on the subject, for the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and questionnaires with open and closed questions, sent to families residing in the three states. From the content analysis for the field research together with the documental analysis, it is concluded that the daily life of the families reflects their unpreparedness and frustration in the orientation of the students' school activities. In parallel, the implementation of neoliberal policies gains strength, leading to the erosion of the idea of public education as a right, since a considerable part of the students was excluded from the educational process due to the means used to maintain the educational system in the period in which analyse.

Families' Perception of Children's Academic Performance during the COVID-19 Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many countries to impose a strict lockdown policy on citizens during a prolonged period of time, which led to changes in lifestyle habits. This unprecedented situation has given rise to numerous studies aimed at determining the effects of the changes brought about by this widespread lockdown. One of the important changes was the digitisation of education and, therefore, teaching, which caused a forced and abrupt immersion in distance learning. In this study, a quantitative methodology based on an ex post facto research design was used with the aim of analysing the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the academic performance of schoolchildren (aged 3-12 years). A total of 529 parents completed an ad hoc questionnaire on the impact of COVID-19 on their children's education in Spain. The results produced a robust model based on structural equations that explain 39.7% of the variance in academic performance at home. The family-school relationship was the variable with the greatest explanatory weight ([beta]=0.505;p<0.05). In conclusion, the benefits derived from a strong relationship between families and schools, evidenced by the creation of cooperation and communication links, facilitate the management of shared educational challenges such as on-line education in times of crises.

Disrupting the racialized power imbalance between home and school: Working toward a new mental model for family engagement

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally rearranged the boundaries between home and school. Chelsea Public Schools (CPS), which was fully remote for most of the 20-21 school year, sought to make use of this historic opening to improve partnerships between families and educators. The challenge, as research tells us, is that educators across America have not typically been trained or exposed to examples of successful family engagement, and many hold deficit-based views of families that are often rooted in racial bias. This is particularly relevant in Chelsea, where 90% of teachers are white and 94% of students are children of color (87% Latinx), and where the renewed national reckoning on racial injustice has coincided with a new equity agenda being led by the district's first Latina Superintendent. My residency, housed in the Superintendent's office, was designed to support teachers and administrators in building a new mental model for a solidarity-driven and equity-focused family engagement practice, with the goal of setting a foundation for sustained improvements over time. There were three phases to this work. First, a broad districtwide effort introduced trust as the indispensable component of strong partnerships with families. This included professional development and 1-on-1 family-teacher "trust visits" with each family in the district. Second was a series of focused co-design teams that involved families, teachers and administrators, which deliberately interjected upon racialized power imbalances by centering family voices in addressing remote learning challenges. Third, co-design teams went through an organizational learning process that made use of their shared experience to reflect publicly on their past and future family engagement practice. This capstone offers a critical analysis of these efforts, as well as implications for CPS and school districts across the country. It suggests that the key to improving home- school partnerships is for districts to invest in building the infrastructure that provides educators the time and professional learning experiences they need to strengthen their family engagement practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

"What's Going to Happen to Us?" Cultivating Partnerships with Immigrant Families in an Adverse Political Climate

With the increasing numbers of immigrant and refugee students across the US K--12 system, the xenophobia of the current political climate, and the effects of COVID19 on the immigrant community, it is critical to examine schools that serve immigrant students and their families. Drawing on case studies of two public high schools that exclusively serve immigrant students, authors Adriana Villavicencio, Chandler Patton Miranda, Jia-Lin Liu, and Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng examine how educators frame the current political context and how this frame informs their collective approach to engaging with and supporting families. The study finds that these schools shifted norms of parental engagement by proactively forging relationships with families, cultivating alliances with community partners, and mediating within families around challenges related to work and higher education to benefit the communities they serve. In so doing, these school actors have shifted the norms of parental engagement to center the perspectives, voices, and experiences of immigrant families.

Pedagogical Transformation and Teacher Learning for Knowledge Building: Turning COVID-19 Challenges into Opportunities

This paper reports on the continual effort of the Knowledge Building Community (KBC) connecting teachers within and across schools for knowledge creation and community building during the COVID-19 disruptions. During this crisis, schools around the world are challenged with the issues of implementing online learning. Three areas of misalignment were identified: disjoint in learning with home-school separation, piecemeal technologies to mimic physical teaching, and disconnect between teacher professional development and classroom practices and we discussed emerging realignment efforts for transformative learning. Through analyzing the three case examples of how teachers responded to COVID-19 challenges in inter-related areas of curriculum, pedagogy, technology and community, we identified several themes on emerging alignments conducive for transformative pedagogy and technology through community advancement. These themes include: innovating practice around the centrality of ideas;perceiving knowledge building as pervasive;transformative use of technology, and symmetrical advancement of knowledge. These case examples show that in these disruptive times, the teachers were more actively building new practices supported by community dynamics and systemic processes of the KBC. Consequently, the interactions between stakeholders shifted from disjointed relations in different hierarchical levels to a networked community of people, ideas, and resources, and teachers continually advancing their knowledge-building practice in these challenging times.

Equity and English Learners Post-Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrant and linguistically diverse families have both borne the brunt of America's job losses and are overrepresented in professions that are considered essential to the country's response and recovery. Children in these households have experienced increased economic and food insecurity, instability in their child care, and trauma. Moreover, language barriers, poor digital literacy skills among parents, inequitable access to appropriate digital devices and robust internet, and lack of digital instructional resources for English learners (ELs) affected the quality of students' home learning environments during remote learning. Predictably, ELs have experienced setbacks in their English language development, academic learning, and social and emotional health due to more than a year of interrupted learning. As the pandemic recedes, schools approach normalcy, and a historic investment of federal education dollars flows to states and school districts, state education leaders face the exceptional responsibility of charting a new course for public schools and the ELs whom they serve. In this article, Julie Sugarman begins by emphasizing the need for states to provide technical assistance to schools on the use of state and federal funds and monitor whether schools used equitable shares of those funds on resources specifically tailored to EL needs. She goes on to discuss: sources of data that policymakers can access for useful information about how well schools serve ELs;ways state and school systems can ensure teacher training and professional learning for EL specialists and general classroom teachers;and strategies school districts found themselves experimenting with to inform and support ELs and their families during the pandemic.

Recovery for U.S. Students in 2021: What Schools and Districts Can Do to Make up for Lost Learning Time

After eighteen months of school closure and disrupted learning, civic leaders, researchers, and educational leaders are getting a clearer picture of how students fared through the pandemic, and what new reality school systems face as they return to in-person schooling in 2021-22. Increases in community infection rates and parent hesitancy have thrown districts back into uncertainty, making it all the more critical to ensure continuity of learning and well-being for students who may not be able to return to classrooms as quickly as planned, and may face continued disruptions due to quarantines. As students return to a third year of disrupted learning, school and system leaders cannot lose sight of our schools' most critical charge this year: addressing unfinished learning and restoring student well-being. While gauging the academic impacts of the pandemic through spring 2021 has been challenging, a body of evidence is emerging from a range of public and private institutions studying this question from different angles. The best interpretations of the most reliable information available underscore a few critical observations: (1) the average student mastered less academic content this year because of the pandemic and associated disruptions to schooling;(2) the pandemic's average impacts on academic achievement, while significant, mask substantial variation in impacts across subjects, grades, demographic groups, and geography;(3) the evidence to date likely understates both the average academic impacts of the pandemic and the opportunity and achievement gaps it has produced;and (4) declines in student well-being indicators could diminish future conditions for successful learning. We propose the following six principles, some of which districts are already applying, to ensure students experience a positive, healthy, and restorative schooling experience this year: (1) provide each student an individualized, three-year instructional plan that uses data to address their academic, social, and emotional needs;(2) prioritize strategies that honor and re-engage students most impacted by the pandemic;(3) use tutoring, extended learning time, and early diagnostic systems to strengthen student foundations in math and early literacy;(4) provide at least one quality remote option while safely reopening schools in person;(5) pilot new structures for learning, such as flexible schedules, prioritizing content mastery over seat time, and new ways of structuring school;and (6) create coherent, aligned systems of support for educators and families. This moment demands new, bold leadership from all of us who touch the lives of students--from civic leaders to policymakers to system leaders to educators. Fast action and transformative change can prevent long-term harm. [The COVID Collaborative contributed to this report.]