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.
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