Every student experienced an interruption in their education in Spring 2020 when the District schools were closed and all experienced three months of adapted school in the remote environment. We specifically and intentionally are using language that describes the work that the adults must do to equitably recover from these interruptions, rather than casting blame on or assigning deficiencies to students. Thus, rather than COVID-slide, we discuss “unfinished learning”, and rather than “learning gaps” we discuss “unfinished teaching”. The onus is on us, the educators, to expertly design experiences in which we can, and our students can equitably recover from this unprecedented interruption.

Central to our equitable recovery strategy is a focus on providing students the following resources that are critical to closing opportunity gaps caused by systemic bias and racism:

1. Consistent opportunities to work on grade-appropriate assignments (standards-alignment)

2. Strong instruction, where students do most of the thinking in the lesson (cognitively demanding)

3. Deep engagement with what they are learning (culturally and linguistically sustaining, culturally relevant pedagogy)

4. Teachers who hold high expectations for students and believe they can meet and surpass grade-level expectations

The BPS Essentials for Instructional Equity frames collective commitments to a set of competencies that we must master in order to provide students with the necessary resources to close opportunity gaps. The challenges of remote and hybrid learning illuminate what we know to be true about high-quality instruction: students thrive when they are engaged in rigorous and relevant projects that affirm their lived experiences. Academics will prioritize amplifying these types of learning experiences that exist in the curriculum and supplementing in places where they do not exist.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which individuals learn essential life skills and competencies that promote a positive identity, a well-managed self, healthy relationships and agency to successfully navigate their future. At BPS, we believe that strengthening adult and youth social and emotional skills and competencies enhances our abilities to connect and relate to others across race, class, culture, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, and learning needs. Our SEL competencies were updated in 2019 to reflect a Transformative SEL approach, an equity-based approach to deepen the social, emotional, and cultural competence of adults and students that is aligned with culturally and linguistically sustaining practices (CLSP). We will leverage a Tier 1 Transformative SEL strategy in the District’s reopening to build trust and craft learning environments that are safe, healthy, welcoming, joyful, anti-racisit and culturally affirming. We will use SEL as a lever for equity and wellness by threading it through the decisions, practices, routines, and academic lessons implemented daily. In this way, we will build a bridge from trauma to healing.

As students return to school this fall, BPS educators will exemplify an asset-based mindset and focus on the rich cultural knowledge and individual skills each student brings to the classroom, whether in person or online. Across all grade levels, schools will implement structures that are intentionally focused on building trusting relationships between students and adults. These structures might include an advisory group with a low teacher-to-student ratio for regular check-ins, check-in/check-out procedures, and individual or group student success plans with specific strategies identified to increase learning and social-emotional wellness.

School leaders and educators will be intentional about building school culture and creating a sense of community within the online or blended learning environment. Schools will institute SEL Signature Practices, including a weekly or daily ritual for the whole school, grade levels, or classrooms in order to build teamwork and support. Principals and teachers are encouraged to implement support structures that vary based on grade level and may include things such as practicing classroom routines, collaborating on classroom values, setting up classroom norms for communication, building individual relationships, and activities specifically focused on social emotional learning. We strongly recommend schools extend the community building phase at the beginning of the school year as we work to create the new normal and a readiness to learn. This will foster a sense of collective care.

Educators should integrate the BPS SEL Competencies into academic curriculum. Social emotional and academic skills are mutually reinforcing. Educators can model SEL skills and use instructional strategies that apply SEL strategies to content learning objectives. This helps students build and practice SEL skills across the day.

In order to build a learning environment that supports student SEL and well-being, schools are called on to foster a supportive staff environment that promotes adult SEL and well-being. Each member of the BPS staff community has experienced some level of trauma from the past few months, including a destabilizing of our work relationships and our professions. Adults need to have opportunities to reflect on their own social, emotional, and cultural competencies, practice self-care, and collaborate with colleagues in order to support our students and families in doing the same. Schools can support this by providing professional learning opportunities, incorporating SEL into team meetings and leadership practices, modeling it for students in the community, and relationship strategies described above.

All students – whether learning on-campus or remotely – must have access to grade-level instruction in all content areas included in the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. While the scope and sequence of the instruction will vary depending on student needs and curricula requirements, all students will be required to take the MCAS assessments in Spring 2021. Mirroring their peers learning on-campus, students learning remotely must also have opportunities to engage in enrichment opportunities and receive intervention support as needed.

For SY20-21, all Massachusetts schools are expected to provide students with equitable access to all grade level standards. BPS is recommending that schools balance this requirement with strategic instructional choices necessary during this disruptive period. It is recommended that schools emphasize priority ELA and Math standards aligned to the guidance from Student Achievement Partners. These priority standards are those most closely tied to college and career readiness and foundational to learning that will occur in the subsequent grade level.

In all reopening scenarios, teachers will take student attendance in Aspen on a daily and/or class basis. Specifically, teachers will enter attendance for every class in Aspen K0-12 (homeroom attendance for self-contained classrooms and class-attendance for specialties, ESL, resource room, and grades 6-12). Schools and the District will leverage Supervisors of Attendance to teachers in reaching students who are absent. In the event that we implement a hybrid learning model, teachers will record attendance in the context of the student’s cohort location and in compliance with the following specific direction from state regulators:

• Schools and districts must take daily attendance whether a student is in person or remote. Consistent with 603 CMR 27.08(3)(b), districts must have a daily attendance policy and system for remote learning that can be reported into SIMS. Schools may employ multiple ways to track attendance (e.g., monitor whether students are present in synchronous sessions, submitting assignments online, logging onto online learning platforms, attending virtual check-ins, etc.) depending on the structure of the remote learning program. It is critical that districts clearly communicate this policy to students, families, and staff to ensure attendance reporting accuracy.

• During the 2020-21 school year, DESE will also require schools and districts to differentiate between students attending school on-campus and remotely in their local Student Information System. This data will allow DESE to monitor remote learning programming and student engagement across the Commonwealth. The Department will release information soon with directions for districts to report this information.

• Parents/caregivers are responsible for ensuring their child attends school every day, whether for on-campus or remote learning. Schools and districts must continue to investigate extended absences and make and document reasonable efforts to locate the student and determine the reason for nonattendance. In addition to attendance officers, schools may identify staff members who are unable to return to school in person who could support more robust efforts to follow-up with absent students. Districts and schools are especially encouraged during this time to work directly with families to identify barriers to student attendance and to support families in alleviating these challenges. Specifically, we encourage districts to create formal support plans for students and families experiencing challenges. Additional guidance, information, and resources for communicating with and engaging students and families can be found on DESE’s Social and Emotional Learning page.

Given this regulatory direction, it is imperative that individual student schedules are reflected in Aspen so that it is possible for attendance to be taken for every class, including specials, electives, ESL, resource room, and related services (ABA, OT/PT, SLP, counseling, etc). The ultimate goal is to be able to access any student’s schedule and document services for students with disabilities and minutes for English language development. Additional courses may need to be created in order to capture inclusion and push-in services.