Strong Start Implementation Status: Winter 2021 Update Report

Strong Start Implementation Status:

Winter 2021 Update Report

January 2021

Strong Start Implementation Status – Winter 2021 i

Contents

Strong Start Implementation Status: ............................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 1

Focus Groups ................................................................................................................................................................. 1

Strong Start Winter Survey ........................................................................................................................................... 2

Executive Summary: Key Findings and Recommendations Based on Stakeholder Feedback .............. 3

Key strengths and successes based on our stakeholder feedback include: ........................................................... 3

Key opportunities for growth include: ....................................................................................................................... 3

LDOE Response ................................................................................................................................................ 5

Upcoming LDOE supports .......................................................................................................................................... 6

Section I: High-level Takeaways and Recommendations from Louisiana Strong Start 2020 Winter Focus Groups ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Findings ............................................................................................................................................................... 9

Virtual learning lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC ................................................................................................................................................................ 9

Learning Modes Transition lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC ...................................................................................................................................... 9

Core Academics lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC ......................................................................................................................................................... 10

Mental Health & Well-being lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC .................................................................................................................................... 11

Communication lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC ......................................................................................................................................................... 11

Section II: High-level Takeaways from the Louisiana Strong Start 2020 Winter Survey ...................... 15

Survey Main Findings .................................................................................................................................................. 15

Appendix A: Focus Group Questions ̶ Educators ................................................................................... 17

Appendix B: Focus Group Questions ̶ Parents ........................................................................................ 23

Appendix C: Focus Group Questions ̶ Students ...................................................................................... 29

Appendix D: Survey Findings by Question ................................................................................................. 35

Academic Needs & Gaps ............................................................................................................................................ 36

Diverse Needs & Mental Health ................................................................................................................................ 41

LEA Systems ................................................................................................................................................................. 43

General Experience ...................................................................................................................................................... 49

Appendix E: The Region 14 Comprehensive Center ................................................................................. 56

Strong Start Implementation Status – Winter 2021 1

Introduction

The Louisiana Department of Education has worked to help educators ensure a strong start and finish to the current school year. The agency feels that it is important to stay connected to Louisiana students, families, teachers, and leaders. They have prioritized listening and learning from the experiences of stakeholders during this most challenging school year. State Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley and his team at the LDOE have continued their practices of outreach and seeking feedback. This has included meeting with students, families, educators, and school system leaders. Dr. Brumley led multiple school reopening webinars that regularly attracted over 800 school and system leaders and started a monthly virtual roundtable for school system leaders across the state. He also created the Office of School System Relations to bolster support and maintain two-way communication between the agency and schools. Department leadership regularly attends virtual and in-person meetings of Louisiana teachers, administrators, and school system leaders. Throughout the reopening process, the LDOE processed over 10,500 school reopening support emails. The agency also facilitated a dozen bi-weekly virtual town hall meetings with Children’s Hospital New Orleans for educators and families. The LDOE enhanced its communications structures to include more targeted office hours and team-specific monthly calls, and a chief academic officers roundtable. Statewide working groups were also created in key areas of support for school system leaders to share progress, provide feedback to LDOE on current and future resources, and keep LDOE updated on statewide implementation measures. This report is one of the many ways the Louisiana Department of Education continues to engage stakeholders. It includes data from 46 focus group sessions conducted with a total of 216 stakeholders in November and December of 2020, as well as the results of the LDOE’s Strong Start Winter Survey completed by 281 school systems. This document reports on the findings from the second Strong Start survey (winter) as well as the focus groups.

Focus Groups

In October 2020, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) directed the LDOE to provide a report on lessons learned in regard to virtual learning. This was to include feedback from educators, students, and families that would help inform future decisions around support and policy. The LDOE partnered with the Region 14 Comprehensive Center (Region 14 CC), managed by Westat, to conduct focus groups with stakeholders from across the state. The experiences collected from these 216 individuals will help the LDOE understand their viewpoints during this unprecedented time for education. Combined with the LDOE’s other feedback mechanisms, the data from these 46 focus group sessions offer additional insight about successes and opportunities for improvement.


Strong Start Winter Survey

The LDOE created the Strong Start 2020 Implementation Survey series to help understand the needs of our leaders, educators, students, and families. These surveys collect data to capture school system plans aligned to Strong Start 2020, understand the experiences of Louisiana students and educators, inform decisions about supports needed for school systems, and to share that information with various stakeholders. The survey will be administered three times in 2020-21: completed once in the fall, completed once in the winter and to be completed once in the spring. While each survey will align with the Strong Start Planning Priorities, the questions in each survey will adapt to the landscape of data able to be collected at each point in time as well as the LDOE’s implementation priorities.


Executive Summary: Key Findings and Recommendations Based on Stakeholder Feedback

The Region 14 CC (see Appendix E for further information) was tasked with conducting an analysis of Louisiana’s experience with closing and reopening schools in 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. LDOE’s Strong Start Initiative implementation was assessed in November and December 2020 using two strategies: a broad survey of school systems across the state, and in-depth focus groups with stakeholders, which included school system leaders, school leaders, teachers, parents and students. Results reflect experiences and points of view of the stakeholders who participated in our

focus groups or the Strong Start survey. Stakeholders report a number of strengths, successes and ongoing challenges with implementing their Strong Start plans. They also make many recommendations for state and local leaders. Participants in this project include 281 school systems that responded to the survey, and 216 individuals who took part in the focus groups. Below is a summary of these results.

Key strengths and successes based on our stakeholder feedback include:

• School systems and educators have flexibly adapted to address students' learning loss through use of individual instruction/support, additional intervention time, and increased use of small group instruction.

• LEAs have pushed technology out to students and families very quickly, and teachers have learned and adopted a variety of technologically-based teaching supports.

• Most stakeholders believe communication from LDOE and from school systems and schools has been very effective. Transparency and the levels of trust among stakeholders is high.

• School systems and educators have made extensive efforts to support students’ mental health and well-being both personally and through SEL curricula and community services.

Key opportunities for growth include:

• Transition between learning modes causes disruption of learning, stress, and mental-health concerns.

• In general, student engagement is a concern. Not all students learn successfully in virtual environments, particularly students with disabilities, EL students and early childhood learners.

• Ongoing concerns with accountability plans given likely learning loss that is beyond the control of school systems and families.

• Access to technology and broadband required for successful virtual learning is not consistent


for all students.

• Maintaining contact and communication with families for those affected by hurricanes and the economy has been challenging. Attendance and truancy are major concerns.

These findings suggest that LDOE could engage in the following actions to support school systems and stakeholders at all levels:

1. Continue to conduct stakeholder focus group and survey outreach (well received by all groups).

2. Inform stakeholders as soon as possible about accountability plans for this year should

updated guidance be released by U.S. Department of Education.

3. Provide support mechanisms and guidance on how to address absenteeism, truancy/missing students.

4. Work with state and federal agencies to build out broadband access to rural Louisiana schools.

5. Work with school systems to ensure that guidance for education technology to maximize

student learning is effectively communicated to educators at the school and classroom level. a. Provide additional supports to ensure that all educators are aware of the guidance for

virtual learning and remote learning to set local expectations. b. Provide additional supports to ensure that all educators are provided the guidance

for technology used at the district/local level that includes a list of acceptable video platforms, learning management systems, and software applications.

c. Provide recommendations for implementation of technology at the local level that reduces the burden on students and parents to learn multiple technologies for the same grade level or families with multiple children.

d. Advocate for additional on-going funding to support maintenance and repair of computers, networks, and software tools to support virtual learning.

6. Create a parent portal with resources to support the role of families as a partner in learning

to minimize the cost of each district doing this on their own. a. Encourage districts to use this common platform to provide family support. b. Allow posting of short video explanations of key topics/issues/policies, etc. c. Provide links to needed technology and instructions on how to use the technology.

LDOE’s response to these findings follows immediately below. The remainder of this report is organized into two sections that are based on the two data-collection strategies: findings from focus groups (Section I) conducted with stakeholders at all levels, and results from an online survey (Section II) of school systems across the state. Appendices provide detailed information regarding focus group protocols, and results for individual questions on the survey.


LDOE Response

The 2020-21 school year has been especially trying for Louisiana educators, families and students. In addition to the pandemic and civil unrest across the nation, Louisiana was at the center of a historically active hurricane season — which included landfall of the most powerful storm on record for Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Education has supported school system leaders as they worked to provide a safe, quality education to our state’s over 827,000 children. There is no blueprint for leading schools or systems through the COVID-19 pandemic. In Louisiana and across the nation, this has led to a number of successes and opportunities for growth. Here are some of the efforts made by the LDOE and school systems around the state to serve students, educators, and families.

● Over 60% of Louisiana students are benefitting from in-person instruction as of January

2021.

● Louisiana schools have not been “super spreader” locations due to health standards passed

by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), partnerships with medical

experts, and strong mitigation efforts.

● Medical experts testified during BESE meetings that LDOE reopening guidelines stand

among the nation’s best and that, when following mitigation efforts, Louisiana schools are

among the safest locations in the state.

● Every Louisiana school system developed local reopening plans that included anticipated

shifts due to increased or decreased presence of the virus in their community following the

LDOE’s release of school reopening guidance.

● To further help school systems manage changing requirements and shifts in modality, the

LDOE developed resources like staffing models, balanced calendar models, and provided

additional funding.

● Virtual instruction best practices and family guides were developed.

● In addition to virtual instruction training offered by school systems, the LDOE partnered

with national organizations to provide free synchronous and asynchronous virtual

instruction workshops to teachers and principals.

● The LDOE released a number of academic supports to help systems combat learning loss.

This includes guidance on important prerequisite standards as well as the upcoming debut of

a comprehensive virtual tutoring program.

● To ensure safe and secure testing environments, the LDOE released guidance to school

systems and offered numerous flexibilities.

● Toolkits were created for early childhood education, preK-12, students with disabilities, and

English Learners. These toolkits included guidance on technology distribution and training,


staffing and scheduling models, continuous learning in core and non-core areas, and

assessing and addressing unfinished learning.

● The LDOE provided flexibility to teacher observations to reflect the impacts of the

pandemic.

● A toolbox of support resources was developed for families of students with disabilities.

● Guidance was created for students with disabilities specific to compensatory services, virtual

small group instruction, special education leaders, and direct service providers.

● The assessment calendar was adjusted to provide more flexible testing windows.

● Programs have been developed to integrate social-emotional learning with academics, as well

as to help school systems and early childhood centers provide mental, emotional, and

wellness support to students and educators.

● Supporting the reopening of early childhood centers by distributing funds and support. At

the height of the pandemic, 70% of our early childhood centers were closed due to COVID-

19. Today, only 2% are closed because of the pandemic.

● The LDOE partnered with individuals, agencies, and organizations to help supply school

systems with PPE and rapid testing kits. This included 2 million face masks, 74,000 rapid

testing kits, and supplies that will last through the second semester.

Upcoming LDOE supports

● Over 23,000 Chromebooks will be distributed to school systems across the state to help

close the digital divide.

● A virtual tutoring program, Strong Start Tutoring, has been developed to provide additional

support for students and to help recover lost learning.

● Funding will be provided to support school systems in offering compensatory services to

students with disabilities.

● The Department is researching how a learning management system (LMS) vendor guide can

be utilized to support school systems in their selection of a high quality LMS.

● Real-time Early Access to Literacy (REAL) will provide individualized support for students

in pre-K through grade 3 to make progress in their literacy development, with a focus on

support for virtual learning.

● Numerous workshops at the 2021 Teacher Leader Summit will focus on remote learning

best practices.

● The focus of future LDOE task force meetings will be on supporting school systems as they

maintain contact and engagement with students and families.

In addition to the lessons learned from Region 14 CC, the LDOE identified additional lessons learned after reading this report.

● Some schools indicated they designated “virtual learning teachers.” These teachers did not

also have in-person classes. This reduced stress for the educator and allowed for more


contact with individual students. It’s an example of schools being creative and resourceful

with staffing and scheduling.

● Every parent wants the best for their child, but their capacity to support during virtual

learning can be limited. While many school systems do offer assistance in this area, families

would benefit from additional supports.

● Students, parents, and teachers shared that when transitioning between modalities, it was

helpful to reduce the number of periods in the day and start classes later. This is a “lesson

learned” that could be shared with the field to assist other school systems.

This report offered additional insights for where we can focus our efforts and reinforced many of the initiatives we’ve undertaken since school buildings first closed in March of 2020. Along with the information we gain from our many other outreach efforts, this report demonstrates the lengths school systems and families are going to serve their children and where we can most effectively help aid those efforts.


Section I: High-level Takeaways and Recommendations from Louisiana Strong Start 2020 Winter Focus Groups

Introduction

The Louisiana Department of Education engaged stakeholders across the state to participate in virtual focus groups to gain insight from their experiences during school closing and reopening in 2020. Over 200 school system leaders (superintendents, district leaders, etc.), school leaders (principals, deans, assistant principals, etc.), teachers, parents, and students participated in these sessions, conducted by the Region 14 CC over a four-week period from mid-November through mid-December (see Table 1). Table 1. Stakeholder focus group attendance.

Stakeholder Groups Attended Sessions

Teachers 43 8

Parents 22 12

School Leaders 65 11

School System Leaders 45 7

Students 41 8

TOTAL 216 46

These stakeholders were asked to identify their successes and challenges in meeting the diverse needs of students during this time, as well as for their recommendations on what can be done to better address these needs. Overall, stakeholders remain committed to providing the best quality teaching and learning experiences possible under the COVID-19 conditions in Louisiana. In addition, many stakeholders were also impacted by multiple hurricanes that contributed to additional school closures and disruptions of vital services, such as electricity and connectivity. Staff and system resources are highly stressed at this time and will remain so until all students and teachers are able to return to school consistently, without new quarantines or school closure. Below we list findings that ranked among the greatest concerns across all stakeholder groups. High-level takeaways and recommendations are organized around the Strong Start 2020 priority areas, which include virtual learning, learning mode transitions, core academics, mental health and wellness, and communication. The group(s) that most prevalently cited each takeaway is indicated. Each recommendation is a summary of many recommendations provided by participants. At the end of this section, two tables summarize the successes reported by stakeholder (Table 2) and challenges reported by stakeholder (Table 3). The protocol for each type of

focus group stakeholder can also be found in: Appendix A: Focus Group Questions ̶ Educators;

Appendix B: Focus Group Questions ̶ Parents; and Appendix C: Focus Group Questions ̶ Students.


Findings

Virtual learning lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC

Successes

• Some schools have designated “virtual learning teachers” who do not have in-person classes; this takes the burden off other teachers, provides more contact with individual students, and reduces stress on everyone. (Teachers, School Leaders)

• Some students are better suited to virtual learning than others, and these students thrive in this environment. (Students, Teachers)

• The best way to address the needs of students with disabilities, early childhood, and EL students is to bring them into school, i.e., do not use virtual learning for these students. This also reduces a lot of parent stress. (Parents, School Leaders, Teachers, School System Leaders)

• Asynchronous videos or recorded lessons help both virtual and in-person learning. (Students, Teachers, Parents)

• Teachers are adapting quickly and learning to appreciate the technology tools that are available for all learners. (School Leaders, Teachers)

• Districts have made a massive effort to get technology into the hands of students, resulting in a logistics feat that takes most school systems years to implement. (School System Leaders, School Leaders, Teachers)

Opportunities

• Learners/parents are struggling with having so many different platforms and applications being used –need more consistency across all classes. (Parents and Students)

• Implementing best practices for instructing remote learners can be challenging for some teachers – it takes a unique skillset. (Teachers and Students)

• Rural infrastructure shortages are impacting connectivity. (All groups)

• Costs of creating, maintaining, repairing technology systems (e.g. infrastructure, hotspots, laptops, etc.) is high and is not regularly budgeted. (School Leaders, School System Leaders)

• Parents would like more support/capacity to help with instruction/learning is limited. (School Leaders, Teachers, and Parents)

• Disparity among students/families (i.e. access to hardware, connectivity, parental support/capacity). (All groups)

Learning Modes Transition lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC

Successes

• Reducing number of periods in the day and starting classes later is very helpful to students transitioning between modes. (Students, Teachers, Parents)

• Providing adequate time for teachers and parents to prepare for school closures is helpful. (Teachers, Parents, Students)


• Hybrid models that include a “flex” day to allow teachers to focus on struggling and remote students and for students to focus on completing work is very beneficial. (Teachers, School Leaders)

• Having technology in-hand allows districts to be much more flexible when closures need to occur. (School Leaders, School System Leaders)

Opportunities

• Staffing needed to cover all classes & disruption in learning with each transition. (School System Leaders, School Leaders, and Teachers)

• Quality of instruction/learning disparity between learning modes (remote students struggling). (Teachers, Parents, and Students)

o In-person having best success. o Some students transferring to fully online academies to gain more flexibility in

scheduling, finding courses they need, better support for virtual learning. o Students in hybrid models worry about safety, but like being in school and seeing

friends. o Students remote learning does not equal “virtual learning” when work consists of

worksheets and homework assignments; students want face time with teachers o Students/teachers in temporary quarantine/homebound situations creates great

stress and disruption. o Teachers having to teach multiple modes simultaneously (i.e. responsible for

teaching both in-person and remote students)—quality of instruction suffers for one or the other or both.

Core Academics lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC

Successes

• Smaller classes provide more time and attention for students and improves their learning. (Students, Teachers)

• Benchmark assessments have aided in identifying learning gaps, allowing schools to target struggling students. (Teachers, School Leaders)

• Curriculum with online components aids teachers and saves prep time. (Teachers, School Leaders)

• Teacher-leaders who are tech-savvy are stepping forward to help schools in professional development and peer support. (Teachers, School Leaders, School System Leaders)

Opportunities

• How test results and accountability for this school year will be used is a top issue of concern for all stakeholder groups.

• Attendance/truancy is a major concern, but schools do not have resources to go out and find students and families. (School Leaders)

• Completion of homework (virtual learners) assigned is an issue; many students are not engaged; they feel it is busy work. (Students, Teachers)

• Diagnostic testing (Teachers, School Leaders) o Few are using them because they are overwhelmed by everything else.


o Don’t know where kids stand academically.

• Ensuring students are getting graduation/pathways required coursework opportunities. (Parents, Teachers, Students, School Leaders)

• Disruption in learning with each transition and quarantine. (Teachers, Parents, and Students)

Mental Health & Well-being lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC

Successes

• Trying to bring more energy and fun back to schools and classrooms through games, contests, recognition, etc. (Students, Teachers)

• Reaching out to students and families regularly to ask, “How are you doing?” (School Leaders, Parents)

• Peer-to-peer connections by students through a campus program has helped student depression. (Students)

• Connecting with community counseling services to support teachers and students. (School Leaders)

• Implementing SEL curriculum on campuses for both teacher and student support. (Teachers, School Leaders)

Opportunities

• Uncertainty about how testing will be used is causing stress/anxiety. (All groups)

• Disruptions when transitioning from learning modes – processes were not always consistent at the LEA level, very stressful. (Teachers and Students)

• Teachers having to teach both in-person and remote learners at the same time (2 separate jobs and can’t do well for either group). (Teachers, Parents and Students)

• Teachers/students having to use new instructional/learning practices with minimal training. (Teachers, Parents, and Students)

• Personal health/safety concerns. (Teachers and Students)

• Student mental health and emotional well-being (e.g., loss of social connections, school traditions). (All groups)

Communication lessons-learned based on focus groups and surveys conducted by the Region 14 CC

Successes

• Most stakeholders believe communication has been good at the local level. (School Leaders, Teachers, and Parents)

• Schools/districts are successfully using a wide variety of tools to communicate with students/parents (e.g. social media, texting apps, district apps, LMS platforms, websites, phone calls, home visits). (School Leaders, Teachers, and Parents)

• Being honest, transparent, and open with all stakeholders helps build trust and respect. (Students, Parents, and Teachers)


Opportunities

• Schools struggle to maintain up-to-date contact information for students/parents. (School Leaders)

• Hurricanes have forced migration of families – trying to communicate/contact these families is very difficult. (All groups)


Table 2. Louisiana Strong Start 2020 Focus Groups: What are some of the successes you’ve experienced as schools reopened this Fall?

S=Students, P= Parents, T=Teachers, SL=School Leaders, SSL=School System Leaders

S P T SL SSL

Virtual Learning Some schools have designated “virtual learning teachers” who do not have in-person classes; this takes the burden off other teachers, provides more contact with individual students, and reduces stress on everyone.

✓ ✓

Some students are better suited to virtual learning than others, and these students thrive in this environment. ✓ ✓

The best way to address the needs of students with disabilities, early childhood, and EL students is to bring them into school, i.e., do not use virtual learning for these students. This also reduces a lot of parent stress.

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Asynchronous videos or recorded lessons help both virtual and in-person learning. ✓ ✓ ✓

Teachers are adapting quickly and learning to appreciate the technology tools that are available for all learners.

✓ ✓

Districts have made a massive effort to get technology into the hands of students, resulting in a logistics feat that takes most school systems years to implement.

✓ ✓ ✓

Learning Mode Transitions Reducing number of periods in the day and starting classes later is very helpful to students transitioning between modes. ✓ ✓ ✓

Providing adequate time for teachers and parents to prepare for school closures is helpful. ✓ ✓ ✓

Hybrid models that include a “flex” day to allow teachers to focus on struggling and remote students and for students to focus on completing work is very beneficial. ✓ ✓

Having technology in-hand allows districts to be much more flexible when closures need to occur. ✓ ✓

Core Academics

Slowing down pacing schedule gives more time for students to master content before moving on. ✓ ✓

Smaller classes provide more time and attention for students and improves their learning. ✓ ✓ ✓

Benchmark assessments have aided in identifying learning gaps, allowing schools to target struggling students.

✓ ✓

Curriculum with online components aids teachers and saves prep time. ✓ ✓

Teacher-leaders who are tech-savvy are stepping forward to help schools in professional development and peer support.

✓ ✓ ✓

Mental Health & Well-being Trying to bring more energy and fun back to schools and classrooms through games, contests, recognition, etc. ✓ ✓ ✓

Reaching out to students and families regularly to ask, “How are you doing?” ✓ ✓

Peer-to-peer connections by students through a campus program has helped student depression. ✓

Connecting with community counseling services to support teachers and students. ✓

Implementing SEL curriculum on campuses for both teacher and student support. ✓ ✓

Communication Most stakeholders believe communication has been good at the local level (School Leaders, Teachers, and Parents).

✓ ✓ ✓

Schools/districts are successfully using a wide variety of tools to communicate with students/parents (e.g. social media, texting apps, district apps, LMS platforms, websites, phone calls, home visits).

✓ ✓ ✓

Being honest, transparent, and open with all stakeholders helps build trust and respect. ✓ ✓ ✓


Table 3. Louisiana Strong Start 2020 Focus Groups: What are some of the challenges you have experienced in opening schools this Fall?

S=Students, P= Parents, T=Teachers, SL=School Leaders, SSL=School System Leaders

S P T SL SSL

Virtual Learning

Learners/parents are struggling with having so many platforms, applications being used –need more consistency across all classes. ✓ ✓

Teachers don’t know best practices for instructing remote learners –takes a unique skillset. ✓ ✓

Rural issues impacting connectivity. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Costs of creating, maintaining, repairing technology systems (e.g. infrastructure, hotspots, laptops, etc.) is high.

✓ ✓

Parent support/capacity to help with instruction/learning is limited; they need support too. ✓ ✓ ✓

Disparity among students/families (i.e. access to hardware, connectivity, parental support/capacity). ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Transitions between Learning Modes Staffing needed to cover all classes & disruption in learning with each transition. ✓ ✓ ✓

Quality of instruction/learning disparity between learning modes (remote students struggling). ✓ ✓ ✓

Core Academics

Accountability/testing is a stress factor for all groups, especially for students and teachers. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Attendance/truancy is a major concern. ✓

Completion of work (virtual learners) assigned is an issue; students are not engaged. ✓

Diagnostic testing ✓ ✓

Ensuring students are getting graduation/pathways required coursework opportunities. ✓

Disruption in learning with each transition & quarantine. ✓ ✓ ✓

Mental Health & Well-being Uncertainty about how testing will be used causing stress/anxiety. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Disruptions when transitioning from learning modes – no consistency, very stressful. ✓ ✓

Teachers having to teach both in-person and remote learners at the same time (2 separate jobs and can’t do well for either group). ✓ ✓ ✓

Teachers/students having to use new instructional/learning practices with minimal training. ✓ ✓ ✓

Personal health/safety concerns. ✓ ✓

Student depression/suicidal tendencies (e.g. loss of social connections, school traditions). ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication Schools struggle to maintain up-to-date contact information for students/parents. ✓

Hurricanes have forced migration of families – trying to communicate/contact these families is very difficult. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓


Section II: High-level Takeaways from the Louisiana Strong Start 2020 Winter Survey

In an effort to comprehensively assess the experiences of school systems statewide, a survey was disseminated to 200 LEAs in mid-November. The survey asked about the most common challenges and strategies implemented by school systems, as well as offered an opportunity for systems to voice additional challenges and concerns. Table 4 below summarizes the number of LEAs contacted to complete the survey, and the number and proportion of those completed. Of the 31 School System Leaders who participated in the focus group sessions, 27 also completed this survey. The online survey was disseminated by a link distributed through LDOE newsletters and through other regular meetings of LEA system leaders. Table 4. Survey outreach and participation rates for all LEAs and by LEA-type

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Outreach 389 200 189

Participation 281 (72%) 170 (85%) 111 (59%)

The survey’s main findings are presented in the next section, results from individual survey findings are reported in Appendix D: Survey findings by question.

Survey Main Findings

• The most common instructional strategies used to support students' learning loss include

increased use of individual instruction/support, additional intervention time, and increased

use of small group instruction.

• Using aligned curricular materials, specialized supports, and services to support continuous

learning presented challenges with some stakeholders. These challenges include student

engagement/active participation; student attendance; and families’ need for additional

technical and academic supports. Language is a challenge for English learners.

• The most common social, emotional, and/or mental health supports include:

• For students: Access to onsite mental health services (e.g., individual counseling,

group counseling), access to third-party or community-based mental health services,

use or adoption of a social emotional learning (SEL) curricula, and community/team

building activities (non-instructional time dedicated to building peer-to-peer

relationships).


• For teachers: Targeted professional development; virtual teaching and learning,

access to self-care resources, flexible work from home policies (when possible), and

community/team-building activities (non-instructional time dedicated to building

staff-to-staff relationships).

• School systems use several methods of communications:

• To communicate with families, they primarily use the school system information

portals (JCampus, PowerSchool, etc.) and emails.

• To communicate with teachers, they primarily email teachers directly.

• To communicate with students, they primarily use Google classroom, school system

information portals (JCampus, PowerSchool, etc.), or a mix of several

communication methods.

• The greatest challenges with communications include maintaining communication with

students & families, student engagement/active participation/attendance, and locating and

connecting with students and families.

• School systems, on average, rated their reopening plan and efforts with four stars. Highest rated activities include: providing continuous academic support, staffing plan, to adequately adapt to the situation and reopening plan, communications, and making sure all students have devices. Lowest rated activities include virtual learning, providing support for students with special needs and English learners, and making sure students have access to reliable internet connection.

• School systems, on average, found their reopening plan and efforts to be challenging. At the

same time, they, on average, were satisfied with the implementation of the reopening plans.

• School systems can benefit from more support in terms of family engagement, student

engagement, student attendance, connectivity, instructional materials suited for different

learning environments, social, emotional, and mental support, and devices.

• Highlighted notes from school systems in their open comment box include (selected among

many comments): positive comments about LDOE, concerns about testing, infrastructure

challenges, need to encourage attendance & engagement, concerns about learning gaps, a

need for more funds/resources, and challenges with hardware.


Appendix A: Focus Group Questions ̶ Educators


FOR EDUCATOR FOCUS GROUPS

INTERNAL INFORMATION ONLY

Purpose of this Focus Group: To examine the initial design and implementation of the Louisiana Strong Start School Reopening Initiative from the perspective of key project participants (i.e., project directors, faculty, educational planners, and other project staff), particularly focusing on how things have changed because of Louisiana Strong Start School Reopening Initiative, and what people’s perspectives, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes are of the changes. Intended Outcomes: The data will help us to understand the degree to which changes have been made, the reasons why changes have or have not been implemented, and the barriers or facilitating factors the project may face.

ROADMAP OF ACTIVITIES PLANNED

Categories of Information to be Covered Approx. Time Set Aside

Welcome/Ground-rules 5 minutes

Issue 1. Core Academics – Learning Gaps 10 minutes

Issue 2. Mental Health and Well-being 10 minutes

Issue 3. Virtual Learning 10 minutes

Issue 4. Transition Between Different Learning Mode 10 minutes

Issue 5. Communication 10 minutes

Wrap up/Close 5 minutes

Total Time Allotted 60 minutes


WELCOME AND GROUND RULES (5 minutes)

A. Acknowledgment: Thank you for coming to this session to share your school reopening experience.

B. Intro: My name is [INSERT] and I work for Westat, a company partnering with the Louisiana Department of Education. Today, I will be the facilitator for this 60-minute group discussion. With me is [MODERATOR] who will help ensure that this conversation is inclusive and covers all the necessary topics.

This group is comprised of Teachers from across Louisiana and has convened as a follow-up to a survey that was conducted in August for the Louisiana Strong Start initiative.

Our purpose today is to discuss your opinions, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about the academic, mental health, and technology supports provided during the school closure and the reopening period, and how the diverse needs of students were met during this time. Today, you will discuss these various topics and for each I would like for you to think about the successes and challenges you experienced; in addition to modifications and recommendations you would provide to LDOE to improve upon these experiences.

C. Key Characteristics about the Zoom session:

a. Remind to rename: Please remember to rename yourself to only show your first name.

b. Recording. The session is being recorded to enable me to write an accurate report, not of who said what but “what was said.”

c. Potential observers: There may be LDOE observers on this call to listen and not participating.

D. Guidelines: Before we begin, I would like to first review a few Zoom focus

group ground rules that will help facilitate this discussion.

a. Please talk one at a time. b. I would like to hear from everyone but you do not have to answer every

question. c. It is ok to piggy back on someone else’s comments. In fact, I encourage

that.


d. Work for equal “air time” so that no one talks too little or too much. e. Allow for different points of view. There are no wrong answers. f. When not talking, please keep yourself on mute. g. If needed, use the “hand raise” button to signal to me or

[MODERATOR] that you would like to contribute to the conversation. h. Use the chat function to expand on your answers. Information in the

chat area will be saved and included in our analysis process. i. If possible, please keep your video on throughout the call so I can tell

who is talking.

ISSUE 1. Core Academics – Learning Gaps (10 minutes)

Okay, now let’s begin. To start today’s discussion, I would like for you to think about how the school closures and current learning conditions have impacted student learning. Specifically, think about the ways in which you have identified and addressed learning gaps that resulted during this time.

1. What has been your greatest successes in addressing the learning gaps observed among your students, including those with diverse needs?

PROBE, if needed: How have you used remedial or academic enrichment supports (e.g.,

summer bridging programs or materials)?

2. What has been your greatest challenges in closing the learning gap for of ALL students? PROBE, if needed: student and family engagement, staff related challenges,

3. What did you have to change or modify to fill learning gaps for ALL students?

4. What recommendations would you make to LDOE and BESE (Board of Elementary and

Secondary Education) to improve instruction and learning for ALL students during the pandemic?

ISSUE 2. Mental Health and Well-being (10 minutes)

Shifting to the next topic, I would like for you to think about how the school and/or the district addressed the additional stressors placed on staff and students during this period. Think about the approaches used, the conversations that school and district leaders were having around this topic, and the ways that staff and student needs were identified. PROBE, if needed: Use of support staff, morale building activities, use of a mental health and well-being curriculum, methods for addressing in-person safety,

1. What were your greatest successes in addressing the mental health and well-being of your staff and students?


2. What were your greatest challenges in addressing the mental health and well-being of your staff and students?

3. What did you have to change or modify to address the mental health and well-being of your

staff and students?

4. What recommendations would you make to LDOE and BESE to improve the mental health and well-being of your staff and students?

ISSUE 3. Virtual learning (10 minutes)

Now let’s talk about the use of technology during the closure and restarting period. Think about your experiences providing remote learning to students at home. PROBE, if needed: the use of technology teams, trainings, devices (hardware/software), hotspots, distribution, learning curve, digital learning styles, human capacity

1. What were your greatest successes in ensuring that ALL students have the equipment and tools needed to engage in virtual learning? (Includes support at home to use the software and technology)

2. What were your greatest challenges in ensuring that ALL students have the equipment and

tools needed to engage in virtual learning?

3. What did you have to change or modify to ensure that for ALL students have the equipment and tools needed to engage in virtual learning?

4. What recommendations would you make to LDOE and BESE to improve access to virtual

learning for ALL students?

ISSUE 4. Transition between Different Learning Modes (10 minutes)

Now we want to discuss the different options you provide to students as they return to school. Most schools are offering some combination of fully remote learning (virtual learning), fully in-person learning, or a “hybrid” or combination of the two, with some in-person learning and some remote learning. We would like to hear about your experiences implementing these different modes of learning.

1. What were your greatest successes in implementing different learning modes?

2. What were your greatest challenges in implementing different learning modes?

3. What did you have to change or modify to implement different learning modes?

4. What recommendations would you make to LDOE and BESE to improve implementation of different learning modes?


ISSUE 5. Communication (10 minutes)

The last topic is about communication. We would like to hear about your experiences communicating with all the stakeholders in your learning community, including students, parents, and staff.

1. What were your greatest successes in communicating with students, parents, and staff?

2. What were your greatest challenges in communicating with students, parents, and staff?

3. What did you have to change or modify to communicate with students, parents, and staff?

4. What recommendations would you make to LDOE and BESE to improve communication with students, parents, and staff?

WRAP UP AND CLOSE (5 minutes)

1. Before we wrap up, what else would you like to share about reopening your school that we haven’t discussed?

Well, that concludes our discussion today. Again, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be with us.


Appendix B: Focus Group Questions ̶ Parents


FOR PARENT FOCUS GROUPS


Purpose of this Focus Group: To examine the initial design and implementation of the [PROGRAM NAME] from the perspective of key project participants (i.e., educator and parents), particularly focusing on how things have changed because of [PROGRAM NAME], and what people’s perspectives, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes are of the changes. Intended Outcomes: The data will help us to understand the degree to which changes have been made, the reasons why changes have or have not been implemented, and the barriers or facilitating factors the project may face.













E. Acknowledgment: Thank you for coming to this session to share your school reopening experience.

F. Intro: My name is [INSERT] and I work for Westat, a company partnering with the Louisiana Department of Education. Today, I will be the facilitator for this 60-minute group discussion. With me is [MODERATOR] who will help ensure that this conversation is inclusive and covers all the necessary topics.

This group is comprised of Parents from across Louisiana and has convened as a follow-up to a survey that was conducted in August for the Louisiana Strong Start initiative.

Our purpose today is to discuss your opinions, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about the academic, mental health, and technology supports provided during the school closure and the reopening period, and how the diverse needs of students were met during this time. Today, you will discuss these various topics and for each I would like for you to think about the successes and challenges you experienced; in addition to modifications and recommendations you would provide to LDOE to improve upon these experiences.

G. Key Characteristics about the Zoom session:


b. Recording. The session is being recorded to enable me to write an accurate report, not of who said what but “what was said.”

c. Potential observers: There may be LDOE observers on this call to listen and not participating.

H. Guidelines: Before we begin, I would like to first review a few Zoom focus


j. Please talk one at a time. k. I would like to hear from everyone but you do not have to answer every

question. l. It is ok to piggy back on someone else’s comments. In fact, I encourage

that. m. Work for equal “air time” so that no one talks too little or too much.


n. Allow for different points of view. There are no wrong answers. o. When not talking, please keep yourself on mute. p. If needed, use the “hand raise” button to signal to me or

[MODERATOR] that you would like to contribute to the conversation. q. Use the chat function to expand on your answers. Information in the

chat area will be saved and included in our analysis process. r. If possible, please keep your video on throughout the call so I can tell

who is talking.


Okay, now let’s begin. To start today’s discussion, I would like for you to think about how the school closures and current learning conditions have impacted your child’s learning. Specifically, think about the ways in which your school/teacher has identified and addressed learning gaps that resulted during this time.

1. What successes has your child experienced with learning since school started this year?

2. What challenges has your child experienced with learning since school started this year?

3. How has the school/teacher addressed any loss in learning your child may have experienced since the pandemic began?

4. What recommendations would you make, as a parent, to the LDOE, BESE, your school

district or your school principal that would improve your child’s experience of learning?


Shifting to the next topic, I would like for you to think about how the school and/or the district addressed the additional stressors students and their families during this period. Think about the approaches used, the conversations that you may have had with school or district leaders around this topic, and the ways that family and student needs were identified.

1. What successes has your child experienced dealing with the changes in schooling since the school year began this Fall? (Such as transitions to different modes of learning, interruptions in friendships, access to a teacher, etc.)

2. What challenges has your child experienced dealing with the changes in schooling since the

school year began this Fall? (Such as transitions to different modes of learning, interruptions in friendships, access to a teacher, etc.)

3. What modifications did the school/teacher make to accommodate the diverse needs of your

child?


4. What recommendations would you make, as a parent, to the LDOE, BESE, your school district or your school principal that would improve your child’s mental health or well-being?


Now let’s talk about the use of technology during the closure and restarting period. Think about your experiences at home to enable remote learning for your child at home. PROBE, if needed: the use of technology teams, trainings, devices (hardware/software), hotspots, distribution, learning curve, digital learning styles, human capacity.

1. What successes did your child experience accessing the online learning opportunities offered by the school/teacher? (Includes access to a computing device, the internet, software, support, etc.)

2. What challenges did your child experience accessing the online learning opportunities

offered by the school/teacher? (Includes access to a computing device, the internet, software, support, etc.)

3. What modifications or changes did the school/teacher make to address your child’s access

needs?

4. What recommendations would you make, as a parent, to the LDOE, BESE, your school district or your school principal that would improve your child’s access to virtual learning?


Now we want to discuss the different options presented to as your child returned to school this Fall. Most schools are offering some combination of fully remote learning (virtual learning), fully in-person learning, or a “hybrid” or combination of the two, with some in-person learning and some remote learning. We would like to hear about your experiences with these different modes of learning.

1. What successes did you and your child experience as you transitioned from one mode of schooling to another? (from all in-person to all virtual, or to hybrid)

2. What challenges did you and your child experience as you transitioned from one mode of

schooling to another? (from all in-person to all virtual, or to hybrid)

3. What modifications did the school/teacher make to ensure the smooth transition from one type of schooling to another?

4. What recommendations would you make, as a parent, to the LDOE, BESE, your school

district or your school principal that would improve your child’s transition from one type of schooling to another?



The last topic is about communication. We would like to hear about your experiences communicating with your school and teachers.

1. What successes did you and/or your child have in communicating effectively with the school or teachers?

2. What challenges did you and/or your child have in communicating effectively with the

school or teachers?

3. What modifications or changes did the school/teacher make to ensure effective communication with your and/or your child?

What recommendations would you make, as a parent, to the LDOE, BESE, your school district WRAP UP AND CLOSE (5 minutes)

1. What else you want to share about reopening your school that we haven’t discussed? Well, that concludes our discussion today. Again, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be with us.


Appendix C: Focus Group Questions ̶ Students


FOR STUDENT FOCUS GROUPS


Purpose of this Focus Group: To examine the initial design and implementation of the Louisiana Strong Start from the perspective of key project participants (i.e., educator, parents and students), particularly focusing on how things have changed because of Strong Start and what people’s perspectives, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes are of the changes. Intended Outcomes: The data will help us to understand the degree to which changes have been made, the reasons why changes have or have not been implemented, and the barriers or facilitating factors the project may face.













I. Acknowledgment: Thank you for coming to this session to share your school reopening experience.

J. Intro: My name is [INSERT] and I work for Westat, a company partnering with the Louisiana Department of Education. Today, I will be the facilitator for this 60-minute group discussion. With me is [MODERATOR] who will help ensure that this conversation is inclusive and covers all the necessary topics.

This group is comprised of Students from across Louisiana and has convened in response to a request from the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Our purpose today is to discuss your opinions, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about the academic, mental health, and technology supports provided during the school closure and the reopening period, and how the diverse needs of students were met during this time. Today, you will discuss these various topics and for each I would like for you to think about what worked well for you and what you found hard to do; in addition to modifications and recommendations you would provide to LDOE to improve upon these experiences.

K. Key Characteristics about the Zoom session:


b. Confidentiality: It’s OK to talk about the experience of other students, but please do not use their names, just say “a friend” or “fellow student”.

c. Recording. The session is being recorded to enable us to write an accurate report, not of who said what but “what was said.”

d. Potential observers: There may be LDOE observers on this call to listen and not participating.

L. Guidelines: Before we begin, I would like to first review a few Zoom focus


s. Please talk one at a time. t. I would like to hear from everyone but you do not have to answer every

question.


u. It is ok to piggy back on someone else’s comments. In fact, I encourage that.

v. Work for equal “air time” so that no one talks too little or too much. w. Allow for different points of view. There are no wrong answers. x. When not talking, please keep yourself on mute. y. If needed, use the “hand raise” button to signal to me or

[MODERATOR] that you would like to contribute to the conversation. z. Use the chat function to expand on your answers. Information in the

chat area will be saved and included in our analysis process. aa. If possible, please keep your video on throughout the call so I can tell

who is talking.


Okay, now let’s begin. To start today’s discussion, I would like for you to think about how the school closures and current learning conditions affect your learning. Specifically, think about the ways in which your school/teacher identified and addressed any learning challenges you had during this time.

1. What has worked well for you in terms of learning since school started this year?

2. What has been hard about learning since school started this year?

3. How has the school/teacher addressed any learning loss you may have experienced since the pandemic began?

4. What recommendations would you make, as a student, to the LDOE, BESE, your school

district or your school principal that would improve your experience of learning?


Shifting to the next topic, I would like for you to think about how the school and/or the district addressed the additional stressors students and their families during this period. Think about the approaches used, the conversations that you may have had with school or teacher around this topic, and the ways that family and student needs were identified.

1. What has worked for you to deal with the changes in schooling since the school year began this Fall? (Such as transitions to different modes of learning, interruptions in friendships, access to a teacher, etc.)

2. What has been hard about dealing with the changes in schooling since the school year began

this Fall? (Such as transitions to different modes of learning, interruptions in friendships, access to a teacher, etc.)

3. What modifications did the school/teacher make to accommodate your needs?


4. What recommendations would you make, as a student, to the LDOE, BESE, your school district or your school principal that would improve your mental health or well-being, or that of your fellow students?


Now let’s talk about the use of technology during the closure and restarting period. Think about your experiences with remote learning for at home. PROBE, if needed: the use of technology teams, trainings, devices (hardware/software), hotspots, distribution, learning curve, digital learning styles, human capacity.

1. What has worked well for you in accessing the online learning opportunities offered by the school/teacher? (Includes access to a computing device, the internet, software, support, etc.)

2. What has been difficult about accessing the online learning opportunities offered by the

school/teacher? (Includes access to a computing device, the internet, software, support, etc.)

3. What modifications or changes did the school/teacher make to address your needs?

4. What recommendations would you make, as a student, to the LDOE, BESE, your school district or your school principal that would improve your access to virtual learning?


Now we want to discuss the different options presented to you as you returned to school this Fall. Most schools are offering some combination of fully remote learning (virtual learning), fully in-person learning, or a “hybrid” or combination of the two, with some in-person learning and some remote learning. We would like to hear about your experiences with these different modes of learning.

1. What has worked well for you as you transitioned from one mode of schooling to another? (from all in-person to all virtual, or to hybrid)

2. What has been difficult about transitioning from one mode of schooling to another? (from

all in-person to all virtual, or to hybrid)

3. What modifications did the school/teacher make to ensure the smooth transition from one type of schooling to another?

4. What recommendations would you make, as a student, to the LDOE, BESE, your school

district or your school principal that would improve your transition from one type of schooling to another?


The last topic is about communication. We would like to hear about your experiences communicating with your school and teachers.


1. What has worked well for you about communicating effectively with the school or teachers?

2. What has been difficult about communicating effectively with the school or teachers?

3. What modifications or changes did the school/teacher make to ensure effective communication with you?

What recommendations would you make, as a parent, to the LDOE, BESE, your school district WRAP UP AND CLOSE (5 minutes)

1. What else you want to share about reopening your school that we haven’t discussed? Well, that concludes our discussion today. Again, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be with us.


Appendix D: Survey Findings by Question


Academic Needs & Gaps

Q1: What are the most common instructional strategies being used in classrooms to support students to address unfinished learning?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Increase use of individual instruction/ support 178 99 79

Additional intervention time 169 116 53

Increase use of small group instruction 157 96 61

Optional tutoring (outside of the regular school day) 103 54 49

Using supplemental instructional material (different from the core curriculum)

97 66 31

Other (Please explain) 29 21 8

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Other (Please explain)

Using supplemental instructional material (different fromthe core curriculum)

Optional tutoring (outside of the regular school day)

Increase use of small group instruction

Additional intervention time

Increase use of individual instruction/ support

Public School Systems Nonpublic School Systems


Q2: For core subjects, what are the greatest challenges in use of aligned curricular materials, specialized supports, and services to support continuous learning?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Student engagement/ active participation 151 115 36

Families need additional technical and academic supports for student learning

136 96 40

Student attendance 126 97 29

Frequent disruption of routine instructional delivery methods (in-person, virtual, hybrid)

119 78 41

Accessibility (devices/ connectivity/ tools) 79 42 37

Limitations of use of equipment/ supplies/ resources 37 12 25


Difficult to integrate into LMS 11 8 3

Translation (language barrier) 2 2 0

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Translation (language barrier)

Difficult to integrate into LMS


Limitations of use of equipment/ supplies/ resources

Accessibility (devices/ connectivity/ tools)

Frequent disruption of routine instructional deliverymethods (in-person, virtual, hybrid)

Student attendance

Families need additional technical and academic supportsfor student learning

Student engagement/ active participation



Q3: For non-core subjects, what are the greatest challenges in use of aligned curricular materials, specialized supports, and services to support continuous learning?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems




118 86 32


104 67 37






0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160








Student attendance




Q4: For English Learners, what are the greatest challenges in use of aligned curricular materials, specialized supports, and services to support continuous learning?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School Systems


123 99 24





59 46 13





0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140






Student attendance






Q5: For students with disabilities, what are the greatest challenges in use of aligned curricular materials, specialized supports, and services to support continuous learning?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems


143 109 34




89 65 24






0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160







Student attendance





Diverse Needs & Mental Health

Q6: What are the top 3 social, emotional, and/or mental health supports provided to students?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Access to onsite mental health services (e.g. individual counseling, group counseling)

173 131 42

Access to third-party or community-based mental health services

131 88 43

Use or adoption of a social emotional learning (SEL) curricula

114 95 19

Community/ team building activities (non-instructional time dedicated to building peer-to-peer relationships)

92 39 53

Student/ staff Mentorship programs 87 29 58

Use or adoption of a trauma-informed curricula 40 36 4


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200


Use or adoption of a trauma-informed curricula

Student/ staff Mentorship programs

Community/ team building activities (non-instructionaltime dedicated to building peer-to-peer relationships)

Use or adoption of a social emotional learning (SEL)curricula

Access to third-party or community-based mental healthservices

Access to onsite mental health services (e.g. individualcounseling, group counseling)



Q7: What are the top 3 social, emotional, and/or mental health supports provided to teachers?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Targeted professional development: virtual teaching and learning

128 87 41

Access to self-care resources 108 68 40

Flexible work from home policies (when possible) 109 68 41

Community/ team building activities (non-instructional time dedicated to building staff-to-staff relationships)

85 36 49

Access to employee assistance programs 74 62 12

Targeted professional development: social emotional learning

64 41 23

Access to school-based mental health services (e.g. individual counseling, group counseling)

62 38 24

Access to third-party or community-based mental health services

55 37 18

Targeted professional development: trauma-informed practices

22 20 2


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140


Targeted professional development: TIP

Access to third-party or community-based mental healthservices

Targeted professional development: SEL

Access to school-based mental health services

Access to employee assistance programs

Community/ team building activities

Flexible work from home policies

Access to self-care resources

Targeted professional development: virtual teaching



LEA Systems

Q8: What is your school system's plan to support schools to make up for lost instructional minutes during 2020-2021 academic school year? (due to weather/ COVID related matters)

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Reduce existing holidays 132 82 50

Extend school day 106 68 38

Extend school year 94 66 28


Weekends 7 3 4

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Weekends


Extend school year

Extend school day

Reduce existing holidays



Q9: What are the greatest challenges with providing transportation?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Social distancing 129 102 27

Personnel shortage due to COVID related issues (i.e., general shortage, personnel being quarantined)

90 81 9

Sanitizing 58 46 12

Longer routes (earlier mornings, later evenings) 50 43 7


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140


Longer routes (earlier mornings, later evenings)

Sanitizing

Personnel shortage due to COVID related issues (i.e.,general shortage, personnel being quarantined)

Social distancing



Q10: What is the primary method your school system uses to communicate with families?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

School system information portal (JCampus, PowerSchool, etc.)

81 59 22

Email 66 27 39

Other methods (Please explain) 40 27 13

Text 26 12 14

School system mobile app 23 13 10

Social media 22 16 6

Newsletters 10 7 3

Google classroom 7 4 3

Video 2 2 0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Video

Google classroom

Newsletters

Social media

School system mobile app

Text

Other methods (Please explain)

Email

School system information portal (JCampus, PowerSchool,etc.)



Q11: What is the primary method your school system uses to communicate with teachers?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Email 187 133 54


Text 27 3 24


15 6 9


Newsletters 2 1 1


Social media 1 0 1

Video 1 0 1

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Google classroom

Social media

Video

Newsletters



Text


Email



Q12: What is the primary method your schools use to communicate with students?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems




49 31 18

Email 24 9 15

Text 12 3 9


Newsletters 6 4 2

Social media 4 3 1

Video 2 1 1

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Video

Social media

Newsletters


Text

Email



Google classroom



Q13: What are the greatest challenges with communications?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Maintaining communication with students & families 131 95 36

Student engagement/ active participation/ attendance 131 103 28

Locating and connecting with students and families 119 104 15



58 41 17


Translation (language barriers) 12 10 2

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Translation (language barriers)




Locating and connecting with students and families

Student engagement/ active participation/ attendance

Maintaining communication with students & families



General Experience

Q14: Overall, how would you rate the implementation of your reopening plan and efforts? Five Star rating designed for this question as the answer and their weights include: (5) , (4) , (3) , (2) , (1) (greater numbers are more favorable)

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Providing continuous academic support 4.3 4.1 4.5

Providing support for students with special needs and English learners

3.9 3.8 4.0

Staffing plan to adequately adopt with the situation and reopening plan

4.3 4.1 4.4

Communications 4.3 4.2 4.4

Virtual learning 3.8 3.7 4.0

Making sure all students have devices 4.3 4.6 4.0

Making sure students have access to reliable internet connection

3.9 4.0 3.7

Maintaining access to Early Childhood Education through different reopening phases

4.1 4.0 4.1

Transitioning between different teaching methods (i.e., transition between in-person and virtual or vice versa, etc.)

4.0 3.8 4.2


Q14 (cont.): Overall, how would you rate the implementation of your reopening plan and efforts?


Q15: Overall, how challenging was the implementation of your reopening plan? Likert scale answers designed for this question and their weights include: (5) Very challenging, (4) Challenging, (3) Neutral, (2) Not challenging, (1) Not challenging at all (lower numbers are more favorable)

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School Systems

Overall, how challenging was the implementation of your reopening plan?

3.7 4.0 3.4

3.7

4.0

3.4

All LEAs Public School Systems Nonpublic School Systems


Q16: Overall, how satisfied are you with the implementation of your reopening plan? Likert scale answers designed for this question and their weights include: (5) Very satisfied, (4) Satisfied, (3) Neutral, (2) Dissatisfied, (1) Very dissatisfied (greater numbers are more favorable)

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Overall, how satisfied are you with the implementation of your reopening plan?

3.2 3.1 3.4

3.2

3.1

3.4

All LEAs Public School Systems Nonpublic School Systems


Q17: What types of additional supports, guidance, and information would be most helpful for reopening efforts?

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Family engagement 126 97 29

Student engagement 118 97 21


Connectivity 113 79 34

Instructional materials suited for different learning environments

113 76 37

Social, emotional, and mental support 107 56 51

Devices 100 46 54

Professional development 89 43 46

IT support 74 40 34

Student enrollment 43 30 13


More frequent communications (Please explain) 8 6 2

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

More frequent communications (Please explain)


Student enrollment

IT support

Professional development

Devices

Social, emotional, and mental support

Connectivity

Instructional materials suited for different learning…

Student attendance

Student engagement

Family engagement



Q18: In a few words, what action or strategy had the greatest positive impact in your community during reopening? This was an open-ended question. The table and the chart below show the answers that could be coded in meaningful domains.

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Communication from district 87 64 23

In-person instruction 28 6 22

Technology/ distribution 25 23 2

COVID procedures 24 12 12

Provided options for students 17 13 4

Parent surveys/ input 13 8 5

Cohesive plan 12 6 6

Teacher preparation or PD 11 9 2

Technology/ software 10 9 1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Technology/ software

Teacher preparation or PD

Cohesive plan

Parent surveys/ input

Provided options for students

COVID procedures

Technology/ distribution

In-person instruction

Communication from district



Q19: Is there anything else that you would like to share with LDOE leadership or BESE members about LA Strong Start? This was an open-ended question. The table and the chart below show the answers that could be coded in meaningful domains.

All LEAs

Public School

Systems

Nonpublic School

Systems

Positive about LDOE 29 17 12

Concerns about testing 14 13 1

Infrastructure challenges 14 10 4

Need to encourage attendance & engagement 10 10 0

Concerns about learning gaps 9 8 1

Need more funds/ resources 9 3 6

Challenges with hardware 8 3 5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Challenges with hardware

Concerns about learning gaps

Need more funds/ resources

Need to encourage attendance & engagement

Concerns about testing

Infrastructure challenges

Positive about LDOE



Appendix E: The Region 14 Comprehensive Center


The Region 14 Comprehensive Center

The Region 14 Comprehensive Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s

Comprehensive Center program, serves the needs of state education agencies (SEAs)

in Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana by designing and implementing projects that build their

capacity to implement evidence-based policies and programs that improve the quality of

instruction, increase access to effective teachers and school leaders, and close education

achievement gaps in the region.

We work collaboratively with the leadership in each SEA to:

1. Conduct a needs sensing process that identify priority areas to address. 2. Identify evidence-based practices to address the needs identified, and then develop plans

to integrate those practices into the agency’s current policies, procedures, and/or programs. We meet SEAs where they are and work from a systems change lens to provide meaningful capacity-building that impacts sustainable change.

3. Offer results-oriented support to stand-up and sustain the new practices to support implementation by regional education agencies (REAs) and local education agencies.

The Region 14 Comprehensive Center is collaborative, responsive and flexible—and offers

support at no cost to SEAs. Our team includes and has access to a broad set of experts, thought

leaders, and resources to support SEA priority initiatives.

Our Services

Engaging and facilitating use of evidence

• Content Expertise. Collaborate with subject matter experts to explore, assess, analyze, and/or resolve an issue facing a program, service, or project.

• Trainings and professional learning opportunities. Design, identify, and implement events to meet organizational needs using evidence-based instructional design and adult learning principles.

• SEAs and stakeholder collaboration. Engage and facilitate connections and collaboration with key stakeholders and decision-makers, including other Regional Centers and the National Center, to help solve a problem or achieve a goal.

• Communication and Dissemination Planning. Provide strategic communication and dissemination support for all phases of a project, for myriad audiences, using multiple channels.

• Critical Friendship and Thought Partnership. Provide training, coaching and consultation to strengthen professional skills and behaviors of individuals and/or groups to help achieve a goal.


Systematically implementing and sustaining evidence-based practice

• Evidence-based supports to develop a systems approach. Engage in performance management processes to develop a comprehensive approach that aligns resources, activities, and goals to continuously improve existing systems or services.

• Models, tools, and supports for the implementation and monitoring of evidence-based practices. Identify and/or design resources to assist with the implementation, scale-up, and monitoring of evidence-based programs, practices, and interventions.

• Evidence-based practices and resources. Identify and promote strategies and content to increase knowledge, understanding, and access to evidence-based practices and resources.

• Project and performance management. Provide support and training around processes, methods, and skills to achieve project objectives, manage and monitor work activities, assess progress, and strengthen practices.

• Corrective action prevention and remediation. Identify and carry out capacity-building services that help SEAs address corrective actions or results from audit findings and monitoring.

Employing data-driven continuous improvement

• Data Quality, Analysis and Use, and Presentation. Review existing data systems and quality procedures; assist with data analysis planning, execution, and use; and provide support around data visualization and presentation.

• Policy Analysis & Development. Analyze existing policies and suggest refinements aligned to a system’s needs and goals —blending national best practices with key elements of local and state context.

• Evaluation and Research Design and Support. Identify and/or create research agendas and research, as well as formative/summative assessment strategies and collaborative data analysis to assess and measure outcomes of existing practices or changes in systems or services.

Learn more:

• Region 14 CC: https://region14compcenter.org

• National Comprehensive Center: https://compcenternetwork.org

• ED’s Comprehensive Center program: https://oese.ed.gov/offices/office-of-formula-grants/program-and-grantee-support-services/comprehensive-centers-program/

This document was developed under a grant from the Department of Education through the Office of Program and Grantee Support Services (PGSS) within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), by the Region 14 Comprehensive Center at Westat under Award #S283B190032. This contains resources that are provided for the reader’s convenience. These materials may contain the views and recommendations of various subject matter experts as well as hypertext links, contact addresses, and websites to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any outside information included in these materials. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, enterprise, curriculum, or program of instruction mentioned in this document is intended or should be inferred.

https://region14compcenter.org/

https://compcenternetwork.org/

https://oese.ed.gov/offices/office-of-formula-grants/program-and-grantee-support-services/comprehensive-centers-program/

https://oese.ed.gov/offices/office-of-formula-grants/program-and-grantee-support-services/comprehensive-centers-program/

Documents

Strong Start Implementation Status: Winter 2021 Update Report