COVID-19: Support for Learning Acceleration

REL West Webinar: Engaging Parents and Students from Diverse Populations in the Context of Distance Learning

Without opportunities to interact in person, it is essential that educators, students, and their caregivers see themselves and each other as equal partners in the context of distance learning. This free, one-hour webinar focuses on state, district, and school-based strategies, including practicing cultural responsiveness and establishing two-way communication, to support diverse learners and their families during the coronavirus crisis.

Resource Type:

Webinar

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Crisis Response Resource: Meeting the Learning Needs of Historically Underserved Students During and After California School Closures

Written primarily for district and school leaders, this paper produced by WestEd offers important considerations for keeping a focus on diverse student groups not just during this initial period of distance learning but, also, in planning for the 2020/21 school year and beyond. This paper addresses core areas of instruction, technology infrastructure, policies and practices, ongoing data collection, implementation, and family engagement.

Resource Type:

Resource Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

REL West: Preventing Student Absenteeism During COVID-19

With high school graduation rates up and dropout rates down over the past decade, educators are concerned that school closures could impact this progress. REL West’s BethAnn Berliner spoke with one of the nation’s leading dropout prevention scholars, Dr. Russell W. Rumberger, to discuss strategies to keeping all students engaged and moving forward.

Resource Type:

Insights

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Distance Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Distance learning during a global pandemic has no precedent. It is a learning context with no perfectly aligned research to guide our way. To support the world’s educators and students learning at distance during COVID-19 isolation, here are five principles for educators to consider.

Resource Type:

WestEd Insights

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

REL West FAQ on Safety in Digital Learning Environments

As more teachers and students participate in remote learning, it’s more important than ever to promote safe use of digital tools. Educators, students, and families can take actions to protect against disruptions, ensuring digital environments remain secure. REL West researchers are here to help with tips for creating safe and secure virtual learning opportunities, improving digital citizenship during remote learning, protecting student privacy, and securing permissions from parents and guardians.

Resource Type:

WestEd Insights

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

ESSA Requirements and Distance Learning: New Tools to Support Learning

Given the current challenges districts and schools are facing with COVID-19 and a quick pivot to distance learning, these new tools developed by REL West, in collaboration with the other nine RELs, help educators determine if a particular approach is evidence-based and what ESSA level of evidence it meets. In particular, the Accessing & Assessing Research and Evidence tool can be helpful when trying to find a new evidence-based online or distance learning option.

Resource Type:

WestEd Insights

Audience(s):

Administrators, Policymakers

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Early Childhood

Caring for Young Children While Sheltering in Place

Are you caring for a young child or children at your home? Do parents in your community need some help thinking of ideas for fun, engaging activities? This comprehensive activity guide provides quick access to tips and activities to use with children, aged birth to five, throughout the day.

Resource Type:

Research Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Early Childhood Professionals

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Part I: Taking Care of the Children – Six Sets of Resources

California MAP to Inclusion & Belonging…Making Access Possible Coronavirus Part 1

The mission of California MAP to Inclusion & Belonging…Making Access Possible is to create a statewide system of support, training, and resources that gives all families and providers barrier-free access to inclusive childcare. With partnership from WestEd, Taking Care of the Children – Six Sets of Resources is the first in a series of newsletters that gathers helpful information and resources to support early learning and care providers and families during the Coronavirus crisis. Content emphasizes the specific needs of children with disabilities.

Resource Type:

Newsletter

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Part 2: Resources for Professionals Working During the Pandemic

California MAP to Inclusion & Belonging…Making Access Possible Coronavirus Part 2

California MAP to Inclusion & Belonging…Making Access Possible, in partnership with WestEd, presents the second newsletter in a series. The focus of Resources for Professionals Working During the Pandemic is to provide timely tools and solutions to serve children of essential workers, while also highlighting early intervention and early childhood special education support related to distance learning.

Resource Type:

Newsletter

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

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English Learners

Effective Questioning in Grades K-2: The Development of Oral Language in a Distance Learning Environment

As part of a webinar series designed to support English Language Learners in distance learning settings, this installment introduces oral language development and its importance for English learners, suggests strategies to help educators design engaging questions using grade-level texts and increase opportunities for student talk in distance learning environments.

Resource Type:

Resource Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Webinar Series: Supporting Multilingual and English Learner Students During Distance Learning

This 13-part webinar series addresses the ways educators can support multilingual and English learner students in the context of distance learning settings. Topics include: supporting young English learners with language and literacy development, lesson planning for distance learning environments, family engagement, analyzing text themes, effective questioning, activities for developing English learners’ oral language skills through peer interaction and by engaging in the learning and doing of math, science, and engineering.

Resource Type:

Webinar

Audience(s):

Teachers, ELL Directors

Crisis Response Resource: Supporting English Learners During School Closures

This brief is designed to help educators make the critical shift from in-person learning to distance learning to support English learner students. The brief identifies and explains the value of four key practices known to be effective in meeting the instructional needs of English learner students, and provides guidance for how these practices might be applied in different types of distance learning contexts.

Resource Type:

Resource Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

How Educators Can Support English Learner Students in Distance Learning

As distance learning becomes the “new normal,” the Quality Teaching for English Learners initiative at WestEd offers suggestions for providing rigorous, well-supported content instruction with ample opportunities for language and critical skills development for students who are English learners.

Resource Type:

Insights

Audience(s):

Teachers, ELL Directors

Webinar Series: Supporting Multilingual and English Learner Students During Distance Learning

Sponsored by the Region 15 Comprehensive Center at WestEd, in collaboration with the California Teachers Association, and the California Department of Education, this webinar series addresses the ways educators can support multilingual and English learner students in distance learning.

Resource Type:

Webinar

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Building Capacity for School Success in Families of Young English Learner Students

This REL West archived webinar directly addresses the foundational knowledge of successful, evidence-based home-school partnerships. Presenters and practitioners discuss activities that can create a linguistically rich home learning environment to support young English learner students.

Resource Type:

Archived Webinar

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Structuring Meaningful Home-School Partnerships With Families of Young English Learner Students

Children and families benefit when families take part in a child’s early learning, both inside the classroom and at home. But getting involved can be challenging for many families. Watch this REL West webinar to learn about a research-based family engagement framework. This webinar provides context for a part two webinar specific to promoting positive home-school partnerships in distance learning environments.

Resource Type:

Archived Webinar

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Have a Question? Ask a REL

Do you have a question about a topic related to English Learner students–or any other education topic? Ask us! Ask A REL is a collaborative reference desk service that operates much in the same way as a technical reference library. Submit your question by email to relwest@wested.org and it will route to researchers from REL West, who will provide research and resources.

Resource Type:

Free Service

Audience(s):

Administrators, Policymakers

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Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities’

Mindfulness-Based Practices for Schools

This WestEd brief, developed for the California Department of Education, describes what administrators and teachers can do now to promote the benefits of mindfulness, a promising, evidence-based approach to helping educators and students develop self-awareness and self-regulation skills that are associated with success in school and through adulthood.

Resource Type:

Resource Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Strategies for Trauma-Informed Distance Learning

To help educators use trauma-informed teaching practices in distance learning contexts, this brief offers strategies for recognizing and responding to students’ social and emotional needs while teaching remotely, organized around neuroscientist Bruce Perry’s “3 Rs” approach to interventions: “Regulate, Relate and Reason.”

Resource Type:

Resource Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators, LEAs, Superintendents

Crisis Response Resource: Community-Care Strategies for Schools During the Coronavirus Crisis

During the coronavirus pandemic, schools must find remote ways to continue providing learning and enrichment opportunities for students while also remaining committed to the social and emotional needs of entire school communities. The brief includes sections on maintaining community and connectedness for staff, students, and families, and on identifying those most in need of extra support. It also provides some brief “tech tips” for online community building.

Resource Type:

Resource Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Crisis Response Resource: Self-Care Strategies for Educators During the Coronavirus Crisis

Produced by WestEd’s leaders in social and emotional learning research, this brief builds on a growing research base about self-care, with sections on healthy mindsets and behaviors; identity, connectedness, and belonging; healthy boundaries and interactions; and when to seek help. The guidance aims to help educators attend to self-care so that they, in turn, can most effectively continue to educate and support those who depend on them.

Resource Type:

Resource brief

Audience(s):

Teachers

REL West: Strategies for Districts to Support Self-Care for Educators During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This archived webinar discusses the importance of self-care for educators during the coronavirus pandemic, addressing areas related to maintaining healthy mindsets, encouraging connectedness and belonging, and establishing realistic boundaries and interactions. This archived webinar is the first in a three-part series hosted by REL West, the Region 15 Comprehensive Center, and the Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety.

Resource Type:

Webinar

Audience(s):

Teachers, Superintendents

Mindfulness in Education: An Approach to Cultivating Self-Awareness That Can Bolster Kids’ Learning

The Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety at WestEd presents a timely brief that introduces mindfulness, provides examples of mindfulness strategies, and explains the potential, practical benefits for both students and educators during this challenging time.

Resource Type:

Resource Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators, Parents

Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety COVID-19 Resources

The Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety is creating and compiling resources to support states, districts, and schools as they serve students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics include managing stress, mindfulness for teachers and students, supporting students coping with grief, and more.

Resource Type:

Website

Audience(s):

Administrators

How Schools Ensure Social Connections During Physical Isolation

Every community in America has turned to schools to sustain relationships and connectedness during the COVID-19 crisis. View this archived webinar to explore the practical realities and research foundations of how distance learning offers both opportunities, and imperatives, to re-establish relationships during school closure — and learn some of the new ways that students, parents, and educators are connecting to advance the work of schools.

Resource Type:

Archived Webinar

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

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Online Professional Development

Online Professional Development Resources for Behavior and Classroom Management Implementation

This archived webinar highlights free, online professional development modules and instructional resources to help educators implement and sustain classroom management and behavioral interventions. While students are engaged in distance learning in response to COVID-19, some content may be applicable to online learning environments and student dynamics.

Resource Type:

Archived Webinar

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Converting In-Person Activities to Engaging Distance Learning Opportunities

Many of the strategies educators and leaders use during in-person settings can also be used in the distance learning environment — learning objectives need to be adjusted and the activities might need a bit of alteration. This Insights post describes how to shift from seven common in-person scenarios — such as introductions and ice-breakers — to the digital environment.

Resource Type:

WestEd Insights

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

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Resource Planning & Management

Special Education Funding: Three Critical Moves State Policymakers Can Make to Maintain Funding and Bolster Performance

The brief guides policymakers to reaffirm the state’s commitment to educating students with disabilities, to use state policy to promote early intervention and to coordinate services, and to leverage flexibility in using federal and state special education funds.

Resource Type:

Policy Perspectives

Audience(s):

Policymakers

Loosening The Reins: Evidence and Considerations for Lifting Restrictions on Resources for Schools

This brief offers critical moves state policymakers can make to find the right balance between state control versus more local control during an economic recession.

Resource Type:

Policy Perspectives

Audience(s):

Policymakers

Policy Perspective: Fair and Equitable Reductions to State Education Budgets: Evidence and Considerations for the 2020/21 Fiscal Year

This newly released paper produced by WestEd explores the impact of a nearly inevitable economic recession and contraction in state revenues, including funding for public education. Written primarily for policymakers, this paper aims to provide districts and states making budget-cutting calculations with lessons learned from previous policy decisions which unintentionally exacerbated funding inequalities between lower- and higher-wealth school districts across the country. It also presents important research-based considerations about how funding and resource allocation affect the academic achievement of the country’s most vulnerable populations.

Resource Type:

Policy Perspectives

Audience(s):

Policymakers

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Science & Mathematics

“We’re All In This Together”: Carnegie Math Pathways Helps Educators Transition to Distance Learning Amid COVID-19

Carnegie Math Pathways is helping its national network of math faculty with the abrupt transition to distance learning. In addition to facilitating collaboration and offering resources and guidance, the Pathways team have “helped with setting expectations — what are some realistic goals for transitioning to distance learning on a dime in the midst of a crisis,” says executive director Karon Klipple.

Resource Type:

Website

Audience(s):

Administrators, Policymakers

Free Sample Lessons: Math Pathways & Pitfalls

Math Pathway & Pitfalls helps students tackle stubborn math pitfalls head-on, transforming challenges into pathways for learning. Download free sample lessons for elementary and middle school students and their families to support improved learning. Lessons are appropriate for supplemental use during distance learning.

Resource Type:

Lessons

Audience(s):

Teachers, Parents, Students

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Special Education

Crisis Response Resource: Considerations for Teachers Providing Distance Learning to Students with Disabilities

Because students with disabilities, like all students, have a range of needs, teachers will need to consider how best to support each student’s unique situation. This brief will help teachers consider key areas that are imperative to teaching and learning for students with disabilities.

Resource Type:

Resource Brief

Audience(s):

Teachers, Administrators

Resource Planning for Students with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This archived webinar will discuss how to manage resource identification and allocation to ensure the needs of students with disabilities are appropriately addressed and help you maximize resources to improve outcomes for all students.

Resource Type:

Archived Webinar

Audience(s):

Administrators, Special Ed Directors