5 Ways to Prioritize Diverse Learner Families in Your Remote Learning Plans
By Cristina Villarreal Smith, DLC Engagement Specialist
As school leaders plan to start the school year remotely, health concerns, technology access, and teacher preparation are all top of mind. One area of planning that can get left behind in the sudden shift to remote learning is how schools will consider and include the unique needs of students with disabilities and English learners. The key to finding solutions that work is to prioritize the families of diverse learners in the planning process. Never has it been more critical to solicit parent perspectives and allow them to inform school practice in order to ensure the success of students. Below are five ways that school leaders and teachers can prioritize diverse learner families in their remote learning plans.
Ask parents about their experience.
Ask parents about their experience during school closure in the spring and about their experiences over the summer. What worked well for them and what didn’t? How did they spend their summer? Research by the Flamboyan Foundation found that intentionally connecting with parents around the following questions led to greater family engagement and student outcomes.
“Tell me about your child’s experiences in school. Tell me about yours.”
“Tell me your hopes and dreams for your child’s future.”
“What do you want your child to be someday?”
“What do I need to do to help your child learn more effectively?”
When we seek to understand families’ experiences and hopes for their children, we not only gain knowledge to inform school practice but also communicate to families that their voice matters. Ensure that there are ways to communicate (back and forth) with families in their most familiar languages - further ensuring that they are contributors to their child’s school experience.
Give diverse learner families a seat at the planning table.
Do you have an advocate for diverse learners at your table as you make plans to begin school again in the fall? Invite special education and English learner teachers to this table, as well as families of students with disabilities or English learners as contributors to the conversation. This might look like including families on the communications team, the health and safety task force, or ad hoc solutions-finding committees.
Get parent input on the plan.
While it’s easier to survey parents on the front end, asking for honest feedback after weeks have gone into creating a plan can be daunting. The benefit, though, is that parents can let you know how likely it is to work for their children. Foreseeable challenges and potential solutions can be discussed earlier rather than later. While no plan is going to be perfect this year, creating a strong working relationship with families is going to elicit greater support of school plans and better outcomes for students.
Create clear two-way communication channels for parents.
With new information being released weekly and sometimes daily, it’s critical that parents know where to go to get the most updated information and who to go to if/when they have questions. We may assume that just because information was sent out via one medium - an automated call, an email, or website update - that everyone received the information and understands it. Just like we present messages to our students in a variety of ways, so too should we communicate with families in a variety of ways. Families must always know where to go to get the most updated information and have easy ways to contact their child’s teacher and school when questions arise.
Equip and empower families to support their children during remote learning.
Parents and caregivers are going to be on the frontlines of their children’s academic journeys this year. What do they need to know to set their students up for success? Ask parents what they need. Be prepared to share any strategies, resources, and training that will support them in their newly acquired role as learning facilitator. Some ideas to share could include:
Practical strategies for setting up a learning environment in the home
Clear instructions for technology access and support
What to do if their child doesn’t understand the lesson
How to address challenging behaviors at home
While there is much being asked of school leaders and teachers this year, we should also remember all that is now required of families. Teachers want their students to succeed; let’s not forget that parents want this success for their children even more. By prioritizing the families of students with disabilities and English learners, we can positively impact not only diverse learners but all students toward success this school year.
As you continue to brainstorm and find the best ways to include families in your reentry planning, here are some resources that may be valuable to your team:
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