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Distance Learning

Analysis: Educators Say Distance Learning Failed Most English Learners Last Spring. Here’s 10 Ways to More Effectively Serve ELs as Schools Reopen for Virtual and Blended Learning

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By Martha Hernandez, Californians Together Executive Director

American schools’ responses to COVID-19’s sudden interruption to public education varied considerably across the nation as students went from daily classroom learning to stay-at-home orders nearly overnight. Now, a new survey reveals the limits of that patchwork response to the emergency — and indicates key lessons for schools’ reopening this fall.

BARTLETT, ILLINOIS - MAY 01: Seven-year-old Hamza Haqqani, a 2nd grade student at Al-Huda Academy, uses a computer to participate in an E-learning class with his teacher and classmates while at his home on May 01, 2020 in Bartlett, Illinois. Al-Huda Academy, an Islam based private school that teaches pre-school through the 6th grade students, has had to adopt an E-learning program to finish the school year after all schools in the state were forced to cancel classes in an attempt to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Over the past several months, Californians Together, an English-learner advocacy organization, asked more than 650 educators to provide details about their schools’ distance learning plans, focusing particularly on how they served English learners. The results were sobering. Martha Hernandez discusses a 10-point road map for how Local, state leaders, and schools can address inequities as they prepare to relaunch public education in the fall.

Read the Full Piece Here

Spanish and Korean Dual Immersion Instruction Through Distance Learning: Anaheim Elementary School District

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While most districts are struggling to address the needs of English Learners through distance learning, Anaheim Elementary School District (AESD) has kept their focus on bilingualism, biliteracy and English Learners while planning for distance learning during school closures. 

AESD is one of the largest elementary school districts in California, serving approximately 16,000 preschool through 6th grade students across 23 schools in a dynamic, standards-based learning community. The student population is approximately 52% English learners, 18% Reclassified-Fluent English Proficient (R-FEP), 2% Initially-Fluent English Proficient (I-FEP), and 26% English only students. Of their English learners, 94% have a home language of Spanish. Additionally, 86% of the students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, 11% GATE, 11% receive special education services, and 9% are homeless.

With the leadership from the superintendent, support from the Board of Education and the community, AESD has either a Spanish or Korean Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Program at all 23 elementary schools, leading to comprehensive DLI programs from TK through 6th grade.  They also offer Accelerated Language Academy or Structured English Immersion and Mainstream English Immersion for their English Learners not enrolled in DLI programs. 

Ensuring Technology Access for All Students 

Prior to COVID-19, AESD was already a 1:1 digital district with one chromebook per family. Upon announcement of school closures, parents received an email or phone call (via parent link) to pick up their chromebook with a charger at their school sites. This happened over the course of 3 days. For the families who didn't pick one up, the school site individually called each parent. They had already established a partnership/grant with T-Mobile for wireless internet hotspots allowing free access to the internet. To expand access, AESD identified companies such as Comcast and Spectrum who are offering free internet service for three months.

Delivering Content in English, Spanish and Korean 

From the very first notification of possible school closure, the district pulled together all the curriculum specialists including their digital learning specialist to create a plan for teachers to use for distance learning.  Initially until their spring break, the week of April 13th, teachers did not introduce new materials or concepts. After spring break, teachers have begun to introduce new concepts from their curriculum. A continuity plan per grade level was developed in English, Spanish (will be linked to plans in our box) and Korean (also linked to plans in box) that was structured around the hours in a minimum daily schedule with another hour for daily planning time. 

The district also took steps to ensure that units of study and materials from the core curriculum are available in English, Spanish, and Korean. All teachers received professional development and a template for their grade level, allowing them to plug in units of study from their core curriculum (commercially developed) in English and Spanish. To develop the curriculum in Korean and ensure alignment with the same themes, the district has a partnership with professors from CSU Long Beach. Korean interpreters also read stories and taped content lessons for all subject matters. The DLI teachers maintain the same language of delivery consistent with their prior classroom instruction.

In addition to the core curriculum in language arts and math, the district also developed:

  • Daily 30-minute ELD lessons delivered using Rosetta Stone Foundations (different from the commercial Rosetta Stone for world language lessons).  
  • Short lessons on how to address the social emotional needs of students, integrated into the language arts instruction. These lessons, developed by the two district social emotional specialists, came from the understanding that students are worried and often stressed about their family situation and the news about the coronavirus.
  • Weekly 30-minute music lessons in the languages of the programs, produced by music teachers.
  • Videos of short PE activities for the students to do at home. 

Accessing the Content

The district webpage has icon links in all three languages that take students directly to the online platforms needed. The core curriculum is available digitally and in all three languages for teachers to upload and send via google classroom, which is the main portal for students to access the lessons.  

While not perfect, it is very significant that distance learning is not English-only instruction and the language, academic, and social emotional needs of English learners are at the core of their developmental work for equity in distance learning. 

As Magaly Rodriquez, the district’s Dual Language Immersion Curriculum Specialist said, “These are the highlights of our process, and it is ongoing minute to minute.  All departments and everyone in the district incorporate English learners in all of our efforts.  It is a mission we take to heart. It is our reality.”

Supporting English Learners Through Distance Learning: Considerations for District and School Leaders

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Photo by Kyo Azuma
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With the unexpected school closures due to COVID-19, districts and schools across the state have shifted from in-person instruction to distance learning. This has highlighted the equity challenge to ensure that learning plans meet the needs of English learners (ELs) and their families. This list of considerations includes some of the steps that can be taken by districts and schools to ensure that ELs continue to have full access to the curriculum. The list and examples are not exhaustive but are meant to informally assess and help guide a conversation about how distance learning is being implemented in your district, school, and community. 

Provide Full Access to the Curriculum

Providing ELs with resources and lessons that allows them to make academic progress should be an important consideration for all schools and districts. This means that distance learning plans should provide ELs with designated English language development (ELD) and integrated ELD. Moreover, steps should be taken to ensure that learning plans are relevant, engaging, and enable ELs to have full access to the curriculum.

  • Ensure designated ELD is including within distance learning plans. For example, designated ELD can be part of a distance learning schedule for ELs as a core subject.
  • Ensure that integrated ELD is incorporated within lesson plans for all other subjects. For example, teachers can be provided with a list of tasks for each language domain that can be incorporated within lesson plans.
  • Incorporate project-based learning that allows students to learn from their environment. For example, students can write an article about heroes in their community helping others.
  • Ensure students have access to a minimum number of minutes of direct virtual instruction. For example, setting district guidelines to ensure that all students have access to a minimum number of minutes of instruction for all subjects.
  • Provide culturally relevant enrichment resources and bilingual materials. For example, working with district or city libraries to ensure that students and families can access books, magazines, and other resources in multiple languages.

Meet Technology Needs

Given that ELs come from a variety of backgrounds and many come from low-income households, districts and schools should take steps to ensure that all students have access to the technology and resources they need to access distance learning opportunities.This includes ensuring that all students have a computer at home, a reliable internet connection, and a safe space to learn.

  • Ensure students have access to a device for learning at home. For example, distributing chromebooks to students without a computer at home.
  • Ensure students have access to the internet. For example, negotiating agreements with commercial vendors to provide free access without the need to disclose personal or financial information.
  • Ensure students have a safe space to learn. For example, calling families to discuss strategies for creating a safe place to learn at home.
  • Ensure students have access to the curriculum in their devices in the language of instruction. For example, uploading resources in devices before distribution.

Proactively Engage Parents and Guardians

Parents and guardians are an essential component of effective distance learning. Therefore communications with them in their home language and with staff that are culturally competent is important. Districts and schools must be proactive in reaching out to parents and guardians, both because it provides them with important information but also because these interactions can provide school leaders with important information about the needs of their children.

  • Ensure that all communications are translated in the student’s home language. For example, providing a link for direct translation within the district and school webpages.
  • Plan to reach out to parents and guardians on an ongoing basis to understand the needs of students. For example, having ELD coordinators calling families regularly for support.
  • Provide opportunities for parents and guardians to learn strategies, in the language they understand, to support the education of their children at home. For example, organizing webinars for families on distance learning tips.

Meet the Needs of the Whole Child

This time of physical distancing and disruption to daily lives has an impact on us as humans and can create added stress on children, their families, and communities, It is for this reason that the needs of the whole child must be considered in order for them to be fully prepared to learn. This includes creating partnerships with nonprofits, cities, counties, and other partners to ensure that essential resources are available to families and children.

  • Provide children and families with socioemotional supports. For example, establishing a district hotline to easily connect students and families with social-emotional supports.
  • Ensure students continue to have access to meals. For example, establishing a daily schedule for families to pick-up meals and for meals to be delivered to families without a car.
  • Create a resource list of essential services for families and children. For example, regularly updating a dedicated COVID-19 page within the school and district website that includes information about access to childcare for essential workers, healthcare options, and resources for families facing economic challenges.