Operational Steps

District Expectations

• Consider Student Code of Conduct and how to teach and set expectations to account for individual learning differences

• Leverage free resources to support staff during this process; review online LMS and other platforms for refinement

• Consider a common, district-wide communication pathway for consistency

Staff Expectations

• Teacher Professional Development - support Online Instruction

• Consider how you will communicate instruction and grading expectations

• Consider common shared language among teachers within your subject/grade level

• Consider opportunities for peer review and self-reflection of courses

Student Expectations

• Take time to learn about the differences in learning online

• Consider behavior, communication, and work completion expectations

• Consider frequency of contact between student and teacher, student and counselors

Family Expectations

• Consider support, communication, and student work completion expectations

• Consider that K-4 students will need assistance in managing online work

Step 1: Establishing District Policy and Governance

• Staff Safety and Security of Information

  • Review the following telework guidelines and ensure that your staff are notified of your expectations for when working from outside of your facilities:

  • Sample Telework Policy for Staff

• Web Conferencing Technologies

  • Review the documents, below, and ensure that your staff are using these or similarly situated FERPA compliant tools.

  • FERPA and HIPAA Compliance of Zoom

  • FERPA Compliance of Google Hangouts Meet

    • FERPA Compliance

    • G-Suite for Education Products Covered under FERPA

• Staff and Student Live Remote Connectivity

  • Ensure that staff and students understand the expectations and guidelines when connecting to live learning activities:

  • Sample Live Streaming Policy

Step 2: Develop a Virtual Professional Learning Plan

Synchronous Professional Learning

If your professional learning is going to be delivered SYNCHRONOUSLY to your staff, consider the three options below to deliver the most useful video experience for your audience:

1. Broadcast Zoom meetings to a large number of locations. This will need someone to “track” the presenter using the remote control to PTZ.

   1. Video: Logitech Pro 2 USB Pan-Tilt-Zoom Remote 1080P Camera ($749)

   2. Audio: USB Blue Icicle allows an XLR connection from your lapel microphone receiver to USB into laptop running Zoom ($40)

   3. Streaming Destination: Zoom

2. Swivl: This allows one allows the presenter to wear a microphone lanyard that the camera that is built in to the iPad follows them around the room.

   1. Swivl C3

   2. iPad

   3. Streaming Destination: Zoom

3. Below is an example of what is used in multi-room conference events and can live stream to YouTube or Facebook Live. It also has face tracking to auto track to the presenter.

   1. Mevo Plus Pro Bundle

   2. Streaming Destination: YouTube, Facebook, or Vimeo

Archiving

Next, consider your own warehouse to store and deploy the recordings of the synchronous professional learning opportunities you've provided to staff:

1. Consider Accessibility features by:

   1. Using Google Slides Closed Captioning features when delivering content

   2. Uploading videos to YouTube so that Closed Captioning occurs automatically.

Asynchronous Professional Learning

If the professional learning is going to be delivered ASYNCHRONOUSLY, you may want to consider using a similar platform to that which is being utilized by your staff with students.

Step 3: Ensure that Parents & Caregivers Are Prepared

Review and share the resources that have been developed for Parents and Guardians.

Preparation Steps

Step 1: Planning for Staff Training

Establish a framework through which to communicate expectations to all stakeholders is essential. The O.R.E.O. Framework is a great place to start.

You can find additional resources, provided by Alison Yang at https://alisonyang.weebly.com/blog/oreo-online-learning-guidelines.

Step 2: Establish Your Digital Content Warehouse

If the district has not already adopted a warehouse for housing the digital content (a.k.a. Learning Management System) that will be developed by staff, choosing to allow staff to select their own resource or providing recommendations based upon the support structures that exist may be necessary.

Step 3: Review and Discuss Considerations for Supporting FAPE and Special Needs Students

LEA Considerations

Given FAPE a school must meet needs as outlined by the student’s unique needs.

• How will related services be provided (OT, PT, Speech, psychological counseling, assistive technology, nursing, etc)?

• Are services being provided within the least restrictive environment?

• How are you ensuring adequate/necessary support in the LRE?

• How would you provide the SDI required by the IEP?

• How would you progress monitor the IEP goals?

• How would a Positive Behavior Support Plan (PBSP) be implemented?

Virtual and Online Education

• What does instructional practice look like using this format?

• Is hardware and software provided to students and staff? Is internet access and computers provided to students at no cost?

• Is there staff capacity? Do staff have time to develop and conduct instruction online?

• Students with IEPs are entitled to be educated with non-disabled peers in the Least Restrictive Environment -what does that look like in an online environment?

• Can a parent or family member serve in the role of a facilitator of online learning?

Independent Study

• Can the student work independently? Will the student be able to meet their goals using this format?

• How will teachers know the student is successful? How will progress monitoring be obtained and reviewed?

Blended Learning or Hybrid Education

• How will regular education, special education, and related service personnel collaborate to prepare for this type of service delivery?

• How will teachers know the student is successful? How will progress monitoring be obtained and reviewed?

Compensatory Education

Are there processes in place that can allow the IEP team to determine:

• Has there been a determination of a lack of progress or regression towards the students’ IEP goals? Is there enough progress monitoring data to determine this?

• How many hours of service will be needed to make up for time lost during school closure?

• How will my school provide required resources (i.e. funding, staffing capacity, etc.) to support compensatory education? What resources are already in place that can be utilized?

• What types of compensatory education strategies might we consider to utilize?

Step 4: Begin the Planning Process for Moving to Online Instruction for FAPE and Special Needs Students

• Consider the appropriateness of an alternate service delivery model in meeting the needs of the student

• Survey families to identify if families have access to WiFi and devices for their child with specials needs to access remote learning.

  • Create a plan to assist family with access to the internet and/or devices

  • Create alternate plans to provide instruction via telephone conference, paper educational resources

  • Consider providing all students with a device (ie. Chromebook) if they do not already have access to one at home.

  • Low incidence students may need alternative devices or service delivery models to engage in instruction/receive FAPE

• Survey your employees to ensure they have access to WiFi, devices, and needed supplies at home.

• Provide professional development and guidance for employees on how to provide remote resources and be a support system for the students and families.

• When planning for remote learning for students with special needs, assist teachers by setting up a daily schedule/routine for short durations of instruction (10 - 35 minutes) throughout the school day.

• Instruct teachers to put lessons together for a predetermined duration so that activities, lessons, and resources are available online

• Create a Repository (such as a Google Doc) for each special education program and related services to house on online resources.

Step 5: Encourage Sound Principles for Online Instruction

Good practices of online instruction include the list below. District leaders may want to review and determine the best mechanism to support the following steps for having staff work collaboratively to peer review online work that is created.

1. Encourages contact between students and teachers;

2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students;

3. Encourages active learning;

4. Gives prompt feedback;

5. Emphasizes time on task;

6. Communicates high expectations; and

7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

Mobilizing Steps

Step 1: Establish Clear Expectations and Communication Channels with Staff

Schedule regular collaborative sessions for staff. Consider the following ideas:

• Weekly department meetings, consider inclusion of LEA’s guidance. Special Ed, EL and other team members

• Daily collaborative work time

• Scheduled meetings between educators and guidance counselors

Develop a strategy for educators to regularly communicate with students and families / caregivers

• Scheduled virtual office hours or call-in opportunities

Step 2: Provide Guidelines and Template to Staff

Content Mapping for Online Instruction:

Provide opportunities for grade-level collaboration and development. Review and edit the templates below if needed.

• Identify Essential Components

• Identify Standards and Learning Goals, Common Expectation and Graduation Requirements

• Define Online Learning Norms and Expectations for your courses

Conversion Steps

Step 1: Ensure Inclusive Practice Continues

• Accessibility considerations for students with disabilities, families with lack of access to technology

Step 2: Digital Conversion

• Ensure that online content can also be printed for distribution to eliminate loss of instruction. Mirror instruction.

• Tips to convert face-to-face activities to virtual activities will be shared during webinars, encourage staff to attend.

Step 3: Consider Supports for EL Learners

Stand-alone ELD Direct Instruction

Pull-out ELD instruction

• EL is pulled from other class time for direct ELD instruction in a separate setting or

Self-contained ELD class (otherwise known as ESL class)

• elective or extra class; not ELA replacement

Possible Distance Learning Options:

ELD teacher meets virtually with individual ELs or with groups of ELs in a synchronous format. This can be done through group phone calls or video chats. Students can also complete work either virtually or through paper and pencil assignments to further learning between check ins.

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Content-Embedded ELD Instruction

Mixed content classes (ELs and non-ELs)

• ELD instruction is incorporated into content instruction.

Possible Distance Learning Options:

ELD teacher virtually joins the general education class to support ELs with content learning. If ELD teacher/student are unable to join the group virtually, consider phone meetings to help with accessibility options. The ELD teacher can also assist the content area teacher with adding universal accessibility options to lessons.

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Push-in ELD instruction

• ESL teacher provides direct ELD instruction to ELs within the general education classroom setting

Possible Distance Learning Options:

ELD teacher virtually joins the general education class to support ELs with content learning. If ELD teacher/student are unable to join the group virtually, consider phone meetings to help with accessibility options. The ELD teacher can also assist the content area teacher with adding universal accessibility options to lessons.

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EL-only content classes (self-contained)

Possible Distance Learning Options:

ELD teacher meets virtually with individual ELs or with groups of ELs in a synchronous format. This can be done through group phone calls or video chats. Students can also complete work either virtually or through paper and pencil assignments to further learning between check ins

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The particular blend of stand-alone ELD and/or content embedded ELD (and which program type) depends on the needs of individual students and must be thoughtfully determined by district personnel with input from ESL professionals. Decisions about program design or placement of ELs within the program may NOT be driven primarily by resources or scheduling constraints.

Deployment Steps

Step 1: Communicate Consistent Expectations

• Continue to reinforce the expectations that have been established in the Operationalizing Phase.

Step 2: Checking in with Educators Often

• Remember to check to see that the educator:

  1. Encourages contact between students and teachers;

  2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students;

  3. Encourages active learning;

  4. Gives prompt feedback;

  5. Emphasizes time on task;

  6. Communicates high expectations; and

  7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

Step 3: Continued Professional Learning Opportunities

• Work with your professional learning staff or with staff from the LIU to developed continued professional learning for your staff.

Step 4: Remember the Social-Emotional Needs of Staff and Students

• During these times of disconnect, remember that human interaction is essential for the wellness of your team.