Just when we thought we were making great strides towards closing the opportunity gap, a pandemic strikes. Now some may ask, why be concerned about educational gaps when we are battling a virus that has disrupted just about every aspect of our lives? As a leader on my campus and as an advocate for children, I say it has never been more important than now for us to charge forward in our efforts to close these inequitable outcomes for our students.
As an AVID Staff Developer who has the honor of working with exceptional educators, I see the passion and the desire to improve education for all students. But during COVID-19, survival in the classroom seems to be the default mode for many of our educators. Why is this? From March of 2020 to the beginning of the school year in August, our educators have been thrown into the deep end, and if they are not tech-savvy, they are at a great disadvantage. Our master-level teachers have gone from being our go-to staff members to being our struggling educators. How does this affect closing the opportunity gap? Currently, our educators are the opportunity gap. They are living the inequity of educational outcomes because the very foundation of instruction they have delivered for years has been rocked.
This might seem a grave place to be, and I may sound pessimistic up to this point, but don’t give up on me yet. I actually see this as a spectacular chance to truly close the opportunity gap. I believe the best way to overcome an obstacle is when you have a profound understanding of what it feels like to live within that struggle. Our teachers are living with these inequities and obstacles first-hand, but we will overcome them and be better educators than ever before as we move through these challenging times.
I will share how our campus used each of AVID’s Four Schoolwide Domains to repair our shaky foundation and get back to the high-quality education for all that we are passionate about.
Instruction
We can all agree instruction looks different these days. Some schools are open for hybrid learning, while others are completely virtual. I was a teacher for ten years before becoming an administrator, and in all those years, I never had to do what our teachers are being asked to do now. That can be an unnerving feeling. So, to help teachers keep it simple, we have implemented a new PLC expectation called “Pick One.” We have developed a Model of Instruction chart, which lists best practices for instructional delivery, such as teacher table, high-level questioning, student discourse, etc. Teams choose one best practice to focus on per quarter. Teachers have responded positively to this plan. Many feel that it takes the weight off of feeling like they have to “do it all.” As administrators, we know our teachers are, of course, providing other best practices along the way, but this allowed them to target and get super deliberate with one at a time. This intentional focus is allowing teachers to move all students forward and is leveling the playing field.
Student agency is another area we are focusing on because students have to engage in this journey alongside us. With about 40% of our students choosing virtual learning, it is imperative for them to see their educational experience as one of relevance and engagement. For this reason, we have challenged our curriculum writers to make sure students can relate to all standards being taught. When students can relate to what is being taught, they have a greater success rate for making progress.
Becoming a one-to-one laptop district this past summer, we have experienced a learning curve, both from the teacher side and the student side. In the beginning, it felt like technology was being used as a glorified, techy worksheet, where students were only consumers of information. We quickly saw the need for change in this area. We worked with and trained staff to move to a model where students are the creators. One class chose to create music videos as an assessment tool for new knowledge learned in class. Deeply ingrained opportunity gaps seemed to melt away when students were given voice and choice in the learning process.
Systems
Who has the manual for creating systems during a pandemic? If anyone does, please deliver a copy to Evans Middle School! Here is the thing about systems, if your systems are grounded around the vision for student success for all, then you are in a good place. The pandemic made us really stop and analyze the systems we have in place. If anything we were doing didn’t support all students, we dumped it!
One challenge we faced early on was the lack of STAAR (state testing) data from last spring on top of missing the fourth quarter last year. We knew we needed to find a way to monitor student progress in a unique way. So, we began the year with student life maps. In each student’s planner, they had to map out nine life goals they want to achieve over the next ten to 20 years. Some students had fancy cars with medical degrees plotted out. Others had large families with basic needs listed. Either way, collectively, we learned important information about our students. When teachers meet with students, they refer to the life map. When assistant principals have to pull students in for discipline, they refer to the life map. When counselors need to gauge emotional issues with students, they refer to the life map. You get the point. We started hearing questions like, “Does your behavior line up with your life map?” Or, “I see you want to become a doctor. Does your current effort mirror what you will need to do to accomplish this goal?” This systematic thinking based on the whole child has helped us find ways to make sure all students are progressing and have the support they need to accomplish life goals.
Panther Time is another layer of support we provide students. Each day, students have a 30 minute block of time which we use for character building, interventions, enrichment, and study skills. Closing the opportunity gap starts with knowing where students are and where you want them to be. This time allows us to work intentionally on gaps that exist for students. Sometimes, those gaps are based on standards. Sometimes, those gaps are based on linguistic struggles, such as struggles with language registers (e.g., social vs. formal language). This is a time our teachers can teach “life lessons” about how to manipulate language and etiquette for various situations and scenarios. Believe it or not, this is a great way to make student outcomes more equitable. Students begin to understand why certain situations require certain responses and appropriate actions.
The last system I want to mention here is our addition of a calming room for students. Last year, our counselors created a space where students can come to self-soothe and self-regulate. They check-in and check-out and complete a survey each visit to let us know how the calming room helped them and see if they still need to meet with a counselor. Ninety-five percent of our students reported feeling better when leaving than they had when they arrived. Only 20% requested to see a counselor after trying to self-regulate. During COVID-19, our counselors created a virtual calming room. The experience isn’t quite the same, but our students appreciate the effort to understand that their emotional state is important to their academic success.
Leadership
Who knew being a leader during a pandemic would be so exhausting!? I think we are all in the same boat when it comes to how overwhelming this experience has been. I learned a few things along the way, though. The most important thing I learned was to never underestimate the power of listening to our staff. Whether they need a shoulder to cry on or just want to talk through a new instructional strategy, listening is the key. I learned that my office is a safe haven for others. Making them feel heard and showing empathy for whatever they are battling has become my biggest role this year, and I feel privileged to do so.
As the leader on our campus, I realized early on that we needed more technology support. This is not my strength, so I was unable to provide this type of support for our teachers. I put a Tech Team together, with our Instructional Coach leading the charge. This team created an Instructional Guide for every Canvas course presented to students. This Instructional Guide contains week-at-a-glance assignments, Zoom links for class, upcoming assessment dates and deadlines, enrichment activity links, tutorial hours for all teachers within a team, and conference period times. The beauty of this framework is that all students see something similar within their Canvas account. This consistency has been praised by our parental community.
In addition to creating the Tech Team, I was able to manipulate our master schedule in order to have one of our teachers become our Technology Instructional Coach. She works with teams during PLCs to help them create engaging lessons where students are the producers instead of consumers. She also provides live professional development for those struggling with the technology. Her expertise improved our campus by strengthening our use of technology, which had previously been a struggle for many staff members.
The simplest thing I have changed this year is taking things off the plates of teachers. We have simplified many things on campus, such as eliminating required lesson plan checks, minimizing mandatory parent conferences, and having office staff take over duty assignments. This provides teachers with more time to prepare lessons and work directly with students.
Culture
The word culture is thrown around often in the educational world, but put simply, culture is the way we do business. The problem with this year is that everything looks different, and culture is no exception to this. We are known for partnering with our community and building relationships with our students. How do we partner from afar? How do we build strong relationships with students we have never met in person? These are the things that keep me up at night. Having said that, I think this year is about making people feel safe and building trust. We have to do everything we can to ensure all students are educated at a high level while also keeping them healthy.
Even in the eyes of these challenges, we have found ways to still partner with our parents. I have a Principal Chat once a month, and we have been able to continue this via Zoom. The turnout has actually been better than ever before. (This may even be a rare opportunity to improve upon a process that we didn’t know was inequitable.) We have an Annual PTO Parent Enrichment Night, which we contemplated canceling this year. Thank goodness we didn’t because, again, the turnout via Zoom was phenomenal.
I am a huge fan of Ruby Payne and Anthony Muhammad. I feel their work about poverty and closing the opportunity gap is critically important to the work we do. In her book, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Ruby Payne states, “The key to achievement for students from poverty is in creating relationships with them.” I mention these two authors here because they both understand the importance of having a culture that builds strong relationships with students and supports the abilities in all students.
In closing, we currently have the greatest opportunity ever to close the educational gaps. Keep things simple, rely on AVID and the structures they provide, use WICORⓇ strategies in all areas, and listen to your people. We can do this! It is possible and is vital to the future of our young people. AVID is here to support us and help us support equitable opportunities and positive outcomes for all.
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