Our Runway Grows Short

For the last four weeks in this blog, I have stated that our intention is to start school on August 24th with students in attendance at our brick and mortar buildings. What has been left unsaid thus far is whether or not we will welcome back all our students at once or if we will start the school year with our hybrid model. Unfortunately the 'conditions on the ground' continue to be very fluid and the guidance we are receiving isn't always clear or even helpful. Even more unfortunate is the fact that we are starting to run short on runway. With a little less than four weeks to go before the start of the school year, we need to make a decision. The challenge is making our final decision close enough to the start of the school year so we have the most current, up to date data available to us (and hopefully metrics that can guide our thinking). At the same time we need to be mindful of all of you, not too late in our decision making and thus catching everyone off guard. We are also very aware that whatever decision is ultimately made, a number of people are going to be unhappy. Before I get into the mechanics and timeline of this decision, I want to spend just a little time today talking about our hybrid plan. 

Our hybrid model is similar to many that you have heard about from other school districts around the state. And if you have been following the news cycles, these decisions are just as difficult in our neighboring districts as they are here. The arguments for and against a hybrid, remote learning, or fully onsite are the same here as they are there. Be that as it may, it doesn't make these decisions any less difficult, except I do suppose the old adage holds true that misery loves company. The whole idea of using a hybrid approach is to implement a plan that supports the current physical distancing recommendations. We have to be clear here: there is absolutely no way to create the physical distancing that is necessary and recommended by the CDC without operating a hybrid model. Certainly this is one of the reasons why we made the decisions we did with regard to the face covering requirement. Now, admittedly there are challenges in this type of strategy [hybrid] because once students leave school for the day, we have lost vector control. Children play with one another outdoors (who may or may not be in the same 'vector' as they are), visit families and friends who visit with their family and friends...you get the point, right? Then there is our activity program. One can't really play football or volleyball every other day very well, can we?

So perhaps the question is, what's the point then? Our point in the hybrid plan quite simply is vector control. The theory works like this: if we have active cases while a hybrid model is being employed, the maximum number of possible primary exposures is limited to the group in attendance on that particular day, or roughly half the number of students. Further and perhaps even more important, we have to remember the mitigation benefits that are attained by physical distancing. Even if a case becomes confirmed, under our hybrid model not only have we decreased our possible primary and even secondary exposure rate because of the fact we have fewer students to deal with in that scenario, we are able to physical distance. Again, while vector control is important, physical distancing is equal to; or perhaps even superior to vector control. Physical distancing coupled with face masking requirements significantly reduces the risk of transmission. Finally you have to remember mitigation means to reduce, not eliminate risks. So even if the vector 'bubble' isn't maintained outside the school, we have mitigated control within the school. 

Our Model

The hybrid model we plan to utilize essentially breaks our student body into two groups. An 'A' group and a 'B' group based on family unit. Roughly equivalent in size, this would enable us to operate at approximately 50% capacity with students onsite. While group 'A' is receiving instruction onsite, group 'B' would be learning remotely. Now, the governor's current order requires that under the hybrid model, at least half of all instruction occur onsite over a two week period. So then, if you think about this over a two week period, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of week 1, group 'A' would attend class in person. Group 'B' then, would attend class in person on Thursday and Friday. Then on week 2, group 'A' would attend class in person on Monday and Tuesday while group 'B' attends class on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. 

Wednesday is the key day due to the fact our plan would be to maintain our early release schedule that was adopted as part of the original calendar. This would enable us to bring our cleaning crew in early to start the deep clean for the next group of students to attend the following day while teachers are getting ready for the next group and following up with remote learners.  

There are a couple of important features of this hybrid plan that will be in effect even under the regular onsite model with all students in attendance five days a week. First, we anticipate utilizing a block schedule for the foreseeable future, regardless of whether or not we operate a hybrid or have all students in the building. The block really impacts grades 7-12 and is not a new concept in Hudson. Last used a decade ago, the block schedule operates on an even/odd premise where on odd days we operate periods 1, 3, 5, 7 and on the even day periods 2, 4, 6, 8 Again, when we think about vector control, this eliminates passing periods (by half) and lengthens the class period by a factor of approximately two. This also has the added benefit of providing teachers time to meet the needs of students who are participating in voluntary offsite learning. The other important feature used in hybrid and regular onsite delivery impacts the elementary. This consists of scheduling one grade at a time for lunch and one grade at a time for recess. 

Decision Point

The Board of Directors have called for a special meeting on August 10th at 5:00. At that meeting we anticipate a decision on which model to use in order to start the school year. Because of this, we are extending the deadline to sign up for voluntary offsite learning to August 14th. Some have suggested that it would be helpful to know how we plan to start the school year prior to making a decision about voluntary offsite learning. We agree. I have included the link to this sign up here for your convenience.

We have spent the last several weeks discussing our remote learning plan and the hybrid model. You have had an opportunity to see our mitigation plan and have an understanding of what processes and protocols we are putting into place in an effort to keep your child safe while at school. You have answered numerous questions for us and participated in a plethora of surveys. As the title of this article suggests, our runway grows short. The start of school is now less than 4 weeks away. I have one final (maybe) query of you. On Friday of this week, I will be sending out one very quick, single question survey for you to answer: "I believe school should start: remotely, hybrid, or onsite". We'll accept responses for one week only. 

One cautionary note for you though: your response to this question will not construe a vote, but will merely be one of many data points the board will consider when making this decision. Other data points will include guidance from the Iowa Department of Education, health metrics provided by the local health department, a query from our employees, the Iowa Department of Education, and the entire public school system that makes up Black Hawk County. 

If We Go Remote...

I'll continue to emphasize that it is our full intention to begin school on August 24th with students in attendance at our brick and mortar buildings. Our Return to Learn plan is in alignment with the governor's Proclamation of Disaster Emergency and provides that 'in person instruction shall be the presumed method of instruction'. But, we need to plan for all types of contingencies. The Board of Directors is planning to meet on August 10th to make a final decision about our opening plans. In the event it becomes necessary to implement our remote learning plan, it is important to point out this decision can only be made in consultation with the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Department of Public Health (see page 2 of the proclamation).

The question then is, what does it look like? We have spent quite a bit of time studying and debating this issue and I think it is important to clearly articulate the expectations from both an educator and parent perspective to avoid surprises later on down the road. For starters, it will look vastly different from what it looked like this past spring. Our plans from this past spring were implemented quickly without a lot of planning and no training for our faculty and staff. With the benefit of time, planning, and training we are much better prepared to provide a quality educational experience for our students. Be assured if, and only if it becomes necessary to implement our remote learning plan, it will be far superior to the experience of this past spring.

But please do not be confused. Remote learning cannot replace the value of face to face instruction. We will be unable to replicate [remotely] what happens during the school day when all the students are here in our buildings. That is why we are so insistent on face to face instruction with students in attendance on August 24th. Yet, here is what you can expect to see under a remote learning environment at Hudson.

A significant departure from this last spring, you can first expect daily instruction. This will be required learning and student attendance will be recorded in compliance with Iowa's compulsory attendance law. The navy blue highlighted line in this table illustrates how much daily instruction your child will be exposed to in the event we have to implement our remote learning plan. These instructional minutes are based on data gleaned from other states around the nation that have subsequently articulated remote instructional minute guidelines. Please note, Iowa currently has not offered any guidance on this matter. If and when Iowa provides guidance, we will follow that. We have also relied on the feedback you provided in our most recent survey to families to help form our guidelines. 

As you can see from the depiction above, opinions are varied when it come to the amount of time parents believe children can concentrate and complete activities. Granted, this graphic is presented in total, for a disaggregated illustration by grade span, please refer to this link. It is interesting to note, there was no clear majority opinion even when considering these options. Nevertheless, this data did help to formulate these guidelines. It is also worth pointing out that if our remote learning plan is activated, all teachers and other employees will still be expected to work regular hours from our physical buildings. We do this so they not only have access to all the curriculum materials and technology needed to provide remote instruction, but so they are readily available to answer your questions, emails, and provide other assistance that you may require in a remote setting. 

Voluntary Offsite Learning

Not to be confused with remote learning, voluntary offsite learning is reserved for those parents who choose to participate in learning offsite while onsite regular instruction is occurring inside our brick and mortar buildings. You may choose to make this determination for health reasons or own personal choice. There is no prerequisite for this option. We just ask that you please sign up by August 1st and that you make a commitment for at least a quarter. 

Technically a hybrid, this learning model is designed to meet the needs of parents who request offsite learning accommodations for their children the duration of the public health emergency or until they (parents) determine their child can safely return to traditional in-person learning. Under this model of instruction, students will have access to the curriculum material that is being delivered ‘onsite’ and have responsibility for completing coursework. This most closely resembles the type of learning that is employed when a child is ill. The difference here however is that students and parents can expect a daily ‘check in’ period with the teacher(s) where we can provide instruction, answer questions, and take attendance as required under the Compulsory Attendance Law. Please understand, this type of learning is not a replication of regular onsite learning. A sign-up form was sent out yesterday for those interested in this model of instruction. It is included again here for your convenience. 

When this model is utilized by families, we are asking they make the commitment for a minimum of one quarter. If you have multiple children in your family, please fill out a form for each child who will be participating in voluntary offsite learning. Please complete by August 1, and don't forget to complete the regular school registration process. 

In next week's post, we'll talk about our hybrid model. We'll discuss how it works and under what circumstances it will be deployed. 

LMS Software and Hardware

Regardless of whether or not you choose to participate in voluntary offsite learning or if, at some point we need to implement our remote learning plan you can expect an experience as different as night and day from this past spring. In addition to the points already discussed, we are prepared to deploy our entire fleet of computers this year district wide. Device configuration and timing were not friendly this past spring. As we prepare to launch the new school year, all our computers are brand new. Each student grades 3-12 will be issued an iPad with rugged/combo keyboard that will support learning at school and at home. Further, our current inventory suggests we have enough devices to deploy in grades K-2 as well. This was a significant issue for us last spring and a lot of credit needs to be extended to our tech department and all the extra hours they put in to prepare our devices.

We received quite a bit of feedback regarding our communication protocols as well. Teachers were using multiple platforms to communicate, making it difficult as parents to know where to go or where to look for information from you child's teacher. Was it Facebook? Twitter? Email? This year we are streamlining the process as much as we can, while at the same time leveraging our teacher's current skill set. K-2 will use Seesaw, 3-6 Google classroom, 7-12 Canvas.

Where Improvement is Still Needed

Our greatest deficiency right now is the connectivity divide. If it seems like every survey we send out to you asks whether or not you have high speed internet access, we are. In our most recent survey on technology access, 9.29% of households responded that they either did not have internet access or that broadband access is not available at their address. We are working hard to solve that problem, but we'll ask for your continued patience. 

Heavy Seas on the Horizon, But We'll Trim Our Sails

Because our primary mission as an educational institution is educating youth, the bulk of our work over the last several months has focused on our effort to restart learning in the district. We have grappled with such topics as adding days to the calendar, accelerating learning, and making up for lost instruction. All of this is being done under extraordinary circumstances that seem to change daily, if not hourly. My team and I appreciate the words of support that have come our way over the course of this 'very long day', and in my response to you I have often described the work at times to 'juggling jello'! I'll also admit that even the criticism [for some of the decisions that we have made], has and does help us to refine our plans in a way that we hope drives us to be better. 

I'll remind you all again: our plan as it sits right now is to open our brick and mortar buildings for students on August 24th. But as I have continually emphasized to our greater constituency, we are all going to need to become very comfortable with flexibility and dealing with constantly changing variables. With roughly five weeks before the start of classes a lot can (and will) change in the interim.

Today though, I want to focus not on those aspects of restarting the learning process (which does remain the most crucial of work we do), but instead on the actual physical process of reopening our school buildings. It is not so simple as re-activating the key-fob system and unlocking the doors. There are numerous important safety considerations and protocols that must be addressed. None of which are easy or without potential for disagreement.

Indeed for all the time we spend considering how to restarting learning and making up for lost instruction during this unique moment in our history; perhaps the biggest and most critical of components is the actual process of opening up our school buildings safely. The fact of the matter is this: unless you feel safe, and your child feels safe; learning will take a backseat. Our work right now has shifted to consider how to best go about that. Within the next week, we will release our first set of guidelines for reopening safely and sharing with you our mitigation plan. I anticipate these guidelines and processes will continue to evolve as we get closer to the start of the school year.

Nonetheless, we realize this is a tall order and will not come easy. The data from the survey we conducted last week perhaps offers a glimpse of where we might be headed in regard to the numbers of students who are planning to attend in person and those who might be more inclined to elect a remote option. Once we release our mitigation protocols next week, this hopefully will make people a little more comfortable. Or it could make people less comfortable. As you can see from the data point above, 32% of respondents have indicated they are either not comfortable or extremely uncomfortable sending their child to school in the fall. I suspect that will change once we release our mitigation plan. My hope is that it changes for the better. We are trying very hard in the district to strike an appropriate balance in terms of what is reasonable, feasible, and most important: effective.

Of the most vexing of issues to address (and what seems to get the most attention) is the use of face coverings for students. Unfortunately the guidance that we are receiving from regulatory bodies is inconsistent. Where one agency may issue a set of recommendations, it is often contrary to what a local county health department may suggest as the appropriate remedy. When situated with the guidance from the CDC, it leads to a very confusing and contradictory conundrum. The tension is further ratcheted up when the decisions become political as opposed to relying on scientific reasoning. 

You can see the challenge, can't you? Regardless of the decisions we make here, there are going to be a number of people who disagree with our call. We understand the argument for face coverings. We also understand the arguments against face coverings. The fact is there is no answer that will appease the populace. Truth be told, face coverings are just one of the multitude of mitigation protocols we are grappling with, and where decisions ultimately made will be lauded by some and condemned by others. 

When all is said and done though, keep in mind what mitigation is and what mitigation isn't. Mitigation simply means that we will be able to reduce the risk that someone will become ill. It will not eliminate those risks. That would be impossible and en exercise in folly to even make that claim. Regardless of how restrictive or permissive we are, there are no guarantees.

Following the release of our plan, we'll start to drill down and find out how many of our students will plan to attend schools in person, and how many might be interested in exploring alternative options, be them in a virtual or remote setting. It is my hope the release of our processes and procedures will provide information that reassures you and gives you peace of mind. The fact of the matter is that we truly want all of our students here with us in person come August 24. But understandably I can see that heavy seas are likely on the horizon. This is not going to get easier anytime soon. So let's make sure we are all strapped in tight, maintain flexibility, and remember that we are all in this together.

Too Much or Not Enough?

I'll start out again today by reminding everyone that it is our full intention to start school on time: August 24th with students in our brick and mortar buildings. But at the same time, we need to be prepared for the possibility those plans might change: either to a hybrid model where partial attendance is the reality, or a remote online learning model. We know that what we did this past spring wasn't all that effective. We were making up much of what we did on the fly and without any training for our teachers on how best to navigate this totally new environment. But let me be clear: this was through no fault of the teachers. Certainly from a system wide perspective we could have done some things differently; yet the decisions that had to be made had to be quickly executed without a lot of time to consider multiple and competing interests. I have found that in my role as superintendent, the decisions I have to make are fewer, but with larger consequences. Because of this, I usually have a much longer period of time in which to make my decision. Nevertheless, any shortcomings of this past spring are mine to bear: our teachers executed! They did the best they could with the tools they had at the time. In most cases they performed fabulously going above and beyond the call of duty to engage students with rich content. Even so, we realize that if we have to implement our remote learning plan again we must do better. We will do better. Let me explain what we are doing and where unanswered questions remain.

Our instructional staff is being trained over the summer in facilitating online learning. Needless to say, one singular course is probably going to be insufficient to cover the myriad of topics and strategies that may be needed to effectively teach remotely. But, it isn't as if we are starting from scratch either. When we began this journey in March, many of our teachers had never used conferencing programs like Zoom or Google Meet. Those early days were spent simply figuring out these platforms and how best to position the camera. All of that is behind us now. Training this summer includes providing initial support to students and families, content presentation, assessments (both formative and summative that can be used in an online environment), and creating 'flipped' lessons and a blended learning model when returning to normal. We have also identified the learner management systems (LMS) that will be used to organize learning and the appropriate training on them so we can avoid the hodgepodge of emails and other social media platforms that were used for communication protocols and kept all of you confused and probably frustrated. 

This summer we also replaced our entire fleet of computers and sold off the old fleet. In doing so, all our devices are now configured to operate safely outside the network, providing the internet protection that is necessary according to our district policies. Further, where we were unable to deploy the entire fleet this past spring, that is no longer a barrier. Based on the latest computer census, we believe we are positioned to deploy a device for home use to every student K-12 if needed.The weak spot in this plan right now is ensuring we have adequate internet connectivity for all families across the district. This is still something we are working on and hope to have a solution soon. The data collected from the technology survey that was sent out earlier in the summer is being used as one of our decision points. It is also why we keep asking you at every opportunity whether or not you have internet access. 

One of our biggest unknown(s), and quite frankly challenges is determining how much time commitment each day should be required for instruction. Is it reasonable to replicate what happens online with what would happen during a regular day of school? The short answer is no. The trouble though, is that there is no definitive answer to that question that is supported by a deep research base. In fact, the guidelines are all over the place and based on 'educated guesses'. According to Edsurge's May 4th article, 'How Long Should a Remote School Day Be? There's No Consensus', I found this quote to be incredibly enlightening: “So you can think of it in this simplified way: In traditional classrooms, time is constant while learning is variable. In online classrooms time is variable, while the learning is constant.” In other words, the amount of time that a student spends on schooling (in a remote environment) is entirely dependent on how long it takes them to master the content. So where does that leave us?

Honestly, that leaves us to look to what other states have done and hope that Iowa provides some suggested guidance. And those other states, they are providing little more than an educated guess. Here is what West Virgina has suggested. I like this because it shows a minimum amount of activity and a maximum amount that takes into consideration the varying grade levels. The guidance goes into further detail about the family and home context. 

Additionally, Indiana takes a similar approach, but instead suggests minimum time recommendations as opposed to a minimum and maximum. As you can see, there are some similarities as well as differences. 

If you would like to see what some additional states are suggesting, I might recommend checking out that Edsurge article referenced above and scroll about halfway down the page. No matter what we do, it will be imperative that we communicate clearly what our expectations are for teacher/family contact time and what the instructional day will look like. We don't want anyone to be surprised when we start the school year and if/when we have to deploy this model. And please keep in mind our overarching mantra as we roll into the new school year: flexibility is going to be the key. 

Meeting the Needs of All Students When We Return to Learn-Part Three

If you have read the first two parts to this series, I understand if you are overwhelmed, anxious, and even frustrated. Truth be told, we all are. While the cliches are becoming automatic responses, it is fitting to once again state the obvious: there is no blueprint with which to do this work. It has never happened before. Over and over again I have continued to make comments about the historic nature of the times we now find ourselves. I think today it is important to make another often overlooked point: we are incredibly resilient! There is absolutely no doubt our students and teachers will rise to this challenge and we will be able to make up for lost learning. 

Before we get into the meat of today’s article, I first want to point you to the Return to Learn section of our website which has gone live today and encourage you to bookmark it, as it will be further updated throughout the course of this summer. This page contains a repository of the resources we have been using in our planning. Here you will find a plethora of documents that hopefully will answer your questions: how teachers preparing for the school year, what mitigation efforts our schools are employing (coming soon), and what is the difference between hybrid and remote learning. You will also find quick and easy access to a summary document of our plan. Keep in mind this is designed to be a living breathing document. Admittedly a lot of what we have been discussing thus far is conceptual in nature. That's because conditions continue to change and the guidance we are receiving is fluid. As we get closer to the start of school more details will emerge. Right now, some details are sparse for two primary reasons: we are still learning, and a lot can change between now and August 24. What we know today, almost two months in advance of the start of the school year, is likely to be very different a month from now. While we are applying the lessons we learned this spring, we still certainly have a lot yet to learn. One critical missing piece right now is a description of the mitigation and safety procedures that will be in place for the start of the school year. We hope to have concrete steps in place by the end of July, but right now some of the guidance we are receiving is contradictory. This page also provides a place where you can pose questions. I envision this developing into a FAQ document.  

So lets begin with a brief review of where we have been.

In the first part of this series we discussed what works and what doesn't work. We learned that simply adding days to our school year is ineffective at best. The best approach is a multi-tiered system of supports that is tailored to meet the needs of our students utilizing just in time remediation. In part two of this series, we began to grapple with the nature of the problem facing us when students return. We talked not only about curriculum that wasn't covered, but also about the phenomenon know as 'COVID slide'. We also realized this isn't just an issue that we are dealing with at Hudson, or even the Cedar Valley. This was a nationwide; global shutdown. It is going to take some patience and perseverance but we are most definitely prepared for the work ahead!

Because there is no model in which to follow, the primary ingredient in our approach to instruction has to be centered around flexibility. As we begin school and start working with students, it may be necessary to adjust our plans and strategy. If we need to add days to the school year or time to the school calendar, we can do so when we have more data with which to make an informed decision. As the old saying goes, 'we need to keep our powder dry'. 

Our Approach

To start, let's get this question out of the way: we plan to start school with students in attendance at our brick and mortar buildings as scheduled on August 24th as originally planned.

We need to get our students back in school to determine where exactly they are in their continuum of learning. Luckily we already have systems in place that can be leveraged to provide us the needed data; those primarily being our FAST system. In those areas where FAST isn't appropriate, we'll rely on formative data teachers collect in their classrooms. This is going to be a delicate balancing act because in terms of their social and emotional well-being, we must provide our children with as normal of a start to the school year as possible. It would not be in anyone's best interest if we spend all our time in assessment. Then quite simply, we provide on-time instruction as we approach new learning. 

Over the course of the summer, our faculty at Hudson is fully engaged in preparations for the 2020-2021 academic year. While that work is multi-faceted, it also includes an evaluation and 'scaffolding up' of essential learning concepts. Think about it in this way: 

You should expect then, that students will be exposed to grade level curriculum. In other words, if your child is going to be in 4th grade, we will start the year with 4th grade curriculum. Likewise, students who are taking Physics will be exposed to that curriculum as opposed to curriculum that may not have been covered in Biology. As students progress through their continuum of learning, we will fill in those gaps as we approach new standards and expose those missed opportunities through our scaffolding up of essential learning skills.

Additionally, it is important to note that we already have a robust system in place that is designed specifically to meet this need. While originally designed as a program to assist in the completion of homework, we will retool and leverage our already successful After School Program. Our school day then, can be extended for students who need additional remediation. Working in collaboration with parents, we are prepared to extend the school day for those students who need additional support. This will provide us with a chance for teachers to work with small groups of students on an as needed basis to ensure they are exposed to the full comprehensive curriculum that is aligned to the Iowa Core Academic Standards.

Finally, this approach doesn't attempt to implement a 'one size fits all' solution across the entire student body. Instead, this plan affords maximum flexibility. It allows the district, working in collaboration with parents to make decisions about instruction as we progress through the school year. If we decide a more aggressive approach is needed, we can make that calibration strategically. Those adjustments could include such things as lengthening the school day later on in the school year, adding days on to the school calendar, or offering a targeted summer school program that encompasses multiple disciplines.