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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Resources referenced in Staff Wellness and Working Climate Webinar Self-Care During COVID-19

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

Provide age/role appropriate information to caregivers and children

Online safety and digital citizenship

Ensure safe homes and workspaces

Attend to physical and emotional safety needs through tiered systems of community support

Support Strategies for Children, Families and Remote Teachers

Physical supports

Feeding and other services in conjunction with local service agencies

​Exercise and wellness activities

Technology/connectivity

Mental and behavioral health supports

Implement self-care routines for adults

Provide developmentally appropriate information and support

​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

Recorded SEL or mindfulness videos (examples only)

Online Story Times (examples only)

Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Remotely (examples only)

Resources for Staff Wellness

Virtual Calming Room Examples

References