Restart and Recovery: Teaching and Learning Considerations

Just weeks after CCSSO launched its Restart and Recovery Framework, we have provided critical resources to states and more are on the way.

On April 30, CCSSO released the Restart & Recovery Framework to assist states as they work to reopen school buildings and recover student learning loss. As the foremost organization for state chiefs, CCSSO is uniquely positioned to lead in providing state education leaders with this comprehensive set of supports and expert guidance as they plan to reopen school and envision what the next academic year will look like for students, families, teachers and staff. CCSSO has a long history of being a convener and connector in the education community to give states the best possible supports and these events make that even more important.

Since April 30, CCSSO has released two critical resources to support states in their planning and inform state-level decision-making on the reopening of school buildings and recovery of student learning loss.

First, CCSSO created the Restart and Recovery Plan: Addressing Building Safety, Cleaning and Monitoring. This resource provides information gathered from a variety of sources on the topics of: school reopening, considerations for teachers and staff, building cleaning, screening as well as social distancing and other safety protocols. We encourage states to use this document as a starting point for conversations with state and/or local health officials, or the state working group or task force focused on the reopening of school buildings. CCSSO will continue to update this resource as additional guidance is released.

Second, CCSSO created and released the Restart and Recovery Plan: 2020 Virtual Summer School State Guidance for District and School Leaders. This resource, along with the Virtual Summer Learning LEA Planning Guide supplement, provides states with guidance that their local education agencies can use as they plan summer school opportunities. This document offers resources and considerations based on what has been learned in the shift to virtual learning and the research behind summer learning.

CCSSO is continuing our work to develop additional resources aligned with the framework, including upcoming Considerations for Teaching and Learning. This resource will cover key aspects that local education leaders must consider as students return for the next academic school year: well-being, connectedness and mental health supports, instruction (curriculum, assessment, professional learning), and 3. operations (structuring staff, time, and technology to meet student needs). We recognize the considerations in these areas cannot be done in isolation because they are interrelated parts of a coherent and holistic system designed to meet students’ academic and social-emotional learning needs.

CCSSO is bringing together education leaders and experts in the field to create the Considerations for Teaching and Learning that will focus on key elements in each area, such as:

• Attending to, and caring for, the well-being, connectedness and mental health needs of students and staff;
   
• Keeping learning coherent, focused on the highest priorities for each grade level and content area, and moving forward apace -- whether learning is occurring in-person, remotely, or transitioning between the two;
   
• Meeting the needs of every student, across in-person and remote learning contexts -- including students who are low-income, Black, Latinx, learning English, or have diverse learning needs;
   
• Aligning teaching roles, responsibilities, and structures to the new reality of teaching and learning; and
   
• Designing schedules that flexibly accommodate this new reality, including new protocols for being together in the schoolhouse and structures for continuing learning when it is happening remotely.

For each of these areas, the goal is to provide:

• Clear questions around which educators and communities can organize their decision making;
   
• Key actions to consider for the next academic year, to support learning that may be in-person, remote, and/or hybrid.
   
• Actionable plans informed by leading practitioners and experts to support this decision making;
   
• Curated and vetted tools and resources; and
   
• Easily customizable, adaptable documents.

CCSSO plans to release these considerations by the end of June.

CCSSO will continue to create and share additional resources aligned with CCSSO’s Restart and Recovery Framework in the coming weeks. Visit www.ccsso.org/coronavirus to view all of our resources that are currently available.