Educators are currently focused on preventing and mitigating regression for all students, especially students with disabilities, due to school closures nationwide. In the first installment in our COVID-19 Response Video Series, Rorie Fitzpatrick, Senior Program Director of Special Education Policy and Practice at WestEd, discusses why now is the time to pivot away from the focus on mitigating regression to adopt a more future-oriented stance. She offers three key actions state and local education agencies might consider in order to support students with disabilities who are learning from home now and tips to ensure success once students return to the traditional classroom format.

State and local education agencies might think about:

  1. Assessing what students’ performance looks like right at this moment
  2. Implementing immediate, near-term intensive interventions
  3. Planning long-term instructional strategies that add value for all learners, including learners with disabilities

View the full video with Rorie Fitzpatrick below.

 

Our COVID-19 Response Video Series features WestEd experts and thought leaders identifying, for their respective fields, some key issues to which policymakers, practitioners, or leaders should pay special attention as they move through the COVID-19 crisis.

Stay tuned for more insights from our thought leaders that will focus on juvenile justice and prevention, education equity, early childhood, social and emotional learning, and more.

For more information, visit our COVID-19 Resources web page.