Engage stakeholders across your education community to fully understand the needs of your system and respond with staffing, technology, scheduling and continuous improvement processes that create the conditions for acceleration of learning.
System Conditions: Overview of Accelerated Learning Series
Matthew Stem, Deputy Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education in the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) provides an overview of the resources, tools, and professional development opportunities that are part of the Accelerated Learning Series.
System Conditions: What Administrators need to know about Family Engagement
This webinar for administrators will present a deep dive into Family Engagement from multiple perspectives. We will examine family engagement research, strategies, and best practices that can be implemented in a variety of different settings. This session examines the principles and importance of stakeholder engagement in the decision-making process. It presents schools with a set of tips and tools to consider when engaging stakeholders in the process of planning for the 2021-222 school year and beyond.
- Recorded Webinar - Systems Conditions: What Administrators Need to Know about Family Engagement (YouTube)
System Conditions: Framing Community Conversations
As LEAs launch the planning process for SY 2021-22, they will be faced with a myriad of decisions about health and safety, staff and student wellbeing, and academics. With these high-stakes decisions ahead, it will be critical that the needs of students and families – especially those affected most by the pandemic – and the voices of teachers and leaders are incorporated into structures and decisions. During this webinar, participants explored what it means to authentically engage stakeholders in the planning process and worked through a step-by-step process and supporting tools from TNTP's COVID-19 Response Toolkit (YouTube) that can be used to organize stakeholder their engagement efforts.
- Recorded Webinar - Systems Conditions: Framing Community Conversations (YouTube)
- Systems Conditions: Framing Community Conversations Presentations (PDF)
System Conditions: Scheduling - Lessons Learned from Scheduling and Transitions Across Learning Environments Over the Past Year
A panel of educational leaders from a broad range of school settings discuss scheduling and transitions. What worked… What didn't. How they communicated with their stakeholders, and their best advice for looking ahead to the 2021-2022 school year.
- Recorded Webinar - Systems Conditions: Scheduling - Lessons Learned from Scheduling and Transitions Over the Last Year (YouTube)
- Systems Conditions: Scheduling - Lessons Learned from Scheduling and Transitions Over the Last Year Presentation (PDF)
System Conditions: Stakeholder Mapping
Building systems that promote ongoing two-way communication and partnerships with educators, families, and students are crucial throughout any planning process. This session considers decision-making as a planful, inclusive, and transparent way to build community support for LEA improvement strategies.
System Conditions: Developing District-Wide Procedures for Online and Hybrid Learning Programs
The COVID-19 pandemic forced school districts to quickly launch emergency, online, hybrid, and remote learning programs. This session examines lessons learned from COVID-19 emergency education programs and shares tools and resources to help schools successfully shift from emergency remote learning programs to sustainable, robust online and hybrid learning academies that maximize student learning.
- Recorded Webinar - Systems Conditions: Developing Districtwide Procedures for Online and Hybrid Learning Programs (YouTube)
- Systems Conditions: Developing Districtwide Procedures for Online and Hybrid Learning Programs Presentation (PDF)
Systems Conditions: Implementation and Monitoring Routines
This session will provide participants with a cycle and tools to effectively monitor action plans, implementation, and goals. The purpose of these routines is to collaborate and calibrate, monitor performance, determine gaps, diagnose problems, and develop solutions. Additionally, school leaders who are currently utilizing these routines will discuss both the strengths and challenges of implementing routines.
Staffing: Assessing Educators' Capacity and Needs Re: Effectively Teaching for Accelerated Learning
This session will provide school administrators with six goals for accelerating student learning, and ways in which staff capacity to achieve these goals can be measured. In achieving these goals, student experiences in school will lead to accelerated student learning for all.
- Recorded Webinar - Staffing: Assessing Educators’ Capacity and Needs Re: Effectively Teaching for Accelerated Learning (YouTube)
- Staffing: Assessing Educators’ Capacity and Needs Re: Effectively Teaching for Accelerated Learning Presentation (PDF)
Staffing: Staff Wellness and Working Climate/Conditions
This synchronous session, participants will learn how organizational climate is connected to organizational self-care and how a positive organizational climate can affect staff retention, absenteeism, and effectiveness. A framework and resources for supporting staff and organizational self-care will be presented in a way that immediately allows for implementation to positively effect change in an organization.
- Recorded Webinar - Staffing: Staff Wellness and Working Climate/Conditions (YouTube)
- Systems Condition, Staffing - Staff Wellness and Working Climate Presentation (PDF)
- Resources from Staff Wellness and Working Climate Webinar
Staffing: Mentoring and Induction
In this synchronous session, participants will learn about effective practices for selecting, training and supporting mentors; evaluating mentoring and induction programs; and adjusting programs as needed. Panelists from Pennsylvania LEAs will describe their experiences and provide advice. Participants will discuss experiences, challenges and solutions in breakout rooms.
Systems Conditions: Recruitment, Hiring and Training of Extended Learning Opportunities
This asynchronous webinar shares effective practices and resources for recruiting, hiring and training tutors and other staff for extended learning—and for monitoring the effectiveness of staff in these programs.
NOTE: links shared that take users beyond the Pennsylvania Department of Education's website to a non-PDE website, organization, product, process, service, manufacturer, or company do not constitute endorsement or recommendation by PDE, and, PDE is not responsible for the content featured on any of the sites or pages referenced. Educators should be mindful of digital resources that require teachers or students to create online accounts. Please check with district policies and consider HIPPA, FERPA, and COPPA laws with regards to student privacy BEFORE implementing any of these resources.
Strategies to Promote Safety/Wellness Online and at Home
Maintain norms and routines to the greatest extent possible
- Edutopia: Extending Classroom Management Online
- Huffington Post: sample at-home learning schedules
- Healthychildren.org: Family Media Plan
Provide age/role appropriate information to caregivers and children
Online safety and digital citizenship
- Applied Educational Systems digital citizenship resources
- REMS Guidance on Online Safety Considerations for K-12 School Districts
Ensure safe homes and workspaces
Attend to physical and emotional safety needs through tiered systems of community support
- National Traumatic Stress Network: Coping in Hard Times Together
- 211 essential services referral line
Support Strategies for Children, Families and Remote Teachers
Physical supports
Feeding and other services in conjunction with local service agencies
Exercise and wellness activities
- Healthy Kids Healthy Future website
- Move Your Way
- Nemours Kids Health in the Classroom
- PE Central
- Common Sense Media "Best Nutrition Health and Fitness Apps"
Technology/connectivity
Mental and behavioral health supports
Implement self-care routines for adults
- America Meditating Radio
- American Psychological Association: Building Your Resilience
- Developing Your Self-Care Plan
- Mindful Teachers Self-care Resources
- SafeSpace: Resources and Tools to Create an Emotionally Safe Environment
- SAMHSA: Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health
- Teacher Well-Being Workbook
Provide developmentally appropriate information and support
- National Council on Family Relations' list of resources on how to talk to children about tragedies
- National Institutes of Mental Health: Health Children and Adolescents Cope with Natural Disasters and Other Traumatic Events
- NAESP Helping Kids Cope with Tragedy (PDF)
- NASP Large-Scale Natural Disasters: Helping Kids Cope
Conduct periodic check-ins with students who have known needs
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Strategies for Children
Resources for adults on modeling and promoting social emotional learning in the home
- PA Career Ready Skills: Implementation: Specific Practices and Strategies
- CASEL Signature Practices Playbook (PDF)
- Learning Heroes for Parents
- Parent's Guide to SEL
Recorded SEL or mindfulness videos (examples only)
- 8 Amazing Videos to Teach and Practice Mindfulness with Kids
- 5 Incredibly Fun GAMES to Teach Self-Regulation (YouTube)
- Sesame Street: Empathy (YouTube)
- Social and Emotional Learning: What is SEL and Why It Matters (YouTube)
- Yale Emotional Intelligence: Emotion Words (YouTube)
Online Story Times (examples only)
Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Remotely (examples only)
- PDE: Staff and Student Wellness Guide
- PDE: Accelerated Learning: Development of Positive Learning Environments
- PDE: Self-Care Resources
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: COVID-19 Resource and Information Guide
- CA: Help
Resources for Staff Wellness
- Organizational Self-Care Checklist
- Compassion resilience toolkit for school leaders and staff
- National Child Traumatic Stress Network: Resources for Secondary Traumatic Stress:
- DOE: Trauma-Sensitive School Training Package: Secondary Traumatic Stress and Self-Care Packet (PDF)
- CDC: School Employee Wellness
- CA: Help
- Center on Great Teachers & Leaders: educator self-care assessment and planning tool (PDF)
Virtual Calming Room Examples
- School District of Haverford Township
- Elementary Virtual Calming Room: Penn-Delco School District
- Phoenixville Area High School Virtual Calming Room
- Donegal Junior High School Virtual Calming Room
- Kutztown Area School District Virtual Calming Room
- Virtual Stillness Space
- Capital Area Intermediate Unit Virtual Wellness
References
- Center for State & Local Government Excellence at ICMA-RC (2021). Survey Findings: K-12 Public School Employee Views on Finances, Employment Outlook, and Safety Concerns Due to COVID-19.
- Pennsylvania Department of Education (2020). Empowerment Through Common Language in Pennsylvania: A Dictionary of Terms Related to Trauma-Informed Approaches in Schools (PDF).
- Pennsylvania Department of Education (2020). Equitable Practices Hub.
- Wisconsin Initiative for Stigma. Compassion Resilience Toolkit for School Leaders and Staff.