learnings from nj’s public charter schools during covid-19...agenda opening remarks from senator...
TRANSCRIPT
Learnings from NJ’s Public Charter Schools During COVID-19
May 19, 2020
Featuring leaders from:
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Agenda● Opening Remarks from Senator Teresa Ruiz & Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt
● NJPCSA: Charter Response Survey Results
● Uncommon Schools: Supporting middle school readers and writers virtually
● KIPP NJ: Supporting students and families with SEL resources during COVID-19
● Unity Charter School: Best practices for serving students with disabilities virtually
● iLearn Schools: Staying connected with teachers during iContinue Learning
NOTE: Chat has been disabled; please type in all questions in the Q/A box to be reviewed by panelists
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Senator Teresa Ruiz
● District 29: Newark● Senate President Pro Tempore● Senate 2008-present ● Committees: ➢ Education, Chair➢ Budget and Appropriations➢ Higher Education
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Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt
● District 6: Voorhees● Deputy Speaker● Assembly 2006-present ● Committees: ➢ Education, Chair➢ Financial Institutions and Insurance, Vice-Chair
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NJPCSA is a membership organization and the statewide advocacy voice for NJ’s 88 public charter schools and the 54,587 students that they serve.
Visit www.njcharters.org to learn more.
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NJPCSA Charter Response Survey
● Conducted April 22 to May 7
● 28 questions: distance learning, school meal distribution, and other challenges due to COVID-19
● Response Rate: 52 schools representing 36,157 (66%) of all public charter school students
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Public charter schools pivoted quickly to provide virtual instruction but technology costs remain a top concern
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• 83% of public charter schools had a virtual/online learning program up and running by March 17, the day school buildings were closed by Governor Murphy
• 67% of public charter schools had a 1:1 device program already in place prior to the pandemic; of the 67%, only 51% were 1:1 for all grade levels.
• $2.6 million spent on technology to provide access to families; 16,432devices, 6,259 hot spots distributed
• Schools are concerned that some devices may not be returnedor will need to be replaced in the fall
Public charter schools provided school meals directly or partnered with local districts to provide meals to families but some families are not accessing meals
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• Public charter schools are distributing approximately 46,000 meals per week to students and families.
• 44% of public charter schools are doing direct deliveries to families in need
• 42% of public charter schools have partnered with district schools to provide meals: Newark, Camden, Paterson, Jersey City, Hoboken, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Teaneck
• However, many schools report that the percentage of families accessing free meals on a regular basis is lower than expected
Attendance rates are high and public charter schools have prioritized connecting with students to ensure all children continue to learn
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• Public charter school average daily attendance rate: 91%• Charters are making sure they have ‘line of sight’ on their kids
✓ HOLA (Hoboken): “We have set up a student tracker and each student has a regular one on one with their teachers. For students who are struggling or have special needs, there are more one-on-ones scheduled.”
✓ Discovery CS (Newark): “We call every child each day, held parent orientations, have zoom office hours.”
✓ Philip’s Academy (Newark): “All 516 students have received wellness calls, our nurse conducts outreach, our admin team makes home visits, teachers report attendance daily and after 3 missed sessions an admin conducts outreach. We have a tracker to capture families impacted by COVID and a resource center (Nurse, Dean of Culture, Social Workers, Admin Team, Operations) is available to attend to customized needs and scenarios.”
94% of public charter schools are providing synchronous, real-time instruction to students at least several times per week
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Public charter schools continue to hold students to high expectations but have developed supports and flexibilities for those most impacted by COVID-19
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• 27% of public charters have moved to a Pass/Fail grading system; 73% continue to use number/letter grades with modifications
✓ Hatikvah (E. Brunswick): “We shifted to pass/fail in specials for students with IEPs who were struggling with the workload; for K-5, we decreased the number of standards we are assessing on the report cards in special subjects since they were not all observable in specials; for 6-8, we continued with the same grading.”
✓ Jersey City Global: “We are using the same methods we previously used; however we have provided teachers with flexibility in the grading systems, particularly as we have has many families that have suffered losses with COVID-19. Additionally our special area classes have moved to Pass/Fail.”
✓ Paul Robeson (Trenton): “Wide latitude of flexibility and understanding of individual situations but regular grading scale applies to assignments with extensive opportunities for make up work and no penalty for late assignments.”
Public charter teacher and staff roles and schedules have been ‘flexed’ in order to meet the needs of families during COVID-19
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• Foundation (Trenton): “Teachers actual teaching time has decreased, while checking work and office hours have increased.”
• Cresthaven (Plainfield): “Mandatory daily check-ins with students with disabilities and English learners.”
• Learning Community (Jersey City): “We provide tutoring throughout the day and early evening. We use our teacher interns from NJCU during the school day and faculty works after school until about 5:00 pm. We've fine-tuned this process even assigning interns to work with specific students that are struggling daily for one-hour sessions. This practice is making a huge difference and preventing students from failing.”
• College Achieve (Asbury Park): “Teachers work alternate schedules to provide night instruction for those students who are not able to login during the day.”
Severe challenges remain for all public schools in New Jersey
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• No matter how great your virtual learning program is, it is not a replacement for face-to-face in-building instruction
• Potential funding cuts (Districts and charters face looming budget cuts)• Schools need time to plan (Decisions for 2020-21 need to be made NOW)• Technology access remains fluid week-to-week (Delays in shipping laptops, devices are
more than 5 years old, weak wifi connections, parents have internet access one week and they don’t the next)
• Staffing (More flexibility is needed around certification and hiring)• Teachers have been doing the heavy lifting and need a break (“Our biggest challenge has
been helping our teachers and staff manage the responsibilities of distance learning and finding some work-life balance.”)
NJ’s Public Charter Schools:Uncommon, KIPP, Unity, iLearn
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Best Practices for Schools
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• Uncommon Schools (Steve Chiger): Supporting middle school
readers and writers virtually
• KIPP NJ (Sheyla Riaz): Supporting students and families with SEL
resources during COVID-19
• Unity Charter School (Connie Sanchez, Ashley Serafim): Best
practices for serving students with disabilities virtually
• iLearn Schools (Yanivis Hage): Staying connected with teachers
during iContinue Learning
Uncommon Schools in 2020
54schools
20,000+students
2,550staff members
6cities
Uncommon
Schools starts and
operates
outstanding
urban public
schools that close
the achievement
gap
and prepare
students from low-
income
communities
to graduate from
college.
https://uncommonschools.org/remotelearning 16
Camden• 2 Elementary Schools
• 1 Middle School
Rochester• 3 Elementary Schools
• 2 Middle Schools
• 1 High School
Newark• 6 Elementary Schools
• 6 Middle Schools
• 2 High Schools
Troy• 1 Elementary School
• 1 Middle School
• 1 High School
Boston• 3 Middle Schools
• 1 High School
New York City• 8 Elementary Schools
• 12 Middle Schools
• 4 High Schools
This year, we are 54 Uncommon schools in 6 cities.
https://uncommonschools.org/remotelearning 17
Uncommon’s Response to Remote Learning
15,000 K-8 instruction
workbooks distributed to
students and families
3,000 Chromebooks
distributed to MS and
HS students for online
learning
35,000 phone calls
to families, checking on
wellness, academics,
tech needs
Over 100 trainings to
leaders and staff to
prepare for remote and
online learning
160 ES and MS
instructional videos to kick
off online learning
8,000 HS lessons conducted online
https://uncommonschools.org/remotelearning 18
MS Literacy – Design Principles:
• something that is relatively easy to use and feels like class – teacher interactions, systems
• something that parents can manage
https://uncommonschools.org/remotelearning19
MS Literacy – Design Principles:
• something that’s as device agnostic as possible, not making limited computer access a non-
starter – (phones, TV, printers); USI is using asynchronous instruction for K-8, with synchronous
instruction for 9-12
• something that’s inclusive in terms of presenters, texts, and how we approach material
• something that’s sensitive to the fact that we are guests in our students’ homes
https://uncommonschools.org/remotelearning20
MS Literacy – Design Principles:
• something that reminds kids of the nurturing power of stories, and of reading and
writing;
• something that makes time for personal response to the curriculum and creative
writing, & isn’t just “lesson of the day”
https://uncommonschools.org/remotelearning21
MS Literacy – Design Principles:
• something that anticipates and tries to account for student struggles (in addition
to the resources we create with our special education team)
• something both rigorous and reasonable, given the limits of our first foray into
distance learning
https://uncommonschools.org/remotelearning22
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Mission: One day our nation will know Newark
and Camden, New Jersey, as cities of world-class
public education.
https://kippnj.org/coronavirusupdates/ 23
As of today in Newark (week
9 of remote learning) we
have distributed:
o + 3,000 chromebooks
o 38 hotspots
o 29,823 meals
March 16 - We transitioned to
remote/virtual learning
Two weeks into remote
learning stats:
https://kippnj.org/coronavirusupdates/ 24
Supporting students and families with social
and emotional learning (SEL) resources during
COVID-19
Tier 1: Think Maslow and start with basic needs
• Weekly check-ins to identify needs
• Access to weekly grocery distribution (+
deliveries)
• Linkage to community resources (housing,
employment, health)
https://kippnj.org/coronavirusupdates/ 25
Supporting students and families with social and
emotional learning (SEL) resources during COVID-19
Tier 1 & 2: Social and Emotional Supports
• Assessing wellness and building resilience through
guided check-in questions (The Circle of Courage –
www.starr.org)
• Creating Wellness Google Classrooms and adding SEL
content to existing classrooms (ie. mood meters,
breathing exercises, brain breaks, emotion focused
stories)
• Providing education to key stakeholders
(parents/guardians and school staff) on how to best
support students through the pandemic via virtual
professional development, town halls, electronic linkage
to community resources, etc.
Belonging: Who have you
connected with today? Tell me
about that!
Mastery: What are your
strengths today/this week?
What went well?
Independence: What did you
have control over today? What
choices are in your power to
make?
Generosity: We are all doing
our part by staying home,
washing our hands and
showing kindness to those
around us. How did you
contribute to that today? How
did it feel to do that?
https://kippnj.org/coronavirusupdates/ 26
Supporting students and families with social
and emotional learning (SEL) resources during
COVID-19
Tier 3: Counseling & Community Linkage
• Virtual counseling groups (type of groups
offered include grief, mood management,
anxiety regulation, self care & mindfulness)
• Virtual individual counseling sessions
• Parenting sessions
• Community linkage and referrals (community
providers are continuing their work through
telehealth)
• Crisis response and triage
https://kippnj.org/coronavirusupdates/ 27
Grade Levels: K-8
Total Enrollment:
236
Special Education
Enrollment: 20.34%
Response to Virtual School
Setting the stage - Parent Education/Phone Calls
Regular communication – Team Meetings/ILT/Whole Staff
No one Slips through
Educating the parents
Best Practices for Serving Students with Disabilities Virtually
One- on- One Assistants
Complete Modifications– Mailed assignments
Best Practices for Serving Students with Disabilities Virtually
IEP
• Meetings held virtually
• Google Meet
Related Services
• Speech, OT, PT
• Counseling
Team
• Weekly meeting
• Share best practices
Best Practices for Serving Students with Disabilities Virtually
• Enrichment activities promote critical
thinking and problem-solving skills,
improve student’s ability to
concentrate, and make learning more
meaningful, valuable, and rewarding
• Flexible Fridays – Meeting with
teacher’s 1 on 1
• Extended time
Best Practices for Serving Students with Disabilities Virtually
Live Classes
Flipped Class Model - Pre-
recorded lessons
Collaboration and
ModificationsSocial Hour
https://ilearnschools.org/covid-19-preparedness-plan/
The mission of iLearn Schools is to provide a
high-quality STEAM-based education in a
digital learning environment to empower
students to meet and surpass grade level
standards and succeed in college and careers.
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https://ilearnschools.org/covid-19-preparedness-plan/35
iContinue LearningiEnroll
iCare
https://ilearnschools.org/covid-19-preparedness-plan/36
iContinue Supporting Teachers- Resources
https://ilearnschools.org/covid-19-preparedness-plan/37
iContinue Learning
iContinue Supporting Teachers: Professional Development & Faculty Meetings
Virtual Professional
Development Virtual Faculty
Meetings
https://ilearnschools.org/covid-19-preparedness-plan/38
iContinue Learning
iContinue Supporting Teachers- Instructional Support
Weekly Virtual PLCS iContinue MentoringInstructional Coaching
Sessions
https://ilearnschools.org/covid-19-preparedness-plan/39
iContinue Learning
Contacts:
NJPCSA: Harry Lee <[email protected]> Uncommon Schools: Steve Chiger <[email protected]>KIPP NJ: Sheyla Riaz <[email protected]>Unity CS: Connie Sanchez <[email protected] Schools: Yanivis Hage <[email protected]>
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Thank you for joining our webinar!