Using Descriptive Inquiry to Make and Do Philosophy in School: Creating Shared Educational Principles at City-As-School during the Coronavirus Pandemic

This piece describes how the faculty of City-As-School used Descriptive Inquiry to generate shared educational principles during the 2020-21 school year during the coronavirus pandemic. City-As-School is a public experiential learning school in New York City serving older adolescents seeking an alternative to traditional high school. Descriptive Inquiry is an inquiry process developed by Patricia Carini and faculty at the Prospect School in Bennington, Vermont, that supports educators in understanding children and their own educational practice to teach for human dignity, ethical well-being, and holistic growth. The piece provides an introduction to City-As-School and briefly describes how faculty members have used Descriptive Inquiry to foster whole school professional learning and growth. The piece then details how the faculty used Descriptive Inquiry to surface and concretize shared educational principles during the 2020-21 school year, a poignant example of Patricia Carini's notion of "making and doing philosophy in a school."

Embedding choice making into the self-regulated strategy development instructional approach for students in a residential treatment facility

Students with emotional behavioral disorders often exhibit comorbid academic and behavior deficits and benefit from strategies that address those needs. Writing can be significantly difficult for students with EBD due to the complex requirements when completing written activities. Chapter 1 consists of two research to practice papers discussing how to address deficits in persuasive writing skills and behavior needs through explicit instruction in persuasive writing strategies (e.g., self-regulated strategy development) and embedded function-based choice making. Chapter 2 consists of a multiple probe across students with embedded reversal single case design on POW+TREE, a persuasive writing strategy used within the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) instructional approach. Three students in grades 3rd, 5th and 6th with emotional behavioral disorders were recruited to receive SRSD POW+TREE with embedded function-based choice making in a residential education setting. The number of pers essay elements and a variety of writing quality indicators along with student motivation and active academic engagement were examined. Participants who completed the study demonstrated varied engagement and an increase in included essay elements along with overall essay quality and increased motivation to write persuasively. Implications for teachers, limitations, and future directions are presented. Data collection and results of this study were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Teacher challenges and self-efficacy in an alternative school setting through the COVID-19 crisis

The incited challenges among alternative school teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their ability to use best practices in their daily pursuits. The existing pandemic also created barriers to serve their own needs and the needs of their students. In an effort to manage these challenges through the COVID-19 crisis, self-efficacy beliefs are necessary to meet desired outcomes of alternative school teachers' objectives. The current study explored alternative school teachers' lived experiences through COVID-19 and the shift in the educational paradigm. Personal and professional challenges during the current pandemic were studied, as well as participants' ability to elicit self-efficacy beliefs during an inimitable event. The researcher used an interpretative phenomenological approach and qualitative data from interviews with alternative school teachers and program assistants to gain a deeper understanding of alternative school teachers' perspectives during COVID-19. The findings indicate alternative school teachers encountered challenges related to lack of social connection, anxiety, hybrid learning model, societal matters, learning new technology, and changes in routine. The trials encountered by these educators shaped their worldview from the various conditions they confronted. Furthermore, due to inadequate preparedness and an unknown timeline for the duration of online learning, educators experienced additional stress and concern. The findings further suggest the need for self-efficacy beliefs and the means to self-care among educators in an alternative school setting during an extraordinary circumstance. The data also demonstrate the value of empathic approaches to educators in this particular setting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Pods in Action: Southern Nevada Urban Micro Academy. A Microschool Offered Personalized Learning for Students, Support for Educators--and a Glimpse into Gaps in Policy

In response to concerns about the children of first responders needing a safe, supervised place to learn in the midst of COVID-19 school closures, the City of North Las Vegas funded education nonprofit Nevada Action to set up a microschool. Students left the school district to learn at the microschool, which received from the city facilities, funding for personnel, support from city employees, and marketing support. The microschool created small, personalized learning environments for children in grades 1-6, with a curriculum that provides individualized support and a focus on creating strong relationships with parents and families (grades 7-8 were added in 2021). It was open to all North Las Vegas residents and children of first responders--healthcare workers, police, and firefighters--throughout the greater Las Vegas Valley (which includes areas outside of North Las Vegas). This report offers a glimpse into the Southern Nevada Urban Micro Academy (SNUMA). This program presented a unique example of how local governments can use technology to create new learning options outside of local school districts that meet the needs of their communities.

A Framework to Implement Academic Digital Badges When Reskilling the IT Workforce

Information technology (IT) plays an increasingly significant role in today's world. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased that reliance. Employers in all industries are struggling with considerable shortages of skilled IT workers and are seeking innovative alternatives to meet these needs. Digital badging and micro-credentials have emerged as an alternative system to validate skills. The issuing of digital badges has spanned across a wide spectrum of settings and purposes. However, there is currently less application of digital badges in graduate-level programs to link to important academic or subject-matter related achievements and higher-level competencies. Reskilling and upskilling existing employees need a more practical and sustainable approach and often do not require completion of an entire IT master's degree. To align with such demand, this study aims to demonstrate how a digital badging system can be used to validate stackable certificates for micro-credentials in a graduate-level program. The paper starts with a background introduction of the current IT employment landscape. The next two sections provide an overview of micro-credentials in workforce development and higher education today. This is followed by a section on our conceptual framework used to determine the potential value of digital badging to our graduate programs. The next section focuses on the case study. The last sections conclude with the lessons learned and the future research directions.

Pods in Action: My Reflection Matters. A Virtual Village Where BIPOC Families "Unschool" Together

In 2020, twin forces inspired large numbers of U.S. families of color to look outside traditional schools for their children's education. First, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to shift in and out of virtual or hybrid instruction, many parents looked for other options because they were concerned about keeping their children safe or were dissatisfied with the quality of instruction. At the same time, the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd sparked a national conversation about systemic racism. For many parents of color, this included questions about whether it would be healthier for their child to be educated outside a system they viewed as replicating injustices. The My Reflection Matters (MRM) Village provided the answer that some of those parents were seeking. MRM Village is a nationwide, virtual network of parents, students, and educators, formed with a mission to "cultivate a space that provides the supports, conversations, and healing required to decolonize adults' beliefs and practices around learning and parenting in order to raise free people." Initially an in-person, local organization, MRM launched its virtual "Village" platform in August 2020 to connect and support primarily Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families. By summer 2021, MRM Village had amassed a membership of more than 600 parents, students, and educators across North America seeking a radically different, identity-affirming alternative to traditional schooling. This report provides an overview of MRM, which has provided an innovative unschooling environment that provides a safe, affirming space, allows for parents and students to take ownership over learning, and frees participants from systems rooted in systemic racism.

Crisis Breeds Innovation: Pandemic Pods and the Future of Education

In the summer of 2020, it became clear to growing numbers of families and community organizations that COVID-19's unprecedented disruptions to public education would not subside in time for the coming school year. Facing the prospect of continued school closures and uncertain public health safeguards, families were forced to make new childcare arrangements, often at the expense of their employment, and had to navigate the stress of dislocation and isolation with little support from the institutions they had long relied upon. Across the country, some families devised their own solution: the pandemic pod. They brought together small groups of students and enlisted adults--hired instructors, or groups of parent volunteers--to supervise students and support their learning. In partnership with their funders, the Center on Reinventing Public Education launched a national initiative that brought together researchers from around the country to track and analyze the pandemic pod movement. Their goal was simple: to learn from the families, educators, and community-based organizations who stepped in during the crisis to solve urgent challenges and, along the way, invented educational solutions that could outlast the pandemic. This report is one part of that larger effort. It offers the first in-depth look at families' and educators' experiences with pandemic pods, drawing upon a national survey of 152 parents and 101 instructors who participated in a pod during the pandemic, and follow-up interviews with 62 survey respondents. The findings suggest that families and educators can carve new, promising paths forward when freed from the rules around how school is supposed to work. At the same time, some of pods' flexibility arose because they were disconnected from the rules and routines that typically govern school systems. While this could yield benefits for students and freed educators to work in ways they found fulfilling, it also meant that students and educators in pods were cut off from critical forms of support.

Checkpoints for Online Mathematics Students with Learning Challenges

Many mathematics students require support for learning challenges, such as those invoked by mathematics anxiety. Support for these learning challenges is imparted through personal interactions between the student and the instructor, support staff or their peers. The online delivery of mathematics classes and support meetings reduced the quality of the interactions compared to face-to-face interactions. This article presents an alternative approach used to support students with learning challenges in a virtual learning environment. The approach reported was used in a four week online preparatory mathematics subject. Most of the students were mature age, some years out of formal mathematics education, and low in confidence. In preparing the modules the nature of the subject and the cohort was considered and additional content called Checkpoints was added. The Checkpoint pages were designed to alleviate the learning challenges the students faced by including signposting, supporting positive dispositions, providing alternative learning strategies, and sharing assessment strategies. Feedback showed students engaged with the Checkpoints and found them helpful, leading the students to reflect on their learning. The checkpoints also 'chunked' the math content, resulting in a 'nice break', and provided students with reassurance they were on-track.

UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018-2021 Goal Area 2: Every Child Learns. Evidence and Gap Map Research Brief. Innocenti Research Brief 2022-05

This research brief is one of a series of six briefs, which provide an overview of available evidence shown in the Campbell-UNICEF Mega-Map of the effectiveness of interventions to improve child wellbeing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Five of the six briefs summarize evidence as mapped against the five Goal Areas of UNICEF's Strategic Plan 2018-2021, although it is anticipated that they will also be useful for others working in the child well-being space. The sixth brief maps the COVID-19-relevant studies. This brief provides an overview of the available evidence related to education. The purpose of the research brief is to: (1) Make potential users aware of the map and its contents, (2) Identify areas in which there is ample evidence to guide policy and practice, and so encourage policymakers and practitioners to use the map as a way to access rigorous studies of effectiveness,and (3) Identify gaps in the evidence base, and so encourage research commissioners to commission studies to fill these evidence gaps. [This brief is an update of the 2020 version. It was written with assistance from Yashika Kanojia.]

"The Most Professionally Satisfied I've Been." How Could the Best Aspects of Learning Pod Staffing Be Scaled Up?

Pandemic learning pods revealed teachers and other adults are highly interested in playing more varied roles in children's education. And some pod-like staffing arrangements may continue to exist and grow in out-of-school settings, such as after-school programs. But this report examines a different potential development: "is it possible that the experiences staff had in pods could become much more common in the day-to-day operations of U.S. public schools, at scale?" The answer is a qualified "yes." Even before COVID, moves were afoot to create a range of new staffing arrangements within public schools that hit many of the same themes as pods, which are described in more detail in this report. Some of these arrangements had already begun to show positive impacts on student learning and educator satisfaction, as well as the ability to spread in different school contexts.

Teacher challenges and self-efficacy in an alternative school setting through the COVID-19 crisis

The incited challenges among alternative school teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their ability to use best practices in their daily pursuits. The existing pandemic also created barriers to serve their own needs and the needs of their students. In an effort to manage these challenges through the COVID-19 crisis, self-efficacy beliefs are necessary to meet desired outcomes of alternative school teachers' objectives. The current study explored alternative school teachers' lived experiences through COVID-19 and the shift in the educational paradigm. Personal and professional challenges during the current pandemic were studied, as well as participants' ability to elicit self-efficacy beliefs during an inimitable event. The researcher used an interpretative phenomenological approach and qualitative data from interviews with alternative school teachers and program assistants to gain a deeper understanding of alternative school teachers' perspectives during COVID-19. The findings indicate alternative school teachers encountered challenges related to lack of social connection, anxiety, hybrid learning model, societal matters, learning new technology, and changes in routine. The trials encountered by these educators shaped their worldview from the various conditions they confronted. Furthermore, due to inadequate preparedness and an unknown timeline for the duration of online learning, educators experienced additional stress and concern. The findings further suggest the need for self-efficacy beliefs and the means to self-care among educators in an alternative school setting during an extraordinary circumstance. The data also demonstrate the value of empathic approaches to educators in this particular setting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

A single case study of an alternative school: School-based professionals supporting adolescents with anxiety through the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the shift from in person to remote learning happened abruptly for both educators and students requiring an adjustment in education. Both teachers and school-based mental health professionals were uncertain how to support the various needs of students. The current study examined the remote supports provided to adolescent students with anxiety in a therapeutic day school through interviews with educators regarding their opinions on remote-based supports through the COVD-19 pandemic. Staff's recognition of anxiety, remote learning challenges experienced by students and teachers, necessary supports through remote learning that were unable to be provided, and faculty's response to remote learning and supporting families were explored as well. A total of 12 school staff were participants in this research. Data were collected by conducting remote-based interviews through Zoom with each staff member. The results revealed that while staff were supporting and accommodating adolescent students with anxiety along with providing interventions, there was still the desire for training on remote-based supports for students. In addition, results indicated that there were several circumstances in the home setting, which teachers and school-based professionals were unable to control. This had an impact on both students and educators throughout remote learning. Professional development and consistent and clear communication were needed for school-based professionals to feel supported and prepared to provide supports to their adolescent students with anxiety. However, several benefits of remote learning were highlighted by educators indicating that there were positive outcomes. The findings extended previous research on remote learning and the challenges experienced by educators and students. Results provided valuable evidence on how to support adolescent students with anxiety in a remote setting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Strategies for effective online teaching and learning: Practices and techniques with a proven track of success in online education

This chapter provides readers with a comprehensive review of strategies for effective design in online instruction. The authors explore the traditional debate between advocates and critics of online education and discuss effectiveness in retention, engagement, and overall academic performance. The chapter differentiates between "online-first" course design and emergency remote delivery, as experienced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key factors include identifying engagement and communication strategies such as "ask me anything" sessions and tailored selection of resources. Open educational resources (OER), pre-recorded lectures, podcasts, and "online-first" textbooks are presented as appropriate and cost-conscious content options. Also included are alternative assessment ideas and universal design for learning (UDL) and accessibility guidelines. The chapter provides a continuum model for the transition of in-person courses to online instruction while conscious of both instructor workload/ instructional support and expected level of learner workload and engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The effects RENEW has on awareness of post-secondary options and post-high school planning for students with disabilities in an alternative setting

This qualitative study analyzes the effects that RENEW, a person-centered goal planning model, has on students with disabilities that are in an alternative school setting. Students in sixth through twelfth grade participated in this study to determine if RENEW can affect students' awareness of post-secondary options and assist with post-high school planning. In analyzing students' progress, the researcher utilized results of the AIR Self-Determination Scale, DIBELS assessments, and school-wide behavior data during students' participation in the RENEW initiative. In addition, the researcher used results of a Likert scale survey given to school personnel in order to examine how RENEW was implemented at the school. RENEW assisted students with completing post-high school plans by illuminating goals, correlating achievable steps towards those goals, and developing support systems to aid in reaching these goals. Although this research was implemented during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the alternative school implemented the RENEW intervention with fidelity and produced positive changes within the youth that participated in the initiative. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Self-Designed Learning in Nooks: Exploring Alternatives to Mainstream Education

The practice of self-designed or self-directed learning (SDL), is one approach outside the mainstream education system that can be applied by anyone, and in any circumstances. SDL means, first and foremost, that learners--from a young age on--decide what to learn based on their own interests and passions, how they want to learn it, how long they want to learn about it, and how and in which ways they are using and applying their learning. This makes for a much more relevant kind of learning and education, as it is based on the learner's individual context, interests, and needs. To ensure SDL does not become a matter of one's socio-economic privilege, spaces for self-designed learning that provide free access to the learning web are necessary. This article examines Project DEFY (Design Education For Yourself), a non-governmental organization based in Bangalore, India, sets out to do by creating "Nooks," self-designed learning centers for marginalized communities across South Asia and Africa. Nooks are a low-cost solution to provide equal access to quality education and are free to use for everyone in the local community. Learners of all ages, gender, and social, economic, and cultural backgrounds use the Nook space and resources for various purposes based on their own interests and needs, which includes pursuing their hobbies, discovering a passion, solving a particular problem or issue affecting themselves and/or their families, supplementing their incomes and creating alternative livelihoods for themselves, and addressing and solving problems and issues in the broader community.